What is a resonable amount of pocket money

Fighting Irish

Thaedydal wrote: »

Pocket money for a 19 year old in college?
Tbh I am staggered by the idea, tell her to get a part time job.

Really it depends on how well off the parents are. I'd prefer give my children money through college rather than let part time jobs get in the way of college.

Zillah

Thaedydal wrote: »

I did electronic engineering in college away from home, between lectures, tutorials and lab work I was doing 30 + hours a week and I worked at the weekends doing two 12 hour shifts, that paid for my weekly expenses, rent, food, 'pocket money' I did get a grant and that when it was paid out covered books and clothes. I worked every holiday break and over the summer and even took year out to work and then save so that when I went back for the final semester I didn't work at all but just studied.

And I'm sure that was very difficult and stressful, and you probably would have done even better in college if you had all that time for studying instead. Why put someone through all of that if it is not necessary? I don't mean to start a fight, but it seems a bit like you might have a chip on your shoulder. It was hard for you so why should anyone else get off easy? You worked really hard and good job for pushing through it, but there's no point inflicting that on someone for no reason.

amen

I did electronic engineering in college away from home, between lectures, tutorials and lab work I was doing 30 + hours a week and I worked at the weekends doing two 12 hour shifts, that paid for my weekly expenses, rent, food

This is more like. I did something similar (same course hours and work pattern) with no grant. If I wanted money I worked for it.

This was 20 yers ago when it was hard to get a part time job but there are always part time jobs. If she is doing Arts then she prob only has a small number of contact hours a week and if she managed her time she would be able to work and get college work completed.

dlofnep

I worked all through college right up til the end of 4th year. I wish I had pocket money

Nevyn

If she is living in the family home and doesn't have the over heads of rent/bills/food then having a part time job can easily pay for walking around money or day to day expenses of college which is what this is about and not a child's pocket money.

Zillah

Thaedydal wrote: »

If she is living in the family home and doesn't have the over heads of rent/bills/food then having a part time job can easily pay for walking around money or day to day expenses of college which is what this is about and not a child's pocket money.

Why have a student waste time and energy if their parents can afford to support them?

Nevyn

Why have a child clean thier room if thier parent can do it for them?

Zillah

Because cleaning a room takes five minutes and has no chance of impacting their college work. Can you answer my question?

lonestargirl

Zillah wrote: »

Why have a student waste time and energy if their parents can afford to support them?

Because part of parenting is teaching our children life skills, financial planning and budgeting is one of these. We are talking here about pocket money, not money for essentials. I'm well past college age and I still only allow myself one treat coffee/hot chocolate a week in work, otherwise I could blow $20 a week without even thinking.

Zillah

Well like I said in my very first post, it depends on how responsible she is. If she's a bit spoiled a part time job could do her the world of good. But if she has a good head on her shoulders and respect for money then making her do a job while studying is just a little petty.

Moonbeam

from reading back she already has a part time job but got herself in to debt and is using the income from the job to pay it off.
I worked all the way through school and college and think that there is a right balance it isn't right to have a young student stressed about money for essentials but it is not right to have to support them when they are adults,they need to learn the value of money.
I think the perfect situation is working and parents throwing in a few extra euro or maybe rent money if they can afford it.
As this girl has managed to get herself in to debt somehow even before getting to college i would give her the bare minimum for college.

Dr Bolouswki

Realistically you just got to look at average costs of things, and then decide how much of that you want to fund. I would say a bare minimum to cover lunches/tea/coffee and travel would be €50 a week. If they get packed lunches you could probably get by on €30. If they have no travel then sure €10 a week gets them a coffee a day!

If you are throwing odd nights out into the equation along with the above, the €300 a month sounds reasonable. I never got pocket money myself - had to either earn it or get treated to the odd night out. But that's what I'd want myself these days to not feel like a transient.

How Strange

I've just read back through the posts too and the op's daughter is 19 and has managed to run up debts. That would indicate that she's not responsible with money. In that situation I think giving her too much money may not bebwise. She needs to learn the value of money.

Yes it's sh1t when you're that age and don't have loads of money for socialising, clothes etc but is it really a parents role to fund a young adults lifestyle? I'd say no it isn't.

I still say €30 per week but look at how much travel will cost her and perhaps add that to it. Compromise on both sides is important but again if she says 'everyone eats in the canteen and drinks 5 coffees at €10 a day' then that's unrealistic. most working people prob don't even do that.

