<p>i suddenly feel…privileged. i’m getting about $500/month. i feel like this is too much, now.</p>
<p>Lol.. my parents are making me bring EVERYTHING to school. 3 tubes of toothpaste, 3 toothbrushes, ton of medicine, etc etc. They’re giving me no spending money.. meaning cafeteria food 24/7! But seriously, there’s not much I need to buy. Except for books and study materials, I don’t see a need for 500 bucks a month. I mean, what ARE you going to buy? Clothes? I’m gonna wear the set of clothes I have in my closet for the next 20 years or whenever they break apart or just too small. Shoes? My Nike’s have lasted me 2 years thus far.. and I’m a track athlete. Plus, as a premed, I don’t think movies every other weekend like in high school is very suitable (although it’s like 6 bucks for students per ___ movie assuming you sneak into the other ones or stay in the seat). Lol I’m setting a budget for maximum 50 bucks per month for “personal expenses.”</p>
<p>But I have a workstudy and will probably take on another job.</p>
<p>i think it really depends on where your college is. if you live in a big city, then you’re bound to have more expenses than someone living in a smaller one since there are more attractions you can spend your money on, such as transportation, restaurants, theatres, concerts etc.
i personally attend a small LAC in a very small town, and my parents sent me around $250-excluding books, which they gave around $400 in the beginning of each semester. i didn’t work in the first semester, but worked around 10 hours in the second semester. i had two trips to other cities during the year. i probably ate out at most 5 times during college, so apart from the occasional snacks i didn’t pay out for the food at all. now i have accumulated enough money to upgrade my laptop!
if your parents send you around $250 if you’re in a small town, and around $350 if in a big city, i guess it will work out just fine if you also work.</p>
<p>i spent about $1600 freshman year. that was including trips home and to see friends(bus tickets), concerts, a new years trip, and silly shopping trips.</p>
<p>its nice not having to spend money on alcohol but if youre a guy and plan on drinking, that needs to be budgeted too. and since most of my social life was on campus and not bars/clubs, it made it a lot cheaper too.</p>
<p>this year i only have about $500 saved so im pretty screwed. hoping to get some kind of work study so i have money to have fun and go to canada skiing and cancun in may!</p>
<p>so i would say about $1500 (excluding books and school fees) is a solid amount</p>
<p>What are you all spending your money on? I got sent $100 a month and had enough money leftover to help pay for a trip to New York for Spring Break (the rest came out of my savings). And that’s for pretty much every expense other than room, board, and books. And I saw a LOT of theater in the Twin Cities where I go to school, which adds up quickly.</p>
<p>kids that get sent off the college with pocket money are spoiled! i work all summer (fulltime, 40 hrs a week) for my university pocket money (i try not to work during the schoolyear), i usually try to budget that and leftovers are for future tuition fees 
my parents send me off with nothing, haha…</p>
<p>i dont think its fair to say that all kids that get money from their parents are spoiled. in some cases, students really just cant work during school. for example, i work all summer but when i get to school, i literally dont have time. im a student-athlete at an ivy league school. adding a job on top of that would be overwhelming. so my parents deposit some money into my account regularly. its really not a big deal. its not like im 30 and still living at home or something…</p>
<p>well yeah, but i budget the money i make in the summer to last me the entire year. say i make 2k in the summer, i’ve figured i can only spend around 30-50$ a week at most if i want to only use so much money for so many weeks. i don’t work during the schoolyear either, i’m only living off my summer savings lol - and i’m a sophomore in college next year aswell.</p>
<p>Yea, thats reasonable. But, the money I make in the summer is what I live off of during the summer. I don’t live with my parents so I am financially responsible for myself during the summer and they help me out during the year.
It’s not that I am spoiled and I demand this from my parents or something. This is the deal we have and it works for us.</p>
<p>^ wow how’s that even possible?
I think I spent that on one shopping trip during Christmas…</p>
<p>Just because you go to college doesn’t mean you are strapped with cash…</p>
<p>Wow… I receive an almost 8k credit per semester from my college… but from that, I have to pay for my own apartment, food, books, etc. After living expenses (because rent here is ridiculous even when you share an apartment- the cheapest here incl. all utilities is $700/mo), there’s not a significant amount left. Don’t come down on me either peeps- I don’t have any family whatsoever and after my 50+ hours of studying per week, I don’t have time to hold down a job.</p>
<p>I used to get $100 a week freshmen year…</p>
<p>Now I get $0…</p>
<p>I told my parents that they’re spoiling me and so I decided to force myself into a job. I figure I have to learn to cope without such a large financial cushion.</p>
<p>They covered tuition but I will have to pay the rent for my apartment and w.e personal expenses I will have. </p>
<p>Its going to be hard but hopefully I don’t back out :/</p>
<p>When I was in boarding school, I spent about $120 a month, roughly $30 a week on dinners out with friends and trips to the mall. But that was not particularly expensive because my school was located in a very rural place with almost nothing exciting or expensive (say…concerts) activities to do. But if you live in a fairly urban area, I’d expect you to spend more than $120 a month; for example, you might need at least $300 if you go to a school in NYC. For college, I’m going to work 3 times a week and hope to earn about $300. I don’t want my parents to pay for such simple daily living expenses, since they’ve done enough with the tuition and other essentials like computer and furniture.</p>
<p>How much you spend seems to depend on so many factors:</p>
<p>-How much free time you have
-Whether you’re living on/off-campus
-Where your school is (big city, rural area, etc.)
-How much your friends spend on a regular basis
-How much you go out
-How much you drink</p>
<p>For me, I go to school in a affluent suburb, and I went out a lot with other kids who spent a lot, so I probably had to spend more than I would have had I gone to State U. But that’s why I have a job for this school year (sophomore). After making a lot over this past summer.</p>
<p>
oh, this makes much more sense. i live at home during the summer so all i’m paying at the moment is my own necessities and gas. 
i guess to each his own has tradeoffs!</p>
<p>and yeah, i agree with the urban vs. rural issue. i live smack-dab in the middle of boston, so eating out can easily go over 50$ a pop, takeout can be another 30$, taking the T daily and catching taxis, going shopping – trying to budget is extremely difficult versus if i had gone to uconn or something (my other choice) where i would’ve lived nextdoor to a farm, lol</p>
<p>yea, I think its going to differ for everyone depending on their situation.</p>
<p>its just a matter of working it out with your parents based on your living/financial situation.</p>