My kid has access to our accounts (Amazon, AmEx, Uber, Starbucks, Spotify, Kohls, Macy's, Target, Costco) and can use as needed. He is however super thrifty because his friends are super thrifty and on budget. He has unlimited dining option on campus, tons of free guest passes and meal dollars. Every once in a while he will charge something to eat at night - pizza, coffee etc. He has $10K in his account. Every time some relative gave him money, we kept it. So when he went to college, we just opened up an account for him. Till now, most of the events he has gone to has cost him very little. He carries around $40 bucks on him. Does not vape/drink, does not have a car. So cost is very low for him.

He is very frugal and minimalistic. He buys from Old Navy and uses stuff that is several years old. He will buy gear and whatever he needs when he needs it, but he is basically not a very showoffy person.

Mine's fun budget is entirely her own money but our accounts are still linked so I can see her expenditures and honestly she spends barely anything. The occasional coffee/ice cream, maybe eating out a couple times a semester. Her big expense this year was some climbing gear. That said, her college has great food and her ECs are quite well funded so she has a busy and happy life without needing to go off campus for much.

Not much. She uses her own money and is thrifty.

So far only about $50. DC got an on-campus job now and will use their earned money for any additional expenditures. We only cover Tuition, Room & Board and Lab fees.

Anonymous wrote:My college kids get $500 a month for food, etc.

They spend their own money on "fun", though I will pay for something like concert tickets, a football game, etc.

$500?! Do they not eat at a dining hall? how extravagant

No idea. They use their AmEx and bank debit cards. Both are on auto-pay and auto-fill by us. Neither seems to have reached any kind of extreme. They spend what they need to spend. I know when I was in college nearly 20-30 years ago I was spending $50-100 a week on "fun" activities. I presume our kids are paying more given the passage of years and inflation.

Anonymous wrote:No idea. We give $80 per month and don’t ask questions.

I have questions

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No idea. My kid uses the money their earned working for these sort of expenses.

+1

+1 yep. that was always our "deal" with our kids - we'll cover the "big" expenses (tuition, room, board); your summer earnings (and earnings from a job during the school year, if you so choose) go towards discretionary spending. they each made probably $5000 or so per summer, and have never asked for more...so...

Anonymous wrote:No idea. My kid uses the money their earned working for these sort of expenses.

+1

Anonymous wrote:No idea. My kid uses the money their earned working for these sort of expenses.

Same

My college kids get $500 a month for food, etc.

They spend their own money on "fun", though I will pay for something like concert tickets, a football game, etc.

No idea. My kid uses the money their earned working for these sort of expenses.

No idea. We give $80 per month and don’t ask questions.

This is really dependent on the student and their personality and means and the university they attend. My kids spent quite a bit less than I see on other threads on this topic. I think they each spent about $1k for their freshman year. They ate on campus and did clubs and other activities on campus. That doubled for my eldest by the time they were a senior. Covid interrupted my youngest, but I think under “normal” circumstances it probably would have at least doubled. This includes what they spent on fun stuff and on CVS and other small toiletries that ran out.

Others on here report students spending $250-$500 a month and up.

Eating out, going out, concessions, etc??