Nights out, clothes etc should be regarded as extras which she would have to work to earn money for even ifbtyat means she works in the family home by doing cooking and cleaning.

C.D.

Having only left college in the last few years, my budget was as follows:

Bus ticket (about 4-6 weeks of transport depending if I was going to the library on weekends): €85

1 hot meal a day (I was in from 9/10 in the morning to 8/9 in the evening in the library. I would take 1 packed meal, but when it is cold, wet and dark, having a hot meal at least once a day works wonders for your motivation): €5 a day, ~€100 a month.

Phone credit: €20 a month

Cinema/going out/socialising/ misc: €20 a week, €100 a month

~€305 a month

That, to my mind, is a comfortable balance of spending well without being lavish. €20 a week for going out is manageable- two drinks and a nitelink. I worked during my first two years of college, but gave it up in the last two years- it made an incredible difference to my grades. €30 a week would cover little more than transport costs for a lot of people.

When all is said and done, I was lucky in that my parents could afford the above, which could very well not be the case for everybody.

dan_d

My 19 yr old sister is in first year in college and working Saturday mornings. 50-60eur a week is what she earns.My parents subsidise her travel occasionally - she has hefty enough train ticket costs etc - and have bought her decent clothes (shoes,coats) aswell.All else she buys herself, though fairly rarely. She has a fairly hectic social life, which she pays for herself.

candy19

I have been out working since I was 14 years old, do you not think its time she got a job??

I'm in college 5 days a week for the past 3 years or more and I currently have two part-time jobs! I wouldn't ask my family to support me once I have started college, had to completely fend for myself and its the best thing I ever done!

angeldelight

I got 50 euro a week when I was in college. I had quite a busy timetable, would be in 8.30 or 9 til 5 some days and an hour and a half commute each way. This coupled with a course which was quite academically challenging meant that my parents preferred me to spend spare time studying so they chose to give me money. From that I bought food in college, bus tickets, stuff for college excluding books, most of my clothes, nights out, presents at christmas etc.

I don't really think you can say that your child will never learn to budget etc -I think that's something that comes to most people naturally with time anyway. If you can afford it why pile the pressure on them at a time that is already challenging. I now work full-time, pay rent & bills and save a huge chunk of my salary each month. I always appreciated the money my parents gave me and I think that is the most important point, not how much they gave me

BossArky

Interesting thread & something which strikes a chord with me. I had to earn every penny which went towards my education.

It started when I was 14 at the end of secondary school 3rd year and finished up when I got my independence with a Masters at age 22. Looking back it sounds horrific and I kinda wonder what my parents were thinking. We weren't exactly broke, nor where we very well off.

I don't want any child of mine to have to go through what I did. Lots of pressure to work and study at the same time. However, it made me respect money and learn to stand on my own two feet at an early age.

My working history:

1996: Age 14 - the summer between 3rd and 5th year in secondary school, plus the first few months of 5th year as the school was being renovated: Worked selling tea-cosies and cheap kitchenware out of the back of some dodgy dudes hi-ace van as we toured around Ireland. Earned roughly 30 punts per day. The first 80 punts I had to put towards the carpet my parents were planning to put in my bedroom!! Lol - not what a 14 year old was thinking of using the money for.

1996 - 1997: Age 15 & 16 - worked at SuperQuinn for most of 5th year and a bit of 6th year secondary school earning 1.98 punts per hour.

1998: Age 16/17 - finished leaving cert and worked at a local factory for a month, then another local place saving money for University.

1999: Age 17/18 - Summer break between Uni 1st and 2nd years - worked at a local place earning around 2.50 per hour. Worked at Uni cleaning campus houses afterwards.

2000: Age 18/19 - Uni placement in Germany for saving cash to put me through 3rd year.

2000/2001: Age 19/20 - Uni bar job 2 nights a week, Hotel washing dishes 2 nights a week, working in pizzeria 2 nights a week.

2001: Age 20 - Summer J1 job between Uni 3rd and 4th years in New York earning money for 4th year.

