<p>This may have been discussed elsewhere, but I'm wondering if you can help me with this.</p>
<p>I'm trying to figure out how to compare the cost of room and board with what it costs an average family to feed/house/transport a child during the course of a school year. When looking at the numbers listed at colleges and determining how much we will have to pay, I'm also aware that when our son is at school, we will be paying less for grocery bills, car costs, etc. Are there any estimates about the average costs?</p>
<p>For example, if room and board at a college is $9000, would it actually only cost us $6000 since we would be spending $3000 if our son were still at home? Thanks for you help.</p>
<p>I know that some mention some reduction in home costs, but we never noticed any huge differences…maybe about $25 a week (less milk, less cereal, less utilities)? Certainly not $3000 a year…maybe 1,000 at most. Your child will still be home during the summer and maybe breaks.</p>
<p>Right…you’re not renting out his room while he’s gone…lol. And, your transportation costs can actually RISE while your child is away at school.</p>
<p>I don’t know if that estimate that Erin’s Dad provided also includes dental and medical costs (insurance, co-payments, etc). Those don’t go away, either.</p>
<p>And, again, your child will be home about 3-4 months a year with summer, breaks, and Christmas.</p>
<p>Right, I know that you can’t downsize your house, although we may certainly gain some floor space when piles of clothes get picked up. I also know it’s very different for each family. For example, we will save on the costs of some EC activities we currently pay for that will be included in the cost of his college education. However, just wondering if others have experience with numbers other than housing costs that would make the room and board costs seem less overwhelming.</p>
<p>What kind of shopper are you? Do you normally buy pricey convenience foods for your child to eat? If so, those will go away for about 9 months. </p>
<p>Yes, if you normally are spending a couple thou a year on ECs, and those might largely go away, but don’t be surprised by other costs that pop up with a college kid. In the last 12 months I’ve paid for 2 overseas experiences that were very beneficial for younger son’s career goals. I also had to purchase another laptop when his died. </p>
<p>And, if your child will be going far away to school, oh my, there are many costs associated with that! Airfares at pricey holiday times, one-way travel when school begins and school ends, parents weekends, travel costs for parents who help with move in (hotel, rental cars, airfare, etc, etc). My older son is several states away for grad school, and we spent a small fortune just helping him move in to his apt.</p>
<p>My oldest is still a high school senior (she’ll be heading off in the fall), but my good friend has a college junior and her expenses have gone UP since her daughter left. There was obviously no savings on housing and not much savings on food (she found that cooking for 3 rather than 4 wasn’t much cheaper, although I think the dog probably ate better because there were more leftovers). LIttle car savings since the car is still going to the high school, the mall, etc. with the child still at home - before older D went to college they would have car pooled. However, there were care packages, trips to the airport, travel expenses for parents’ weekend, etc.</p>
<p>I don’t feel much of a difference in our monthly expenses since DS1 is living at college. We no longer give him $60 per month allowance (used to pay for school lunches, activities, etc.) Our water bill has dropped about $10 per month due to fewer loooong showers! We buy less milk, cereal, bread,juice, and meat (picky eater- not much of a range in food choices) and meals out are less expensive, so maybe $50 a month savings on that. So, I feel like less than $2000 a year has shifted from “at home” expenses to “room and board” expenses at school.<br>
Of course, we are spending more on car trips and airfare to and from school. When DS 1 comes home to visit, we tend to go out to dinner a bit more, perhaps see a movie, and take him shopping for clothes and shoes. Our last visit to college included a couple hundred dollars spent at Target on snacks, supplies, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks for your ideas. These are enlightening and discouraging at the same time. I guess we’re going to be spending a lot not matter how we look at it.</p>
<p>There are ways to “cut corners” or reduce college costs…</p>
