<p>At the risk of asking a previously asked question…
My son is starting his Freshman year at Rensselear Polytechnic Institute. I am cluless as to how much he should have for weekly/monthly spending money. He has a full meal plan but there will be those time he wants to go out (off campus) for a meal. Also, he will need money for movies, etc. Is $100 / $125 a week a reasonable amount. He has money from working this summer, but I intend to supplement this so he is not limited if there is something he wants to do.
Thanks.</p>
<p>I don’t know where this school is located but that’s one of the first questions when figuring spending $$$ out:
- school location: urban/rural, small/large community
- past spending habits - is he used to going out alot? Does he frequent entertainment beyond food? (concerts, sporting events)</p>
<p>$100+ a week sounds very high to me…but my D attends a rural school - she probably spends $10 a week on entertainment! - maybe!!!</p>
<p>Sometimes while I know you don’t want them to do without, it’s also a good time to learn about making $$ spending choices and giving them a reason to USE that full meal plan (i.e. - limit their # of meals off campus to save $ for other entertainment)</p>
<p>What we did with my son was sit down and agree upon a set of budget categories first. There are a bunch of books on personal money management that really help in creating a budget. We attempted to put down everything that is spent for his benefit.</p>
<p>We then did the best we could to guess what the actual amounts required in each category were - e.g. 1 movie date per week at $25 per date. </p>
<p>Lastly, we agreed upon who paid for what - e.g. I provide the car, auto maintenance, and auto insurance, he pays for his gas, I provide all health care and insurance, I pay for food at home, he pays for meals out etc. </p>
<p>Once you know who pays for what and how much, you can then set a spending money allowance that is fair to both of you. The whole exercise was really useful in teaching him about what it takes to exist - and made him much more money aware. </p>
<p>One last thing - He gets “paid” twice a month rather than in a lump sum. I simply matched up his pay days with mine so that he gets used to the idea of the 1st and the 15th. Automatic transfer takes care of the rest.</p>
<p>Lots and lots of threads with LOTS AND LOTS of already posted opinions and info. I wish I knew how to link threads here…but I don’t. You can, however, do a search for “spending money”. My guess is you’ll turn up at least 10 threads or more.</p>
<p>As Thumper said, there are lots of threads on this subject. A quick comment though - some parents will pay for school related items including the meal plan but leave it to the student to pay for their own entertainment which includes movies, restaurants, etc. If he has summer savings then he could use it for that and learn the valuable lessons of valuing money and working that way. He might also want to get a part time job on campus to supplement this if he doesn’t have enough. I don’t see why the parent should feel obliged to provide the kid funds for entertainment.</p>
<p>Here is the “Thumper Plan” for spending money. We (the parents) have NO IDEA how much the kids need or spend in spending money. We pay tuition/room/board and transportation HOME. They pay everything else out of earnings they make doing summer or school jobs.</p>
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<p>My daughter, at another upstate NY school, gets $125 a month and finds it adequate. It wouldn’t be adequate in New York City, but there really isn’t much to spend money on if you’re in the middle of nowhere and you don’t drink.</p>
<p>(On the other hand, the same daughter spends appalling amounts of money in the summer. Her field is one where unpaid internships are the norm, and we live in an area where good internships are plentiful. But the cost of office clothing, transportation, lunches, etc., really adds up. So it’s nice that she doesn’t blow a lot of money at school.)</p>
<p>$200 a month worked for us. He can choose to save up his money and visit NYC, in addition to not feeling strapped for money in town.</p>