I used the college’s estimate of personal expenses and divided by 9 to get the monthly estimate. Since our son was getting a weekly allowance in high school, I split up the monthly amount into 4 weekly transfers I send to his bank account. The weekly estimate came out to $40/week.
We have a freshman in college. No allowance. We pay the necessities (tuition, room and board, food, and soon a car), and she pays for the fun stuff, like lattes. She has a 10 hr a week job on campus that is related to her major, so that is her fun money.
0, my kids have always worked summers and part time during the school year, and pay their own incidental expenses as well as contribute toward their education expenses. As a result, they are graduating with lots of work experience and realistic plans for supporting themselves. Campus jobs are also a great way to make friends.
We gave an allowance in the amount recommended by the college. I think more importantly, we sat down with our child and discussed what they were expected to pay for from their allowance and earnings. We then deposited the funds into their bank account at the beginning of each school year. We explained that this amount was equal to the monthly amount we’d discussed, so it had to last the entire school year. Budgeting was their responsibility. If they overspent in the fall term, we would not give them more money to get through the rest of the year. We felt this was a great opportunity for learning money management, and it was successful. They were very thoughtful about the things they spent money on, and finished each year with at least 1/3 of the money still in their bank account. As a young adult these lessons stuck, and they have an ingrained understanding of what trade offs a given choice will require. They graduated in 2020, and have never been late with their rent, have always had a full (and healthy and tasty!) larder, cover their transport expenses, and are proactive about their health care.
I‘ll be interested in what others have to say. My oldest will start college in the fall, and my thought was that she should get a campus job for 5-10 hours a week for spending money. Working a lot of hours would get in the way of studying but I think a few hours a week would actually help her organize her time. Her college does not require work study and summer earnings for financial aid. If it did, her wages would go toward her cost of attendance, which would presumably include a personal expenses estimate. If we did not receive financial aid, I’d still expect her to get a small job and also save summer earnings for these things. I’d supplement if needed for her to have a normal amount to spend. I’d probably base that on the cost of attendance personal expense estimate at that school. I’d also take into consideration expenses like a car, if one is needed/allowed at the college, and if she were paying for gas, insurance, etc., give her more money for other things (occasional meals out with friends, toiletries, etc.).
This depends so much on where your kid goes to school, what they're studying, their capacity for working while in school, what financial aid they have or qualify for, and what your family's resources are, as well as what you expect the student to pay for with their allowance, that I'm sure answers will vary widely!
With each of my kids, during the summer before they started college, I had them create a budget that accounted for tuition, housing & dining plan, books, and all personal expenses, savings and estimated income from part-time work; we discussed it with the grandmother who is generously contributing to their education; and we agreed on a monthly allowance that would adequately cover their needs. I have paid car and health insurance bills separately, they're on our phone plan, and they have standing permission to use my credit card for trips home as well as any emergencies, but they are expected to manage their money so as to cover all university bills per quarter/semester as well as other food, toiletries, clothing, transportation, entertainment, etc., etc. We've adjusted the budget annually or whenever there's a change of circumstances (like moving out of the dorm and into a private apartment).
It's worked out to, approximately, between $400 and $700 per month per kid at various times over the last five years. The insurance bills I'm covering add another several hundred dollars per month.
I'd like to add my experience. My daughter completed her undergraduate degree in 2022. For us, it depended on our family finances and on her academic workload. I did not give her an allowance. Her academics basically consumed all her time and working as well would have been detrimental. I paid all her necessities (tuition, books, housing, car insurance, phone). For "fun money" she worked in the summers and had my credit card for emergencies. She always let me know in advance or soon after when she planned to use my credit card, and did not abuse the system. When I was an undergraduate, my family could afford only a percentage of my tuition and housing, so I worked all summer and a few hours a week for everything else.
My youngest attends a public university. We pay the school fees/tuition directly from her 529 account. We give her money each month for her to pay the apartment rent and utilities, and for groceries. Anything beyond that is up to her. She has some part-time gigs (approximately 5 hours/week) and can either use that money to pay for extras or save it.
It is important to stay in communication with your child. We expected that ours would manage with their work-study job, but at various times there were glitches, particularly around vacations. We didn't have the money for plane fare more than twice a year, the school wasn't providing meals, and so until we realized what was going on, they didn't have enough money for food during vacations. If your child is on financial aid, just be aware that the school sometimes underestimates how much money they will need, and overestimates how much they will actually be able to make on their work study job.
We did not give her fun money, just money for tuition, books, housing, food. We took it a step further. In her freshman year at the end of the semester we downloaded her transactions from her debit card into excel and coded them - she pays, parent pays. We got an idea of the cost of everything - which was used to help her learn how to budget - a life skill. She / we figured out that she needed about $1500 per semester for her incidentals. Her academic load was challenging so she worked during the summers to earn the money she needed. By the time she graduated she had earned enough extra money from her summer jobs to purchase a used car.
