College Kids -- spending money?

[soniam]

I knew people in college whose parents paid for tuition/fees and the dorms, including food. They weren't given any extra money, and they weren't allowed to work. The dorms didn't provide meals on Sundays, so they either didn't eat or were at the mercy of their friends' kindness. They also had to buy school supplies, like pens, pencils, and notebooks, for which they didn't get money either. I remember giving one friend toothpaste, because she didn't have any money. In fact, she routinely pawned gifts to get money for necessities, like new underwear. They need some spending money, because stuff comes up.

I liked what my family did. $20,000 had been set aside for me when oil had been found on my grandparents' farm. That money went into my personal savings account,when I started college in 1990. I also received $500/month for living expenses. I paid for everything with that monthly money and my savings account, including tuition, rent, food, clothes, and gas for my car. I wasn't allowed to work while taking classes and was still required to make good grades, mostly As. I actually had money leftover from my savings after graduating; I did go to a fairly cheap in-state school though. It was very empowering and a great life lesson to learn to manage my own money and budget with a large amount of money.

 

[Katie]

We pay for our sons tuition, books , rent, car insurance, and give him 500 month for food and anything else he may need. He is a sophomore so he is staying in apartment with three other boys. His rent is 600 a month that includes all utilities ect.

At the beginning of each semester, we put an additional 1000 in his account for FRAT costs, clothing allowance, ect.

At this rate, I tell my husband he might be a professional student because he doesn't have any bills and has money for just about anything he might want.

He usually does get a summer job, but that usually goes towards his activities during the summer.

He has two more years of undergrad and then three years of grad school. We he graduates, I retire!

 

[roadtripper]

Maybe a little OT, but here's our situation. DD got a full tuition scholarship to a private college worth 44K/year (and climbing!). We pay room and board. She is responsible for everything else, and works on campus and in the summer for spending money. The deal is that if she needs to ask us for money, she owns that year's student loan--otherwise we will pay it for her as a reward for getting such a great scholarship. Two out of 3 years she has "needed" money, so she will take on the loan debt. Despite coming from a frugal household, she simply cannot seem to get the hang of the money thing. Thus, she will have debt when she should have none. Granted she goes to a school with a LOT of wealthy students who seems to have endless streams of money, but I can't figure out how to get her to be more responsible. Makes me crazy.

 

[lam0037]

I'm a senior this year and for the first time living off campus so it's different this year than previous years. When I lived in the dorm, the scholarships I have cover my tuition plus housing, the $990 dining plan and still had about $1000 direct deposited each semester. This money went to books and my sorority dues. I was given about $150-$200 a month to pay for food (on campus dining closes around 7pm on the weekends) and other stuff, including sorority shirts, going out, etc.

This year I'm living off campus so after tuition and the required $300 dining plan, I'm getting around 4 grand deposited each semester, again pays for my apartment rent an utilities, books, dues, and covered my previous semesters of summer classes. I get $200 a month now and my mom helped paid for stuff for my apartment.

I'm double majoring and have two minors so I'm taking about 18 hours every semester and volunteer weekly so I normally don't have time for a job to make my own spending money.

 

[Claw]

We paid for all school expenses, housing ect. Opened a credit card in her name, in which the bill would come to our address to pay for her to charge any tolitries, groceries, emergency( and start responsible credit card use) .Our DD worked in highschool and summers ,saved enough to have spending $ and sorority fees. She worked a campus job as well after freshman year. Did not give her a set amount of extra $. If she needed something she knew she could ask and we would determine if we would help her with .

 

[findmewdw]

Interesting thread. Our DD is a sophomore at a public university. We pay her tuition (she does have a partial scholarship), dorm, dining, books, and take care of car/insurance. She works summers, breaks, and is a supervisor for intramurals on campus throughout the year. She manages and budgets extra wants from her working income. I have been very proud of her. On top of work, she has managed to maintain 4.0. Hoping she continues to budget well throughout her life.

 

[thr33boys]

I graduated with my Bachelor's Degree in 1995, I paid everything myself. Mind you, I did live at home so there was no housing expense but tuition, books, transportation, and spending money was on my dime. While I do plan on helping my children with their education costs, I don't think I'd pay for all of it as I really think there is a lot to be learned from having to take responsibility yourself.

 

[::Snow_White::]

I live at home and my parents buy the groceries. Otherwise I pay my bills, tuition, commute, books, spending money, pretty much everything else. I take 20 hours a semester and work PT/FT at my job for 3 years.

