Budget for college girl

[Patience]

SnowWhite2, the sports thing really takes a lot of time. My daughter will be cheering for both football and basketball and with all the games and practices, it really isn't feasible for her to have a job during the school year, at least not if she wants to get good grades. As I mentioned earlier, she will be getting $100 per month for incidentals. She also has some savings from working this summer. I think (hope?) it will be enough.

 

[luv2mickey]

We have 2 in college and next year will have 3.

We are committed to get our kids through school without any debt (so we have to be mindful of every dollar) so we pay for tuition, room and board, books and any additional school expenses like parking passes, football tickets etc.

Their responsibility is to maintain their scholarships by keeping their grades up and to work in the summer for spending and gas money during the year. We sat down and estimated what they would budget to spend each week and multiplied times the amt of school then added a couple thousand and that is what they saved.

Now my dd will have no problem working in the summer her degree will not require summer internships, but my sons probably will, they have a group this summer working the Olympics in London. So we are preparing he might not be able to work every summer so then we will give him money.

My point being, everybody has different needs and you need to adjust according to your child's needs. It probably is a good idea though to not give them a bottomless supply of money. Make a budget together and let them manage the money and don't give them more if the run out.

Just my two cents

 

[clh2]

I am at dd's college orientation now. The parents had a "panel" discussion with the student aides from campus. The question came up about how much do they need per week-and the answers from the 11 students was between $10 and $20 per week. This did not include laundry costs, since those are handled through the university's quick-cash system.

 

[KarenAylwood]

My DD just finished her freshman year, here's what we did:

We paid for: Gas, Cell Phone, Car Insurance, Tuition, Housing, Books, Meal Plan, Laundry, sorority dues, plus $20 per week spending money.

Then we gave her a credit card which was to be used for parent approved purchases (fancy calculator needed at the last minute, toiletries, etc). She'd call and ask before making a purchase with the card.

The $20 per week was purely "fun money" as all her needs were covered. It wasn't nearly enough...most of her friends had way more money to play with and were eating out and shopping and such ALL the time. But $20 per week was all we would do, and we didn't allow her to work freshman year.

Now this year, her sophmore year, it will be a little different. We'll pay all the most of the same things except she will be in an apartment instead of the dorm so she'll use the credit card for her food purchases to cook at home. Any meals out will be on her. We'll put some money on the school meal plan too so she can have lunch on campus.

We're not giving her any spending money at all this year and she's already got a job lined up for 20 hours per week so that ought to cover things.

This is pretty much what my parents did for me when I was in school. I was always on campus and did join a sorority but due to the "brothel rule" already mentioned (yes here in VA too) the sorority/fraternity houses were owned by the college and managed by sorority house corporations so it was considered board through the school.

I bolded the CC part because I wanted to say that having the CC was a lifesaver and just peace of mind. I never abused it though- I know a lot of friends who probably would have. As soon as I turned 16 I was on a joint CC with my mom to start building my credit. 8 years out of school and still never had a dime of CC debt in my life! I thought it was a good lesson to learn what credit was all about at a young age. As soon as I graduated mom was off the card and I was on my own with it.

Oh and my senior year when I was 21 and going out a lot I was responsible for paying my own bar tabs with summer money

 

[Casperina]

Keep in mind, whatever money you send out will become "fun money". It is the fate of sending a kid off to college.
My mom lucked out by raising me frugally and keeping me at home at a local school

 

[punkin]

My DD just finished her freshman year, here's what we did:

We paid for: Gas, Cell Phone, Car Insurance, Tuition, Housing, Books, Meal Plan, Laundry, sorority dues, plus $20 per week spending money.

Then we gave her a credit card which was to be used for parent approved purchases (fancy calculator needed at the last minute, toiletries, etc). She'd call and ask before making a purchase with the card.

The $20 per week was purely "fun money" as all her needs were covered. It wasn't nearly enough...most of her friends had way more money to play with and were eating out and shopping and such ALL the time. But $20 per week was all we would do, and we didn't allow her to work freshman year.

Now this year, her sophmore year, it will be a little different. We'll pay all the most of the same things except she will be in an apartment instead of the dorm so she'll use the credit card for her food purchases to cook at home. Any meals out will be on her. We'll put some money on the school meal plan too so she can have lunch on campus.

