<p>everyone is different but about $40/wk as a frosh should be fine.</p>
<p>I’m in California so things can be very expensive here, but most people I know give their kids a bare minimum of $200.00 per month, although it varies all the way up to $1200.00 per month for my friends kids at expensive private schools where the other kids have unlimited allowances and expensive entertainment tastes. We gave our son over $400.00 per month, which seemed to be the average for many of the families I know. Put it in his account at the beginning of the term and let him manage it. He had to pay for everything with that money, including clothing or other purchases during the year, travel with friends, eating out, dating, etc. He is unable to work due to his schedule at school so he will get it for four years. Younger son will get it for one year and then will have to get a job to pay for his personal expenses. There used to be a very long thread about this last year in this forum, which I looked at extensively when I had an incoming freshman. I was surprised at the number of parents who don’t give their kids anything and it reinforced my decision to give younger son only one year of aid for personal expenses. Lots of colleges suggest a spending amount of under $500.00 for the whole year (I just got a brochure from a private college with this amount listed), but I think that is just unrealistic. After all, part of college is socializing and that involves restaurants, coffee houses, and pizza every once in a while. You know your kid… give what you think they need to stay happy and healthy. BTW, I found my older son is much stingier when the money is coming out of his account versus mine.</p>
<p>S spends his summers in school and doing education related travel. That is fine with me, so I do not require him to work at a job, but he had better work his tail off at school (he does). He receives about $2000 a quarter for expenses (doesn’t ever spend it all, uses it for extra travel, which I like to see), has a debit card linked to bank account, and a credit card linked to an account of mine for emergencies, and that needs prior approval from me for non–emergency use. Other expenses not listed on the typical college expense list is the cell phone. A good plan, with unlimited text messaging, can save some money as well. Another is travel to and from home over breaks.</p>
<p>D#1 is one of the kids whose family had difficulty meeting EFC, let alone giving an allowance.
She was still on our ins- and we paid for prescriptions, but she wouldn’t always tell us what she had spent.
We set up a account at her school bookstore- but she rarely used it- it was useful for supplies and snacks.( she would charge on average about $20 a month)
Her $ from her summer job ( about $3,000) had to be put toward the EFC not spending money unfortunately.
The first two years of college- she didn’t have a cell phone-or a car- ( she still doesn’t have a car), so that cut down on expenses. I am fairly sure there is a student discount for bus pass.</p>
<p>Her workstudy job covered her personal expenses and most of her books, and we gave her clothes or gift certificates at holidays and birthdays. ( another saving- her workstudy job was working at computer services- so all her printing was free!- not a small expense)</p>
<p>It helped a great deal I am sure, to live in a city, where public transportation was good, where low cost or even free entertainment could be found.</p>
<p>I don’t have first hand experience with other private colleges- but I am sure other schools subsidize student entertainment and events, although depending on the event, you would then need clothes for it.</p>
<p>It really depends on the town and school- but since there is wide variation between ability and expectations of families re allowance, there is wide variation between what students receive.
Do what you are comfortable with- but I lean toward requiring student to either put some of summer income toward yearly expenses, or working minimally at a campus job</p>
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<p>My D too! I discovered early on that if she wanted something I though too expensive i just had to say ‘I’ll pay half if you pay the other half’ and she would quickly decide it was not worth it! My son now - money burns a hole in his pocket though paying his own rent and bills the past year and a half while he was on a break from college has been a big reality check.</p>
<p>As EmeraldKitty says - there is a big variation in what families can pay. I do think it is good for students to have some financial investment in college. In our case we cannot afford to give her an allowance so she will work part time (@15 hours a week). When our son was first in college our financial situation was a little better (plus his school was much cheaper) so we did give him a small allowance (@$200 a month) - however he chose to work full time as well which I think had a negative effect on his school work. So you need to figure out a balance that will work for you.</p>
<p>It’s going to vary by city and crowd the kid runs with. I’m assuming your talking about S* * * 's and giggles money. Mine average about $20 a week outside of mealplan. One thing to consider is give them too much money and it is easier to leave homework. When you don’t have alot of coin in your pocket, it is much easier to study and save nights out to a couple times a week.</p>
<p>D goes to school in NYC so spending is a prolem. She gets $100.00 per month + money she eaarns from part-time (6 - 8 hrs./week) job. When she found she still couldn’t make ends meet she started babysitting. She takes subway everywhere except cabs late at night. Goes to Yale to visit friens, goes to movies, indie films, museums, restaurants but is earning most of money to do. Grades are good. (Oh and sometimes finds item of clothing she must have. Recently a Madeleine T-shirt.)</p>
<p>$400 a month?? I’m assuming that means he is not on a mealplan, so this covers groceries, etc??? If not… well, let’s just say I’m flabbergasted. I don’t give money for anything but tuition, basic room and board.</p>
<p>I can see that I get very varied answers! Would most of you agree that putting 22OO in her account (1000 for emergencies + 300 for books + 900 for expenses up to Xmas) will give us flexibility? I’ll ask for a rough estimate on how much she has spent when she comes back end of december, and then I can adjust the figure for the rest of the year.