2001/2002: Age 21 - struggled to get by my savings and get my degree by surviving 4th year

2002: Age 21 - got a "proper" job after Uni but decided it wasn't for me so decided to go back to Uni. Parents wouldn't fund me so again I had to work for every pen of the costs. Summer work paid for the costs of the Masters and accomodation

2002/2003: Age 21/22 - worked in a chipper 6 nights a week for the 1st half of my Masters, then spent the summer of writing my thesis working in Homebase 2 evenings and 1 full day per week selling garden furniture whilst trying to complete the most important part of my education. Did some weekend gigs with a band too which was the most profitable venture.

2003 onwards - successful career travelling the world. However, it was tough getting to that stage when working as a teenager/early twenties student :mad:

So, OP - if I was you I would ask your daughter to get a job. You could supplement her with 20 to 30 euro per week. This money you supplement here with will avoid situations where she has to go knocking on her friends doors for slices of bread and a lump of cheese when hungry. Been there, done that, got the XS tshirt from extra skinnyness.

There is a happy medium somewhere. One of my friends would get 200 euros per week(!) from his parents. Others would have grants. I had none of these and had to slave away in sh!tty jobs.

/draws breath
/ends rant

Best of luck with the decision.

pauljw11

candy19 wrote: »

I have been out working since I was 14 years old, do you not think its time she got a job??

I'm in college 5 days a week for the past 3 years or more and I currently have two part-time jobs! I wouldn't ask my family to support me once I have started college, had to completely fend for myself and its the best thing I ever done!

I think I need to re-iterate that she has a part-time job, at which she works 20-40 hours per week depending upon what is available. As I mentioned "unfortunate" things happened last year that meant she knocked up some debts, she does seem to have learned her lesson and got her act together this year, and especially in the present economic climate we feel it better that she continues in college . We have agreed that every cent she earns goes to pay off the debts, and in the meantime we will give her a "reasonable" sum of money. We don't think it is right to pay for frivilous things, but we don't expect her to go round in rags eating brown rice either!! The question is what is a reasonable amount.

Nevyn

I think a reasonable amount means to cover her expenses so get her to cost them for you.

SerialComplaint

bulmersgal wrote: »

ou can bring in stuff but everybody else goes out, most places its nearly €5 for a sandwhich and a tea. Also you have to consider she'll have to buy mid morning snacks out of money too.

There are people earning €50k - €70k who can't afford to spend a €5 on lunch every day and buy mid-morning snacks. I know of one mid-manager civil servant who brings a flask of coffee to work each day since the in-house canteen shut down.

Is this the 'Celtic Cub' generation that expects the world to be handed to them on a silver platter?

Sleepy

pauljw11 wrote: »

I think I need to re-iterate that she has a part-time job, at which she works 20-40 hours per week depending upon what is available. As I mentioned "unfortunate" things happened last year that meant she knocked up some debts, she does seem to have learned her lesson and got her act together this year, and especially in the present economic climate we feel it better that she continues in college . We have agreed that every cent she earns goes to pay off the debts, and in the meantime we will give her a "reasonable" sum of money. We don't think it is right to pay for frivilous things, but we don't expect her to go round in rags eating brown rice either!! The question is what is a reasonable amount.

If she can't manage the debts on what she's earning, I'd suggest taking out a loan from the Credit Union or Bank with more realistic lending terms i.e. ones which leave her enough of her wages to live off during the week whilst still paying most of her earnings towards her debts.

I'll be damned if my daughter will be treating me like an ATM when she's in college. Whilst I had low hours in college, I was heavily involved with clubs and societies work and was able to work 30-odd hours most weeks. Living at home with parents who were nice enough not to ask me to contribute towards my lodging made me a fairly wealthy student. I can think of hardly any of my co-workers or friends from college who had longer hours who weren't working part-time and those that weren't working were living off the grant or summer earnings.

Those complaining about the workload and "stress" of college might be better off seeking their futures elsewhere tbh. College is fun and games compared to real life and while that's a good thing for personal development imho, I'd personally never hire someone who hadn't worked during their time in college.

JaneB

Sleepy wrote: »

Those complaining about the workload and "stress" of college might be better off seeking their futures elsewhere tbh. College is fun and games compared to real life and while that's a good thing for personal development imho, I'd personally never hire someone who hadn't worked during their time in college.

As someone who spent eleven years working after leaving school and then went to college, I would like to say that I found college way more stressful than working, especially if you take it seriously and try to do as well as you can. Whether you get a grant or not, it is true that the tax payer largely pays for third level education (and first and second for that matter), and I believe that students who don't take it seriously are doing the tax payer a dis-service.