<p>My daughter will be attending Barnard and as a freshman living on campus with a the full meal plan. We are working out a budget and wondering from those with experience what is a reasonable budget for extra monthly expenditures such as books and supplies, transportation in the city, laundry, some entertainment, toiletries, etc. She is working hard this summer and is on work study and also hopes to do Barnard bartending or baby sitting. I know books and supplies will be a large up front cost. Any advice/experience will be much appreciated. Money is tight but we want to make sure she has enough to get the essentials and some enjoyment exploring NYC when she has the time. </p>
<p>For NYC, I would give her around $350 total per month. Insanely high, but it is the most expensive city in the country. If she needs transportation, she should get a 30 day unlimited card which will will be about $120 for one month (granted the MTA doesn’t increase fares again). The rest will last her for the month.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for the fast reply. And ouch! She was told at admitted students weekend to not get the pass unless she was taking public transportation at least five days a week, but I guess she’ll have to see what turns out to be cheaper–a monthly pass or pay as she goes. I appreciate the figure, this will help us set up a rough budget.</p>
<p>Well, it really depends on where she chooses to live. If she lives on campus, the unlimited may not a necessary, but it is if off campus. If she chooses not to get the unlimited, about $275 should suffice. Are there any activities that she will be doing often in the city for fun?</p>
<p>She’ll be living in the dorm. Her boyfriend and another good friend are going to be at colleges in lower and mid Manhattan so I expect she’ll be traveling down there frequently to see them. And I know she’ll want to explore the city as much as possible. While she has earned a lot of money this summer, some will need to go towards tuition and we can help with some of her monthly expenses. Also I’m not clear on the work study… does the school take that for tuition or does it go to her for these expenses? Guess I need to ask the school that… The figure you gave really does help as I had no idea what amount to start with. We can always adjust if it turns out to be too little. She’ll also be able to work during January for Spring expenses.</p>
<p>In a lot of schools, the work study money goes directly to tuition. But in some cases, she can choose where she wants it to go. If she is going to have some friends in the city, I would reccomend going forward with the unlimited. Lower Manhattan is pretty far from Barnard and getting a taxi can be a hassle and pricey. She will be hanging out with her new friends and boyfriend, so that will be a bit of traveling. Also, lucky for her, there are some great, low cost things to do in NYC. She can check out some museums, street fairs, or check out the botanical gardens with her boyfriend. Also, tell her to keep a look out for special promotions through Groupon. It will save the both of you a ton of money. When she starts school, you can try her out with $300 ($350 seems a little steep) and see how it goes. If she has around $40 left, scale if down to $250 and as each month goes on, adjust accordingly :)</p>
<p>She will definitely not need the unlimited subway pass. The unlimited is only worth buying if she takes at least two trips a day, every single day. How much money she needs will really depend on what her social life is like. Eating meals at the dining hall and hanging out around campus most of the time is cheap. Going out to bars or clubs (drinks in the city are EXPENSIVE) and Broadway shows is very pricey. I would add that the big museums (National History and the Met) are pay what you want, so she can pay as much or as little as she can afford. Other museums have certain days when they have free admissions. MoMA has free Friday nights, and the Guggenheim has free Saturday evenings. It’s also generally possible to get student rush tickets for shows, and most schools have ways to get discounted movie tickets. Central park is also so much fun, and free!</p>
<p>@jazzcatastrophe The unlimited metro would be just to see how often she uses it and if she finds it to be a necessity. And btw, if you use the subway, you’re likely going to need it for two swipe per day. It seems like this young woman is going to enter college already with friends who are fairly near by. I think the unlimited would be a good investment. I would imagine it being a bigger pain to keep refilling your card instead of having just one that you can use whenever. Also, it’s likely that she will want to eat off campus often, so the card helps with that too.</p>
