College allowances

We do it pretty much exactly how you described.

We've "graduated" to giving our sons a lump sum for the entire semester/quarter. Takes a little more planning on their part.

No credit cards, no gas cards, just an ATM card with a fixed amount for the term.

Same here with the monthly check only a little higher lump and a few more bill responsibilities. A $50 gas card or gift card to the local sports bar comes as a great birthday or Christmas gift. Seems to work out pretty well.

We are giving our freshman son $0 for expenses - he is paying for those himself from the money he made in the summers as a golf cart attendant, lifeguard, and graduation money. We pay tutition, dorm & meal plan, car insurance, and gas money to and from school. It is amazing how much of a tight wad he has become now that he is spending his own money.

I talked to one college mom (not a baseball player) this weekend whose sophomore son got a lump sum for the fall for apartment, food, etc.- as they were looking at his finances in December - turned out he spent $800 on living expenses in November! They were freaking out. He is now on an extremely tight lease this semester!

We did it pretty much the same way. NO credit cards allowed! I didn't use a set ammount but sounds like a good idea. He did use the ATM and I did set up a joint bank account that he and I could both access online. We were both active in the account. I did the deposits and he did the withdrawals. I think the biggest surprise me was the meal expenses. Seems as if the baseball players never ate at the fast food joints or the cafeteria but preferred the steakhouses and other more expensive restaurants. I knew I had messed up and was too liberal with the expenses when he came back and declared his favorite food was sushi.
Fungo

I gave my eldest $200 per month - an unlimited supply of bananas - and my best wishes for success and happiness.

I think the allowance sounds like a better way than how we have done it! Our younger son has lived on campus with the meal plan, and we've deposited money as needed into his checking account for expenses. When expenses seemed to be too high, I checked the monthly statement and saw lots of restaurant/coffee shop charges for $8 to $10 at a time. That doesn't sound like too much, until you realize we were still paying something like $8 for that meal that he didn't eat in the dorm cafeteria. This semester he will have a budget, and $200 per month sounds about right to me.

Older son has never wanted to accept money from us...he would usually turn it down when offered. His summer earnings would run out before the end of spring semester though, so he found some unusual ways of earning spending money, such as modeling tuxes at bridal shows in the spring (hey, a tall lanky pitcher's body makes a pretty good tux hanger, and it's good money for a couple hours of "work"). We still ended up giving him some spending money, but I would estimate under $100 per month.

quote:

Originally posted by Fungo:
I knew I had messed up and was too liberal with the expenses when he came back and declared his favorite food was sushi.
Fungo

I can relate.

I think putting them on a budget is a great idea, regardless of what other parents do for their kids. College is expensive and even more when they live off campus. I do not beleive in the lump sum, month by month works better but we pretty much did as Fungo did, which sounds like an as needed basis. Most important he always called to ask before he had a major expense.

Parents, most schools have a system where you can put money on their student card. This comes in handy in the laundry room, bookstore and student center and son was able to use it around campus at certain places. When we purchased the meal plan (which goes onto their student card) points were awarded and those points are just like cash to be used on campus. Actually those points took my son through many extra meals in the cafeteria after he moved off campus.

In the spring, it seemed like a lighter load. Usually not spending all of his weekend travel money and money for dinner after a home game, he made out pretty well. If we came for the weekend while he was on the road, he considered it a good profit for the weekend as he didn't have to spend his meal money.

One thing, my son got a credit card (small credit line) in his own name that he used for expenses and we paid every month. He now has established his own credit, not something he had to start after college.

Thank you soooooo much for sharing. I feel vindicated!

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He said the parents of "all" of his friends pay their sons' gas credit card bills.....

My son would be advised that he could petition to be adopted by one of those kind families. Having put myself through college with no outside help I don't have much sympathy.

A set monthly budget is an excellent idea, the dollar amount of course depends on the individual family. It's amazing how much money a kid can blow through if given the chance, and it's also amazing on how little they can live on if forced to learn how to budget.

My son is in his second year of college. He lives in an apartment with 2 other baseball players and there is no meal plan on campus, so they have the added expense of buying groceries.

The first year, he had an account and used the debit card for expenses, but it was too time consuming and frustrating monitoring the activity so that he didnt go over his limit. Those fees are not good!

We are in our second month of a prepaid Visa. A certain amount is deposited on this card every Friday...and he has one week to stretch it out.
The great thing about this card is he gets a text message every day showing his balance...and I get emails regarding his transactions.

