I know that the university publishes an estimate of this on their website (over $13K!), but I’m guessing that many students live on far less after moving off campus. So, I’m wondering if any of you seasoned Alabama parents or students can give me a ballpark figure as to what you actually pay for rent+utilities+food in years 2 to 4? Thanks in advance for any responses! Just trying to gauge total costs for the four years if son chooses UA.
No takers yet? OK, let me try the question this way: Is the following a reasonable budget for a UA student or too optimistic?
Rent + utilities $4800 (12 month lease @ $400/mo including utilities)
Food $2500 (Bronze or Essentials meal plan plus cereal for breakfasts and cook remainder of meals at home)
Miscellaneous $900 (Roughly $100 per month)
Books $600 (renting or buying online instead of bookstore)
Total-$8800/school year
I’m very frugal, but that seems to be VERY optimistic even for me.
It will be EXTREMELY hard to find rent at $400/month including utilities - my son’s rent is generally closer to $600/month including utils (which run him about $100/month…he could reduce that A LITTLE, he doesn’t need or even use the cable, but with the deal he got it’s not that much higher than the internet alone)
My son has no meal plan, but always uses all his dining dollars eating occasional meals on campus, then spends around $50/week on groceries, so $2500 seems pretty reasonable
miscellaneous - i don’t budget for that at all, my son pays any miscellaneous expenses out of his own money, so to me that’s extremely reasonable
books - it depends on major, but i just spent around $600 this semester alone for my 4th year engineering student and that was renting books for 2 of his 5 classes and buying used for 2 of the others, i’d plan on budgeting about $1000/year
living off campus my son also has a parking pass
i’d estimate closer to $10,000 at the low end
Thank you for the reply, jrcsmom! Wow, books are ridiculously expensive. If that’s what you paid to rent those book, I wonder what it would cost to purchase them. Ouch!
You can save $ on campus in cheaper dorm options. I think the cheapest option is about $3K less than the suite dorms which are currently $8850 per year.
Son is second year on campus, but that is no longer possible. He is to rent off campus w/ 5 friends, rent will be around $650/month, so a slight savings over dorms. It includes rental furniture, utilities (cap), and insurance. Also a shuttle to campus, imperative as he doesn’t have a car. I actually didn’t think that was too bad. Amazing how your perspective changes! There are some cheaper options off campus, I found a few places in the $500 to $550 range, but not inclusive or no transportation.
I plan on getting him a meal plan when he is off campus as well. Plus he will need to start preparing some food. No clue how that will come out, but I always try to base expenses on what we’ve been paying and trying to save $. Right now food costs are slightly under $3K for the year,
Books were the highest freshmen year, around $800. This year they will be under $500. I hope no more than the $1000 @jrcsmom posted above going forward. 
Biggest unexpected expenses have been travel. Yikes! Moving in, out, holidays is running us around $2K to $3K a year. Flights are expensive as we don’t have cheaper options that some have. I don’t mind driving, but need to rent hotels down and back, plus gas, food, etc.
So I am looking at around $12K - $13K going forward. He also spends some of his own money for things, but he isn’t a big spender. I was hoping he could get away with not taking out all the federal loans, but I doubt that will happen.
$13K a year for a BS in EE, at a terrific school, is a bargain!
^^Yes, it is a bargain! 
I found an apartment called Boardwalk of Britain for $379/mo on a realty site, but I guess that one is an outlier (maybe in more ways than one). Son’s travel costs will likely be similar to yours, if not more expensive (from CA) so I’m hoping for ways to save elsewhere as we have five kids to put through college. My son will be a computer science major. It looks like book prices vary widely.
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over $13K!), but I'm guessing that many students live on far less after moving off campus. >>>>>>
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Many live on less while living ON campus. Many choose the much less expensive dorms and pay about three to four thousand less.
When my son moved off campus, he lived in The Retreat, which is a nicer complex made up of “cottages”. His cottage was a five bedroom, five bath cottage. At that time, his rent was about $530, but that was a few years ago and rates have likely gone up a bit since.
Food costs were much less than a freshman meal plan. WE did still buy the smallest meal plan each year so that he’d have food access while on campus. He generally ate lunch on campus almost every school day.
I don’t remember how much he spent each week on groceries, but not a lot. He and his housemates would cook together often.
^Thanks, mom2collegekids! I can still find a handful of rentals in that price range online, but they seem to be a bit of a distance from campus. It seems that food costs is where the biggest savings can be found. So, I guess the COA estimate on the UA site is pretty accurate, then.
