College spending money

[Myra]

How much does everyone give their college student for purely "pocket money" each month? THis is for a freshman guy who will be living in the dorms with a meal plan.

 

Just curious as I'm trying to figure out finances for next year!!!

 

Myra

[Jane in NC]

I'll refer you to an old thread so you can get a variety of opinions.

 

There are variables that depend upon the student and the college itself. My low maintenance kid rarely spends money. His college requires a meal plan which comes with x-number of meals and y-number of dollars. The latter can be used at the campus store to buy snacks, toothbrushes and staples--all of the basic stuff a college student might need--as well as late night sandwiches in the campus diner.

 

Most colleges have free movies, free sporting events, free concerts for students. My son tells me that students in his circle who seem to need more pocket money are those with fancy coffee drink addictions. Of course, my son's idea of a good time is going to a library used book sale, so your mileage might vary! :lol:

[AngieW in Texas]

We transferred over $25/month for spending money. That's what her allowance had been for several years.

[Gwen in VA]

I don't want to be the person telling my kid how often he can have pizza not from the cafeteria or how many movies he can see per month off-campus, so we wanted our kids to be independent as far as pocket-money goes.

 

Each of our kids was responsible for their own living expenses above and beyond room and board.

 

If a child has a job the summer before he goes off to college, he can have enough in the bank to cover basic expenses. An on-campus job usually doesn't quite cover expenses for the semester (depending, obviously, on how much a student works), but an on-campus job plus a part of the savings from the summer allow a child to be "independent" as far as pocket money goes.

[Miss Marple]

I don't want to be the person telling my kid how often he can have pizza not from the cafeteria or how many movies he can see per month off-campus, so we wanted our kids to be independent as far as pocket-money goes.

 

Each of our kids was responsible for their own living expenses above and beyond room and board.

 

If a child has a job the summer before he goes off to college, he can have enough in the bank to cover basic expenses. An on-campus job usually doesn't quite cover expenses for the semester (depending, obviously, on how much a student works), but an on-campus job plus a part of the savings from the summer allow a child to be "independent" as far as pocket money goes.

 

This is pretty much how we went about it as well. My boys all worked through high school and the money they saved is giving them spending money in college. We make sure that they have money for essentials (gas for the trip home, haircuts, groceries - snacks for the dorm). Movies, golf, dining out, etc. comes out of their savings.

[Miss Marple]

I'll refer you to an old thread

 

Most colleges have free movies, free sporting events, free concerts for students. My son tells me that students in his circle who seem to need more pocket money are those with fancy coffee drink addictions. Of course, my son's idea of a good time is going to a library used book sale, so your mileage might vary! :lol:

 

:iagree: My sons spend very little money. DS2 discovered that his "points" (money he can spend at the snack bars around campus) disappeared quickly when he frequented the campus Starbucks :D Now he asks me to pickup Starbucks drinks at Sams Club and he takes them back to his dorm every few weeks. I have been so surprised at the number of FREE events available to him. And he takes advantage of only a few of them.

[Brenda in MA]

I don't want to be the person telling my kid how often he can have pizza not from the cafeteria or how many movies he can see per month off-campus, so we wanted our kids to be independent as far as pocket-money goes.

 

Each of our kids was responsible for their own living expenses above and beyond room and board.

 

If a child has a job the summer before he goes off to college, he can have enough in the bank to cover basic expenses. An on-campus job usually doesn't quite cover expenses for the semester (depending, obviously, on how much a student works), but an on-campus job plus a part of the savings from the summer allow a child to be "independent" as far as pocket money goes.

 

This is how we've handled it as well. Ds is responsible for earning money in the summer that will fund the purchase of his textbooks and pizzas, notebooks, etc. He was also able to get a couple hours/wk job on campus to supplement his summer earnings.

 

Brenda

[JFSinIL]

Will he have to pay for his cell phone? Occasional fast food runs? Is he an athlete who will need new track shoes, etc. frequently? Laundry? Notebooks, pens, etc. can add up, too.

 

My son has work study simply to cover books and all other non-tuition expenses. When they have to earn the money, they tend to NOT run to Taco-Bell or Pizza Hut as often as when it is on the parental dime . ;)

[J-rap]

We never gave our children any spending money, same as others here. They've all had jobs where they earn their own spending money...which would cover things like coffee and eating out, movies, concerts, taxi or bus fare, haircuts, drug store shopping (shampoo, soap, etc.), any little extras for their room, any clothes shopping beyond the very basics. We did pay for the expensive choir dress required, and continue to pay for the cell phone plan -- which is part of our overall family phone plan. They're all pretty frugal.

[AK_Mom4]

DD18 has been working part-time this year and plans to work full-time this summer to build up her bank account. This will cover her spending $$ and living expenses for college in the fall. She has scholarships and a college fund for the books/tuition/room&board.

 

We are budgeting to pick up the airfare tab for her to come home for Christmas/summers since she will be going out of state (and airfare is ridiculously expensive.

 

DS20 pays for all his own stuff, including airfare, though we do send care packages occasionally just for fun. We did pick up a couple of airfares his freshman year because he had lots of extra expenses (laundry, etc) and hadn't built up his savings yet. He gets to come home more often than DD18 will (Thanksgiving/spring break) because he gets more time off - DD18 will be able to go to her grandparents or Aunts for the shorter breaks, though.

[TravelingChris]

We started with 100 a month. She isn't on a full meal plan, just a plan that pays for 2 meals a day so we did expect her to be buying food. She also needs money for prescriptions, toiletries, and the big expense is gas. She comes home about three to four times a semester and it takes one and a half tanks for round trip. Of course with gas prices rising, it costs more now. However her prescriptions are now nothing since we have crossed over into catastrophic (Easy for us to do and we do it every year since the military system for active duty is maximum of $1K of medical costs per year though are dental plan has no max and isn't very good).

 

We do look like we are spending more than others but we don't have any travel costs other than the monthly allowance and she also buys some books and supplies from those. She hardly uses any money at all for entertainment. It is all supplies, food, gas, and medications. Why I said we started with 100 is that with gas costs and also her needing more food, we have occasionally had to give her more.