Weekly allowance for living at-home college student?

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Mar123

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Son, soon to start college. He will be living at home. Not sure of timetables yet, but from my research, he should expect to be timetabled for approximately 30 hours of lectures, labs, and tutorials a week, plus study. Given that the course should be the priority, am not sure of the feasibility of part-time work. Trying to gauge how much of a weekly allowance to give- and would appreciate recommendations and advice from others.
 
Mar123 said:
timetabled for approximately 30 hours of lectures, labs, and tutorials a week, plus study
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No disrespect to either of you, but its very unlikely he'll have that much contact hours.

Let him get a part time job for now; he's getting food & board.

And money wise, don't give him a weekly "allowance", he's not a kid.

if you can, give him a lump sum & let him figure out a budget.

He'll mess up, but that's all part of learning.
 
Mar123 said:
Son, soon to start college. He will be living at home. Not sure of timetables yet, but from my research, he should expect to be timetabled for approximately 30 hours of lectures, labs, and tutorials a week, plus study. Given that the course should be the priority, am not sure of the feasibility of part-time work. Trying to gauge how much of a weekly allowance to give- and would appreciate recommendations and advice from others.
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With 30 hours a week, it would certainly be tough to also commit to a part-time job.

However, what I realised fairly quickly is that college is much more relaxed than school. Students are free to make their own decisions regarding class management and are in a better position to decide which ones can be skipped, viewed online etc. This can open up time for other stuff including work.

Also, the academic year is relatively short so it leaves good scope for up to 4 months’ summer work that can create a nice buffer to see out the subsequent academic year.

I would agree that the formal “pocket money” approach has probably had its day by the time they go to college. A small lump sum is perhaps a good way to go and allows for budget management. I find Revolut is great in that you can just top up as the need or inclination arises.
 
I'm in the same situation. About 30 contact hours and more than an hour commute. I was also wondering what amount I should envisaged.
 
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In similar circumstances, I gave €30 a week . It’s a good idea to break it down and decide what you are willing and able to fund

Commute costs
Phone costs
Food - will they be bringing food from home , even if they are , buying a coffee and a snack on campus will cost 5 - 8 a day
Are you willing to fund a few pints a week ?
Incidentals like hair cuts etc
Are you expecting them to budget for clothes ?

A lump sum sounds like a good idea theoretically , but that assumes that after paying the student contribution and for sny books and materials , that you have €600 lying around . Given money monthly is likely to be more practical for a lot of people
 
DannyBoyD said:
No disrespect to either of you, but its very unlikely he'll have that much contact hours.

Let him get a part time job for now; he's getting food & board.

And money wise, don't give him a weekly "allowance", he's not a kid.

if you can, give him a lump sum & let him figure out a budget.

He'll mess up, but that's all part of learning.
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Certainly, the post of the month. Truthful and direct and it will make a more appreciative student.

. . . and you’re not down big bucks as the student is living at home.
 
I gave the kids enough for a reasonable night out. I paid leap card and fixed phone. They soon realised that a Saturday job was feasible and preferable to being home a lot…

I would suggest monthly not weekly unless as suggested a large sum at the start of the year, or maybe semester?
 
BTW, I answered the question to help the OP. If anyone wants to berate me for spoiling my lazy adult child, dont bother. There were circumstances where a job was simply not possible for personal reasons at that time, Thankfully, they manged to find a job that suited and were delighted to be able to earn money. When they wer not able to, I was happy to give them enough to be able to get by
 
Can you sit down together and reach an agreement? I would cover things like leap cards via auto top up and a fixed phone plan so they are never left stuck for those. And impress on them the utter waste of spending money on coffee, lunch and snacks v bringing them in. They need to learn to be broke students so that they have to either say no to things as they have overspent or so that they find creative ways to pay for things. They will never have to fight with housemates over bills to avoid getting electricity cut off so they are saved that pain at least. But maybe no harm now also teaching them the cost of running a household, so that they can see what value they are getting living at home v their new pals living away whose lives seem idyllic !
 
huskerdu said:
BTW, I answered the question to help the OP. If anyone wants to berate me for spoiling my lazy adult child, dont bother. There were circumstances where a job was simply not possible for personal reasons at that time, Thankfully, they manged to find a job that suited and were delighted to be able to earn money. When they wer not able to, I was happy to give them enough to be able to get by
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I think €30 is quite modest if anything. I know it’s a lot to come up with every week but it really doesn’t stretch too far for an adult’s lifestyle, however frugal.

It can be a tough existence in college doing 30 hours and looking at your social science colleagues having a great time doing 12 hours and working all the time they want.

I think a hard working student doing 30 hours should be supported as much as possible. It’s a short but difficult few years and it should be made as easy as possible for them.

Hopefully they’ll return the compliment when choosing your nursing home after they’ve made it big.
 
We paid student contribution, accommodation and a laptop.
We have 4, 3 of whom are still at college. They all got weekend jobs and summer jobs, working full time most of April May June and July. Thats a big chunk of the year when they are free to work. They finance their own social lives, clothes and holidays/ trips. They all have full time courses, 30 hours at college, combined with 30 hour placements ( teacher training)
They still have the energy to go out most weekends!
So, nothing, is the answer to your question.
 
You could also let them start and see how they get on with the workload. I did my best college semesters when I had a job as I had no time for messing around. And yes, I skipped some classes to facilitate a work timetable and caught up in my own time. I learned a lot during those years about prioritisation etc. Also consider their energy levels are far far higher as they are generally late teens/early 20s so they are capable of things I wouldn't dream of doing (two nights out in a row for example!)

There are long gaps in summer, between terms etc and they should be able to pick up work during this time. I was lucky enough to get a grant, which at the time was paid 3 times a year so I learned how to budget a lump sum from that...not always successfully!!! But it was a great life tool. And I never wanted to fall back on my parents as they just didn't have the resources to fund my social life so I just made do. Still managed to fund travel for J1s in summers, Erasmus placement and thought I had won the lotto when I did my paid work placement!
 
I lived away and my parents gave me a reasoable amout of spending money, never had a job during the semesters just summers. Didnt do me any harm, best years of my life, most of my friends were in the same boat.

If you can afford to make it enjoyable for them i wouldnt go out of your way to make it difficult, if you cant then thats a different story and you need an agreement.
 
There are loads of "teachable moments" as parents. College is def one of the big ones, as they start their adult academic life it is a good chance for them to start their adult finance life too.
 
I have 2 students and give them 150 a month each, also pay their phones and leapcards. They work over the summer, and have done p/t jobs for periods of time depending on their college workloads.

When I was a student my folks gave me a lump sum at the start of each year (I think they were doing a deed of covenant which you can't do any more for students) - anyway, it was generally gone by Xmas.
 
We gave ours €275 per month. That was to include looking after their own phone and leapcards (so probably a similar monthly total to shweeney). We expected them to look after social life, incidentals, clothes, hair cuts etc etc.
My parents gave me money monthly when I was at college.
 
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