There’s a trade off between cost and convenience. Apartment complexes further from campus tend to be cheaper but less convenient if you don’t have a car. It is possible to get cheaper housing near campus, but these places are less likely to have single room leases. This means that if you share an apartment with other students to cut costs and one or more of these students moves out during the year (co-op placement is a common reason for this at UA) there’s a scramble to find a replacement roommate/s. Also, the cheaper places near campus are less likely to be furnished and you’ll have to deal with setting up accounts for utilities and internet/cable. We decided to go for an apartment complex that had single leases and a campus shuttle but was also within cycling distance of campus. This has worked out well so far.
As far as food costs go, the second year onward is much cheaper. Our son didn’t use any of his dining dollars the first year as the unlimited meal plan was sufficient. The dining dollars roll over so he had nearly a thousand dollars when he started his sophomore year. In addition, he has also worked each summer and has used that money to fund eating out and entertainment so we’ve spent much less on food.
Don’t forget that you can also sell textbooks that you have bought and no longer need.
To rent at lower cost, further away from campus - so will need to have a car (do know some complexes have shuttles, and some students do use bikes too, but very limited w/o a car if further away from campus). If student has a car and is willing to use time to and from campus, still have the cost of on-campus parking $350/year. Close to campus, shuttle goes to front of East Edge (which is one block away). When a place is furnished, less time/energy/money with move in and move out.
Once there for year 1 living on campus, parent and student should really take a good look at what is available near to campus and further away.
DD is at East Edge. Now has a car, but doesn’t have a tag for campus, while two room-mates both have on-campus parking decals. Some, like EE have rent which includes furnished (so less to move in and move out) , cable/wi fi, utility allowance (may go over a little some months), washer/dryer in apt. Has pretty nice amenities. Safe. One block from campus. Inside the railroad tracks (that is a factor some don’t consider, but outside the tracks may get delayed getting on campus with a train).
There are a number of other choices of housing available at different sides of campus. Near the strip is also close to Publix grocery store.
DD is in Million Dollar Band. Many band kids live in EE or on that side of campus. During the fall, she has M - F late afternoon rehearsals, and the students that live at EE are close to the marching field and indoor band facilities. DD also lives close enough to go to apt for lunch or for longer daytime school break time. She went 3 semesters w/o on campus meal plan, but has decided to buy a minimal plan this spring because salads/fixings are ‘expensive’ and she can eat some at Fresh Foods venue near the science center http://bamadining.ua.edu/fresh-food-company/ . A friend who had some guest meals available on her dining plan let her eat a few times off her ‘dime’.
Students decide if they want to wait in line for food at one venue, walk/bike to another dining venue. DD likes to eat at Fresh Foods but there are lines at popular meal times.
Students may change their mind on who they want to live with, what apt they want to live in, etc. If staying at same complex but moving to a different unit, have a fee for change (at EE, currently it is $200).
IMHO, finding the right room-mates and the right apt, and then staying for year 2, 3, and 4 can have the lowest overall cost, even with rent increases.
Also a caveat is that each student has a lease - so if sharing with 1, 2, 3, or more - each bedroom typically has a lease for one person per bedroom. And each person has ‘rights’ with their unit - overnight guests, etc.
The first year has an unlimited swipe meal plan, which most gals usually won’t find that very economical. But the University does it to make sure meals are available for students who may be away from home the first time and have low interest or skills in shopping/cooking for self. The University wants a student to be successful at their studies, and some of the adjustments students make transitioning from HS to college can sideline a student. Due to the University’s growth, very few students remain on campus after freshmen year, so enough units are available for incoming freshmen.
If a student is in suite housing their first year, that cost plus the dining plan is probably higher than their cost can be for off-campus, even with rent being 12 month. However it depends on the student. If they eat out a lot, do not cook much for self, food costs can be high.
If a freshman comes in and brings a car, they are paying for parking their 1st year, and is part of their budgeted expenses already (parking, car insurance and any car expenses).
DD only got a car at the middle of her junior year, when we got older sis into her own car and paying her own expenses with graduating and having a good paying job.
Also remember, if you are sending your oldest off to college, need to consider costs with younger siblings with college, and the family budget.
