Appropriate Allowance for Freshman in College

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids saved their money from summer jobs to use for play money and school supplies during the year. That was the expectation. We gave them a little bit here and there if needed but the majority of their fun money was money they earned themselves. No allowance

Same with ours and what was great was that they used their own money wisely. If you send your kid $500 a month they are going to party and piss away your money. Then they graduate and hope that the $6000/year subsidy will continue.

NP here. I got 1k to cover rent for off campus housing, utilities, food, and all other expenses. My parents definitely screwed up since I have a terminal degree and a solid career. They screwed up so much that I learned to budget and save. Totally sucked. I will do the same for my kids.

I'll say it again -- if my kid earns a college degree and can't get a job that allows them to spend $500 a month after paying their rent, there's definitely a much bigger problem. And it won't be because my kid got an allowance in college.

Besides -- almost every one of these "they have to earn it all themselves" posts is full of caveats -- "we gave them a little bit here and there," "they buy toiletries, etc from my Amazon account," "I send them with a stock of snacks," "I buy all their clothes," etc etc. These parents are subsidizing the lives of these students, they're just not doing it in a set monthly amount. How is that better? I'd rather give my kid a set amount of money and let him figure out how much things like clothes, toiletries and snacks really cost and learn to budget and make choices.

Pp here. Your last sentence proved my point and tells you that you don't get budgeting:

Rent 350
Utilities you set up yourself 150
Groceries 200
Spending: 250 (clothes, toiletries, entertainment)
Savings: 50

Where is the spoiled kid here? This was ages ago but I went to an affordable school with cheaper off campus housing. I learned how to set up my own utilities and interact with a landlord. It was thr nest gift. So you all can crow about how you will put your kids in dorms with their full meal plan but they are just being coddled since they don't have to plan much.i always had money at the end of the month, so really learned to budget and save.

DP here. Many schools require on campus dorms and a meal plan for freshmen if they are not living at home with parents. This is why this discussion is targeted at freshmen. None of this precludes the kid from developing their own financial management skills. Using that as an excuse to not provide kids with an allowance is irrational.

Pp here. I do agree with you and understand some schools require it--shoot some places require it all four years--but it seems like people want to find excuses not to give their kids money. There also seems to be a lack of faith in their kids or people just have failed with parenting skills. They seem to have this idea that their kids are running around drinking beer and doing weed. I know this is a common narrative but young people tend to be way more responsible than we give them credit for and these judgements are clearly more of a reflection of the posters rather than young people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids saved their money from summer jobs to use for play money and school supplies during the year. That was the expectation. We gave them a little bit here and there if needed but the majority of their fun money was money they earned themselves. No allowance

Same with ours and what was great was that they used their own money wisely. If you send your kid $500 a month they are going to party and piss away your money. Then they graduate and hope that the $6000/year subsidy will continue.

NP here. I got 1k to cover rent for off campus housing, utilities, food, and all other expenses. My parents definitely screwed up since I have a terminal degree and a solid career. They screwed up so much that I learned to budget and save. Totally sucked. I will do the same for my kids.

I'll say it again -- if my kid earns a college degree and can't get a job that allows them to spend $500 a month after paying their rent, there's definitely a much bigger problem. And it won't be because my kid got an allowance in college.

Besides -- almost every one of these "they have to earn it all themselves" posts is full of caveats -- "we gave them a little bit here and there," "they buy toiletries, etc from my Amazon account," "I send them with a stock of snacks," "I buy all their clothes," etc etc. These parents are subsidizing the lives of these students, they're just not doing it in a set monthly amount. How is that better? I'd rather give my kid a set amount of money and let him figure out how much things like clothes, toiletries and snacks really cost and learn to budget and make choices.

Pp here. Your last sentence proved my point and tells you that you don't get budgeting:

Rent 350
Utilities you set up yourself 150
Groceries 200
Spending: 250 (clothes, toiletries, entertainment)
Savings: 50

Where is the spoiled kid here? This was ages ago but I went to an affordable school with cheaper off campus housing. I learned how to set up my own utilities and interact with a landlord. It was thr nest gift. So you all can crow about how you will put your kids in dorms with their full meal plan but they are just being coddled since they don't have to plan much.i always had money at the end of the month, so really learned to budget and save.

