<p>Re: whole chickens - $2 a pound, not for the whole chicken. I have seen it for as little as $1.39 a pound. I don’t shop at Trader Joe’s - it’s too expensive and inconvenient and very limited selection. I think of it as a great place for jarred sauces, not so much for fresh food.</p>
<p>If you are sending your child to New England don’t expect them to be able to find a chicken for less than $2.00. I used to be able to get legs and part of the back for $1.00/lb, and sometimes you can get a pack of thighs at Costco for about that but, prices are higher here. I would plan on a 100lb child costing about $80/wk and a 200lb one about $120/wk. That is assuming a meat eating, milk drinker, that eats a proper amount of veggies, and starting a kitchen from scratch. Forgoing meat saves a lot of money. I have been able to feed two kids and an adult on $110/wk here, but we were vegetarian at the time and I shopped sales carefully, and I am not afraid of Kool-Aid. Prices have gone up since then. In general the produce quality in New England is lower than what you find in the South and the West, and parts of the Midwest, and the produce costs more. (A good price on apples in 1.49/lb.) Meat costs a lot more than it costs in the middle of the country. Milk has been between $3.00 and $5.00/gallon for a while (It was about $2.50 at Costco a year ago, but it is unlikely your child will live next to one. Milk is over $3.00/gallon at our local Trader Joes.)</p>
<p>I have been told that the issue in New England is that there is no real competition between grocery stores. There are some stores (Market Basket) with lower prices but if you are not near one you will pay substantially more than in other parts of the country.</p>
<p>Trader Joes has a wonderful produce section. Lots of organic produce at much lower cost than Whole Foods. Just be careful about freshness of refrigerated packaged goods. Check the dates!</p>
<p>The availability of grocery stores is also a big issue. For both of my kids, the nearest grocery option is Whole Foods - 2 blocks off campus for one kid, about a mile for the other kid. Any other grocery store options require a car which they don’t have. So Whole Foods it is for the most part.</p>
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How much of an allowance? Do other folks also give their kids allowances through college? (Just curious, as this seems surprising to me…)</p>
<p>We did not provide our kids with an allowance during college. They worked in the summers or very part time during the school year to have money for the extras they wanted. We covered everything else.</p>
<p>I just gave DD a set amount each month that paid for everything. She chose how to spend it. Senior year, she had a tutoring job, so she made a little extra. She had a full-tuition scholarship.</p>
<p>For our son who lives in the dorms and is on an ROTC scholarship, we give him $150 a month, which is what we did for his sister. We probably give the kids more than some other parents because we are not paying tuition. DS has a summer job and spends that money if he needs to.</p>
<p>S has worked summers since high school and has not needed an allowance. However, I did help out with his study abroad last semester and his housing in NYC for internship this summer. I generally play it by ear and am happy to help as needed. As I stated I plan to give him a lump sum each semester to pay living expenses in new off campus apartment next school year. So no, not a formal allowance in the sense that I provided when he was in elementary school.</p>
<p>“Yep. I live in an expensive area. For example, I just bought 1 lb if shrimp yesterday. It was $13.”</p>
<p>One pound of frozen shrimp is $13 here as well . . .I lived in upstate NY for ages, and my grocery bills were less than half as much as they are here. Some of that is due to having bigger, teenage sons now, but a lot is price differential.</p>
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<p>I’m QUITE confident I’m not the only poster on here who gives her college age kids allowances. I got an allowance in college, as did my H, so I don’t see what’s so surprising about it. We pay for tuition, room, board and books, S’s Greek dues, and anything else we would consider education-related. My kids get $200/ month which we intend for them to use for everyday incidentals (toiletries, stamps), taking public transportation downtown, and going out for yogurt / coffee / pizza / the movies / whatever with friends. Both of my kids are frugal in nature and if anything, I have to encourage them to spend it. I think part of this time of life is having fun with friends and I want them to have the opportunity to do so. </p>
<p>As for money that they’ve earned themselves – both of mine have worked during the summers, but our objective is that they get to keep that money for when they are starting out, buying furniture, etc. They are, of course, free to dip into it if they were to want to make a big purchase, but there isn’t any real need for them to touch it at this point, so why not invest it and let it accumulate. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t stop them from doing so, but I don’t like the idea of my kids working during the school year (unless it’s an internship) because I want them to be able to focus on their school work, participate in extracurriculars and have fun. </p>
<p>Moreover, in a college town setting, it would bother me greatly for them to take a job scooping ice cream (or whatever) for the sake of “pin money” when there’s someone else for whom that money means the difference between staying in school or not. It doesn’t feel right to me. Both of my kids have done those types of jobs at home, so it’s not any objection to the job, it’s an objection to the concept of taking it away from a needy student.</p>
