Help me estimate my budget/living expenses

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>I'm starting school in a few weeks and moving into my apartment relatively soon and this time I'm no longer living in the dorms, which will be a nice change-up. =P I'll have my own apartment but I'll need to manage my expenses and I'm wondering if some people here could give me an idea of how much their basic spending was per month. I've alotted $1000 per month for my rent ($680), electric bill (water+gas included in rent), food, and internet. Am I missing any other basic expenses? I will not have a car because of the parking/insurance/gas payment hassle. Should $1000 be enough to comfortably get me by? I have no clue how much electric bill should be (maybe ~$50?), or how much I will spend on food (~$200?), and high-speed internet (~$40-$60?). Also, does anyone living in the Baltimore, MD area know of any good internet service providers that are reliable and fast?</p>

<p>I also have to furnish my room when I get back. My apartment isn't very big and I don't plan on getting lots of fancy stuff. I will need a bed, desk (big enough for computer + books, notebook), nightstand, and decent office chair. Any idea how much this will cost me? Will $500 for this type of furniture be enough? Also, are there any good places to order online and is there any way I can get this stuff delivered to my place free of charge?</p>

<p>If anyone could give me a clue or how much they've spent on these things to get by, I'd greatly appreciate it!</p>

2

<p>get furniture at goodwill or pick some up off of a curb lol..</p>

3

<p>Craigslist for furniture. Lots of good deals from local sellers.</p>

4

<p>My son was in a studio apartment his last year. Rent was $700, including heat and hot water. Electric bill ran on average $23 or so a month. If you have electric heat, or if unit has a through the wall AC or window unit, this will increase your costs depending on useage. These are Connecticut electric rates, which have been historically higher than average. Yours may well be less.</p>

<p>Basic low end digital cable package (no premium channels, but History, Discovery, 1 or two sports) and high speed internet ran about $100/month with fees and taxes. In our area, you can get all three phone, cable, interent package for about the same if you sign on to all three at once.</p>

<p>Food... buy smart. Look at the circulars, clip coupons, buy what's on sale and limit yourself to shopping once a week, not daily stops at convenience stores. Buy store brand when possible. If you're inclined, the Stouffer's microwave meals are decent tasting, they have a wide variety, and are reasonably priced on sale. Use your freezer to keep these in stock and load up when they're at sale prices. Eating out can kill you financially. My son was a music performance major, and an hour and a half away from us. When we went up for performances once a month, we'd bring a cooler with a selection of Stouffer type and other frozen entrees/meals, single serving favorite leftover meals from home, orange juice that wife had purchased on sale and we stored in freezer at home. He was not a well rounded cook, but did pasta, ground beef variations once a week. He also was on the commuter meal plan, about $700 semester, which worked for him and his wierd schedules. A lot will depend on your culinary skills and dietary preferences. </p>

<p>You'll probably want a microwave. You can buy a decent new one for $39-$89 dependent on your needs. Coffee maker, can opener, toaster are often on sale at chain pharmacies/food stores for $9.99 new... don't bother buying these used unless you know they work. Same with TV's... a basic 19" set is often on sale for less than $100.</p>

<p>Goodwill is a great source for good used furniture, as is Craigslist, and tag sales but delivery is an issue if you have no vehicle. You could probably pay or feed a fellow student with a vehicle in exchange for transport and delivery help.</p>

5

<p>IKEA! if you don't have one near you, just go to their website. it's amazingly cheap, minimal, not incredibly well built, but stylish and functional.</p>

6

<p>^ Yeah, IKEA is pretty ballin'. I would save more money for food.</p>

7

<p>Before you go ahead and order high speed internet access, you might want to visit your apartment. You might get lucky and pick up wireless. If your in a predominately "college student" apartment it only increases your odds. High speed internet is pricey check your options out before you shell out 50 bucks a month.</p>

8

<p>asdfTT123: </p>

<p>Do you have a job? How much do you make per month? You said you are alloted $1,000. Alloted from who?</p>

9

<p>I would second ebucket's suggestion ... at most student apartment complexes, you can pick up another person's wireless signal. instead of just stealing it from an unsecured network, which can be unreliable (if they turn their router off, for example, you're screwed), you could go knock on the door of someone who has a secured network and offer to pay a portion of their bill each month in exchange for a password on their account. It's what I do, and at $5/month, it's a great deal!</p>

10

<p>also, i would figure in about $40/week for groceries, if you're like me and eat a combination of pasta/peanut butter/frozen meals and the occasional chicken dish (get a george forman grill!). don't forget little expenses like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc.</p>

<p>dish network is about $45/month and it's great b/c you can record programs and stuff. electric for one person (with a window a/c) shouldn't be more than $30, depending on where you live.</p>