<p>I hope I can phrase this question right....</p>
<p>The total cost of a year at college includes a "personal expenses" component. Why am I paying the college for my son's personal expenses (which are defined as "laundry, phone, health fee, travel, other personal expenses")? Does he get to do his laundry for free(not free, but not paying at the time of doing the laundry)? The only thing that makes sense to me is the health fee. </p>
<p>What am I paying for?</p>
<p>The figure you are talking about is part of the TOTAL cost of attending college, above and beyond tuition, room and board - not something you will be paying the college directly. These "personal expenses" are not covered by financial aid - they come out of the parents pocket or the student's earnings. They won't show up on any bill you receive from the college (with the possible exception of the health bill). But although you will not be paying the college for your son's laundry, travel, health fee, phone, etc. you (or your son) will be paying for them nonetheless so they are shown as part of of the estimated total cost of attending.</p>
<p>carolyn, maybe I'm confused and really need to slow down and read the financial aid package slowly. Right now I only have the electronic version. I wanted to see how much my monthly payment would be if I used the budget plan where I would borrow nothing and just pay the tuition over 10 months. The tool calculated the amount to include personal expenses and divided the annual total by ten - and said that the amount would be deposited into my son's student account each month for 10 months. Does this mean that he would then need to disperse to the school their tuition payment and he can keep the rest for his personal expenses? Am I way off? If so, I'll go back and reread the options.</p>
<p>Best bet is to call the financial aid office. It sounds to me like you're mis-reading something in the monthly payment plan.</p>
<p>Carolyn is right. There is that small comfort that when your child goes away to college, there is somewhat of a financial gain in the costs you were paying for him at home. When my youngest brother was in college, and my mom was left home alone, her electric bill plummented (she never did teach us to turn those lights out, and, yes, it does make a difference). Her laundry bill also became very low--she lived in an apartment with pay washers and dryers. Since she was just feeding herself, and she eats sparsely, her food bill went down, particularly since she wasn't buying any snacks or "recreational" drinks or the milk that my brother literally poured down his throat. She is and was a very frugal person, but did "splurge" a bit on her kids. But those savings, if quantified, could add up to a tidy sum over the year. </p>
<p>Now of course there are the college expenses, and the boy had to eat, drink , wash clothes (though I don't know about that one) there. But I do remember that she "made out" a little bit by not having him at home since he had pretty much a full ride, and I sent him some pocket money as well. </p>
<p>My nephew and my oldest son both cost us tremendous amounts of money when they were home. S1 cost so much in trouble and expense that my H kicked him out of the house. And though I still have many at home, there is a noticable difference in expenses when he is gone. He always has great ideas of things to do, places to go eat, trying something new at the grocery stores, all well and good, but it does end up costing money. I did not begrudge him most of the stuff since we all enjoyed some of his exhuberance and learned and experienced some great things, but he does cost us more money. And I do not blame him for the times I just decided to pay up and do as he suggested; my choice, but again, the bottom line is that he costs money to have around. Oddly enough, he cost us very little at college. He managed his money carefully. Managed part time work even with his athletic duties. Sponged many meals off of the college and other students. Had the athletic dept do his was. Lived off campus in very cheap digs. Bought only the bare necessities. He was a lot cheaper than my D, niece or nephew. Niece and nephew were also pretty good, but D was more normal.</p>
<p>OK, I went back to the tool and realized that budgeting this amout into my payment was optional and the tool allowed me to remove the line item and recalculate everything. </p>
<p>Jamimom, my two biggest expenses (aside from tuition) are car insurance (because of him) and oil for heating the home. I don't think either of them will be reduced after next Sept. I suppose the allowance might be reduced a bit because meals and gas for the car won't be needed.</p>
<p>You might want to talk to your insurance agent. Our insurance dropped as each one went away to college. Here, there is the 50 mile rule--if they live 50 miles away, then the rates for car insurance do drop a bit, a nice savings for us as we had multiples in college.</p>
<p>That's the thing Jamimom......he'll be about 8 miles away. Though, they may be willing to take him off a a "primary" driver...which is what he is today.</p>
<p>EEk! 8 miles away may cost you MORE, what with little gifts, eating out, etc.</p>