Zero. They have earned enough working to pay for anything beyond tuition and housing.

DS has always had a summer job, so has plenty saved up for college spending. He never spends all of it either.

However, we do match the amount he puts in a Roth to encourage saving, so in that respect we do add to his spending ability.

Anonymous wrote:You will see people say $0 and some say $1000 plus the ability to order off the family Amazon/Uber/Instacart accounts.

You need to let your family's budget drive this, not others'.

+1

Nothing. I can barely afford tuition, room/board. My DS has had a summer job for the last three years. He has more money than I do.

$0.

They should get a job.

None. Whatever she makes during the summer is her spending money for the year.

Anonymous wrote:We found that our students' needs changed - by year, by month. As a freshman - in a dorm on a meal plan, first month of school easily spent around $100 per month on "other stuff". Once got settled in - $25-60 per month. Mainly on weekend food or Uber. Other needs were direct billed to us (Amazon), books etc. Sophomore year similar but ended up in a more social dorm - so his weekend food costs went up. Junior year in an apartment and had his car - significant increase - in food, gas, and apartment needs. It will depend on where they go to school. I think you will get a better feel once your child is accepted and you ask other parents/students from that school.

I agree that it'll depend on each child's situation. My child's first two years were on campus, and she'd had a fairly well-paying summer job both summers, so I didn't give her any monthly allowance (we paid for a more-than-reasonable on-campus dining plan, and we covered her course books and her gas for her few long car trips since she is the authorized user on one of our credit cards).

Now that she's older and off-campus, I want her to get skilled at budgeting. I'm paying $400 a month, and that is to cover food, gas, and apartment chip-ins (toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies, etc.). It's actually cheaper than the most expensive dining plan, and the off-campus housing is cheaper than her on-campus was, so it's nice.

1250

The fun funds were mainly from our students' savings. We covered transportation, tuition/books, phone, computer etc. They had "start-up" funds mainly from HS graduation gifts and money from jobs. They figured out how much they could spend per month on the extras - some months it was more and some less. By the end of the first year - they had a much better feel for what they needed, and how much they had to earn to get through the next year. If there was an emergency need for funds - we supplied it with the promise of being reimbursed. Our kid doesn't spend much money on things - much of the big extras like clothes he negotiated as gifts for birthdays etc.

My plan is zero, but I'll pay for their education, meal plan, car, health insurance, cell phone bill, and travel to and from school. I won't pay for their beer money or designer clothes, though I will probably give them a lot of clothes or gift certificates to retail stores over the holidays. I would like them to have summer and school jobs. However, I had one pretty roommate whose wealthy parents took this approach and she ended up finding herself a much older sugar daddy, which is not what I want, so I guess I'll revisit this plan when the time comes.

We found that our students' needs changed - by year, by month. As a freshman - in a dorm on a meal plan, first month of school easily spent around $100 per month on "other stuff". Once got settled in - $25-60 per month. Mainly on weekend food or Uber. Other needs were direct billed to us (Amazon), books etc. Sophomore year similar but ended up in a more social dorm - so his weekend food costs went up. Junior year in an apartment and had his car - significant increase - in food, gas, and apartment needs. It will depend on where they go to school. I think you will get a better feel once your child is accepted and you ask other parents/students from that school.

You will see people say $0 and some say $1000 plus the ability to order off the family Amazon/Uber/Instacart accounts.

You need to let your family's budget drive this, not others'.

My kids pay for the extra stuff with funds from summer jobs and bday/holiday gifts. I still pay for most clothes/medical expenses/transportation home. They do not get a regular allowance.

Check the gazillion threads on this. I think there's even one in the Money forum.

Assuming your child has a full load of classes, meal plan is included for them for the bulk of their meals and you are not expecting them to have a part-time job? How much do you give them for random expenses and social time per month?