My daughter and three good friends have selected an apartment type dorm next year. The apartment has a nice little kitchen and buying a meal plan is optional for this type of dorm. How do students in this type of living situation do meals, on their own or shared? And, what is the typical monthly budget per student for this type of arrangement? I was thinking about 30 bucks per week just for groceries. We are contemplating buying a commuter type meal plan that allows her to purchase lunches at the student union food court or in the regular dining hall. Thanks.
It’s up to the students whether they want to pool their groceries/budget or go it individually. But whatever gets decided, there will ALWAYS be conflict over groceries.
Most do it themselves, unless they decide on a schedule to prepare a couple of meals/week together or something. Shared items like TP and paper towels can be a challenge to figure out, too. Usually a good idea to designate shelves for each person, label their food & fridge containers, have an agreement on cleanup (eg, dishes done/put in dishwasher right after meals, not left in sink).
Thanks for the quick response. My husband and I have already suggested to her that they have a plan in advance for cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the bathroom, four labeled boxes in the fridge for their personal foods, and four spaces in the cupboard for the same. Also to plan shared meals on the weekend, like whose cook night it is and what the menu and grocery list will be. Interestingly, my daughter, being raised by two foodies from before foodie popularity, is quite a good cook–so we also reminded her not to get sucked into cooking every single day because it is time consuming. We are asking about rough estimate for budget though, I was thinking 30 to 40 bucks per week???
Suggest u start w a budget and evaluate/adjust after the 1st couple of months.
Thanks, probably a good approach. I guess was wondering what other’s student budgets for this type of thing were?
I think about $40/week sounds good, but it depends on the kid. One of mine is a good cook who never skips meals. I think the othet subsists on granola bars and bagels. My good cook will cook something, then eat leftovers for a couple of days afterwards.
Thanks, seems like we are in the right ballpark then and with the minimal plan savings could be a signiifcant savings.
It’s up to the students, furthermore, not all students are good at following a budget.
My three roommates and I all cook food on our own. While we share things like flour, sugar, Pam, and spices, we all have our own main ingredients. The only time we share food is if someone offers. Typically this only happens if one of us made deserts.
That’s probably fine, but I often find myself on campus late at night, without the food I’ve made. In those instances, I get something quick on campus, so a limited commuter meal plan might make sense.
I would suggest having the apartment mates discuss what they want to do. Maybe they decide there will be some basics they share…such as oil or spices. They will also need to figure out paper towels/toilet paper, etc. Should they take turns buying? Should they put some money in for those items? Make a list of what they bought that is shareable and the cost and make sure it is evening out?
Also they should figure out what to do if someone isn’t contributing their fair share.
I remember sharing an apt wth others and we all bought our own milk and there were 4 gallons of milk in the fridge taking up so much room.
Maybe consider having each person have their own shelf/area in fridge and another part that is communal so it is clear what is shareable and what is not.
Also do they want to share making dinners? each make their own?
My dd lives in a household of seven!!
My dd has a Costco card so each roommate gives her about $5-10 per month to cover the cost of paper towels and tp, plus shared condiments like ketchup, mustard, mayo, because too many bottles of relish/condiments takes up too much space. Same with Pam, vegetable oil, dish-washing liquid. She makes copies of the receipts so that each girl sees what was spent. Tide, softener, and dryer sheets are individual purchases/choices.
Each girl makes her own meals but they sometimes have asked my dd to pick up things at Costco; we found that that didn’t work last year because the girls “forgot” to repay my dd. So my rule was implemented because we pay for the card and the gas: if you want a number of items from Costco, you have to go with the dd and pay for it as it goes on the belt. (Dd was often paying too much for others purchases). In a pinch, if you pay for it in advance, the dd picks something up.
Budget for dd is about $150-200 per month.
Thank you all so much for your feedback. Many points my husband and I brought up to her already as potential issues and others are things we didn’t think of. That is why this type of forum can be so helpful. She is tiny and not a huge eater, so has pointed out that what we are spending on a full meal plan is way over spending in her case, especially for breakfast. We like that she is thinking about costs, but we also want her to eat her three meals, eat healthy, and not have to spend too much time cooking.
When you set a budget, remember most students don’t have the luxury of buying in bulk or going to the lowest price stores. They will often to buy items in smaller quantities which often cost more. They will likely buy more convenience food that requires little or no prep. Often (unless they have a car) they will have limited options for where to shop.
Since you daughter appears to be a upper classman, she likely knows whether a commuter meal plan makes sense. I would consider erring on the low side for the meal plan. Many schools (you need to check her school policy) lets you add or increase a meal plan.
If your daughter doesn’t have Venmo tell her to download it now and make all of her other roommates do the same. It’s an incredibly useful app when it comes to splitting basic apartment costs.
$30 a week sounds very low to me, especially if you include toiletries. Maybe if you don’t eat much…I was probably double that.
In any case, grocery stores near campus can be a little or a lot more expensive, so take that into account. The cheapest places where I went required a car or a long bus ride. She should know the places to shop, or know someone who does.
I didn’t share my groceries. The exceptions were things like butter, dressing, spices. Cleaning supplies, toilet paper, hand soap were generally shared, it depended on the year. Sharing a meal once a week could make a nice bonding activity without making people feel ripped off. Sharing a meal all the time seems like more trouble than it’s worth.
For the most part people just labeled their food and had their own part of the cabinets. When I lived with one other person it was great, when I lived with five others it was a mess. You can try to divide up cleaning and chores, but there is a good chance it won’t work out. Some people hate messes and do the cleaning before the rest notice it’s dirty.
The OP said they were getting a partial meal plan, too.
She will be a sophomore. Yes we will purchase one of the small basically numbered “lunch” plans that allow for so many meals in the various campus eateries or dining hall. We will probably start with the smaller one since it is easy to add more meals to it if needed. I will share all of your great feedback with her.
A lot of what ends up happening is just going with the flow. Agreed with GMT there will always be conflicts! This year my roommates and I share everything; we can all use each other’s flour, sugar, olive oil. If someone makes a huge pot of soup, we’re all free to take. We’ll take handfuls of each other’s cereal or some cookies, with the assumption it all eventually balances out. But I still, for example, got really irritated last week when someone ate my restaurant leftovers. Or when someone used my last two slices of bread. I guess my point here is that it’s never going to be perfect, and grumbling WILL occur, but it’s important to look at the bigger picture. I wasn’t going to let someone eating my leftovers be the hill that I die on.
is there a way to set expectations and making sure others follow through without coming off as demanding or petty? Some unpleasant moments will probably inevitably occur, but what are your advice for striking the balance between “getting stepped on” and “being overly dramatic?”