Hi all, our household income is down about 50% or more since spouse lost job in 2014. Formerly comfortable to now working on keeping mortgage going. Rising senior will be having the college finances talk in August with us (ie in state tuition may require you to attend SUNY) Had a thought for budgeting purposes I thought I would throw it out to the parents. My current thought is to tell Rising Senior that our budget for their senior year is $xxx. Senior can use funds however they want-be it yearbook, shopping, class trip etc., but that the $$ will be in a bank account for them to manage as they see fit-and no refills when the well runs dry. I am willing to pay for AP courses, hair cuts, but am thinking it may boost Senior’s priorities at managing cash if they know that they control the $ and will have to live with the choices they make. Senior is still in somewhat of denial of reduced income and thought this might make sense. Any pros or cons? Helpful comments welcomed.
Is that realistic? If you are struggling to pay the mortgage, can you really afford to stick a bunch of cash in an account earmarked for non-essentials? I agree it will help the student learn some cash management skills but I would make sure you can really afford to do it. I am not super knowledgeable about FAFSA, but I would think keeping it in an account in your name is a better idea than one with the student’s name.
Have you had a senior in high school before? In not, you have no idea how much things cost, and how many little surprises there are. Senior pictures, yearbook, grad night (for us it was a trip to Universal $100), grad ‘fee’ (which included sending transcripts, a class gift to advisers, and other crappola), prom, college applications, sports, theater dues…it went on and on. There really is no way to anticipate every fee.
I had given my kids $100 per month throughout high school that they could do anything they wanted with - eat out, shop, movies, travel. One spent every dime immediately, one saved most of it. But through senior year, I had to give them a lot more for all the fees. They were very good and didn’t even get senior pictures or yearbooks (regret the pictures, not the yearbook).
You might talk to your child and figure out what are the most important things, and agree to pay for those but not the others. If child then wants the others, child will have to pay.
I’m sure this is a tense time for all of you as this unexpected job loss will not only mean tighter budgeting to be able to keep your home, but will also probably mean a change in what you will be able to afford for your child’s college fund. It is better to have the conversation now and adjust the vision for what colleges will be affordable.
I would make sure the money earmarked for AP courses is not put into a lump sum account, where it could instead be spent on music/movies/fast food. I think some kind of budgeting tool to give your child options might be helpful. Maybe give him/her so much money per month, so they can’t blow through an entire year’s worth of money in 6 weeks. I would both talk with him/her and put in writing what you expect him/her to pay for with this budgeted money.
Does your child have a job? Is it possible for them to get a job considering your family’s situation? I would strongly encourage getting a job to help pay for incidentals.
Does he have/she have time for a job? Even a weekend one? That would help,
Be careful with the senior pix, they can be very expensive. Though usually required to take them for the yearbook, you are generally not obligated to buy them. Some parents find it more reasonable to either take their own or go somewhere like JC Penny etc to have photos taken there. (Full disclosure, we didn’t buy the photos for either of our boys, not because of $ but because no one cared very much. I am guessing my daughter may be different.)
Both boys asked for $ for birthdays and holidays from extended family and us for class trips.
Application fees can add up quickly too.
Regarding yearbook photos, my daughter used a photo we took in our back yard. Just find out in advance what the requirements are; it’s one way to save a bit of money.
Nope…I just think this is setting this kid up for,the dry well.
Why don’t you sit down and look at the expenses for things for senior year. Kindly give him a budget and help him start to prioritize what he wants over things he can do without. For example, neither of my kids had any interest in a class ring. But they both wanted to go to the prom (about the same net cost).
If there is some very expensive item you really can’t afford (class trips can be costly), perhaps work out a split whereby he pays for a portion.
We bought the senior year book for both of our kids…because we wanted them to have the book.
We also paid for all expenses related to graduation (robe rental, substance free grad party, etc)
Seems like it could work, or could not, depending on previous history. If he has always tended to be frugal and/or you have had cost and value discussions with him before on various purchases so that he gets the idea that money does not grow like weeds, it may have a good chance of working. If he has always been spendy and/or you have generally accommodated his wants without mention of cost and value, then he may end up with a dry well rather quickly – which he may or may not learn spending management from.
Of course, setting the amount with a realistic assessment of what the various “optional” senior year activities are likely to cost is better than setting the amount blindly.
Now would also be a good time to find out which fees can be waived by the school district, or covered by the PTA or some other source like that. Many schools do have the means for covering the cap&gown costs for students whose parents are out of work.
Thank you for the ideas. I appreciate the feedback and will start with the list of the possible expenses/budget. I expect lots of ‘fun’ unexpected expenses to show up for the senior class.
If your kid has not had experience with money management and is in denial about your circumstances, I wouldn’t hand the money to them in this particular circumstance. There is too much emotion attached to all this. If they blow the money, will you really be able to say “sorry, no prom I guess.” Maybe you can. Many parents would cave because some events you don’t want your kid to miss even when they are being stupid.