 

[njcarita]

zero..... at that age they can work for their spending money...

 

[scrapquitler]

Those of you with kids off in college...do you give them some spending money each month? My daughter is going to college in the Fall and I'm just trying to prepare my budget! She will be staying in the dorms and will have the unlimited meal plan. She will have her car on campus, but I don't think she'll use it often that gas will be a big issue.

I'm thinking for little odds and ends....

What would be considered reasonable? $100/month, $200/month? more/less?

TIA!

My daughter spent about $250 last semester (her freshman year). With that money, she went out to eat a few times with friends, movies a couple times, she bought snacks off campus, a few small Christmas presents, one extra book she needed for a class, a ticket to a play that she needed to see for a class, and a few school supplies. Oh, and she paid for the laundry she did on campus. We purchased all her other books, toiletries, snacks, etc.

I gave her $150 at the start of this semester, and she had to spend $70 of it for some photocopy packet requried for one of her classes. Other than that, she says she has only spent about $20 so far.

We pay for her room & board, books and expenses. She doesn't have a car (or a license).

She is on a full tuition academic scholarship which prohibits any job of more than 12 hours a week during the semester. She is a theater major and as such is required to participate in all the on campus productions. Since she does that, she spends a LOT of hours in the shop building sets, arranging lighting, etc and that takes up any time she could possibly devote to working those 12 hours that she would be allowed to work. And she doesn't have a 'job' that pays during the summer because she participates in several different theater organizations and it's unpaid work, but helping to build her resume for later.

 

[leebee]

We never give DD21 actual money, but we have an "understanding" about what we'll cover and what is her responsibility. DD is a senior this year, living in an apartment. She has loans, scholarship, a partial tuition waiver (DH is adjunct faculty), and we make ends meet with the University (so she doesn't have unsubsidized student loan debt) to cover tuition and fees. She is taking 15 credits on campus and trains in the dance studio for approximately 15 hours a week, works in the campus writing center 2 hours a week, and has a part-time job. She worked full time last summer, but before that she didn't have a job of any kind. She had a GREAT job last summer, saved a bunch of money, and is paying her rent this year. She has a credit card in her name and dad's, so we get the bill, and we pay for medical stuff (like prescriptions and contacts), books, food/groceries/toiletries, clothes, etc. She pays for extras like sorority stuff, supper out with friends, part of her phone bill. We also cover her car insurance and gas, as she mostly uses the car to get to either work or the dance studio. Having said this, we'll spot her a bit of money every once in awhile by looking over the credit card and deciding if we want to pay for that extra dinner out with her boyfriend or some other something. We know how hard she is working, she keeps her grades up (3.72), and it's nice to give her a special treat sometimes!!

 

[disneycat321]

My mom contributed a lot to my (private) college, and I had a TON of financial aid. And I now pay the loans. (Private university tuition...bleh.)

As for other expenses, I paid for those, including my car payment. (Though my mom did pay for my gas to drive to visit home.) I worked full time during the summers and part time during the school years during all 4 years of college. I still managed to graduate summa cum laude, so it definitely didn't affect my grades. I still had time for social stuff, but I couldn't waste tons of time like lots of the friends I had in college.

I have never really understood the "school is their job" and "their focus is earning good grades" mentality. The job market right now is TOUGH, and really that is an understatement. I know lots of people my age (late 20s) who still don't have a great job or career and are living at home because they can't afford to move out. Kids graduating with no work experience are at an ENORMOUS disadvantage. Employers are not just looking at grades - they want to see work experience and responsibility. I truly believe I never would have gotten my first job in a very competitive market without the experience I had working during college in my field.

 

[clh2]

Regardless of who pays for it, spending money is a nessecity. At my DD's school, that is probably about $15 or $20 a week. We would define spending money as money needed for entertainment and going out to eat.

I do not mind paying for her spending money, but then again, this year, DD is a junior, she is paying her rent, and her share of utilities, food and sorority fees from her fall and spring part-time internship.

I clearly have the better end of the bargain.

 

[christineann]

Well said, disneycat321. If you don't want your child to work during high school or college, that's fine, but getting good grades is a responsibility, not a job, and the very large number of students who work and go to school (and most are able to keep their grades up, even in challenging majors) would say so. Whatever works for the student and his/her family - go for it, but I would call it what it is.

