Our kids aren't at this stage yet, but when I went to college, I had my parents' credit card and was allowed to use it for reasonably necessary expenses. I wasn't going to the club, but I could buy snacks, meals out, clothes, stuff like that.

Anonymous wrote:Funny how the pendulum swings both ways, isn't it?

We have aimed for the middle.

Funny how the pendulum swings both ways, isn't it?

Our high school kids do their own laundry, grocery shop, clean up, cook some meals, and have had summer jobs. THey pay for their own gas for their cars, drive themselves to dentist appointments and the like and pick up our youngest from her practices. When they earn the money they think differently about money. My parents babied us, never had us work, and I was quite helpless even when I graduated from college. I don't want my kids to be that way. I want them to have lots of experience working and navigating the real world.