We're not giving her any spending money at all this year and she's already got a job lined up for 20 hours per week so that ought to cover things.

I did the same thing with DD. In an emergency I want her to have access to credit. She has had a card on my Amex account since she was 16. No problems so far.

 

[addicted2dizney]

I did the same thing with DD. In an emergency I want her to have access to credit. She has had a card on my Amex account since she was 16. No problems so far.

same here... my DD has had the credit card since she started driving.. it comes in handy.. I will be glad she has it with her but she knows not to use with it without permission. so far so good here as well.

 

[danceintherain]

I had a job in college ($6/hr 10-20 hours a week, so a couple hundred dollars a month). With food plan and no car, I maybe spent $50/month on incidentals (usually less). Everything else was saved to pay for the next semester. I very rarely needed to ask my parents for money throughout the semester (though my parents were willing to send me whatever I needed). Granted I did live 2 hours from home, so I got to go on shopping trips whenever I was home, which was every couple months. Even so, I spent hardly anything while I was in college. I got married during my senior year, and except for tuition, my husband and I lived off of less than $1000/month.

Anyways, you should decide this with your kid. Though I doubt she'll "NEED" more than $100/month, it really depends on her. Discuss it with her, and figure out an amount you can both live with.
I have a brother who is only 15 months younger than me, and I can guarantee that it would never occur to him to TRY to live with only $50 for incidentals in a month. We have completely different personalities and lifestyles. I, in no respect, feel as if I was deprived while I was in college, and I always knew that if I wanted more I could call my parents, but it was a good learning experience for me to at least try to do it on my own as much as possible.

 

[MrsPete]

I don't want her to broke too participate in the social aspects of college. I also don't want to be too broke to pay the bills.

The things I remember most fondly from college didn't require money -- or they were very low-cost outings. My favorite memories of college involve just hanging around the dorms, attending free school concerts and dances, ball games, week-long games of Assasin, the time it snowed (a rarity for us) and we went sledding on cafeteria trays, fifty cent hot dogs every Sunday evening. We ate the great majority of our meals in the cafeteria, and when we went out it was almost always the $1 movie theater. We went camping a couple times; we could rent tents for $4 back then.

I think a great deal of this budget question has to do with how you've raised your child for the first 18 years of her life. My daughter has been raised knowing that all her needs will be met, but she hasn't always had the newest and the best of everything (i.e., she wants a Smart Phone, but I said too expensive). She's been raised frugally and won't find it a chore to continue to live that way in college. In contast, I was talking to a teacher friend whose daughter just finished her freshman year in college, and I asked her what I ought to know about money . . . she said it's been awful -- a constant issue between them (the mom is working a part-time job in addition to teaching school, but her daughter isn't working , not even this summer -- not the way we'd do things in our house). BUT I remember running into her last summer at the mall, and she was definitely decking her daughter's dorm room out in style. Now she's re-doing it all because she's leaving the dorms for an apartment and "needs" new stuff. She said the sorority was running her into the poor house, and she wished she'd allowed her daughter to join. Anyway, she complains, BUT that's the way she's always treated her daugther: She had a hand-me-down car at 16, a new car for graduation, always very nice new clothes. The girl's a nice kid, but she is spoiled rotten. So it's no surprise that she's continuing to allow her daughter to think she has a money tree in the backyard. Okay, I'm rambling: The point is that you've already raised your child to consider the costs of things, or you haven't -- and that plays into how you and she will view her college budget.

 

[ICF]

My parents didn't fund my fun while in college. That was my responisbility.

They sent me with the basics needed for daily life living in a dorm (where all freshman lived) -- like shampoo, deoderant, laundy stuff and the like. I was only a couple hour drive from home so if I came home or they came down to visit they would replenish what I needed.

However, the $$'s need for food, movies and any other "fun" came from my bank account. I worked once I turned 16 and during the summers in college. Once in awhile I might get $20 from my parents -- "just because" but otherwise I was on my own.

I think the only fun they paid for was the football/basketball ticket packages that you could purchase at the start of the school year.

 

[sk!mom]

Following this thread with interest as my DD16 will head off to college in 2 years. I'm curious as to whether very many expect their college students to work?

