|
|
I pay the bills, SHE pays for the frills!Feb 04 '00 Write an essay on this topic.There is a fine line between too much money and not enough money. The amount of allowance was a very difficult decision for me, I wanted my daughter to have enough money to "go and do", but I didn't want her to "over do"! My daughter lives in an apartment style dorm while at college in Atlanta. The two of us sat to make up a "dollar needs" list - so food was our concern. I knew that a family of four could eat on $100 a week, so $25 a week for food would be a good amount. Since she did a lot of cooking and grocery shopping at home, she made a weeks menu and estimated food costs and agreed that this amount would work. This amount would also furnish shampoo, soap and other personal items. Our first $25 was agreed on! Next, I knew that I definitely wanted her to always have money for taxi fare, in fact, I forbid her to walk anywhere at night alone. I decided that two taxi trips a week was reasonable and would be well worth the money for my peace of mind. Our next $10 was agreed upon! Laundry, extra school supplies, and project supplies was also necessary. We estimated $10 a week and this amount would also over vending machines while at school for sodas, chips, etc. Another $10 agreed on Since at this point we were up to $45 a week, we decided to round up to $50 a week, paid into her checking account two weeks at a time. I also furnished her a phone line in the apartment, my ATT calling card (10 cent a minute - anytime) and an 800 number for our home. We agreed that I would pay all long distance phone charges to family members and all long distance phone charges to friends, if it was kept to a low amount each month. She is also on my Internet Service, so staying in touch with everyone is not a problem. I also reimburse for medical expenses and airfare home. We both felt we had a workable budget, not too much money and not to stingy either. Any frills would be her expense. She works 20 - 30 hours per week and this is her spending money. The first several months at school, she spent every dime of this money and her checking account was always scraping the bottom. Now she has settled down on her spending and after eight months away from home, has a pretty good bank balance. As a mother, I want her to have a positive college experience, a fun experience. I want her to be able to go and do with the other students, I want her to know she can buy the proper supplies for projects or another ink cartridge for her printer when needed. Each child though is different, some will spend every dime and others will try to save. I feel we have hit a happy medium and this feeling is reinforced by her current bank balance! She eats well, is healthy (discounting the cracked bone in her hand), makes excellent grades and works 20 - 30 hours per week. Why does this work? We sat down together and communicated. And communication is the key to any workable plan.  |
| Read all comments (9)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
