<p>We don’t provide an allowance, either - but there are expenses which we didn’t/don’t expect our kids to cover, such as air transportation at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and spring break; contact lenses; prescription medications; why can’t I think of the other stuff? Neither had/will have a car at school, so gas isn’t a big expense, though they do regularly give their chauffeuring friends cash for gas. </p>
<p>The oldest probably spent $50 weekly in Williamsburg, VA; the middle one will probably spend a bit more in Nashville. They do earn their spending money, but seem to have enough of it and manage it well. If they ran out, we would certainly hear about it. Oldest d covered her $50 monthly cell phone bill until a few months ago, when her dad apparently told her he’d pay the bill as long as she called home regularly. Clueless as always, I thought our relationship had taken a giant leap forward.</p>
<p>On clothing: we provide what I consider to be the basics (outerwear, boots, sneakers, several pairs of jeans each year, underwear, a modest variety of sweaters and shirts, and one good “interview” kind of outfit with dress shoes). They have to cover the fun stuff, though we did split the prom expenses with them in high school.</p>
<p>Haven’t had time to read through the whole thread though I will when I can. But I did want to comment on who pays for trips home. </p>
<p>We do. I never want my kids to not come home when they want to, because of the money. Now they understand that they need to get their act together early enough for us to get a decent price, and that if they choose to make a last minute change and we are charged, that we may ask them to help pay. But they know they can always come home, and that plane fare is not a reason not to!</p>
<p>D is in southern California and has a car, she pays the increase in her insurance & her cell bill out of the money we give her (I deduct that ($125) before giving her the $!!!) and that leaves her with $135/mo</p>
<p>Her tuition & books are paid for and we fund the amount of a dorm housing assignment, even if she lives off campus. She can get more roomates and make money or have fewer and make up the difference herself. we are trying to allow her to grow in her financial decisions and realise everything is a choice. She had some trouble in high school keeping enough money on hand, so she definitely needs some limitations while learning. </p>
<p>We also pay any medical expenses and extra lab fees which arise. I even told her I would pay for yoga/exercise classes to motivate staying in shape :D</p>
<p>This has left her perpetually short of cash, but not desperate. She has frequently run short at the end of a month, but survived. I can see her debit card activity and know she has gone out to eat more than I do, s oI am not feeling sorry for her- they need to be worse off in college than when they graduate Otherwise, how will they feel good about what they’ve done…she sees many kids with carte blanche on dad’s cc and is not impressed wtih their immaturity.</p>
<p>We also fund 2-3 round trip flights home and I generally visit once a year whilst dad goes down 2-4 times (he has family there)</p>
<p>PS: Our D’s in high school have received $175/mo beginning in 9th grade. From that they pay all clothing and shoes and “fun.” We also offer many opportunities to complete extra chores for $, should they feel deprived.</p>
<p>We pay for all school-related clothes- sports gear, uniform stuff, dance shoes, etc.</p>
<p>We add a bolus of cash in senior spring to pay for prom/grad extras, but they choose how to spend it.</p>
<p>I swear I save money, best of all, if I am cash poor the week they want something, I don’t stress it. D2 & D3 have become quite frugal, excellent shoppers. They like the same brands as every one else, but are learning to discern. One girl received Manohlo Blahnik (sp?) pumps for prom- that is the $500-$800 shoe brand made pop culture famous by Sex in the City…my girls were not impressed, they thought it was “lame” to spend that on shoes and thought the girl was silly to think any one else would be impressed…“it’s not like she earned the money herself, mom, she just talked her dad into it!”</p>
<p>So, having their own budget in high school seems to give them a great deal of experience and helps them determine their personal spending priorities.</p>
<p>If you have a spender child, do not give it all up front, pay monthly or quarterly!</p>
<p>somemom,
you know, when they say something like this - “it’s not like she earned the money herself, mom, she just talked her dad into it!” - you know you’ve being doing something right!</p>
<p>Allowances at our house stop when they go off to college. We pay for anything needed to set up the dorm room; we pay tuition, room and board after merit aid and student loans; we pay car insurance. Anything above that comes from jobs they have held since turning 16 and have hopefully been saving extensively from all along, plus jobs they are expected to hold while at college - maybe 8-10 hours a week.</p>
<p>We gave DS about $1000 all year and that was in convenience points on his college card for things like books. Since we pay tuition, fees, room, board, all travel expenses, cell phone, clothes, and anything needed initially for the dorm (minus merit aid)…we just don’t pay anything else. All recreational money comes from summer jobs, and a job at school (about 8 hours per week). He’s in an expensive urban area and has NOT complained one bit about this arrangement.</p>
<p>Beachy, I am with you. There may be some stuff my kids cannot do as a result of working to have money, but there is a whole lot of stuff I don’t dream of doing so I can pay the tuition.</p>
<p>D doesn’t even have a car so no car ins
I moved out when I was 17 and have been on my own since then, perhaps that is why I dont pay for entertainment or most items except for gifts now that she is in college.
We do pay for our portion of tuition as well as taking out loans to meet that obligation, so I feel our financial portion is more than covered
If we had a lot more money perhaps we would pay more, if she had chosen to go to a school that was $10,000 instead of $40,000 we would probably have a few extra dollars to spend on more frivolous items
But we have always lived fairly frugally and so it doesn’t really put that much of a dent in our monthly budget.
