Should You Pay for Your Child's Spring Break?

As your teen transitions into young adulthood, you will begin to deal with their college experience. Apart of that college experience is spring break, winter break, and summer vacation. However, often times, due to the fact that your child will likely not have enough money on their own, they may ask you to fund their vacation for them. That being said, you may be left wondering what is the best course of action to take in this situation? Do you want to payyou’re your college student’s vacation?

Your Child Could Borrow Money

If you are able to assist your child, then you can let them borrow money from you. You can use this as a tool to teach them how to handle debt in a safe space. Before lending the money for the trip you can act as a bank and make sure that there is a repayment plan in place. You can even add penalties if your child does not repay the money back as agreed. The reason you may want to consider letting your child borrow money is because of the fact that they could be so caught up in going on a trip that they pay for it irresponsibly. They may use credit cards, fast cash loans, and even their student loan funds in order to pay for the trip. You want to make sure they avoid messing up their finances while still being able to go have fun.

If they ask you to borrow money, then you can also provide those funds under other conditions as well. For example, you can say that they are only allowed to travel to a certain state/area based on its crime rate, average median income, health concerns, etc. You can also opt to choose where they will stay in order to have proper hotel security and safety measures in place.

What You Say Matters

Regardless of how you go about paying for their vacation, you want to make sure to sit your child down and have a conversation with them. These vacation periods like spring break, summer vacation, and even winter vacation are opportunities for a lot of parties. When these parties occur, often times, so do illegal activities. Whether this be fake ids or other illegal drug use, these times can be critical in a young person’s life. You want to make sure that you talk to them about the risks and why you want to be cautious about where they go and why. If you are paying, you also want to explain the restrictions that you have set up in the first place. Open communication and honesty are important when speaking to your children.

Make the Vacation a Family Trip

While your college student may want to have a friend’s vacation, you can offer a bonding alternative. Instead of providing the funds for just your child to go on vacation, you can make it into a family vacation! You can even opt to let your child invite a friend so that they can still have that experience as well.