I agree with all the parents who advocate self-reliance through personal earnings, but as I have already said, her situation is slightly different as I really want her to concentrate on her studies and language skills for the first year. Moreover her visa does not allow her to work off campus for the first year, and I am hoping, since most on-campus jobs go to fin aid kids, that next year she could work in the French department as a language assistant.</p>
<p>Depending on what she is studying and how many credits she is pulling $300 a semester for books sounds a little low unless she is a very good used / older edition textbook shopper. Or can pick up books from a student that had the course the previous semester / year.</p>
<p>I’d use about $150 per class as a rule of thumb strictly for books.</p>
<p>Me, I sold plasma twice a week for extra beer money during the undergrad days</p>
<p>The school gave me 600 as a global figure for books per year. I was dividing by two. In any case, she will probably be getting some graduation money, and I assume this will go on books. In order to economise on excess luggage, I intend to wait until she gets to Mass before buying her a hefty French-English dictionary and a thesaurus!</p>
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<p>Although this is true, it is hard to reconcile it with the need for students attending college far from home to have a slush fund for emergencies.</p>
<p>$1200 a month? <<blink>><<blink>></blink></blink></p>
<p>$200 a month for D and I think we’re being quite generous.</p>
<p>All the kids in her blocking group are cognizant that they come from all walks of life and so plan activities that aren’t always very expensive.</p>
<p>Both of our kids were responsible for any and all spending money during the school year, including books and school supplies. Both had small part time jobs during the school year (not more than 10 hours a week), and had summer jobs.</p>
<p>Lost - Despite what the college told you $600/yr is low for books; I suspect that $500/sem is more likely. </p>
<p>My D will also be attending Smith and she will cover non-essential expenses (entertainment and laundry) from summer and work-study earnings. We will pay school fees (including athletic fees and uniform/equip), books, medical costs, transportation home and other necessities.</p>
<p>If D wants $1200/month, she’ll have to get a second (or third) job this summer - - or sell a kidney.</p>
<p>Lost in Trans, the $40 per week is very reasonable. My daughter over the course of a year spends much less than that, but her spending can vary widely - almost nothing some weeks, much more others. If money is very tight or transferring extra funds is difficult, sometimes exploration on the school’s web site can give you ideas about how much “extra” money they may need. Some schools have most or all events free to the students, others have very nominal ticket costs, others have what I would consider hefty prices.
Restaurant meals, another big expense can vary widely from term to term, depending on the student’s schedule and ECs, as has been noted.
Finally, your student may need a larger than normal clothes budget for the first year - most teens want to dress in sync with their friends, also there may be bad weather gear she needs.
We made provision for the worse case scenario for our D who is our oldest child. We listed her name as a user of one of our larger credit cards, $30000 debt limit, with strict instructions that this was for true emergencies, death, hospitalization, etc. What would happen if both parents died suddenly, etc? Just something to consider.</p>
<p>$600/year for books sounds low to me, even for a good shopper. The other figures you quoted, $2200 and $900, sound about right.</p>
<p>Thanks nyc. I’m counting on you to tell me all about Parents’ week-end!</p>
<p>Thanks, cangel. Th</p>
<p>…thank goodness, I have a sister in the US who would certainly help for a true emergency. As D has just hit 18, she now has access to her savings account if she goes over budget (which she probably won’t do, being quite stingy with her own money). I just want her to feel comfortable for her first year. As you all know, she’ll have the rest of her life to worry about money! Even those of you who disapprove of spoiled brats would agree, I think, that it would be a pity if she didn’t make the most of 4 years in America in terms of culture, and spent all of her time in the library when so much is going on around her.</p>