My kids worked in high school and college, graduated with honors in challenging majors, and are working in their major fields. They had no trouble finding career jobs upon graduation due to their grades and their work experience. They are no different from many, many students and graduates.

 

[Lisa71]

I went to college and worked and it was hard. I was in nursing school and the one I attended has a great reputation but working was one of the reasons students dropped out. Too much to do. I was lucky and worked a mall job 12 hours a week and then more summer and Christmas. Even those few hours took away from study. I was allowed summer jobs, tutoring and babysitting during high school and was an honor student. If your student is in a hard major and taking a full load the less work the better. We all have to work. My kids will too..but some money to make it easier would have been a great gift.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Our DS20 is a Jr. at a state university. He is living off campus this semester with a monthly rent of $520, his monthly utilities are between $20 and $30. We provide him $1,000 per month to cover rent, food, and any entertainment he has $ left over for. He pays $5,000/year to us to help him learn that his education has a value, so he works quite hard every summer and interns when he can over break. He will graduate with his Bachelor's debt free. We will have to see how the college fund holds up for grad school. If he stays where he is, grad school is a 15 month (4 semester) program, so that would definitely help with living expenses. With the money we have saved, his $5,000 yearly, and cash bankrolling the rest, we cover tuition, monthly living expenses, books, etc. When he was in the dorm we funded the school "card" that he used for laundry, on campus printing, etc.

 

[mistysue]

I like how my parents handled my older siblings. They gave them a budget. The student then paid their tuition, rent, meal plan, etc. and what was left was their spending money.
For me they told me not to worry about it then simply paid whatever the school sent as a bill and I was on my own... that was fine the year I lived on campus with a meal plan. That year I got a little job for 6 hours a week and was fine. The following year I tried to save them money by moving to a different dorm that had a kitchen because I could buy food and cook. They were happy that I saved them money, but wanted to just pay the school's bill and as I was leaving I found out they weren't giving me any of the savings. (NOT a cool surprise, I had told them what I was doing and they didn't say anything which I thought meant I would get the money as all three of my siblings had) That made me realize just how silly it sounds to give the same spending cash no matter what they spend on school plus room and board- what a great incentive to live at the most expensive option with the biggest meal plan out there!

 

[mj70148]

I was in undergrad and grad school from 2005-2012. I had about $40k saved from my parents by the time I went to undergrad, which took me almost all the way thru getting my bachelor's. I had to take out loans for all of grad school. I paid for all my rent, tuition, books, food, and gas with that money. My parents did put $100/mo into my checking acct to supplement food, clothes, unexpected bills, travelling, and "fun". If I wanted to spend more than the $100 each month on all those things (which it was), I had to use the money out of the $40k savings (so this is why the 40k didn't end up paying my entire way thru undergrad- I spent a lot of money on having fun and doing things - don't regret it a bit!). As far as when I took out student loans, I took out as much as I thought I'd need for my lifestyle during grad school. I didn't do much, but I wanted to make sure I had enough to live a little. So I ended up taking out more than I "needed" for my basics, but that was my choice, and I knew that I'd be able to pay it off in X number of years with the job I now have

I think I'll do something similar for my kids - give them a certain amount per month but not enough to cover everything they need/want - they can use their own money (savings or job) or take out an increased amt of loans to cover the rest. (although I'm not sure how I'd approach it if my child was choosing a degree that isn't a guaranteed job right out of school) - loans shouldn't be taken lightly if you aren't 100% sure you can pay them off!

 

[stitchlovestink]

The kids lived off-campus at their respective schools. No meal plans. The Money Fairy put $200 in their account every week. This was in addition to covering their rent, books, tuition and vehicle expenses.

As you can tell, it can vary widely from one family to the next.

Wow, that is very generous. I don't spend $200 a week feeding our family of 3 adults.

 

[Pigeon]

Mine is going to college next year and I'm wondering the same thing. I do not want her to have a job during the school year her freshman year. She might try to be an RA after that, but who knows. She had a summer job last year and will also going forward, but we expect her to contribute most of what she earned toward tuition and we'll give her some spending money. She's living on campus with a meal plan. I'm figuring $200/month and we'll revisit after a bit, but I hope to see more replies that are actually helpful from people who provide spending money to get a handle on how much it is likely to be.

Her college is small and surrounded by a rural area, although there is a bus to a nearby city for weekend activities. I'm figuring to mostly cover toiletries and a little fun. I'll continue to buy clothing as birthday and Christmas gifts.