DP here. Many schools require on campus dorms and a meal plan for freshmen if they are not living at home with parents. This is why this discussion is targeted at freshmen. None of this precludes the kid from developing their own financial management skills. Using that as an excuse to not provide kids with an allowance is irrational.

Pp here. I do agree with you and understand some schools require it--shoot some places require it all four years--but it seems like people want to find excuses not to give their kids money. There also seems to be a lack of faith in their kids or people just have failed with parenting skills. They seem to have this idea that their kids are running around drinking beer and doing weed. I know this is a common narrative but young people tend to be way more responsible than we give them credit for and these judgements are clearly more of a reflection of the posters rather than young people.

yes, my kids are very responsible. that's why they make their own money

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of the people on this board claim they give their kids no spending money, but the vast majority of kids I know did (and do) get money from their parents (and I grew up very middle class). Let’s just say the sample here is self-selecting.

We’re budgeting around $300 per month. Based on current spending, I don’t think DC will spend it all. We’ll see how it goes.

Huh. We must run in very very different middle class circles. Because in my "very middle class" circle at college (Virginia Tech) I would say I was in the definite minority as someone who had 100% of tuition, room, and board paid for. $300 spending money on top of that? yea, no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the people on this board claim they give their kids no spending money, but the vast majority of kids I know did (and do) get money from their parents (and I grew up very middle class). Let’s just say the sample here is self-selecting.

We’re budgeting around $300 per month. Based on current spending, I don’t think DC will spend it all. We’ll see how it goes.

Huh. We must run in very very different middle class circles. Because in my "very middle class" circle at college (Virginia Tech) I would say I was in the definite minority as someone who had 100% of tuition, room, and board paid for. $300 spending money on top of that? yea, no.

This was my experience too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do your kids do in the summers prior to going to college? My kid easily made $4K last summer as a 16 yr old. He saved around half of that. He will probably make the same this summer and next so by the time he starts college, he will have $6K or more saved. I'm not giving him an allowance. He is not 6 yrs old unable to make his own money. I had to use my summer earnings to pay for my books and as my fun money and he will do the same.

What exactly did he do in 8 weeks to make $4,000? 🤨

NP - my nephew caddied at a high end club last summer and made a lot more than that. He was making $800-$1000 a week. Crazy money.

My kids have real internships that help them get real jobs one day. My oldest just finished up one with chuck Schumers office. Definitely didn’t make money, but had a great experience.

I’ll continue to give my kids spending money so they can focus on school and securing good internships. My oldest works at McKinsey and definitely wouldn’t have loaded her 6 figure job one year out of college being the beer girl at a golf course

I'll never forget one lovely boss I had early in my career who asked me to sort through a pile of resumes. She asked me NOT to leave her just the resumes with only ivy league degrees and impressive unpaid internships. She wanted the final pool of candidates to include people who had worked paid jobs because not everyone can afford to take unpaid internships in the summers. As someone who worked all the way through college and never took an unpaid internship (because I couldn't afford that) I appreciate there are some people who recognize that the beer girl at a golf course might be as bright as your kid as just as capable of real work. They were just born in a family with fewer resources.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids saved their money from summer jobs to use for play money and school supplies during the year. That was the expectation. We gave them a little bit here and there if needed but the majority of their fun money was money they earned themselves. No allowance

Same with ours and what was great was that they used their own money wisely. If you send your kid $500 a month they are going to party and piss away your money. Then they graduate and hope that the $6000/year subsidy will continue.

NP here. I got 1k to cover rent for off campus housing, utilities, food, and all other expenses. My parents definitely screwed up since I have a terminal degree and a solid career. They screwed up so much that I learned to budget and save. Totally sucked. I will do the same for my kids.

I'll say it again -- if my kid earns a college degree and can't get a job that allows them to spend $500 a month after paying their rent, there's definitely a much bigger problem. And it won't be because my kid got an allowance in college.

