<p>OK...I'll be the odd man out here. The OP has done a terrific job of assembling a great finaid package (I'm assuming this has already been awarded, not an estimate...). Still...that being said, we did not contribute to any costs for college beyond tuition, room, board and college fees. Our kids were responsible for all other expenses including books. Both had summer jobs every year, and worked during the school year between 5-10 hours a week (one works on campus, one worked off campus). Research clearly shows (and you and your parents will hear this at orientation) that students who work a SMALL number of hours per week tend to do better and are more organized with their time than those who do not work. Of course, this may sound like a generalization, and indeed it certainly may not apply to all students. However, I will say that both of my kids had better GPAs the semesters they worked than those when they did not. And we found that our kids were much more responsible with their "spending" when the money was theirs and not ours. Both have learned the value of online shopping for used text books, and both are careful about frivolous spending. They also look for value in their recreational spending (reduced or free tickets to things, college sponsored socials, lunches out instead of dinners, etc). Now to answer the "how much" question from our perspective. It depends on your major and courseload what the cost of books will be. DD spent almost $900 her first quarter of college...BUT she used most of those books for the rest of the year and that meant her second and third quarter book costs were low. DS had a similar experience....while one text cost close to $400 (no kidding), he used it for three years for a sequence of courses. And as I mentioned....both have gotten very good about ordering books online...used...for a fraction of the cost of a new book at the bookstore. I don't think either of them has ever spent more than $1000 for the year on texts. Both go to college in large urban areas that are quite expensive. Neither spent more than $50 per week as an average (some weeks they spent very little...other weeks they spent more)on "entertainment" and even that included some spring break trips. Both earned their book and entertainment money from summer and school jobs.</p>