<p>if you don't drink, and don't spend much money in college without being too frugal and still living in campus and having a meal plan, how much can you save roughly?</p>
<p>not much.
but you could save a lot if you room with people in IV.
usually you can find people trying to squeeze 3 or 4 people into a one bedroom apt (and pay like $300 a month.). check out craigslist</p>
<p>otherwise, you can try saving by buying textbooks online…etc</p>
<p>You are missing something here: what is the student’s income stream? You “save” by having money coming in the door and not having all of it going out. </p>
<p>So, a better question might be “What are the expenses of a frugal student?” Depends. My two have meal plans and minimal expenses. Some months they spend $50 or less. But they are really, really frugal.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Good point…</p>
<p>A student in another thread said that she “saved” a lot of money by commuting her first 2 years…but she didn’t have any “savings” banked. She didn’t have the money to go “away” to begin with…yet she was claiming to have “saved” money. All she did was avoid additional debt.</p>
<p>Franck…what is your situation? How much is your budget? What is the cost breakdown for the school.</p>
<p>It’s kind of hard to avoid all spending in college without being a hermit without friends.</p>
<p>I agree that “save” is not exactly the right word, but I see what the student is saying. Each college has a COA which is the average cost for a student at the school in certain settings, say a dorm, on meal play, commuting, etc. You can “save” by spending less than the COA has down for expenditures. You do that by getting housing that costs less than average, maybe a triple or quad–my son had one of those one year and it was a lot cheaper than a double. You can find off campus digs during upper class years with like minded students and live very frugally avoiding the meal plan and dorm prices. You can scrounge for text books from students taking the course immediately before you or looking for cheaper than bookstore options for them. </p>
<p>If you live on campus and have a meal plan, you can spend less money by being very careful of what you spend. No soda or snack, drink water. Look for cheap social outlets. Shop Dollar Shop while at home and bring your toiletries and necessities there. Find like minded friends.</p>
<p>I will be attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. it’s 41,000 a year for me as an OOS. I got financial aid and it’ll cost my mom about 9,000 (travel, personal expenses) a year. but she works really hard and I want to spend as less as possible to make it easy on her mostly because I have 5 siblings with one who is going to college next year</p>
<p>Congratulations. You can save by getting a lower meal service, ask for the cheapest dorm rooms for starter. Look for off campus accommodations for next year that are less expensive, and for job opportunities.</p>
<p>If you have any input when finding roommate(s), try to determine their spending habits and lifestyle. It will be much easier to stay within your designated budget if you are living with, and friends with, others who are like-minded.</p>