Creating a spending budget for college freshmen

[DisneyCrazy2]

My DD will be a freshmen in college in the fall and we are beginning to work on planning her budgets. How much do you think is reasonable for a weekly spending budget for entertainment, incidentals, and at least one meal? Her meal plan provides for most of her actual meals through swipes and dollars for the on-the-go and mini-marts.

Our goal is to have her saving enough money through her summer job to cover her spending money for the school year.

Thanks in advance for your advise!

 

[A.Mickey]

I really have no idea, but $50 a week sounds good. This way she can learn to budget her money.
Movies $10...Eating Meal Out $6 -$10. Then she can save her money if she needs to get a bigger purchase. Maybe this is too much, but it sounds about right.

 

[DisneyCrazy2]

I really have no idea, but $50 a week sounds good. This way she can learn to budget her money.
Movies $10...Eating Meal Out $6 -$10. Then she can save her money if she needs to get a bigger purchase. Maybe this is too much, but it sounds about right.

I was thinking about the same but I have no idea if I am off-base.

 

[stefplus3]

Where is she going to school? We're just outside Boston and the movie tickets around here are $12. I was thinking at least $100/wk. If she goes out to eat with friends once a week that would be $20 right there, I think $50 is too low.

Would this money be for her everyday needs like shampoo/lotion/makeup/laundry, etc?

 

[DisneyCrazy2]

Where is she going to school? We're just outside Boston and the movie tickets around here are $12. I was thinking at least $100/wk. If she goes out to eat with friends once a week that would be $20 right there, I think $50 is too low.

Would this money be for her everyday needs like shampoo/lotion/makeup/laundry, etc?

She is going to school in Indiana. I am hoping to stock her with toiletries but yes, it would cover everyday needs if needed.

 

[delmar411]

She is going to school in Indiana. I am hoping to stock her with toiletries but yes, it would cover everyday needs if needed.

So she will have housing/utilities/99% of food covered? She just needs running around money?

$50 is plenty. Is she going to want to pledge anywhere? That might cost something too but I'm not sure.

 

[DisneyCrazy2]

So she will have housing/utilities/99% of food covered? She just needs running around money?

$50 is plenty. Is she going to want to pledge anywhere? That might cost something too but I'm not sure.

She will be living on campus so housing is covered.

 

[delmar411]

She will be living on campus so housing is covered.

From my experience, I can't see where she'd be hurting for money. As long as she isn't a major shopper (like for clothes), there really won't be a lot she needs to buy.

I can go to a movie here for $5. Heck the dollar theater is .75 on Mondays.

If she's in a college town then prices will be a bit higher all over, but not by much. Most of the kids are going to be on tight budgets or just flat broke.

 

[ah1126]

I think $50 a week would be good. Schools have lots of cost friendly activities. Maybe you could also set aside a monthly amount for toiletries or other things she might need.
Don't forget about laundry costs!!!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) We completely pre-paid our two granddaughters' college with a 529 plan.
. . . tuition, books, all fees
. . . laptop, equipment, class-required supplies, misc supplies/stationery
. . . room & board
. . . weekly meal plan
2) Granddaughter #1 goes this fall.
3) We will also provide for incidentals *

4) We have already put aside $1,700/year per granddaughter:
. . . $25/week for one non-campus meal like Applebee's/Chili's/etc
. . . $20/week for partying, such as drinks & snacks
. . . $30/week for incidentals, like gas/grooming/laundry/etc
5) We also will give her $30/month for a week-end drive home per month.


* We will program our bank electronic bill-pay to deposit her weekly allowance
automatically each week into her account at school. This way we do not
give her one lump sum. When I went to school and budget was a choice on a
test, not something in real life.

 

[newdrama12]

The most that I spent a week was $30, but I didn't go out to eat once a week or go to the movies very often. There also wasn't a lot of entertainment type stuff to do in my Indiana college town anyway, so I spent most of my free time hanging out on campus.

 

[Princess_Meghan <3]

I'm currently a college freshman, and I go to school right by Washington DC, so my budgeting may be a little different. I work part time, so I use that money to cover my needs.

I find that I typically spend around $100 a month- I budget my money pretty tightly, and give myself a certain amount of money a month towards different activities, like a going out with friends budget, transportation budget, birthday budget, personal budget, etc.

Also, you may want to consider if she'll need to pay for any type of transportation- I know that I typically spend around $10 a month on metro fare, give or take a little depending on how busy my month is.

 

[eduk8r26]

My sister gives my niece $100 a month. That covers all incidentals. She goes to UofA in Tucson and comes home frequently--she only lives about 100 miles away. When she is home her mom stocks her up on groceries and snacks and stuff. She just got a job, so don't know if the allowance will continue.

 

[Psychodisney]

I'm interested in this too. My DS actually said, "What will I need money for?" $50 is a lot more than I spent 25 years ago, but that was $25 years ago. What do concerts(big names) on campus generally cost?

 

[Green Tea]

I think she needs to figure it out as she goes. By the end of the summer she will know what she has to live on, fun wise, for the year. It will be hard for her to make assumptions now since she doesn't have a figure, and I think it is her choice anyway.

 

[punkin]

My DD18 lives in a dorm and gets 3 meals per day. I do not provide her with any spending money. If she wants anything extra (like movies and parties and whatever) she has to pay for it. She babysits, her grandfather slips her some cash occasionally, she has birthday gifts. If her money is not enough, it is not my problem. I am paying for college, books, and dorm food. Everything else is not my problem. Obviously she gets no allowance from me.

Oh, and this semester she paid for her own books too (because she had the money).

 

[MUFFYCAT]

My DD has been living on campus for 2 years with her meals and laundry paid in the tution. I put money in her school connections flex spending account in September and that's it. The account covers extra books, misc items she buys on campus.
Her gas,entertainment expenses, etc. are her responsibility.

 

[Purseval]

My son goes to Georgia Tech in Atlanta. All expenses are covered. I gave him an ATM card and automatically deposit $25 in every Thursday. If some sort of emergency came up where he needed more I can have more money in his account within minutes. He graduates in May and managed to survive 4 years on that amount. He's not there to be entertained in the city he's there to get an education. Between free activities on campus and student discounts in town he's done quite well for himself.

 

[rynosmom]

My DS19 is in his 2nd year of college and I think $50 is plenty when you are living in a dorm, on a meal plan and if laundry is included in the tuition. The Movie Theather and Bowling Alley that is not too far from DS college offers Student nights where they offer great discounts. The College it self has many movie nights, Bingo nights and socials that are real cheap.

 

[Ava]

My DD18 lives in a dorm and gets 3 meals per day. I do not provide her with any spending money. If she wants anything extra (like movies and parties and whatever) she has to pay for it. She babysits, her grandfather slips her some cash occasionally, she has birthday gifts. If her money is not enough, it is not my problem. I am paying for college, books, and dorm food. Everything else is not my problem. Obviously she gets no allowance from me.

This is what my parents did when I lived in a dorm & had a meal plan. They'd give me a bit of money occasionally for essentials like laundry/toiletries, but other than that I had to use what I made from my work study (which was around $200/month if I'm remembering right) as my "fun money." My sophomore year I also got a part-time job, which was good for me because not only did I have more money but I also had less time to party.