Allowance in college?

[peggyfromwastate]

Do you recommend giving an allowance or stipend to your college student? Recent grads-- did your parents give you a stipend?

Dd18 is planning in working on campus, but since we don't qualify for financial aid (grrrrrr rant) she has to wait for whatever work study jobs might be left over. She has zero experience so getting an off campus job will probably be hopeless. She's not the biggest "go getter".

We set up the debit card for her allowance now, but I'm wondering how much is too much at college? She'll have room and board.

[Pollyanna]

We didn't do a set allowance and dd20 didn't even have a checking account with debit until last summer. She had room and board paid for so didn't really need anything else except a small amount of spending money (dd20 is not a spender). I think she got by on about $300/semester. But she really has no expenses since she doesn't have a car and we pay for her cell phone. She gets clothes as gifts.
It is much easier for your daughter to work this summer and save the money for the school year than it is to find an on campus job tbh. Dd20 made about $2500 working at Chipotle last summer which is huge and has helped with tuition.

[PrincessFiona]

Andrew had all meals on campus as a part of a mealplan. We also put $300/semester into his checking account. He knew that was it, so he figured out how to budget for the occasional pizza. He went to free movies on campus for entertainment. He still has $75 left and his semester ends Wed. He already got a summer job and is reporting that he'll save money for next year.

[Sheherezade]

We will be giving our son a "paycheck" monthly. It won't be much, obviously. My parents did this for me as a student and it taught me how to run a monthly budget. They didn't buy me a big meal plan and expected me to cook instead (I had a kitchen in my dorm). We will get a minimal meal plan for our son and put the remainder in a monthly payment to his checking account. Obviously, we will see how it goes. I have to figure out what a reasonable budget is with him.

[SoonerTexan]

DH got a certain amount deposited in his acct for food and gas.

I paid for extras, gas, and food after I left the dorms with money I made from summer internships and jobs and on campus jobs. I also had a debit card to my parents checking account that I used sometimes too. There wasn't a set limit--it was a trust/convenience thing. Actually I still have it because it is convenient for them!

If you look hard enough, it is possible to find and an on campus job babysitting something that essentially pays you to study. For me that was checking out camera equipment to broadcast journalism students. I got so much homework done

[Sheherezade]

I had three jobs like that too - library, lab equipment and dorm desk. I was work study and I didn't get a paycheck back then. It went directly to tuition. Now WS seems to go to the student so it's just a "job" really.

[spaz]

Our son is finishing his freshman year this year at college. Last may for graduation he got $1,000 in cash as gifts that we opened up his checking account with. He's gotten a little more for Christmas and birthday from relatives. He lives on campus without a car. He still has over 700 dollars in his account. He isn't much of a spender. I worked in the summer and that was my spending money in college. My parents paid tuition and room and board and the rest was up to me.

[alotofyarn]

We worked all through high school and saved most of it. My parents were always very generous, paying for gas, cars, insurance, and college. We've gotten an "allowance" for as long as I can remember and were only just recently cut off when hubby graduated from med school. At most we were getting 1000/month, but they had stopped paying for everything else, so that went toward rent and all living expenses. They always figured they had the money to spare and wanted to help their kids get on their feet, and we always very much appreciated it.

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[Vanquisher]

Haven't figured this out yet. I guess my answer would be, it depends. My parents gave me 0 money of any kind for college. Not a dime.

[Mrs. MD, Esq.]

I didn't have a meal plan, so my parents calculated the number of weeks I was at school and at the beginning of the semester deposited $100 x # of school weeks to cover groceries/gas/clothes/any books not covered by scholarship and deposited the lump sum in my account (to teach me to budget). I had a full ride for tuition but they had to pay my room. I got a job as a receptionist in one of the dorms for extra spending money my first year, was an RA my second year, and another university job my third year.

[GrayMatterWife]

I could not conceive of having asked my parents for an allowance at 18. Or anytime after. 14, honestly. I had jobs.

But my situation was probably unusual. I moved out when I was 16 and my parents did not pay for my college. I was-- to say the least--not a particularly good financial risk.

[MrsSz]

Our meal plan had a certain amount of money available on our student ID, plus you could add more. We used it for laundry and spending money. Tons of businesses accept it as payment so I could get groceries on or off campus, get pizza, chipotle, pretty much anything with my BuckID.

Oh how I miss buckID - they did away with swipes and it's confusing lol. I miss pita pit at 3 am delivered with a pack of beer. Ahhhh college


I have nothing constructive to add just nostalgia

[diggitydot]

Our DD1 won't be getting an allowance. Her summer plan is working and babysitting as much as she can to save up for school.

[mommax3]

We didn't give our son an allowance. We explained to him that we were paying a pretty penny for college, which included room and board, and that any extras were on him. We did transfer him gas money when he came home and paid for an occasional haircut, and we still buy clothes for him. He resisted getting an on campus job at first, but he did eventually get some shifts in the dining hall and did that all year. He asked us for money a couple of times early on (before he got the job) but we said no, and he hasn't since then.

[Curegirl]

No allowance here either. I started working at 15 and was completely financially independent by 17. It was important for me to pay my own way because I didn't want anyone having any input in what I did with my life like what I should major in and where I should go to school. Most of my friends got financial help until grad school or a few months after college graduation if they were unemployed.