There are a lot of parents who are shocked at how much it costs to feed their kids once they move into an apartment.
yes, meal plans cost a fortune. But unless you’ve got a kid who can live on baked beans and spam thrown into a crock pot at 9 am for a hot dinner at 6, you could be in a for a rude awakening. If your kid was raised on mesclun and wild salmon it is unlikely that “can culture” and stretching out a bag of frozen corn into three different nutritious meals is going to suddenly emerge as a skill set.
I’ve got friends whose kids end up spending a fortune to feed themselves. And that’s NOT the kids who are eating out 5 times a week (which is also a phenomenon, especially if the only grocery store options are a cute organic market with $3 apples (each, not per pound) or a Costco 15 miles away.)
So be mindful of the hidden costs. When the lock on your kid’s room in a dorm is broken, the college locksmith comes and fixes it (at no charge, as long as no vandalism was involved). Good luck getting a private landlord to pay for that over a holiday weekend (upcharge, overtime, yada yada yada. And you don’t really want your kid living in an unlocked apartment over a long weekend.)
We discovered lots of hidden costs with the apartment racket. And NEVER got the security deposit back, even with careful photographs of pre-existing problems (broken medicine cabinet door, missing shelves in the fridge). So just fold that security deposit into your housing estimates since you ain’t seeing a nickel of that back!
Maybe other schools’ plans are different, but at my kids’ schools the cost of the meal plan is more than the cost of them eating out at a typical fast casual restaurant - chipotle etc. There’s no way they’re spending that at even the most ridiculous grocery story. Hell I’ll sign them up for Blue Apron (also not cheap) and it’d be half as much as they’re spending on a dinner on the meal plan. Can’t wait for next year and an actual kitchen.
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My kids never took the full meal plans… so they had plenty of opportunities for food truck, fast casual, cooking their own, etc. But overall, the cost of the meal plans didn’t seem so exorbitant once they were self-catering completely! And my kids know how to cook!
Mine know how to cook as well - part of their frustration. Some required meal plans are just ridiculously expensive - even for the minimum. Might be different than when your kids were in school - they have increased substantially in the last 3 years.
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True dat. Hard to find ANY grocery item which hasn’t increased substantially in price in the last three years… and the labor costs (whether restaurant or college cafeteria) have probably doubled in some parts of the country…
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When my kids moved off campus, they were responsible for their food costs, one of my 20 year olds is pretty crafty finding cheap food (she is celiac so a bit harder).
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Mine too; I thought I was the only mean mom, although this morning I surprised her and dropped off a couple tote bags of groceries. She was ecstatic 
The Food Lion next to Lowe’s in Seneca makes individual meals you throw in the oven for 15 min; they have pork tenderloin, salmon, lean beef, shrimp or chicken with fresh veggies and a compound butter. They’re $3.50-4.50 each; she says it’s worth the trip to Seneca for cheap easy meals. Publix makes some too,
but they’re higher calories and more $.
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Both of my kids moved off campus junior year. I gave them full room and board costs of their school when they moved off campus. They ate out quite a bit whether they were on or off campus for socializing. Thy found it was cheaper to live off campus. The landlords were accustom to cater to college students, so they got the same services. The off campus housing were nicer than on campus (AC, good wifi, laundry)
I’m going to mention this to her, she was a bit spoiled since I’ve been a SAHM forever and like to cook (who am I kidding, I like to eat), and I pretty much make everything from scratch. She does sneak into the dining halls and enjoys the “mug sushi” her friends bring her. She has recently learned that tuna salad on crackers is actually good (with some chopped onion and celery). Clemson seems to have a lot of students with wealthy families for a public university (one of her best friends got a boat for his birthday 
). I have two with celiac so cook a lot of lean protein and vegetables.
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We don’t pay for her food, but we actually have money for it in her college savings account; she’s just never asked for any of it. We pay for a nice apartment off campus, car insurance, tuition/fees and books. She covers food and any personal wants/needs, gas and entertainment. We decided not to just offer up the money to her and keep it set aside for any of her future needs. She’s very low maintenance, so her food and other expenses are very minimal; she’s probably spent around $2,500-$3,000 so far this school year. Whatever savings $ she doesn’t use, we’ll give her when she graduates.
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If they wanted to move off campus the cost of the place had to be cheaper or the same as university housing. I’m not going to pay more for them to live off campus. In some cases living on campus is more expensive but can pay for itself when you look at what’s included…I get that that’s very dependent on the university.
When D moved off campus and had a kitchen, I gave her a set amount for groceries. If she wanted to blow that on eating out…that was on her. Otherwise, she had to work to pay for her own spending money.
My advice is don’t assume it’s always cheaper to move off campus. Do your homework and compare costs. Also, it can depend on where off campus they live: is it in the luxury apartment complex with lots of amenities or the older complex that’s perfectly decent, but not fancy? Or are they renting from a private landlord? On-campus may seem more expensive, but when you look at what’s included it, it may turn out to be cheaper, but of course that varies by college.
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