Parent Replies
I used the college’s estimate of personal expenses and divided by 9 to get the monthly estimate. Since our son was getting a weekly allowance in high school, I split up the monthly amount into 4 weekly transfers I send to his bank account. The weekly estimate came out to $40/week.
We have a freshman in college. No allowance. We pay the necessities (tuition, room and board, food, and soon a car), and she pays for the fun stuff, like lattes. She has a 10 hr a week job on campus that is related to her major, so that is her fun money.
0, my kids have always worked summers and part time during the school year, and pay their own incidental expenses as well as contribute toward their education expenses. As a result, they are graduating with lots of work experience and realistic plans for supporting themselves. Campus jobs are also a great way to make friends.
We gave an allowance in the amount recommended by the college. I think more importantly, we sat down with our child and discussed what they were expected to pay for from their allowance and earnings. We then deposited the funds into their bank account at the beginning of each school year. We explained that this amount was equal to the monthly amount we’d discussed, so it had to last the entire school year. Budgeting was their responsibility. If they overspent in the fall term, we would not give them more money to get through the rest of the year. We felt this was a great opportunity for learning money management, and it was successful. They were very thoughtful about the things they spent money on, and finished each year with at least 1/3 of the money still in their bank account. As a young adult these lessons stuck, and they have an ingrained understanding of what trade offs a given choice will require. They graduated in 2020, and have never been late with their rent, have always had a full (and healthy and tasty!) larder, cover their transport expenses, and are proactive about their health care.
Best of luck!
SF Mom
I‘ll be interested in what others have to say. My oldest will start college in the fall, and my thought was that she should get a campus job for 5-10 hours a week for spending money. Working a lot of hours would get in the way of studying but I think a few hours a week would actually help her organize her time. Her college does not require work study and summer earnings for financial aid. If it did, her wages would go toward her cost of attendance, which would presumably include a personal expenses estimate. If we did not receive financial aid, I’d still expect her to get a small job and also save summer earnings for these things. I’d supplement if needed for her to have a normal amount to spend. I’d probably base that on the cost of attendance personal expense estimate at that school. I’d also take into consideration expenses like a car, if one is needed/allowed at the college, and if she were paying for gas, insurance, etc., give her more money for other things (occasional meals out with friends, toiletries, etc.).
This depends so much on where your kid goes to school, what they're studying, their capacity for working while in school, what financial aid they have or qualify for, and what your family's resources are, as well as what you expect the student to pay for with their allowance, that I'm sure answers will vary widely!
With each of my kids, during the summer before they started college, I had them create a budget that accounted for tuition, housing & dining plan, books, and all personal expenses, savings and estimated income from part-time work; we discussed it with the grandmother who is generously contributing to their education; and we agreed on a monthly allowance that would adequately cover their needs. I have paid car and health insurance bills separately, they're on our phone plan, and they have standing permission to use my credit card for trips home as well as any emergencies, but they are expected to manage their money so as to cover all university bills per quarter/semester as well as other food, toiletries, clothing, transportation, entertainment, etc., etc. We've adjusted the budget annually or whenever there's a change of circumstances (like moving out of the dorm and into a private apartment).
It's worked out to, approximately, between $400 and $700 per month per kid at various times over the last five years. The insurance bills I'm covering add another several hundred dollars per month.
I'd like to add my experience. My daughter completed her undergraduate degree in 2022. For us, it depended on our family finances and on her academic workload. I did not give her an allowance. Her academics basically consumed all her time and working as well would have been detrimental. I paid all her necessities (tuition, books, housing, car insurance, phone). For "fun money" she worked in the summers and had my credit card for emergencies. She always let me know in advance or soon after when she planned to use my credit card, and did not abuse the system. When I was an undergraduate, my family could afford only a percentage of my tuition and housing, so I worked all summer and a few hours a week for everything else.
My youngest attends a public university. We pay the school fees/tuition directly from her 529 account. We give her money each month for her to pay the apartment rent and utilities, and for groceries. Anything beyond that is up to her. She has some part-time gigs (approximately 5 hours/week) and can either use that money to pay for extras or save it.
It is important to stay in communication with your child. We expected that ours would manage with their work-study job, but at various times there were glitches, particularly around vacations. We didn't have the money for plane fare more than twice a year, the school wasn't providing meals, and so until we realized what was going on, they didn't have enough money for food during vacations. If your child is on financial aid, just be aware that the school sometimes underestimates how much money they will need, and overestimates how much they will actually be able to make on their work study job.
We did not give her fun money, just money for tuition, books, housing, food. We took it a step further. In her freshman year at the end of the semester we downloaded her transactions from her debit card into excel and coded them - she pays, parent pays. We got an idea of the cost of everything - which was used to help her learn how to budget - a life skill. She / we figured out that she needed about $1500 per semester for her incidentals. Her academic load was challenging so she worked during the summers to earn the money she needed. By the time she graduated she had earned enough extra money from her summer jobs to purchase a used car.