<p>1) renting books or buying them used or online. Selling them back when finished.</p>
<p>2) Having your child contribute in some way (maybe make him responsible for earning book money…that will give him the incentive to find the best options).</p>
<p>3) Having your child take out some small student loans.</p>
<p>4) Choosing a lesser meal plan and eating breakfast in one’s dorm.</p>
<p>As the posts above illustrate there is no one size fits all answer to this - I would say that my expenses have gone down considerably during the months the kids are in school. The college is not too far away and they did have EC’s that cost about 2K per year per kid so with that added to fewer groceries the cost of living on campus is more reasonable (probably close to that 3K reduction you are estimating). You have to carefully explore the campus meal plans too, sometimes spending just a little more gets a lot more meals covered and means that you won’t need much extra spending money.</p>
<p>My son lived in a dorm his first year of school, and he’s been at home the second year. I have noticed that our electricity usage has gone up a lot since he’s been back, and I spend a lot more on groceries. He also commutes to school about 30 minutes away, so the car expense has increased. But his room and board cost more than these increases, so I don’t mind!</p>
<p>Quote:
Originally Posted by mom2collegekids</p>
<h2>Choosing a lesser meal plan and eating breakfast in one’s dorm.</h2>
<h2>This is usually not an option for freshman living on campus, at least it wasn’t for either of my children at their two schools.</h2>
<p>It depends on the school. </p>
<p>At my kids’ undergrad, frosh were required to have a meal plan BUT, they could choose between 3 plans. Some other schools have this option as well…some frosh only have to choose the 10 meals/wk plan. That can be a big savings over the 21 meals/wk or unlimited plan. </p>
<p>Or some schools have different dollar value" plans where purchases are deducted with each swipe. These schools seem to recognize that males/females may have different eating needs…lol</p>
<p>I haven’t seen many schools that require frosh to buy a 21 meals per week plan as the minimum purchases for frosh. I’m not saying that those schools don’t exist, I just havent’ seen many.</p>
<p>And, of course, for the other 3 years, many schools let kids forego a meal plan or choose a minimal plan.</p>
<p>Well at my D’s school you could get 125, 150, or 200 meal plans for the semester. Not much choice for limited eating. She had the lowest and still ended up with many meals left over. At my son’s school, the 21/week was the lowest you could get. Here was my son’s (his only other option was Unlimited):</p>
<p>The Full Meal Plan</p>
<pre><code>Mandatory for Freshmen. Available to All! If you are a resident undergraduate student and never specifically select a meal plan, this will be your meal plan by default.
21 meals per week = 3 meals per day X 7 days per week. Please see Double Swiping Policy below.
5 bonus meals per semester (for yourself, guests, parents, etc.)
Eat as much as you want in any of the residential dining rooms or in Commons
$2,750 per semester
</code></pre>
<p>Next year he can get 14/week plan but guess what, it’s the same price.</p>
<p>I’ve seen that before. Usually the lesser number for the same price means the meals can be purchased anytime…not time restricted…and may include some kind of Flex dollars or dining dollars. The pricier plans usually have 7 breakfasts, 7 lunches, 7 dinners per week. </p>
<p>But, I don’t know if that’s the deal with Kdog’s son. </p>
<p>I never did the math for my kids’ frosh plans, but they did have too many meals. The plans weren’t 21 per week, they were like 160 anytime during the semester. Since my kids often wandered off campus on weekends to eat at off-campus hangouts, they didn’t need 21/wk.</p>
<p>Yes, I had a 21 meals/week plan in college and I never used them all - and my college didn’t even have kitchens in the res halls. Half the time I wasn’t up early enough to eat breakfast :)</p>
<p>With our d it was a wash, partly because she had a pretty good income from work her last two years of HS, so we didn’t pay to entertain her, extra clothes, etc. The savings on food, water etc. are masked by the extra transportation costs.</p>
I also know it’s very different for each family. For example, we will save on the costs of some EC activities we currently pay for that will be included in the cost of his college education. However, just wondering if others have experience with numbers other than housing costs that would make the room and board costs seem less overwhelming.</p>