<p>I’ll rephrase: based on my experiences as a student in NYC, she will not need an unlimited pass. I did not take the subway nearly as much as I had anticipated I might as a freshman. The reality is that she will most likely be too busy with classwork and on-campus activities during the week to really go anywhere on a regular basis. She would need to take 50 rides a month to make it worthwhile. As for refilling, you can put up to $100 dollars on a metrocard at one time, so IMO that would be the way to go. If OP’s daughter is really 100% sure that she’ll need an unlimited, go for it for a month, but otherwise I would suggest sticking with the pay per ride</p>
<p>Thank you for all the great advice. I think as a Barnard student she will get free admission or greatly reduced admission to museums, so that is nice!</p>
<p>I didn’t give my daughter any sort of allowance – the deal I struck with her was that she would take the max in student loans; I would pay the bill that came from the bursar, which covered whatever what was left over in tuition and housing costs after application of her grant and loans-- and she paid everything else on her own (books, incidentals). The meal plan was covered in the bursar bill for the first year - after that she was on her own for food. </p>
<p>She lived frugally but she was able to do what she wanted, including plenty of socializing and every-other-weekend trips to Boston to visit her boyfriend there for the first three years. </p>
<p>The work study is paid by check to the student – just like any other job. It’s meant to pay for incidentals – it wouldn’t be available at the time tuition is due. </p>
<p>Barnard Bartending can be very lucrative and a lot of fun over time – there is always plenty of work but it takes a while to establish oneself to get the best gigs. My d. had to pay her dues working in some unpleasant situations as a freshman but she stuck to it and had worked her way up to to being very much in-demand for the more fun and lucrative assignments as a senior. But even as a freshman she could earn a lot. </p>
<p>Calmom thank you for the information. It is helpful to get ideas on how others manage money. From the figures people suggest here and the work study, it looks like her work study alone should be enough for expenses. Also interesting about the bartending. Its a good skill to have! What kind of bartending jobs were they?</p>
<p>Barnard Bartending is more of a catering service than bartending --they have to pass a test in mixology - or at least they did back when my d. took the bartending course in 2006. But they are working at private events where they hardly ever are serving mixed drinks --mostly it’s opening and pouring bottle of wine-- plus they are also helping with making and serving hor d’oeuvres, prep and cleanup. But they are paid at least $22/hour - sometimes more with tips; their clients are also required to give them cab fare home but they typically keep the money and take the subway, and there is often leftover food they can take home too. And sometimes they get to go to some cool parties with well-known celebrities or politicians. </p>
<p>I don’t think work-study by itself would be enough for all expenses because the first check wouldn’t come until several weeks into the semester – but if your daughter has money from summer earnings to start with she should be fine. That is, she’ll need money right away for books and various dorm room items. It’s also harder at any college for first years to get the better work study jobs-- my daughter had a job she liked as an administrative assistant with a Barnard department but never could get enough hours with that job to earn her full grant. But later on she got a work study job as a research assistant with a Columbia department where she could work from her dorm room, and she was able to earn her full year’s allotment in a semester-- she studied abroad in the spring, so it was a big help to have that job. But even in the early years I don’t think it was a big issue for my daughter because of the bartending. </p>
<p>You really can always play it by ear. My daughter never asked me for any extra, but I certainly would have helped out if she had expressed a need, and I would send care packages with extra food and treats from time to time. </p>
<p>My D is a Barnard Babysitter (works at the agency too) and also took the Bartending class. The class is a 5 week class which costs $120 and the current pass rate is about 60% so keep that in mind when planning expenses. When my D took it, the test was during midterms and she ended up leaving the test halfway through because she needed to study for midterms and had decided she had failed it already. Whether she really had, we’ll never know. However, she makes decent money babysitting. Babysitters in Manhattan can make quite a bit of money. One of her regular jobs is for a family who wants a Saturday night babysitter about 3 Saturdays a month. She’s there from 7 pm until around midnight and makes about $150 with cab fare (they are required to pay cab fare if the job goes past 9 pm). She has another job this summer where she picks up the kid from summer day camp at 4:30 pm two days a week, takes her home and stays until around 6. She gets $40 each time. </p>
