Advise in Setting a Budget for College Student

When I went to college, I didn't get any allowance from parents or grandparents. It really taught me to be responsible for myself. When he's out of money, he's out of money. If he lives in a dorm, he should have meal tickets to cover that. Maybe just give him gas cards so he doesn't spend it on other things. Can he do work study or something?

What a wonderful Grandmother you are. Thank you for helping with a little "mad" money. We found about $50.00 a month was a good start. My children wrote nice request letters for more money. They had to wrtie a requst for the extrays.

First things first, teach him how to keep track of his money and how to write things down in a checkbook register. My husband used to be a banker and work at a location on a college campus. Most of his day everyday was spent with young college kids who had no clue how to the system worked. They would come in and wonder why their account was $200 or more negitive and most of it was because of the bank fees on $2-3 items that they bought here and there or because they went out drinking the night before and couldn't remember how much money they spent. I also think that college students should be made to earn there own keep to a certain extent. It is great that he has already earned some money himself but that shouldn't stop just because he is in school. We lived in Columbia which is a major college town and so we got to know students from every walk of life. The ones that had to work through their college years not only worked harder in school, but also appreciated that education a lot more and were less likely to over spend. Also, warn him about credit cards. Creditor literallly prey on college students. He will probably start getting applications in the mail as soon as he gets there if he hasn't already. I really think that a finance class should be mandatory in the high schools but unfortunately, most people don't think that way. Sorry if this doesn't help much with your question.

I understand your situation, we moved our last child (last of 5) to school on Sunday for his last semester. When he Graduates in Dec, we will finally be finished with tuition for our 5 children. We have been paying tuition to preschool, grade school, high school and college for 34 years. At one time to 4 different schools at the same time. I don't regret it, our kids are good, good people, and we choose to send them to catholic schools. Of course the money was tight. When they went to college we paid for tuiton, room and food on a food plan at the school. They all worked during the summers and Christmas break, so all of their extra activities and going out was paid by them. I especially refused to pay for alcohol and beer. They had to manage the money so it lasted or they had to get a job at school. They learned that they couldn't go out every night and they had to limit eating out. They had plenty to eat from the meal plan at school. We also sent them to school with lots of in room snack foods from SAM's like Raman noodles etc. This worked well for us and we didn't have unexpected expenses in the middle of a semester. They had thier own checking account with a debit card, and a credit card for emergencies with the lowest minimum available. They paid the credit card bill unless it was an unavoidable school expense. They we would pitch in. I hope this helps, it worked for us, and I'm proud to say I have 5 college graduates that are very good successful people.

Hi Janet,

I think it's wonderful of you to help. If I were in your shoes I wouldn't give him alot of money. He doesn't have good money sense because he hasn't needed it. He needs to get a job while going to school so he can afford the things he needs. I would also recomend visiting DaveRamsey.com and get the book "Priceless". Dave has a great way of teaching financial responsability. Good Luck!

Have you checked out Dave Ramsay's book, A Total Money Makeover? It is great on getting a budget started and since he is just starting college, will be great to keep him out of debt and for anyone else, help us get out of debt.

When I was in college (1997-2000) I received $80 a month from my parents. More recently, my brother (graduated in 2007) received $100 a month. We paid for our own tuition, room, board, and books with our savings, scholarships and loans, so this "stipend" covered things such as eating out, seeing a movie, grabbing a soda, Wal-Mart purchases, gas money, and laundry money. I don't remember ever really being strapped for cash on this budget. The rule was, once you were out of money, you were out of money until the next month's check arrived, so if we blew it all early, no fun until next month!

Hi Janet,

It looks like you aleady have a bunch of great thoughts and ideas.
We just dropped our son off this past weekend and understand your worry. We though, when he was a junior in high school, started him on a budget and debit card so he would learn early. He did have a couple of bumps too. Like the time he had $30 in his account, charged $32 and then got charged $35 service fee for insuficent funds. Hard lesson to learn!

