<p>I'm currently Active Duty Navy (CTR, Prior Nuke) getting out next year. My biggest worry right now is living expenses while in school. I'm going to be 26, living in the veterans dorm, eating on campus, and my only real expenses will be my phone, car insurance ($100ish) and health care (I'm going to the reserves, so Tricare is ~$50/month.) I have no dependents. </p>
<p>Can anyone give me a vague idea of how much a single veteran spends per month just being a "normal" college student?</p>
<p>What school do you go to? If your using the GI Bill, your BAH is dependent on where you go to school. Also did you apply to FAFSA? The GI Bill stipend is not included as income so you can still get grants and money from FAFSA.</p>
<p>If you don’t have any kids, your BAH and reserve pay should be enough to cover expenses. Although this depends on which state you go to school.</p>
<p>Reserves as in “1 weekend/month and 2 weeks/year”? If so, then your drill pay can cover most - if not all - of your phone and car insurance. Otherwise, you can still get a part-time job while still going to school, even one on campus if you can. Your GIBill benefits are not deducted if you are working any, so don’t worry about that.</p>
<p>As a single student living and eating on campus, you should have roughly the same costs as most other students. I suggest then to look the school(s) online Net Price Calculator (NPC) or Financial Aid page and somewhere listed should be anticipated expenses (food, travel, etc) that should give you a better idea of what figures to relatively expect - without being perfectly accurate. Remember though, as an independent student it’s most likely that you’ll be paying those figures from your own work, GIBill, FA, loans, whatever, whereas younger students may still have Mom and/or Dad supporting them. So, there may be a generational “financial” divide when talking to your peers (students) about this sort of thing, but try not to let it bother you.</p>
<p>And yes, apply for FAFSA and any other state benefits you can. Any funds you ever receive from the VA are non-taxable and you will not be recording them on your tax return as income - as far as FA and the governement goes it’s as if you don’t even receive it. If you have no other true source of discernable income otherwise, then that should make you more eligible for receiving other aid than your younger dependent peers would be since they will also have to count Mom’s and/or Dad’s income as “theirs” until later in life.</p>
<p>EDIT: Are you eligible for the Post 9-11 GI Bill? If so, then it may be more beneficial to you if you lived off campus and took the housing allowance provided through the P911. The housing allowance varies by zip code, but it should be able to cover a basic place especially since you’re single and you just have to worry about you. This is a direct deposit into your bank account, so if you rent a place for less than the amount given for that zip code, then you get to pocket the rest. This may be even more of a viable option if you rent a house with a few older students and split the costs. It’s important to note, though, that you only receive the housing allowance for the time you are in school, it is paid around the 1st of the month for the month prior that you were attending school, and it is prorated if the school term did not include every day in that month. For example, I got paid for September’s housing allowance on October 1st. My school term didn’t technically begin, however, until later September, so the amount paid to me was prorated (subtracted) for only the amount o days I should have been in school. This should be kept in mind for around the holidays as December and January payments (the payments received in Jan and Feb) are typically lower than the other months since schools “break” during that time of year. A part-time job or the amounts you’ve been able to pocket up until that point can attempt to cover the rest of that time.</p>