Besides -- almost every one of these "they have to earn it all themselves" posts is full of caveats -- "we gave them a little bit here and there," "they buy toiletries, etc from my Amazon account," "I send them with a stock of snacks," "I buy all their clothes," etc etc. These parents are subsidizing the lives of these students, they're just not doing it in a set monthly amount. How is that better? I'd rather give my kid a set amount of money and let him figure out how much things like clothes, toiletries and snacks really cost and learn to budget and make choices.

+1 There are a lot of caveats on this thread.

We give a semester lump sum that covers rent, utilities, food, books, toiletries, greek fees (minus social fees), and a bit of spending. The only thing we pay directly is tuition and flights. No access to our visas, no emergency money. Amazon access is only for prime, must use own cc (which is kinda a pain b/c we accidentally used the kids' cc #s when not paying attention). When there was a charge on the university account for a clicker, I asked kid to login and pay it. Kid made about $5500 this summer pre-tax, and wants to invest half, use half for spending.

[Anonymous]

Parents can give whatever they think is reasonable and kids need to agree to that and plan accordingly. Every family cannot afford to give unlimited money and we need to respect that. Even within our own extended family, all our siblings do not earn the same, so some of our nieces and nephews get a generous allowance and some of our nieces and nephews have to get summer jobs. It is ok. As long as they all are getting college education they are priviledged. They should be smart and maximize their education dollars and calculate what returns they are getting on their college degree.

[Anonymous]

I'm pp and we did the same for Freshman year, minus the rent/utilities. Kid made $2500 summer prior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do your kids do in the summers prior to going to college? My kid easily made $4K last summer as a 16 yr old. He saved around half of that. He will probably make the same this summer and next so by the time he starts college, he will have $6K or more saved. I'm not giving him an allowance. He is not 6 yrs old unable to make his own money. I had to use my summer earnings to pay for my books and as my fun money and he will do the same.

What exactly did he do in 8 weeks to make $4,000? 🤨

NP - my nephew caddied at a high end club last summer and made a lot more than that. He was making $800-$1000 a week. Crazy money.

My kids have real internships that help them get real jobs one day. My oldest just finished up one with chuck Schumers office. Definitely didn’t make money, but had a great experience.

I’ll continue to give my kids spending money so they can focus on school and securing good internships. My oldest works at McKinsey and definitely wouldn’t have loaded her 6 figure job one year out of college being the beer girl at a golf course

I'll never forget one lovely boss I had early in my career who asked me to sort through a pile of resumes. She asked me NOT to leave her just the resumes with only ivy league degrees and impressive unpaid internships. She wanted the final pool of candidates to include people who had worked paid jobs because not everyone can afford to take unpaid internships in the summers. As someone who worked all the way through college and never took an unpaid internship (because I couldn't afford that) I appreciate there are some people who recognize that the beer girl at a golf course might be as bright as your kid as just as capable of real work. They were just born in a family with fewer resources.

It’s not a matter of the internship kid being smarter than the beer cart girl. My oldest has graduated and did internships for all 3 summers. He graduated may of 2022 and started working immediately June 1 of 2022 making 75k as a starting salary at one of the companies he did an internship at. He had a standing offer summer before his senior year. The internships provide great leads for jobs and contacts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$0, the kid can get a job. Or get a job during the summer to save money. College is a great time to start learning to be responsible for your own spending.

I do have a friend who places a couple hundred dollars under the sheets when she makes her kids beds. She uses it as an experiment for how long it takes the kid to wash their sheets.

I love that!!!

[Anonymous]

My kid has already earned his entire college tuition for 4 years, by being an excellent student (called merit scholarship). His second major has been earned by doing tons of APs in HS with all 5s, and testing out of lower level courses in college. So he has been earning what he and we value. I am sure other kids earn what they and their parents value.

By giving our responsible son the use of our credit card, I spend only a fraction of what I would have had to pay if I was paying for his tuition.

I think for my own kid, his unpaid internships will be more useful than paying part-time jobs. And that is ok too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid has already earned his entire college tuition for 4 years, by being an excellent student (called merit scholarship). His second major has been earned by doing tons of APs in HS with all 5s, and testing out of lower level courses in college. So he has been earning what he and we value. I am sure other kids earn what they and their parents value.

By giving our responsible son the use of our credit card, I spend only a fraction of what I would have had to pay if I was paying for his tuition.