We did buy our son the maximum food plan the shool had available which gave him so many meals in the dining hall PLUS funds to use on campus to eat in any of the little eating places. We also offered to buy him a couple of year long passes for things like bowling, movies or the sports events. He only wanted the sports package and that is birthday gift which is the end of the month.

So since he pretty much had meals paid for we gave him $100 a month and said that was his money for other stuff and it's up to him to make it last.

Good Luck to you and your grandson!

Lori

Have you thought of letting him also contribute the education may seem more important and taken more seriously if he helps pay. Perhaps match what he contributes.

During that first year, I remember receiving help from my mother with tuition (I also had scholarship money and financial aid) plus room and board, while I paid for books and other school supplies. If I wanted anything extra, I was expected to pay for it myself. So, I worked a weekend job to pay for gas, entertainment, eating out, etc. I too wish I had been taught better finance management before going to college. It took bouncing a rent check to help me realize that the ATM receipt did not reflect the actual balance in my account due to pending transactions that I neglectfully did not keep track of in my checkbook! Luckily, my mom was able to help pay for my expensive mistake. Needless to say, that never happened again. Each year after that I took increasingly more financial responsibility. Absolutely no credit cards! Student loans were enough to pay back! LOL!

I just took my daughter off to college yesterday and have a son who's a junior in college. If your grandson is living on campus somewhere, they likely have almost everything he could ever need available to him on campus. Food in his meal plan, free movies, activities planned by the residence halls, intramural sports or just-for-fun sports and other activities. Quite honestly, $50/month sounds about right. The first couple months he might actually need a little more - just in case there are things that he needs for his room or for school that you just didn't know about before he headed off.
The financial coach in me says to have him keep track of where he spends his money - all of it. If he can't live on $50/month, then he will be able to justify the need for a higher amount. And by all means, DO NOT, ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY DO NOT let him have a credit card. For someone who doesn't have great money sense, having a credit card would be the kiss of death.
Lastly, have him check out the jobs available on campus. They will work around class schedules, including finals week, and he can have a little extra spending cash, just in case they do absolutely have to make a midnight pizza run. After all, they do have to have some fun, don't they?!?!?!?!

I would say, don't pay for anything. If you have raised your child right, he should be getting a job and paying his own way. By doing it this way, he'll be more aware of what things cost and not be so quick to spend like his other college friends who have parents footing the bill.

If you truly want to help him, education is the best way. When a student has that handed to them, they tend to be less focused on their studies and less appreciative of what is available to them then if they had to pay for it themselves and truly WORK for what he/she has. For this reason, adults returning to school at an older age tend to be more focused than those of the younger generation. Why? Well, for one, they have life experiences, yes, but they also have to pay the bill.

I worked 2 jobs while in college. My parents didn't pay for my school or anything so I think any help you choose to give him will be great! It's probably a good idea for you guys to buy him the on campus meal plan. That way when he blows his money on other stuff, he can still eat. LOL :-) Reasonably, he shouldn't need more than $100 a month if you do the meal plan. That would give him enough to go out to eat or to a movie each weekend without making you guys go broke! Good luck however you decide to handle it!!

I would highly reccommend that your grandson attend one of Dave Ramsey's classes "Financial Peace University". They are frequently offered at local churches and will not only help him learn about setting up a workable budget for college, but he can continue on with his life after school. They also cover such topics as insurance and touch on real estate, retirement and estate planning.

Very good class!!

Hi Janet,
Our 18 year old daughter is off to college for the first time this semester and we wanted to help her out as well. We figured that we wanted to give her a weekly stipend that would help to cover basic expenses while being away, which most likely would not cover any splurging at the mall. With our budget we came up with $50 a week which is deposited into her acct. each Friday. We figured recieving a weekly amount would also help her budget her money instead of giving her a flat $200 each month. Ironically, her 1st week away she ended up having an overdraft fee because she was only going by what the bank says was her 'available' balance. Now she has to keep a checkbook register for all of her expenses so she will know exactly how much money she has. I have a feeling that she might pursue a PT job later in the semester as she finds out that she wants to have more spending money. At least now, all of her basic expenses are covered and she doesn't have to get a job if she doesn't want to. Hope that helps. I'd highly encourage giving a little bit at a time. You're a very sweet Grandma for helping out.