Does your senior work? This would be a great time for them to pick-up a part-time job not only to help with senior expenses but college expenses to come. You’ll have enough on your plate with all the costs involved in college applications… you don’t need to be funding their senior breakfast, shopping trips or grad night.
No, decide now what you feel would hurt you too much for them to not have senior year. Maybe you pay for the yearbook, pictures, cap & gown, and a reasonable prom outfit (if all that is in budget.) If you don’t want them to work for the rest of the money and you have money aside, I guess you could put that into an account for them. At least then, you know they won’t be walking down the aisle in shorts and a t-shirt because they thought a senior trip was more fun than a cap & gown.
Even if he/she can’t work a regular part-time job, consider the traditional stuff like baby- and pet-sitting, house sitting, lawn care, etc.
During summer 2016, he/she needs to work a full-time summer job in order to have spending money for college. Senior year is expensive. Unless your child has already picked a college, multiple applications and college visits are another source of senior year expense you’ll need to add to the mix.
I wouldn’t give kid a lump sum. I would rather be the one putting the expected sr. yr. expenses into my budget as it would give more flexibility to be able to afford those expenses - like cutting back on your expenses to meet some of the expenses senior is going to encounter along the way.
I hope your kid is working this summer and saving their money and if not should be looking now for a part time job for the school year. My son worked both the summer before sr. yr. and during the school yr and he was in lots of EC’s and a fairly heavy school schedule. We found that the busier he was the better he did in school and his time management skills really improved (which helped a lot during college.) Also, having a job during sr. yr. and the summer before college has the added benefit that kid can usually work their during breaks and summers without having to look for a new job. My S even had unpaid internships a few summers during the work week and was able to work the part time job nights and weekends.
Also, nothing wrong with SUNY. I know people who are very wealthy whose kids have gone to a SUNY. Also, depending on your kids stats (if the are high enough,) a lot of top private colleges and uni’s have great FA. Run some of the NPC’s of schools you kid might be interested in. The cost of 4 yrs at the school my kid went to was equal to 4 yrs at SUNY Bing and our income is in the six figures.
If your rising senior is a top student and interested in STEM, isn’t there a program at SUNYs for free tuition?
I agree that you should specify and limit what you will pay for.
We got a senior shirt, yearbook, pictures, cap and gown and grad announcements.
For college they will need lots of things as well so I agree with getting a part time job at least next summer.
If you think you might qualify for reduced school lunch your child should apply for it. It could mean getting fee waivers for SAT and college application fees and maybe reduced AP exam fees.
If you do go for the fixed amount of money, it’s better to dole it out monthly, I think.
Senior year can be really expensive and things can add up pretty quickly.
Make sure that you and your son sit down and have a talk with your GC (if you can do it before school starts, all the better).
Depending on the number of people in your household and the one income, your son may be eligible for HEOP/EOP
Your GC will also be able to waive his application fees for the common app or issue him NACAC fee waivers
Have your kid apply for free/reduced lunch- if eligible (depending on the number of people in your house and income) he will be able to get fee waivers for the SAT/ACT and applications.
The GC can also get him a fee waiver to pay for the AP exams, and use his her copy of SAT/ACT scores, with the school seal to mail to colleges saving money on sending scores (there will be a few schools that will be nit picky and only want scores from the college board, but many will have no problem accepting the the school copy from the GC as long as they are stamped and sealed by the school).
mommdc is correct, if your son is interested in a stem major, work in that field after graduation and is in the top 10% of the class, he could get 4 years free tuition at SUNY/CUNY through the STEM incentive program
Find out from your GC how many HESC scholarships for academic excellence they give out to his school and your sons class rank. If he is eligible to receive one it could be an additional $500 per year for for 4 years of college in NYS($1500/yr if he is ranked number one)
File the FAFSA because you may be eligible for TAP
He should also look into HESC AIMS scholarship (new this year) if he is in the top 15% of the class $500 a year to be used at a NYS school
If you live in NYC, and he does leadership, find out if he can be nominated for a POSSE scholarship. Even if he is not nominated by his school, he can be nominated by a community based organization.
Run your numbers through the net price calculator; cast a wide net for merit and schools that that meet 100% demonstrated need (many may be reaches, but it could bring the cost to less than the cost to dorm at SUNY).
Prom, senior trip, pictures, yearbook, rings, can add up really quick. FInd out exactly what he wants. I agree with others if he can, he should get a part time job to help defray some of this cost. He should also start paying on it little by little through out the school year so that everything is not due at the same time.
Hope this helps
The ‘senior picture’ is the first of what appear to be many enticing options for Senior. Senior plays a fall sport so my expectation conveyed to Senior is that a job after late October is in the cards. The senior coursework is fairly rigorous. We have been looking a lot at college affordability on CC (I have been, Senior is on a summer outing) and no immediate sign of a money tree growing in the back yard (nor improved SAT scores of note) so that application net will be cast wide.