How much are you bringing in your wallet?

<p>Hey, what’s the scoop on sample sales? Are there big yearly ones that everyone goes to. Price range? Hahaha I’m interested, and I have hears NYC is noted for having lots of them.</p>

<p>NastyNate: DUDE! OMG Black diesel is so crappy! Actually, some of there stuff is way out there, but I just bought the white slim jeans that were for 150 dollars on the website, and i love them. I like the normal Diesel much better. ( It is down to earth)</p>

<p>I like lacoste, Harry’s of London, and Aquascutum trenchcoats! Oh but I just bought a cashmere sweater from Uniqlo, and omg I have to tell you it is so crappy, stay away from there, the stuff is all a product of child labor from third world countries. ( Did anyone say PAKISTAN??) Just go to Bloomingdales, they have everything. ( I just confirmed an order from Bloomingdales, I bought a dress shirt from Hugo BOSS.) </p>

<p>I have to add you on facebook lol.</p>

<p>oh also @nycx2 or just anyone… whats the whole deal with campus cash? is it just like a debit card you get? how ever much money you put in you get credited for?</p>

<p>@heyitzerin</p>

<p>Yep, you add cash to your account and then just swipe through your NYU ID. It’s helpful in that for some places, like Starbucks at the Square, you don’t have to pay tax on the purchase. It’s also the only form of payment certain dorms’ laundry rooms will accept (there are machines there, though, so you can add money onto the card).</p>

<p>yeah, i use campus cash whenever i want to eat in a dining hall. whatever money you put on there is good until you GRADUATE, so don’t be afraid of loading it up.</p>

<p>dining dollars is NOT EQUAL TO campus cash. you lose dining dollars at the end of the school year (may of the following year).</p>

<p>campus cash is good at the campus Starbucks, any dining hall, some vending machines, printing in Kimmel and any store that prominently displays a “campus cash accepted here” sign. </p>

<p>on the campus cash website, there’s a map of all stores which accept campus cash.</p>

<p>Wait, dining dollars come with the meal plan, while campus cash does not? Oh
And for dining dollars, can you use them like at starbucks? I heard you can use your meal card at other places besides dining halls. Is this true?</p>

<p>dining dollars = ALWAYS owned by NYU. that means the only Starbucks that takes it is the one that’s owned by NYU. </p>

<p>campus cash = anything owned by NYU + any store that wants to take it. if you’re in doubt, ask, “hey, can i pay with campus cash?”</p>

<p>dining dollars come with your meal plan. campus cash does not.</p>

<p>nyux2 thanks for the Suzie Orman-style post. I read it twice and studied it.</p>

<p>Anyone have any more budgeting info to share as well as tips? I want to know how much money more people survived off of so I can get a general consensus. So far it’s ~$100 a week.</p>

<p>@missamericanpie:
i’m sorta confused on dining dollars… if I do get an apt. style dorm then I’m planning on getting the smallest meal plan, 75/semester. so how does that translate into dining dollars? doesn’t that just mean i can swipe my card 75 times n thats it?</p>

<p>so does that also mean, say when my 75 runs out I can still eat at the dining hall by using campus cash?</p>

<p>check the dining website. you get MEALS and you get SEPARATE dining dollars on every type of meal plan. check the list of meal plans, they list DD separately.</p>

<p>and you can pay however you want to eat in a dining hall. cash, campus cash, debit card, whatever.</p>

<p>hmm okay i see. thanks a ton! :] ill definitely be coming to you for any more questions youve been a great help. good to know older people already there :]</p>

<p>@heyitzerin</p>

<p>Another thing to add is that not every meal plan will having dining dollars, or they will have a, let’s say, 10/week one without DD and a 10/week one WITH DD. Since you’re paying for either DD or CC either way, and both will give you the benefit of no tax on your purchase, it all comes down to whether or not you want to track your own budgeting with CC or just leave it up to NYU and easily use DD (which, as missamericanpie said, you’ll lose at the end of the year). If you think you’ll spend that certain amount, at least, then go for DD, otherwise just opt for CC and add to your account as needed.</p>

<p>By the way, I took a year off NYU, and when I reactivated my student ID, it still had the CC I hadn’t used during undergrad. It was fantastic. However, I don’t think you can transfer accounts back to yourself off the ID, so be aware of that as well (although I might be completely wrong).</p>

<p>Oh, and one other thing: copiers only take CC. Something to keep in mind when your professor assigns a book of which there is only one copy on reserve and you can only have it for three hours at a time.</p>

<p>A question for americanpie and nyux2. You gave me a thought.
If D living in palladium with kitchen is it better to just load up her CC for meals when she is at school or just get the 75 meal plan.
I actually think it might be better with CC. I never thought of that.
Roughly how many times do you actually cook your own meals?</p>

