How many of you are saving?

How much are you saving per kid per month?

I saw a calculator that estimates a state college in Texas costs about $40K a year for tuition and books in 2032.

I had a little help with college ($5K) which helped me get started the first year when I went. Just hoping I can give my kids a little better leg up in life.

Great new thread. I saved but never had to use the savings. Teenagers are not free in High school. Pick a number. Lets say $100,000. You don't have to have that when they enroll. There are dozens of scholarships. My daughter got a National Merit Scholarship. . The list goes on. Yet its better to have it and not need it, than it is to need it and not have it.

We've saved some, and my kids will get some post-9/11 G.I. Bill money, but Household 6 and I don't feel it's totally our responsibility to ensure our kids get through college (monetarily). Neither one of us had ANY parental help getting through college and last time I checked, a J-O-B will go a long way toward paying for college. Plus, they can go out and EARN scholarships too. YMMV.

We started an investment account with $25k and pay in about $200 a month and then some with taxes. When he goes to college around 2037 it’s expected to be around $240-$280k for a bachelors degree. We should have about $180-$200k in there by then.

None. If they want college, they can pay for it.

I'm not paying for any further indoctrination past high school.

If you don't pay now, you may have to pay later.

This has got to be the best and most accurate post I have ever seen Oxner make.

Truer words have never been spoken!

I paid about $9000 into Texas Tomorrow Fund about ‘92, when my son was 1 year old. He started at ATM in ‘09, graduated in ‘13. We only paid for books, room and board. I did have to pay for 3 extra hours of course time the last summer session. The Fund covered 120 hours. And he did change majors 2-3 times.
Best investment I ever made. He got the piece of paper, I got a couple t-shirts.

For years I was saving $100 per kid out of every check (bi-weekly) when my two oldest kids were teenagers. Ended up being a pretty good chunk of change. This money was supposed to be used to help them get started with their adult lives after graduating HS, whether that be college/trade school or whatever. This was cash money I kept separated with large binder clips with their names and amount on it, locked in my gun safe. Unfortunately when the wife & I split she took every bit of my kids savings and there was nothing I could do about it. Lesson learned, I guess you could say.

You can take it to the bank. Literally.

Bummer!

My plan was to save $100,000 for both my girls to go to college by the time the first one was 17, I did that but have not used a dime of it and obviously it is more now.
First daughter graduated from A&M College Station last year and is on her own with a nice job, second daughter is a sophmere at A&M as well. I have managed to pay everything out of pocket each month for both of them, both will graduate with degrees and no debt, and I still have my college fund to spend,lol.
Plan for the future and hope you don’t have to use it, that’s what I have done and it worked out.

My wife was a stay-at-home mom who made sure all three of our girls loved to read. She began reading to them when they were young and would later take them to the library to pick out books as if they were new toys. I would say scholarships paid for at least 50% of their college and I picked up the rest. If someone were to ask me what's the one thing you can do to help ensure your kids will be successful I would say it's to make them avid readers.

See?

I've been touting this from day one. I'm an avid reader myself.

I worked and paid my own way through college. It was a meat grinder. We started putting money back for my sons college the year he was born. He has one year left. He will graduate college and be without debt when he enters the job market. For his sake I hope the world gets a handle on covid and the economic outlook is better next summer.

My wife and I put 4 kids through private, Texas universities for a bachelor's degree each. The rest was on them. We had a tiny bit of token help from my self-imposed poverty ex and my wife's arrogant, selfish ex, but it wasn't very much and a whole lotta hassle. But I'm not bitter. Some scholarships, some grants, but no debt.

It can be done and the fact you're planning and thinking about it is half the battle. Well done.

I agree and in the same boat. I had zero help to the point where college wasn't even a thought in my parents' heads. I have an MBA now from Texas Tech.

Each of my three have a college fund but its not going to be anywhere close to enough. Hell what do you guys do that you can save 100k plus? We only have a mortgage, a car note, and a few small bills. We're comfortable but don't make enough extra to save $200x3 kids per paycheck.
I'll help my kids where I can and definitely help them apply for scholarships and such. If I can do It with no help, they can do It this way. If they want It bad enough.

My son wants to be a Naval Aviator so I'll be pushing NROTC for him.

For starters, don’t be a Cop. If you want to be a Cop, either go to a place that pays well or marry a bread winner.

Amen. Got my sons in 97. Was 13k then. He graduated in 14. He also got about 4k back after he finished. Was a great deal. Books and room at AM was high enough.

Cbumb let him watch C.W. Lemoines videos on youtube. Make them tell you no is the message.

Well we're both cops so we're SOL.

I don’t disagree with anyone’s point on this subject, everyone has their right to their own opinion, however I want my kids have to have better start than I did.
I have accomplished that, two more years to go on the second daughter.
It cost me about $200,000 all said and done between tuition and private housing but I have no regrets.

That’s $200,000 I could have used to buy something else or save for retirement but well worth the investment in my opinion.

My attitude on college is this:

If they wanna go to college they have to show me they wanna be there. I’ll gladly help out with some things but you gotta show me some effort in the form of getting scholarships, grants, Jobs, etc. Im not interested in spending my hard earned money so my kid can go eff off for 4 years, drink, party and get some degree that he may or may not use.