I think for my own kid, his unpaid internships will be more useful than paying part-time jobs. And that is ok too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do your kids do in the summers prior to going to college? My kid easily made $4K last summer as a 16 yr old. He saved around half of that. He will probably make the same this summer and next so by the time he starts college, he will have $6K or more saved. I'm not giving him an allowance. He is not 6 yrs old unable to make his own money. I had to use my summer earnings to pay for my books and as my fun money and he will do the same.

What exactly did he do in 8 weeks to make $4,000? 🤨

NP - my nephew caddied at a high end club last summer and made a lot more than that. He was making $800-$1000 a week. Crazy money.

My kids have real internships that help them get real jobs one day. My oldest just finished up one with chuck Schumers office. Definitely didn’t make money, but had a great experience.

I’ll continue to give my kids spending money so they can focus on school and securing good internships. My oldest works at McKinsey and definitely wouldn’t have loaded her 6 figure job one year out of college being the beer girl at a golf course

I'll never forget one lovely boss I had early in my career who asked me to sort through a pile of resumes. She asked me NOT to leave her just the resumes with only ivy league degrees and impressive unpaid internships. She wanted the final pool of candidates to include people who had worked paid jobs because not everyone can afford to take unpaid internships in the summers. As someone who worked all the way through college and never took an unpaid internship (because I couldn't afford that) I appreciate there are some people who recognize that the beer girl at a golf course might be as bright as your kid as just as capable of real work. They were just born in a family with fewer resources.

It’s not a matter of the internship kid being smarter than the beer cart girl. My oldest has graduated and did internships for all 3 summers. He graduated may of 2022 and started working immediately June 1 of 2022 making 75k as a starting salary at one of the companies he did an internship at. He had a standing offer summer before his senior year. The internships provide great leads for jobs and contacts.

Internships are great but they should be paid jobs so the companies take them seriously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid has already earned his entire college tuition for 4 years, by being an excellent student (called merit scholarship). His second major has been earned by doing tons of APs in HS with all 5s, and testing out of lower level courses in college. So he has been earning what he and we value. I am sure other kids earn what they and their parents value.

By giving our responsible son the use of our credit card, I spend only a fraction of what I would have had to pay if I was paying for his tuition.

I think for my own kid, his unpaid internships will be more useful than paying part-time jobs. And that is ok too.

¿Qué? ¡Esto realmente no es digno de palomitas de maíz! Además, mi hijo no se parece a este tipo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do your kids do in the summers prior to going to college? My kid easily made $4K last summer as a 16 yr old. He saved around half of that. He will probably make the same this summer and next so by the time he starts college, he will have $6K or more saved. I'm not giving him an allowance. He is not 6 yrs old unable to make his own money. I had to use my summer earnings to pay for my books and as my fun money and he will do the same.

What exactly did he do in 8 weeks to make $4,000? 🤨

NP - my nephew caddied at a high end club last summer and made a lot more than that. He was making $800-$1000 a week. Crazy money.

My kids have real internships that help them get real jobs one day. My oldest just finished up one with chuck Schumers office. Definitely didn’t make money, but had a great experience.

I’ll continue to give my kids spending money so they can focus on school and securing good internships. My oldest works at McKinsey and definitely wouldn’t have loaded her 6 figure job one year out of college being the beer girl at a golf course

I'll never forget one lovely boss I had early in my career who asked me to sort through a pile of resumes. She asked me NOT to leave her just the resumes with only ivy league degrees and impressive unpaid internships. She wanted the final pool of candidates to include people who had worked paid jobs because not everyone can afford to take unpaid internships in the summers. As someone who worked all the way through college and never took an unpaid internship (because I couldn't afford that) I appreciate there are some people who recognize that the beer girl at a golf course might be as bright as your kid as just as capable of real work. They were just born in a family with fewer resources.

It’s not a matter of the internship kid being smarter than the beer cart girl. My oldest has graduated and did internships for all 3 summers. He graduated may of 2022 and started working immediately June 1 of 2022 making 75k as a starting salary at one of the companies he did an internship at. He had a standing offer summer before his senior year. The internships provide great leads for jobs and contacts.

Internships are great but they should be paid jobs so the companies take them seriously.

Like "beer girls" are taken seriously??