<p>So, she babysits and works about 15 hours a week for work study (between the babysitting agency and working on the alumnae fund- calling alumnae for donations- she LOVES that job). I send her $140 a month to cover medications, hygiene items, etc. that I would normally pay for if she was living at home. When she was in high school I used to give her $40 per pay period for gas and $30 for her high school lunch account. I figured I was used to doling out that amount so that is what I send her now. </p>
<p>I will add- my daughter is a spender. She will work hard to earn more money to spend it, but she likes her Chipotle and orders “delivery” through Grubhub way too often. She has started tracking what she spends her money on using a phone app and is a little shocked at how much she spends on restaurants so she is curbing that some. </p>
<p>There is a lottery for free tickets to shows and things that Columbia sponsors but that Barnard women can participate in also. She has attended shows as part of a class at extremely reduced rates. The museums are free. Not everything has to cost money. The Highline, Central Park, going to Times Square are all free unless you shop or eat there! </p>
<p>The workstudy money will be direct deposited into her own bank account so it can go to her expenses. </p>
<p>A lot of my D’s books have been novels which can be purchased pretty inexpensively. The shocker was the Spanish coursebook, but I think it covers most of her Spanish classes so it was a one time big expense that works for a few terms. They aren’t expected to have their books right away because of the way Barnard does their “shopping period” where they go to a lot of different classes before finalizing their schedules. She has had time to hunt for the best price online, has rented books from Amazon, and has sold books back to Amazon to reduce book costs. I think she spends far less on books than I did when I was in college. </p>
<p>I will admit, the household expenses here have gone down significantly since she went away. My water bill dropped $10 a month and my grocery bill was cut by about 1/3. If she’s covered on your auto insurance now and Barnard is a distance from your home, make sure your agent knows she is a distant student. I get a significant break on the auto insurance now. She will not have a car in NYC- no way no how! </p>
<p>Barnard babysitting can also be very lucrative. Some of my d’s suite mates had steady nannying jobs where they’d walk kids to school in the morning and then keep them on some afternoons. My D also did some private tutoring which worked out quite well. </p>
<p>My d. did both agencies. She preferred the bartending because she doesn’t really like to babysit – but the babysitting agency can provide more regular and predictable work when parents need a sitter on a regular, repeat basis. I’d add that there is plenty of opportunity to find jobs in NYC - over the years, my d. also found plenty of good part-time off campus. </p>
<p>These employment opportunities sound amazing! Is there a minimum age for the bartending job? </p>
<p>Barnard Bartenders need to be at least age 18.</p>
<p>All great information! Wow, the bartending training sounds tough; not quite what I imagined, but sounds good. Do the Barnard Babysitters get training also?</p>
<p>Khungu, you can get information about requirements for the agencies from their web sites.<br>
Bartending: <a href=“barnardbartending.com”>Loading...;
Babysitting: <a href=“Bigcuan99 | Situs Judi Slot Deposit Pulsa Online Tanpa Potongan 2023”>Bigcuan99 | Situs Judi Slot Deposit Pulsa Online Tanpa Potongan 2023;
<p>No specific training required for babysitters. The bartending course & exam is mostly memorization – I think that a student who is strongly motivated and who smart enough to be admitted to Barnard can pass if they put their mind to it. My daughter was motivated because (a) she needed the money and (b) she (not me) paid the $120 course fee. It is difficult test, but not “difficult” in the same sense as a lot of courses are at Barnard – but I’d guess that a lot of students who sign up are not going to prioritize studying for the bartending course over other, real classes – and many might not be all that serious about joining the agency. That is, they might think it’s a good idea to make some extra money on occasion, but have second thoughts when they realize that the course and test are hard work. </p>