Working out pretty good so far.

My son get no allowance. He works on campus and has a free meal plan. He has his own Visa which is only for emergencies. he has to pay for his cell phone and we pay his apt which is about $320/mth. If he needs to spend money he has to clear it with his Mom. No car so he legs it alot or his girl friend drives him. He pays for gas. She also works while attending college. So far so good but he hates being tight. Told him that is why you are in college so you won't be after you find a good job.

The following is the best plan that I have heard of: The tuition, room and books were paid for by the scholarship and parents. The player took a job in the cafeteria 1 hour per day and received 3 meals per day for his work. The parents gave the student/athlete $50.00 per week for personal expenses including gas and the money was deposited at the start of the semester. Any money not spent was matched and the student/athlete could spend it as he wished. It forced the student/athlete to be responsible.

We have three in college right now-same place. Sr. son, Jr. son, Soph. daughter. This year they are all living together in a 3br condo. Their combined scholarships are paying the mortgage. Their scholarship money is all combined in one seperate bank account and I transfer $200/mo into each one of their accounts for food. They have Sam's Club/BJ's cards and buy food in bulk and also buy their gas there. All three worked over the winter break and earned $300-$500 each for "personal use" this spring.

The boys' "job" is playing baseball(trust me, it takes up a lot of time) and my daughter
works in the baseball office for the head coach 3-5 days a week as needed. She also works
as a hostess at Carrabas' in the evenings on the weekends.(Her choice because she's a shopaholic and Mom and Dad refuse to buy her "designer" clothes .

We pay for 3 cars, gas, and insurance. They make 3.5GPA's or better. We think that's a pretty good deal. Thank ya Lord!!

My D is a college sophomore. Her first year, we gave her $200 a month (prorated for those months where she was home some length of time). That had to cover all her fun stuff, and some of her food when food was not covered by her college meal plan. We also made her earn 10% or her tuition (she did this through scholarships the first year). We paid all else - books, clothing necessaries (not clothing extras), and transporation home (her college is east coast, we live west coast). At the end of her first year, she got a summer job. So, for her sophomore year, she has to pay 10% or her tuition PLUS we do not give her any allowance any more - that is all on her. What she earns she can spend or save, but we are hoping she is saving some. She has actually earned enough so that she is now paying most of her necessities (other than room and meal plan and 90% tuition). Haven't decided how to modify this for next year. Obviously the idea is to make her more and more responsible for herself. Any ideas for junior year are welcome.

Great information, everyone. Thanks for sharing.

eaglefan, I especially like the idea of a prepaid Visa. My son used to have his own checking account with an ATM card, but he never balanced his checkbook and relied on occasional "account balance" information at the bottom of his ATM receipts to figure out how much money he had in his account. When he went below zero for the third time, we yanked the account and the card. He is now on a cash-only basis. That's the frustrating thing about ATM cards these days. Banks allow users to withdraw more money than they have in the account and then charge them a hefty fee for the "privilege." With this prepaid Visa card, is the user allowed to over-withdraw on funds? Also, how do you deposit money for the card? Can it be done automatically through a transfer from the parents' checking account? Where did you go to get this prepaid Visa? I especially like the idea of text message and email updates.

Good stuff, while my kids are not in college yet I am liking eaglefan's visa plan to implement with my HS age kids. It's scary how much money is passed out on a weekly basis to do their "stuff".

I'm thinking it might help them better understand the value of budgeting their money while still enjoying the safety net of living with mom and dad.

Eaglefan, I too would appreciate it if you could pass on the type of Visa account that has the features you mentioned.

I have got to get more information as well about that Visa account that sounds like a great idea. JD I will make very effort to save you some eating out expenses. Q and Jeff can stop by anytime and have a home cooked meal!

The prepaid visa card is similar to a gift card. If they are given $100 on Friday for the week, and decide to spend $80 of it before Monday, then he has to figure out how to live on $20 for remainder of week.

The one I got online is called Vision Prepaid Visa. www.visionprepaid.com There are ways to get around paying a fee to "load" the card with cash. One is by having direct deposit from employment--which I declined. The way that I found is to use a "paypal" account to get them loaded onto his card. Kind of tricky. The great thing is he can not spend more than is available. Not that Im aware of...but he hasnt even tried it yet. I texted him last night that he only has $26 until Friday, and if he goes to the grocery counter with $40 of food, will have to put some back! Could be embarrassing.