It helps that we live in a fairly gorgeous area, so just walking outdoors is very pleasant. we like our entertainment cheap!</p>
<p>We do not provide an allowance. We pay (after fin aid) only for tuition, room/board, books, and an initial set of outerwear appropriate for the climate. Neither of our kids have (or had) cars at school. Both work in the summers earning $2000-3000+. Our youngest, a rising soph, has a work-study job that provides an additional $35/week to her stashed funds. This is their $$ to spend as they wish. We found over the years that our kids have become quite the misers and they complain about watching their savings balances decline and they cry “cash poor”. My D refused to use her ATM card during her first trimester. But they have learned - free activities, hand-made gifts and cards, and sales racks became much more important to them after leaving high school.</p>
<p>On the other hand, we are technically providing an allowance, one that they cannot use for a while and that will provide for their future. We established Roth IRA’s for each once they had earned income (one started at 16). We will contribute to their accounts to the max of their earnings or the $3000 max while they are full-time students. Once graduated and employed, they will have a small nest egg to continue with themselves.</p>
$2000. The full amount they’ve earned, up to $3K. Lol, I thought I was the only compulsive parent starting IRAs for their kids as soon as they earned some money.</p>
<p>Yup, driver, you have company in the compulsive parent category. We are, after all, hanging around CC.</p>
<p>simba - As driver says, an annual contribution can be made to a Roth IRA equal to earned income up to a maximum of $3000 (will be $4000 in 2005 and $5000 in 2008). I don’t remember how many years ago that the Roth became a great alternative to the traditional IRA for the young worker, but it was around the time that my now 24 yo S was teaching rec tennis for his first part-time summer job during high school. I think he made about $300 which was the first amount I started his Roth with.</p>
<p>I have been contributing to my kids roth iras since they were 14. This year for the first time I noticed that the profile asked about ira savings in the kids name, but the fafsa doesn’t. The money is readily available for education, or their first home. I can’t see a reason not to do if at all possible.</p>
<p>My daughter is wants to start an IRA with some of her summer earnings, I’m not sure if it has yet occurred to her to negotiate with us to fund it up to her summer earnings, but we are considering doing that.</p>
<p>We get no financial aid, so after paying room, board and tuition at 2 private universities D and S know that they will be paying for books, entertainment and sundries. We have a family cell phone plan (so one bill, and we charge them if they go over–which has rarely happened due to a generous # of minutes), pay all medical through our insurance and they don’t have their own cars, so we pay the insurance and gas on the family cars (no cars at school!) We pay for the room necessities before their first year, and new shoes, winter coat and first year clothes if needed. S has quite a wardrobe from HS dress code, D wore a uniform in HS, so needed more clothes. We also pay for transportation. Sometimes we send care packages (special holiday treats, etc.) and if we go to Parents’ Weekend we take them shopping for soda, water, etc. </p>
<p>Everything else is on them–and they actually are proud of taking on the responsibility!! We have let them know that they can ask us for money if they really need something–but that hasn’t happened, and they are figuring out their own budgeting–both have been good about making their dollars stretch!</p>
<p>We’ve heard some horror stories about kids spending wildly on the credit card they get from their parents, or constant calls to parents for more money. Our kids know that we are there for them, but they also know that we have worked very hard to save for their college education and they respect what we have sacrificed and do their part with extra expenses.</p>
<p>Maize&Blue, the Roth IRA is a great idea especially when they(our kids) are so young. With the compound interest, they don’t have to worry about social security. I plan to do the same, can’t wait till D has a summer job.</p>
<p>My mom made my clothes until I was old enough to want to buy them myself. I’m a Jr. in HS and I get $40/mon for clothing, movies, pretty much everything. The only thing my parents explicitly pay for are things school-related. This year I’ve gotten out at lunch because of classes in the afternoon at local college, but I would get $40/mon also for food budget. (School lunches or otherwise). It doesn’t cover much, so I babysit a lot. I’ve always worked for money, and we’ve always gotten allowance regardless. I’ve cleaned houses, mowed lawns forever, pretty much anything. My parents are certainly spendthrifts and it has taught me a lot. I put up fliers at my gym and at my temple for babysitting and have 5-8 local clients who set their own rates rather generously ($8-10/hr) and appreciate my availability. I have always babysat, but I’ve also had a part-time job. Babysitting pays better, has better hours, and even if it doesn’t look good on my college app, has taught me more life lessons. I hope that in college I have time to nanny or something- its a better job than working minimum wage. I appreciate my money and babysitting lets me relax on the weekends and go for dinner with friends or get coffee over homework. Simple pleasures I would not otherwise have funds for.</p>
<p>Also of note: I have always made all major purchases myself: When I was 10 I bought my first computer out of savings (I saved every penny) and last summer bought my laptop from Bat Mitzvah money and other savings. I would not have gotten these things otherwise, family does not have room in budget for them. And babysitting probably provides me with anywhere from $50-$200/mon, but it goes in spurts and I’m fine with that. I have enough cash flow and I rarely make big purchases.</p>
Otherwise, how will they feel good about what they’ve done…she sees many kids with carte blanche on dad’s cc and is not impressed wtih their immaturity.</p>