Hi Janet,

When it comes to college and expenses for children I tend to have the same thinking as my parents, you want it you work for it.

My hard earned money paid for everything from my first car to all expenses during college. Yes there were times I had little to eat, and yes there were many times I wished my parents would pay for everything like others, but now that I have been out of college a few years I understand why they made me pay for everything - they were teaching me responsibility and money management. I am VERY thankful they did!!

Just a suggestion, but maybe this would help him with his money mangaement problems plus make him appreciate his education more since it was his hard earned money paying for it. Worked for me :)

Best Wishes,

J. H.

I can't speak to the amount that is appropriate, but I would recommend a pre-paid Visa. This is different than a check card - which will let you overdraw an account. We set up our (almost) 15 year old daughter with a Visa Buxx account when she was 13. Her allowance comes directly from our checking account and onto her card every Friday. She can look online and see what is available on the card, and transactions will decline if she tries to spend more than is available. Also, in an emergency, we can add to the card in just a few minutes online. You can check with your bank to see what options are available.

Janet,

It seems like I made it on $250-$300 a month TEN YEARS ago!
I'm not sure how much he will need now, I just remeber working all summer and saving that money. When I got to school I took how much I made and divided it by 9. I also got a small part time job on campus and made about $100-$150 a month. I guess my point is....he should make due with whatever ammount you give him. That's how a budget works....don't spend more than you have. If it's not enough...get a campus job!!! Good Luck

Janet-
May not have college students but, we host foriegn exchange students. The way we handle the money. We take care of food, gas and shelter. With the students money they plan to pay for hair products, deodrant, clothes, cell phone,entertainment and ect. Now for the parents get year book, prom and phone call when big extra's come up. We share graduation if they are wanting to. Some times we can help and some time we can't.
Everyone understands that food, fuel and shelter come first.
I would make a budget of everything that is "a have to have."
You don't have to eat out every day, go to movies every week, or parties.
I have had to tell the students in the past, "your here for the education and the experience. Not for the parties".

I don't know about you but when I went to school.I was married, I was already a mom, had a house, worked a full time job to pay for the sitter and extra's. I didn't get a scholorship. I didn't have parents or grandparents that helped. He really should be grateful for all that you do because it is a something you really don't have to do. I hope that I will be able to do the same with my grandchildren.

I'm young, only 22, and when I was in school my parents didn't pay for anything. I'm so grateful it was that way, too. I appreciated everything so much more and was never tempted to skip class because it was coming out of MY pocket, not theirs. My husband and I have already decided that IF we are able, we will give our kids a little money each month but we will not pay for their schooling- no matter how capable of that we are. We have seen way too many times parents getting screwed over because their kids just want a "free ride". I learned so, so much this way- it was probably the second most valuable thing I've ever learned. If you're just wanting to help him because you're Grandma and Grandpa, I'd give him about $50 a month, just as his mom does. That will for sure cover the things that he NEEDS (I'm assuming he'll eat meals on campus as eating out isn't ever necessary)- a little gas (they walk mostly everywhere on campus), things needed from WalMart, etc. Kids these days are so accustomed to having all these extras but if he wants these things (eating out, going to a party, fraternity, etc.), he should be paying for it. It never killed anyone to work part time and go to school. And, if he has bad money sense, I wouldn't want to waste my money for him to learn a lesson with! Don't pick up the pieces for him, either, that won't teach him anything. But that's just my two cents- hope it helps a little.

Don't let him be talked in to a credit card!! Those nasty CC companies prey on college kids, and I got bit! I had that bill hanging over my head for too long, well after college!