My son started working several weeks ago, and will continue to work throughout the summer (and take a class in summer school). He needs to contribute to his college expenses with loans (the basic…what is it, Stafford?) and job earnings. We expect he’ll work a few hours at college too. He needs to earn about 4k per year. He will need to use some of his summer earnings for his usual expenses as well. Any suggestions on how he should structure his savings? He has not worked in the past, and has never been a saver.
Thanks in advance.
Just an idea - we pay tithes, so 10% for that, then 10% to him to spend, rest in an account for the school year. The more he saves during the summer, the less he will have to work during the school year to cover his expenses. By keeping a % of his earning, he has an incentive to work as much as possible now and some short term goals, such as money for movies or some fun with friends on a day off.
Be sure to look at his net paycheck to be sure your total is doable and have a backup plan in case he is short.
Oh, and most banks give college students a free account if he doesn’t have one already.
Something a lot of people I know do is they’ll have both a checking and savings account, but have most of (if not all of) their paycheck deposited into savings. That way, the money can be taken out if needed, but they don’t “see” it and thus don’t feel the need to spend it.
It may be helpful for him to create and write down a reasonable budget and some goals with his expected earnings, and then give himself an allowance for spending money that he thinks will allow him to meet his savings goals for school expenses. Using separate checking/savings accounts can help him manage the budget he sets up.
Thanks everyone for your replies. I appreciate them. I read them to my son, and it prompted a helpful conversation and some budget calculations. It helped him see that if he can’t live on a budget (in other words, say no sometimes to things he wants to do) then he needs to work A LOT. He also worked on completing job applications for jobs he wants at his college, and brainstormed about a second job for this summer. I love how College Confidential conversations have informed him, and in some cases set him straight. He seems to listen to you all better than to me. 
The most important issue for low earners is to make sure their banking is free, banks nickle and dime the little people to death. So uni credit unions, online free banking, these are better options than the big banks once kid has a separate account. Even my bank says it will charge for more than 6 transfers a month from savings. If he can manage to really save a bit of money, even 1 yr CDs can earn 1.35%, he can make a little savings ladder of small volume CDs for the longer term savings. My kid’s PT job has a 401K and other benefits, if your son’s job job has any kind of matched savings, encourage him to take that up. many young people fail to because youth LOL.