New-ish to this board and pretty late to the financial literacy game for my S24. Thanks for this discussion as I am playing catch up.
This summer is the first job he’s had and he’s expecting to earn approx $4K for 6 weeks of work. I am thinking that should be enough to get him through his misc. expenses for the year or am I wrong?
We’ve got his airfare covered as well as necessary expenditures (Haircuts, toiletries, textbooks, cellphone). In my head, it seems like everything else outside of that is extra? He goes to a school that costs over $90K a year, I’m thinking the food should be decent that he won’t be venturing outside of campus much as far as looking for places to eat. Or am I just super naive in that thinking? (Note: I did not go to school in the US so I really do not have a clue)
My S21 does not have a meal plan and lives in an apartment off campus. He spent about $400 a month. $4000 should be more than enough for on campus.
More than enough. My D23 spends about $200 a month. She buys her own toiletries and clothing too.
It really depends on the town/college. I remember visiting UChicago with D22 and asking what students what they liked to do on weekends and there were lots of mentions of concerts and dinners in China town. I think most city colleges are like that. And there are bars and such. Also, lots of Ubering about. More rural colleges are more insular and kids don’t spend as much money for social activities.
Again, I don’t think it hurts to get a library desk job for 6 hours or so a week for fun money. My D has been able to not touch her summer money by doing that.
Good to see others with the “Guns and Butter” experience from college Econ. About all I remember.
Haha, same. I’m sure we went over a lot more than that, but it was the one thing that stuck. 
We told S24 to budget $5,000 per year, including $1,000 toward books and supplies. $4,000 per year works out to roughly $100 per week which should be plenty for a student with a full meal plan. We expect S24 to cover all non-emergency expenses: haircuts, late night pizza, event tickets, additional clothing, restocking of toiletries, local transportation, etc. We are encouraging him to consider finding an on-campus job for a few hours a week. That would provide spending money without depleting summer savings. I am actually more concerned that S24 will be too frugal with his money and forgo experiences than that he will be a spendthrift.
When D24 took Econ course in her senior year she always fact checked the fundamentals with me such as pricing of goods and services, types of taxes, savings etc. The topic of balancing a budget was the most challenging one 
for her
Widgets….
My older son (S22) isn’t working this summer as he hasn’t been able to find anything around us that will hire for the 6 weeks he has available (we were away until the end of June and he’ll be leaving for school on 8/14). He has been pretty thrifty throughout college (had about $4k in his account after his full-time job last summer and came home with $2k). We’ve been keeping him busy with odd jobs etc but he plans on getting a campus job this year to give himself more wiggle room. While we cover tuition, room & board, books (has been minimal, tbh) travel home and health he is on his own with personal expenses. S24 has kept his part-time job (has been working there for 2 years now) although it isn’t a ton of hours. He has also been tutoring for the SAT on the side to make extra.
Just a friendly reminder that today is Amazon prime day - a great day to get some dorm essentials. D24 is busy filling my cart as I type…
Any particularly good deals? Thank you!
S22 took a personal finance class as a HS senior and it was great at explaining budgeting, cc usage (including the best kind to get), building credit, debt, mortgages etc. I wish it was mandatory so that all kids got that grounding -not enough kids took the class as it was “only” college prep level (should be unleveled to eliminate that barrier).
This is a good one because he can continue in college.
I already had my cart full and finally purchased. About two thirds of the items she had already selected were on sale at probably an average of 20% off the price when she picked them.
Looking to get a stick vacuum for each of my college kids. D22s roommate brought one and now it’s in the must have list. Does any one have any recommendations? I love my Dyson but not quite the right price point 
Portable speaker and mini projector are nice “fun” adds for a room.
BISSELL Featherweight Stick Lightweight Bagless Vacuum with Crevice Tool 2033M
This was the one I had in my cart before D24’s roommate said she was bringing a vacuum. It’s $30 today and seemed fine for a dorm. Lots of reviews.
We found an Electrolux stick vacuum on clearance when our D was a freshman. It’s still going strong 6 years later. It’s also a two in one where part of it comes off like an old dust buster. I think we paid $99 for it (albeit 6 years ago now ; )).
These make fantastic totes on move in day.
And this is what they use for laundry:
It’s great, especially if you have to walk a distance/stairs to the laundry room. It’s only fault IMO is that it doesn’t stay upright when it’s empty. We solved that with a heavy duty command hook (it still sits on the floor, the hook just props it up and doesn’t carry much weight.
I just bought a Conair handheld clothes steamer–30% off on Prime today. I told her to take good care of it, since it works in Europe too.