How much money does a student need per month?

大学生每个月需要多少零花钱?

Editor's Note: A first-year undergraduate student in Chengdu, Sichuan province, recently complained online that her mother refused to raise her monthly allowance to 4,500 yuan ($633) even when she said her current allowance 2,000 yuan was not enough to cover her expenses, sparking a debate on how much money a college student needs per month. One expert shares his views on the issue with China Daily:

编者注：最近，四川省成都市的大一学生在网上抱怨，称其每月2000元的零花钱已不够其日常开支，而母亲却拒绝将她的零花钱涨至4500元（633美元）每月，从而引发了网友的辩论：大学生每个月需要多少零花钱？一位专家就这一问题与《中国日报》分享了他的看法：

Students should pursue education, not comfort学生应该追求学习，而非舒适

Even for a college student studying in a first-tier city in China, 2,000 yuan is enough to cover all his or her monthly expenses. In fact, for a college student in Chengdu a monthly allowance of 2,000 yuan is more than enough. According to a survey conducted by a bookkeeping platform, the average monthly expense for an undergraduate in cities other than Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou was less than 2,000 yuan in 2019; for Chengdu, it was 1,900 yuan.

即便是在中国一线城市学习的大学生，每月2000元也足够他/她的日常开支了。事实上，对于在成都上学的大学生而言，每月2000元绰绰有余。根据记账平台开展的一项调查显示，2019年，除北京、上海和杭州之外，在其它城市上学的大学生的平均月支出其实不到2000元，成都是1900元。

Claiming that she can hardly afford new clothing and cosmetics¹ with her 2,000 yuan monthly allowance, the undergraduate student in Chengdu criticized her mother for refusing to raise her pocket money. Her "meager²" allowance, she said, prevented her from buying branded goods that her hostel-mates enjoyed. Her attitude suggests she is influenced by fellow students' lifestyle and consumption habits.

成都的这位大学生表示她每个月有2000元的零花钱，但她要买新衣服和化妆品，这些钱根本不够。她的母亲拒绝给她涨零花钱，从而使她心生抱怨。她那“微薄的”零花钱，她说道，根本买不起舍友用的大牌商品。她的态度表明，同学的生活方式和消费习惯对她产生了影响。

By the time a person enters a college, she or he should have developed a healthy consumption habit. And a youth should adjust her/his consumption according to her/his family income.

初入校园，大学生应养成一种健康的消费习惯。年轻人应该根据家庭的收入情况调整自己的消费。

Yet most youths get to stay alone and enjoy autonomy only when they enroll³ in a college. So that is when they should learn how to plan their expenses and manage with the money they get from their parents.

但大多数年轻人只有在上大学的时候，才开始享受独立生活。这个时候的他们刚开始学着规划开支、管理父母给他们的零用。

On a deeper level, the money they spend in college should depend on how much they value their parents' hard work. As such, students should learn to manage their expenses by developing healthy consumption habits.

从更深层的角度而言，大学生的开支应取决于他们对父母辛勤工作的重视度。因此，学生应养成健康的消费习惯来管理开支。

Besides, some college students could take up part-time jobs to meet their monetary⁴ needs if they feel their parents don't or can't send them enough money. In this way they can also learn to meet the requirements of life in the future and develop healthy consumption habits.

此外，如果大学生觉得父母给的钱不够，他们可以在课余时间兼职赚取零花费用。这样，他们不仅学着去满足未来生活的需求，而且也养成了健康的消费习惯。

More important, they should always bear in mind that education is their top priority in college.

更为重要的是，他们应始终牢记：学习才是他们大学生涯的重中之重。