How much $$ does a college student need each month

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At my Ivy I'd estimate that 30% of my graduating class (2009) carried the family Amex. My freshman roommate had her father's black card number memorized and he couldn't care less. How do you think these kids afford lavish spring breaks and random trips to music festivals. For the amount of money that gets talked about on this forum, people sure don't seem to have a clue how those who make that kind of money live.

Believe me, most of us have a clue. We just have absolutely no desire whatsoever to raise our kids that way.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At my Ivy I'd estimate that 30% of my graduating class (2009) carried the family Amex. My freshman roommate had her father's black card number memorized and he couldn't care less. How do you think these kids afford lavish spring breaks and random trips to music festivals. For the amount of money that gets talked about on this forum, people sure don't seem to have a clue how those who make that kind of money live.

Believe me, most of us have a clue. We just have absolutely no desire whatsoever to raise our kids that way.

More like you absolutely don't have the money to raise your kids that way. Enough with the moralizing.

Do you not attempt to convey your morals to your children? Why shouldn't I do the same with mine?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I put $100 on her debit card each month....she really learned the value of a dollar, vs just throwing stuff in the cart when she was a kid, it's an eye-opening excercise for sure!

$100 a month is absurd. What is she buying?

[Anonymous]

I worked as a nanny all summer and babysat during the school year to pay for my books and spending money. Why aren't your kids making their own money? I don't even spend as much money per month as what you are sending your college students.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:If you are already paying tuition, room and board, it is time for Dear Son to get a job.

Exactly.

I think my adult son/daughter would be embarrassed to accept $100+ week from Mommy. He hasn't gotten an allowance since middle school.

How sad for your child that they know they cannot count on you for support. My parents paid for everything. We worked summers and they put the money away and gave us a debit card and credit card. They paid for everything. I have no idea what I spent but it wasn't much and they never complained. Same parents also taught me to set up a Roth and other retirement accounts with my first job..... as a parent I would be embarrassed not to financially support my child if they were in school, especially minors and I was able.

You do realize that 99% of college students are actually adults? Land the helicopter lady. My parents paid for my college tuition and I got a job for 15 hours a week for 'spending money'. Maybe your adult children could stand to learn some responsibility.

You need to land the helicopter. You can financially support your kids as by then they should have been taught financial responsibility. If you haven't taught your kid by then, you have bigger issues. I worked summers and my parents did not agree with me working during the school year, especially given my major required 24 hour a week internships for 3 years.

How do you teach someone financial responsibility by just giving them tons of money to spend?

You start very young and teach them. You set an example of how you live your life. When they are teens, you give them a credit card and teach them to use it responsibly. I spent far less alone than I did with my parents, especially my mom shopping. I never had an issue and we weren't going out to concerts and all that stuff in college. I have always been responsible with money and it was never an issue. If you are starting in college, you failed and its way to late at that point.

Again, SPENDING SOMEONE ELSE'S MONEY isn't "financial responsibility."

Also, FYI, I've hired over 200 college graduates in the last 25 years (consulting), and I would never hire anyone who didn't have paid work experience and only had internships, precisely because I would assume that they overestimated their own abilities in the interview. Like, for example, thinking that they were financially responsible when that only meant they hadn't overspent their allowance.

You do realize that work experience is often only gained through internships. I had both but the paid jobs were basic child care jobs and not career related. You could not get a career related job outside internships. I never had an allowance. My parents taught me to be reasonable. They paid for college and graduate school and my grandparents got me my first car since I needed it for an internship required by the school. With my first job, I saved most of the money in savings and a Roth Ira. Had a nice house downpayment when I needed it. You can assume anything you want but refusing to financially help your kids isn't always the best way to go about it. My parents taught me early about money, how to save and how to spend it. Its never been an issue.

I didn't say anything about a career related job. I said "work experience." I would hire someone who spent the summer working as a short order cook at the beach before I hired someone who worked on the Hill, because I know that you most likely got the Hill job through connections and could only afford it because Mommy and Daddy paid your rent. Young people who got internships through connections think too much of themselves and aren't interested in doing scut work, only want to sit in meetings with executives. People who worked in work-study jobs or have done retail or food service know how to buckle down and get stuff done, and generally have much better attitudes. (Not all of my colleagues have the same hiring preferences as me, so I have a pretty good observational set.)

[Anonymous]

I got $2500/mo when I was in college (private school in 2004).

[Anonymous]

I'm having an affair on my AP - does that make him an APAP??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We give our daughter $300/month.

For stud services?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At my Ivy I'd estimate that 30% of my graduating class (2009) carried the family Amex. My freshman roommate had her father's black card number memorized and he couldn't care less. How do you think these kids afford lavish spring breaks and random trips to music festivals. For the amount of money that gets talked about on this forum, people sure don't seem to have a clue how those who make that kind of money live.

Believe me, most of us have a clue. We just have absolutely no desire whatsoever to raise our kids that way.

More like you absolutely don't have the money to raise your kids that way. Enough with the moralizing.

Exactly.

And, as someone 10 years on who attended said schools, almost all of the kids who got bankrolled by their parents are doing wayyyyy better than the rest of us. Because when your parents are willing to pay for you to live in a NYC apartment for a summer with the best clothing, restaurants, etc- that's a major career/networking boost

[Anonymous]

I load my sons visa debit car with $600/mo. He goes to NYU. It's easy for him to blow through it there.

He's at NYU for fine art, so clearly we know that we are already blowing through money for the sake of education with a low possibility of financial return.