<p>sue</p>
<p>You’ve gotten a lot of GREAT input, and I think jmmom sums it up.</p>
<p>JMMOM - well said!</p>
<p>I am still trying to get past the 980 text mesages in 2 weeks. And I agree that jmmom is very wise.</p>
<p>Haha… I remember my “financial” talk. It was the day before I left to go off to school, my father pulled me into his office and gave me a credit card and said “Enjoy college son.” </p>
<p>My parents really didn’t mind me spending as long as I called them for approval before going on an elaborate spree. I never broke this trust.</p>
<p>cmbmom- 980 messages in 2 weeks? That’s nothing compared to that one girl who got the 300-page iPhone bill from AT&T which had somewhere around 30,000 messages. I’d count my blessings. LOL</p>
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<p>My father, on the other hand, gave me the credit card and said, “You can overspend. . . . once.” Same message I’ve given my d.</p>
<p>ScottZ, good for you. We gave our son a credit card, and he has never abused it either. Whenever he has made a significant purchase (ie: books for school), he has told us in advance. He does not tell us about minor purchases, but he also has paid his bill out of his checking account, and has always paid on time.</p>
<p>northeastmom… It sounds as if you raised your son to be very responsible with money. I know that growing up, my dad would often let me sit in on various meetings with bank managers and financial planners. I didn’t understand much, but it opened my eyes as to the immense responsiblity that comes with having money.</p>
<p>I’m a big advocate for teaching children about money early. It’s a shame that financial literacy among children in this country is so lacking.</p>
<p>Our older daughter has never thought much about money before. We have been giving her a monthly allowance to cover most of her spending and a credit card since she was Junior in HS. She’s never over spent, but she’s never saved much of her allowance either.</p>
<p>As a freshman this year, she still gets a monthly allowance, but I insisted on her getting a job at school. She is making $9/hour for 10 hours a week working in an office at her school. She’s been at school for 3 weeks now. I notice she is not spending money at all. She has also stopped asking us to buy her this and that. I visited her this weekend and took some of her friends out to eat. I said to her to go out to dinner or movies sometimes. She said she would have to work 3 hours to go out to eat once and we have already paid for the food. She even went down to a lower meal plan because she wasn’t eating at the dining room all the time (I got the refund, she didn’t).</p>
<p>I know work is cutting into her study/party time, but I think it’s a great way of teaching kids value of money.</p>
<p>My daughter told me that she could go through 100 msgs a day. I was shocked. She said that is only 10 conversations with 10 people a day. She said they never call each other any more. Texting is a way they keep track of each other. She now has an unlimited plan.</p>
<p>Both sons have each a credit card compliments of H and myself when they left for college. They would charge items which we would ordinarily buy for them like books and school supplies, and once in a blue moon, grocery items. The high priced items, besides books (more than $25) need preappproval first, but so far the boys have been very responsible. </p>
<p>We also opened them their checking accounts when they started driving. They prefer to use their debit cards than cash. I think most kids do. </p>
<p>The OP mentioned about his son’s preference for expensive clothes. I think kids now are really into these things. I am not saying that it is the way to go, but it is just the way things are. I am amazed to see a lot of college girls carrying designer handbags- those worth $250 >. ( Trust me, I know my purses). The boys are no different- shirts in the > $65 . Don’t even get me started with shoes.</p>
<p>Sue, good luck with your son. I hope one of the remedies posted by the ever helpful members of CC will work for you.</p>