@SOSConcern has an excellent post, and reminds me of the importance to pick an apartment that you can live in for all of your years once you do move off campus. If you want to move apartments, there are always additional (and sometimes ‘hidden’) expenses and hassles to consider, most importantly the fact that almost every lease ends at end of July and you are not able to move into a new apartment until a week or so later (sometimes 2 weeks), and you will need to store your stuff, or couch-surf somewhere to make up the gap in time. Or, if you can secure a move-in date of August 1st at some locations, your lease (should you want to move) will now end mid- to late-July (to allow for cleaning and updating, etc.). Each time you move there are moving expenses, cleaning deposits that you might not get back in full, new security deposits, new utilities to arrange, and so forth.
To add to what @aeromom said, lease most likely in college town does not have a ‘refundable’ deposit - very lengthy legal document which is the lease. So by staying put, just lose that amount once.
Also had to just deal with one early move in for off campus place - as indicated, apt complexes have 12 month lease, and have a very compressed time to turn over the units for new tenants; so for band or sorority/fraternity when you need to be back before classes start, you have to make some kind of other arrangements until you can perhaps obtain ‘early move in’. DD did find another band student to live with for about a week when she came back for her sophomore year early for marching band rehearsals; so we took with her what she needed for the week, and then when her apt was ready we got her stuff moved down and moved over from the temp place. Apt also charged per day on the early move in (but it was worth every penny because we were not moving in with the crush of people the following Saturday/Sunday).
Move in on campus is very smooth - you will see with the help, it is almost concierge type help getting stuff into dorm. Move out is a pain because student and family/friends are doing it all and cleaning unit enough to pass within 24 hours after last exam. So if you help student move into a unit off campus, smarter/cheaper to stay put (or stay put with same complex) over remaining years at UA.
DS made good friends early in his freshman year, still going strong sophomore year, and they are the ones he plans on living with off campus. I had suggested they pick a place they can see themselves at for the last 2 years of school, because it is cheaper to stay then moving, especially when you are very far OOS.
I didn’t get too involved though, as I felt it was hard enough to get 5 guys to come together as it is, let alone having parental input to deal with as well.
As posted up thread, I think the yearly expenses are going to be around $13K and I am good with that. The crappy Jr colleges in this area would have cost more than that, and DS is having a phenomenal experience at Bama for that price.
Also, I think Bama recently increased their travel costs to reflect all the OOS students now attending, as those flights, hotels, etc add up fast.
Chuckling (not really) about the ‘loss’ of cleaning deposit @SOSConcern brings up. Read your lease carefully! Son found out that yes, you do indeed forfeit this in its entirety, as company will find ways to not give it back. They call it a mandatory ‘re-appropriation’ cum cleaning fee (that is entirely out of your control), like shampooing carpets that really don’t need it, waxing floors, painting/touchups, stove/oven/refridge deep sanitizing, and even burnt out light bulbs will incur a hefty charge. Yes, kiss the cleaning deposit goodbye only 1x by living in only 1 off-campus apartment!
OTOH, to counter some of the expenses incurred by students in college, there can be some savings at home with the student no longer there. These have been detailed (by me and others) in a couple of budget threads some time ago. People had some great ideas to save money in college - any college!
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1596586-how-to-save-money-at-alabama-p1.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-alabama/1605777-cutting-costs.html
I have heard of a parent who is a lawyer marking up the lease to their satisfaction - but it is what it is. Understand it all? Most make assumptions. I don’t think it is listed as a security deposit to be returned. They have a term for it, but I just know via word of mouth that we won’t get it back.
Wow–thanks everyone for all the great advice/ information /warnings! You University of Alabama parents are so helpful! Thank you @SOSConcern @aeromom and @laralei for the great detailed info re: the advantages of staying in one place off campus and the heads up about deposits (good to know).
@AlbionGirl so dining dollars are issued every year or just year one?
You pay $325 dining dollars fee (separate from any meal plan) for the Fall and Spring semesters every year and this can be used at all Bama dining locations and some restaurants in Tuscaloosa. Any unused dollars can either be refunded at the end of the year or rolled over into Bama Cash which can be used in many locations around Tuscaloosa.
http://bamadining.ua.edu/dining-dollars/
Many campuses have something similar to dining dollars. Essentially most students will use up their money on dining dollars because they can - it is like cash burning in their pocket. Refund at end of year or roll over to Bama Cash. Can use Bama Cash for books and other things.
I have also heard of parents doing this, or trying to. 
The leases really do favor the rental agencies, especially for the large complexes, which is where many of the kids end up. I think it tends to be more successful when they are individual homes or small complexes.
The next couple of years are going to very enlightening.
Thanks for the links, @AlbionGirl !
@laralei So I are we talking about $200-$300 deposits that are kept?