<p>I use campus cash in lieu of a meal plan. I enjoy cooking and plus, Palladium is above Trader Joe’s. </p>

<p>What counts as cooking? Some weeks, I’ll feel really ambitious and I’ll cook something on Sunday that I’ll pick at all week. (A stew or pasta bake.) Or I’ll make some grilled cheese sandwiches and throw a pack of frozen veggies in the microwave. Or I’ll defrost some chicken and make a stir-fry. </p>

<p>I enjoy cooking. I feel that some college students really overestimate how much they will cook. This fall, I’ll have four classes and I’m going to be working in a research lab, so I’ll have a lot of time to cook. Out of the four girls in my suite last year, I was the one who actually ended up cooking the most.</p>

<p>Does your D cook at home? I have lots of cookbooks and cooking blogs at my fingertips.</p>

<p>I also factor in that many, many places around campus and Union Square takes campus cash. Food Emporium, Whole Foods, many places on Third Avenue and 14th Street. </p>

<p>My dad just gave me a credit card for the first time so I can learn to manage how to use credit. He gave me free reign to add money to my campus cash as I please. </p>

<p>Also consider that with all of the food around Union Square, your D will be more tempted to eat out. After a year of NYU food, it’ll be harder to resist the burgers, thai, sushi, indian, frozen yogurt, and pizza that surrounds Palladium. </p>

<p>If she has a busy schedule in the fall, it’s better to use the meal plan. My roommate is interning at a law firm and she KNOWS she will not be able to cook at all, so she’s buying the 75 meals.</p>

<p>I think that, since it’ll be her first for-real time away from home and on her own, the meal plan might be better. That way, she’s got those meals factored in and doesn’t have to worry about running out of CC or anything. If you want to give her some CC as well, by all means, go ahead. Really, it depends on how she will realistically get her meals. Sit down with her and talk honestly about whether or not she thinks she’ll be cooking, what sort of meals she knows how to make, what meals she can prepare food for (for instance, I can make my own breakfast just fine, but I am a little bit more iffy on lunch and dinner), what she thinks she’ll eat if she doesn’t cook, and whether she prefers dining hall food (which is decent at NYU) or going out to restaurants (a greater variety, but not as convenient in terms of getting your food quickly, being seated, etc.). If you want to play it safe, get the meal plan fall semester then switch to CC-only if needed during the spring.</p>

<p>@NuclearPakistan1:</p>

<p>Idk about that. Diesel Black Gold is out there because it’s like thier take on a “couture” collection, which is why I like it more. Honestly, right now I’m obsessed with ACNE and John Varvatos. I’m pretty picky when it comes to what I’ll put on and I’d describe my style as an ecclectic mix of punk and prep (rag & bone if you will) but I still can’t resist a good sale. I went to J. Crew (again lol…I was there like two days ago) and bought new shorts and lightweight sweaters for summer. For my basics I really like banana republic. People are so baffled when I say that I shop at a store like banana for basics because to most people I guess it’s kind of expensive, but I hate low quality pieces, which is why I haven’t bought anything from H&M, F21, or Uniqlo in years…</p>

<p>I KNOW! I cannot stand H&M, or Uniqlo, it is so cheap! I know people are baffled when I say I shop at bloomingdales, but I cannot help myself! I like BR monogram, and of course I also buy some basics from BR, but I stay away from their sweaters. Most of the sweaters at BR are so shiny because of the silk they put in it, and the sweaters NEVER retain their shape! I swear it stretches, and isn’t really designed to last. I really like to find some Loro Piana or Bruno Cucinelli sweaters. I LOVE Cucinelli, we have to shop together lol.</p>

<p>I have a finance-related question for the upperclassmen here. I plan on getting a work-study job, from what I understand it’s $10/hour, 10 hours a week, no hours on weekends. Since I have to pay half my tuition with my work-study (about $1,000), I’ll need a second job on weekends for any spending money. Do you think it would be possible for me to have good grades, two jobs, and any kind of social life?</p>

<p>Actually, FWS jobs are $8-$15 at a maximum of 20* hours per week. You can choose to max out your hours at even the lowest end of the pay scale and still make a good amount of money. It’ll certainly be easier than trying to find a second job in this terrible economy.</p>

<p>*It might actually be 25, but I am unsure and thus erred on the side of caution in choosing the lower max.</p>

<p>The ones I’ve been applying for (all office assistant jobs) say 10 hours a week…I got the $10/hour from my brother. My max is $2,000 a semester, so even if I maxed out on work-study I wouldn’t have much spending money, considering I’m getting the 10 a week meal plan and I’ll need to spend a lt of money on food.</p>