I live in a college town and it seems to me that the majority of college students have plenty of time for a job especially the first couple of years. My DD is in high school for right at 8 Hours a day. She then studies ballet for 2 to 3 hours every week day with rehearsal most Saturdays for 4-6 hours. She's in advanced classes and spends probably 10 - 12 hours a week on homework. So a full schedule. A full college load is normally 15 hours a week in class. We'd like to think that they'll spend loads of time studying but most spend lots of time socializing and then study/cram late at night. It just seems like she'll have plenty of time for a part time job and still plenty of study time. She's used to being busy. Actually thrives on being busy.

I do realize that some majors require lots of extra labs. Internships must be done for some majors but those are usually also later on.

I could be wrong but I'm hoping she can earn her own spending money in college.

 

[Patience]

We are not expecting our daughter to work, at least not her freshman year. Like your daughter, our daughter had a busy high school schedule and is accustomed to being busy. She cheered for her high school and she cheered all-stars too plus a part-time job. She will be cheering in college which means 3 mandatory weight training sessions per week plus practices and games, some of which she will be traveling to, and competitions. We just don't think it's wise for her to take on a job while she is adjusting to college and cheering.

I had a part-time job at the library in the eastern European collection development department when I was in college but I did not participate in a sport and I handled having a job just fine. I only worked about 10 hours per week though.

Bottom line- it depends!

 

[cornflake]

The things I remember most fondly from college didn't require money -- or they were very low-cost outings. My favorite memories of college involve just hanging around the dorms, attending free school concerts and dances, ball games, week-long games of Assasin, the time it snowed (a rarity for us) and we went sledding on cafeteria trays, fifty cent hot dogs every Sunday evening. We ate the great majority of our meals in the cafeteria, and when we went out it was almost always the $1 movie theater. We went camping a couple times; we could rent tents for $4 back then.

I think a great deal of this budget question has to do with how you've raised your child for the first 18 years of her life. My daughter has been raised knowing that all her needs will be met, but she hasn't always had the newest and the best of everything (i.e., she wants a Smart Phone, but I said too expensive). She's been raised frugally and won't find it a chore to continue to live that way in college. In contast, I was talking to a teacher friend whose daughter just finished her freshman year in college, and I asked her what I ought to know about money . . . she said it's been awful -- a constant issue between them (the mom is working a part-time job in addition to teaching school, but her daughter isn't working , not even this summer -- not the way we'd do things in our house). BUT I remember running into her last summer at the mall, and she was definitely decking her daughter's dorm room out in style. Now she's re-doing it all because she's leaving the dorms for an apartment and "needs" new stuff. She said the sorority was running her into the poor house, and she wished she'd allowed her daughter to join. Anyway, she complains, BUT that's the way she's always treated her daugther: She had a hand-me-down car at 16, a new car for graduation, always very nice new clothes. The girl's a nice kid, but she is spoiled rotten. So it's no surprise that she's continuing to allow her daughter to think she has a money tree in the backyard. Okay, I'm rambling: The point is that you've already raised your child to consider the costs of things, or you haven't -- and that plays into how you and she will view her college budget.

In general I don't disagree but I do think there's an aspect of what college/where that plays into this. A kid in college in the middle of NYC or Boston isn't going camping for fun and while there is free stuff to do, there's a TON more to do that requires $, just because it's in a city.

I don't think it means a kid wasn't raised frugally if they're in college in a city and want to take advantage of what the city offers - not in an extravagant way but theatre (student tickets are usually very cheap but they're still like $30 or whatever), concerts, museums, even eating out on the cheap and movies (there is nothing even close to a dollar theatre here), is more expensive than if a kid is in a school in which the school is the center of the town.

Again, I'm not saying people can't still be frugal, but there are different opportunities and if you're going to school someplace with particular things, might as well take advantage. Same as if a kid from the city goes to school in a rural area, I'd think they'd try camping or whatever the activities are in that area. If someone from Texas sends a kid to U Colorado at Boulder, there's got to be some budgeting for ski/snowboard gear/passes, etc., you know? The area, to an extent, I think dictates some level of spending, even with being frugal. Seems a waste to be in the area otherwise.