<p>I am envious of those with bargain grocery prices- h & I buy the basics and not alot of extras although I did just buy some cardamom for cookies that is $55lb, ( but sold in bulk so I just bought a tablespoon or so) but we often have trips that are more than $100 and often that is for only two or three bags of groceries. ( but i only buy local meats & dairy and buy organic whenever possible- no chickens from China)
Granted I also will buy contact solution($8.50), face masque ($12) and coffee($8lb sale price) Loaf of bread is $5 & 1/2 gal of milk is $3.80</p>
<p>I give my D about what it ran for board. This gives her enough to join a csa or shop at the farmers market which is closer to her than a grocery store. I also like to add punches to her card that she can use at the coffee shops on campus so she can get a snack if she is on campus longer than she planned.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that it costs money to “start up” a kitchen. My D attended summer school and made her own food (she had access to a kitchen) but she wound up buying some pots / pans / other things that it wasn’t worth us shipping our old stuff to her. It also costs money to buy things like spices that will last the whole summer.</p>
<p>Food’s just one area I don’t want to skimp on with my kids. We economize in plenty of other ways in our household and in making purchases, but I don’t want them ever to feel they don’t have enough to eat or can’t eat what they like.</p>
<p>Thread on the topic: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1150988-whats-reasonable-weekly-groceries.html?highlight=food+off+campus[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1150988-whats-reasonable-weekly-groceries.html?highlight=food+off+campus</a>.</p>
<p>I think it’s so hard to know what to do in these situations. I think that most people would agree that the objective we have for our kids is that college is a gateway for their independence. That when they are done with college they will be able to find a way to support themselves and that the time during college is for us to help them find that way.</p>
<p>We want to help our kids enough that they are able to eat well and also gain some independence. So that after college won’t be such a shock. My family is in a different financial place than many other here on CC. We expected our kids to work in the summers and with that money pay for as many expenses as they could. My S was able to pay all of his living expenses on the money he made in the summer but he had well paying jobs, lived cheaply and is cheap. He is still that way. D had jobs but her rent was more and COA was more so we paid her rent and she was responsible for everything else until her money ran out and then we sent her money. It varied but she usually got through her first semester. We expected her to have fun but we were not up for expensive dinners out and things like that. </p>
<p>I have a friend who is in a very different place than my family, money wise. They send their children a monthly allowance and they pay for rent, and all school expenses. I feel (and this is only my feeling and it is only for these kids) that because all of their expenses are covered, there is no incentive to work. When the monthly allowance runs out they come back for more money. Why work when there is a monthly check coming whether you work or not? The parent complains about the lack of jobs all the time and tells me that once they graduate they will be on their own. I don’t know how this will happen because they have never worked and have no idea how to go about it.</p>
<p>But I think it’s a fine line and every kid is different. I wish we were in the position that we could pay for all school expense comfortably and the kids could save their money from summer to use as they wish. But that wasn’t the case.</p>
<p>The easiest thing for me - which I usually always go for easiest because it keeps my life simple and stress free - is to just give my S the room and board amount that I would have paid for dorm. So that’s why I am just giving him $7,500 at the beginning of each semester. He will probably be able to save some of that money for use after he graduates. But that is his money to use as he sees fit. It gives me peace of mind not to have to constantly be micro-managing him.</p>
<p>Perhaps, it we give kids a specified amount of money for food and insist that (1) it be spent only on food, and (2) none of their other money should be spent on food, we’re teaching bad budgeting practices.</p>
<p>This Slate article suggests that, anyway: [The</a> envelope method for household budgets is a bad idea. - Slate Magazine](<a href=“http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/04/the_envelope_method_for_household_budgets_is_a_bad_idea.html]The”>The envelope method for household budgets is a bad idea.)</p>
<p>Marian - I totally agree. I do have one envelope - for my 401K contribution. Otherwise - I strive not to live paycheck to paycheck where every dollar is accounted for until the next paycheck.</p>
<p>We give our kid allowance in college, but unlike Pizzagirl, the stipulation is she needs to work while in school. Our kids didn’t work in high school, but I feel they need to do some resume building by the time they are in college. Without any job experience it would be hard for them to find internship, which would then lead to real job.</p>
<p>Just to clarify. There is a difference between working during the school year doing “odd jobs” around campus and having a summer internship that is more focused on attaining skills for future goals. My kids do not work during the school year (although D wants to - but she will be a freshman and doesn’t really understand) and having summer internships.</p>
<p>Our kids work during school and summer. My kids could easily work 10-15 hours a week. They used to dance 20 hrs/week while in high school.</p>