<p>so for freshman year i get to have dinner meals prepaid (included in college tuition) at the dorms, but breakfast and lunch are not paid for. how much would it cost if for breakfast if I just eat a muffin (like from costco) and a glass of milk, and for lunch i pack a large sandwich (ham, egg, cheese, lettuce) and some fruit? and lets say on weekend lunches i go out to eat, not at like mcdonalds or fast food like that, but like a regular 5-10 dollar meal (can i get even anytihng for 5 dollars)? and including extra money just in case (iono how much "extra" money i need, how many small snacks do college students get, in case they are hungry at the 3 am from studying), how much would it all cost? sorry for any unclearness, i really dunno what im gonna eat in college.... oh and btw i'm like 5 ft 9 inches, and i do go running in my spare time and play baskttball, but again i don't know if theres time for that in college.</p>
<p>It depends. I am a graduate student at New York Univerisity and food is VERY expensive here. I would say I spend $300-$500 per month on food, depending how often I go out for extra coffee or lunches with friends. In NYC, lunch with friends (aka: subway or a deli-sandwhich meal) will run you $10 easy. Do that a couple times a week and you will see your budget go up. At the same time I dont want to NOT have friends or go for coffee because of a budget. So, I try to eat at home as much as possible and save my money for weekends out with the girls! I eat 3 meals per day and most days one meal is out/campus cafeteria. I keep a budget of $100 per week including going out to eat and groceries. This budget has proven a little high, as most weeks I can get by with $75 and if I dont eat out at all $50 per week. I would assume since you have one meal paid for already, $50-$75 per week should be plenty to eat sandwhiches, lunch, snacks and the occasional meal or coffee with friends.</p>
<p>Why don’t you just get a pencil and paper (or spreadsheet) and figure it out for yourself based on your own eating preferences? The preferences and logistics (access to Costco/fridge/stove vs. forced to eat from restaurants) make all the difference in the world and vary from person to person. It shouldn’t be that hard to calculate.</p>
<p>Only YOU can decide the budget you need. You’re the one who has to do the homework. usc…dad gave you the assignment, now do it.</p>
<p>Someone in our local paper reviewed what you could get for $5 or less at the local restaurants. He did better than you might expect, but I agree with others, it really depends on where you shop as to what it’s going to cost. If you make your own sandwiches and buy something like a whole chicken or tuna or make some sort of vegetarian spread (like hummus or buy peanut butter) you can eat well for very little. Try to go to real supermarket, shop the outside aisles - eat fresh fruit for snacks.</p>
<p>It would have been a lot easier for me in my budgeting student days if I had tolerated peanut butter back then. A loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter and a jar of jam/jelly can make many breakfast and lunch meals cheaply, plus be easy to purchase and store in a dorm room as well as prepare.</p>
<p>No one here can answer this question for you. My D goes to school several states away. At our local Wal-Mart her Suave shampoo costs less than $2.00. She walks to the local CVS and there the same Suave shampoo costs around $5.00. </p>
<p>You need to price groceries/restaurants where you are.</p>
<p>usually 5 isn’t enough,with 7-8 you could have a good meal.</p>
<p>My kid went to college in Boston. We gave him $50 a week for groceries for THREE meals a day. It worked just fine.</p>
<p>My D gets $120 a week for food/entertainment etc (not rent) for all her meals—it seems to be fine—if she desperately needs a new purse or sweater, then she might have a heavy cup-of-noodles week! She has done a great job learning to BUDGET!</p>
<p>My weekly food budget is $30 during the summer,it works fine to me.</p>
<p>I was giving D1 $250 a month for food until she told me that $200 was enough. D2 started at $200 a month and hasn’t had a problem feeding herself.</p>
<p>so how about at boston?</p>
<p>OP, are you in college now, or are you anticipating next year and trying to plan your budget?</p>
<p>If you have dinner already paid for, it might not be a bad idea to pack yourself a breakfast and/or lunch for the next day while you are at dinner.</p>
<p>For example, at my son’s school, cereal is always available…could you pack yourself a ziploc bag full of cereal to eat the next morning. Or could you pack yourself a sandwich or snag an extra piece of pizza or fruit?</p>
<p>Something else my son sometimes does…when he and friends order pizza (3 for $15), they each get their own pizza…he can get 2 meals out of one pizza, so$2.50/meal is good on his budget.</p>
<p>tonywu, where are you in Boston? Is there a supermarket within walking distance? And, has your dorm got a kitchen down the hall? </p>
<p>My H & I were broke when he was postdoccing at MIT & I had just finished college and also just had first baby. I know how to eat cheap.</p>
<p>You can go far with PB & J, on whole wheat bread. Buy all natural PB; it isn’t full of corn syrup & it fills you longer. You can buy 1 qt of regular (low fat, no junk added) yogurt, and add fruit to it. You can bake a potato in the microwave (prick holes in the skin!) and add the yogurt to that, and some grated cheese—yum! for lunch. Get boxes of filling but inexpensive crackers such as store brand Ritz, for snacks, and you can slice real cheddar cheese (not that processed stuff) on them. Put the crackers & cheese in 2 separate baggies if you are carrying them to eat later (the cheese gets the crackers soft).</p>
<p>If you do have a supermarket nearby, sign up for the mailers, and buy only what is on sale each week. If they won’t give you the sale price unless you are a “member,” join. You can probably visit their website before you go shopping, too, to see what is on sale. Always buy the store brand. It is not inferior to others – where do you think it is made? The same plants that package the name brand stuff. </p>
<p>Don’t buy bottled water, get a stainless steel bottle & fill it from your tap. </p>
<p>Have instant coffee & tea in your dorm room; heat the water in the mug & add the coffee/teabag. Try using a thermos of coffee, tea, cocoa, instead of spending your precious food budget at *$s. </p>
<p>Learn how to cook rice from scratch, not the expensive instant stuff; you will need a 2 qt pot with a snug lid (no you do not need a rice cooker) and you can add all kinds of things to rice to give it different flavors. </p>
<p>There is a old standby, Ramen, of course. But you can only stand so much of that! Eggs are inexpensive, too, for the amount of nutrition that is in them. </p>
<p>When you are home, have Mom help you choose some basic spices & herbs to bring to school—you can vary cheap food hugely with some onion flakes, oregano, thyme, cinnamon, cumin, etc. Put them in a rubbermaid shoebox to keep bugs out. Also get some bouillion cubes and you can give your rice a chicken flavor, good for a near-pilaf or paella meal. </p>
<p>Hope this is helpful! Relax, you will learn how to make yourself cheap food very fast!</p>
<p>One other thing—if you can, get a job at the univ food services, cafeteria or whatever they have. They usually give student employees a meal before their shift — if that is not the policy, there are always “extra” things up for grabs rather than throw them out.</p>