There are some small .95 fees for certain things like getting cash back, etc. but it beats a $39 overdraft for each item.

Let me know if you want more info. So far so good.

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Originally posted by Coach May:
JD I will make very effort to save you some eating out expenses. Q and Jeff can stop by anytime and have a home cooked meal!

Thanks CM, that's very neighborly of you. Be careful though, these boys can eat!

Oh, how well do I know!

What happens if they lose that card?

Bank of America (not my fav bank but)has a student checking where there are no fees and they get a visa check card. We told son it was NOT a credit card, so he never used it as credit and made sure he never spent more than his balance. In three years he only made one error and they have a forgiveness poliscy, plus they have a keep the change program. Example, if they make a purchase for 6.88 it's rounded to the next dollar and the change goes into his linked savings. He uses it to this day for everything and at the end of the month has some extra bucks in his account.

This card has a zero liability policy if lost or stolen. There are other prepaid cards that also have this same feature; just be sure to research it.

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made sure he never spent more than his balance. In three years he only made one error

Sounds like your son manages his money a bit more responsibly than mine does!

Our son has his own account, yet I am able to view his activity daily online. We have an agreed upon amount that I transfer to his account. If I have an issue with his spending habits, I call him and ask about it. I am not sure he knows that he can go over his known balance. Fortunately he knows the difference between Pending and actual, he keeps track. It really works well for us, especially when unexpected expences come up, I can just transfer the exact amount right to his account. If he ever has an issue with overages - it goes to him not me.(none so far)
Also, son does not have a car. We just told him freshman year, no car, deal. If he bums rides from friends a lot then I send a pre-paid gas card to that lovely friend so he can fill up every now and then (that way they don't have cash to spend on who knows what) although I am not that silly - I know they could spend a gas card on anything that is in a gas station minimart, so far they like to fill up

My son has a no fee account at college and one here in Canada. Both are joint with my wife so we can transfer money and also get info. He has an ATM on campus and a no fee one near his apt. Also a joint Visa with a $500 max. That is rarely used and not for general purchases.

My son, a sophomore this year, has a checking account with an ATM card and this works out very well for him. I deposit money, he takes it out. The first year he went to the wrong ATMS and had a number of small charges for the use. After we found him an ATM where there were no fees things have gone along quite well. For people with highschool kids, if I had it to do over, I would have given them x amount of dollars for the week and made him budget.

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Originally posted by Infield08:

quote:

made sure he never spent more than his balance. In three years he only made one error

Sounds like your son manages his money a bit more responsibly than mine does!

Mine worked in HS. Usually when they work and have to spend their own money they quickly understand that money doesn't grow on trees and usually has to come from another source besides that metal ATM machine with the buttons.

BTW folks, tell your kids if in doubt of a machine go to the nearest drugstore for a pack of gum and get cash back instead of ringing up ATM charges. This is especially important if you use an out of town credit union.

TPM: good tip about ATM cards and way to avoid charges.

BTW, my son works in HS. He has either mowed lawns or worked construction for the past 5 years, spring through fall. He still has a ways to go in the financial responsibility department, however!

I added up all of the transfers to my two daughter's accounts. One is in graduate school on fellowship and other is a sophomore. This did not include tuition, or cost of flights, but did include books and sorority dues: $10,000/year each. Its expensive living in New York City and Atlanta. My son will be much less expensive...all he needs is his 4 X 4, crystal light, meat, and his bat and glove.

daughter who has her OWN ACCOUNT, called today needing some "parking money".

I said: "what the heck is parking money???"

reply: "it's the money to pay my (past) parking tickets so the tow truck
(across the street by my car) doesn't hook up"

just another thought about where the college allowance goes as some universities charge surreal fees for parking

I have heard tell of situations where a student's parking fees would have totaled over $2000 for 3 yrs(excluded fresh yr) of permits to park nowhere near where he has to be, and having more permits issued than actual spaces exsist.

it was proved that if the $2000 budgeted was deposited in a student account that one could get thru 3 yrs by parking ANYWHERE on campus w/o a permit,
and ... by only being required to pay outstanding tickets when booted or towed, that actual cost should be in the range of $500-$700 total for the 3 yrs.

that's what I heard anyway

btw, not my daughter's case, as because she bought ONE (1) permit ... her tickets have been permanently linked to me