<p>With everything paid for, room, food, books, etc., how much spending money does a freshman guy living in the Commons really need? How much do you, or your sons, expect to go through in a month? I can see the girls spending on shopping for clothes, etc., but how about the guys? I am wondering what we should budget (including the things we wish he wouldn't buy).</p>
<p>This is almost impossible to answer, it varies between every single person. At the bare minimum you just need money for the essentials from CVS… but really there are so many ways/places to spend money… Something you will figure out as you go.</p>
<p>My D says that the boys tend to pay for the cabs when groups of kids go places together.</p>
<p>if your student saves a couple of thousand in the summers, you can get by on what you earned if you do not have greek dues…some summers this generation of students are in unpaid internships or in summer school…or doing unpaid research and they are unable to generate much $ in the summers. Our sons never lived at home in the summers which reduces savings from work…which means we might put one to two thousand total tops in the bank for the entire school year. Clothing for my not interested in the mall type guys was usually done online and mostly from parental purchase after they showed us via email what they chose/needed. I purchased expensive Show tix for events in Nashville online maybe twice when asked by my Vandy student. Amazon Prime is worth every penny. They can supply themselves with anything they need at no shipping charge but make sure it is the 2-day Amazon Prime delivery eligible item so you get that fast package to their mailroom. again, extra living change in your pocket is a different strokes for different folks thing. I felt pretty generous re the cultural event, the fees for Alternative Spring Break service trips, and any clothing required for work school internships. Expected our kid to very modestly spend money on dining off campus since there are smart ways to spend every dime of your Vanderbilt dining package.</p>
<p>Another vote in favor of Amazon Prime–well worth it! Also think it might be free to join your first year as a student? Free book shipping as well as video streaming, very handy for last minute ordering of costume for Vandy theme party, etc. My husband now has my daughter do all family ordering from Amazon, even for his woodworking tools 
To your original question, idklol–I think the amount of spending money may depend on whether you have a son or daughter, my D can survive on the meal plan at college; my S at a different school with essentially an “all you can eat” plan at his cafeteria still needs extra spending money for trips to fast food restaurants off campus. Another big factor in spending money allotment is whether your student joins a greek organization–aside from dues, there seem to be extras like tee shirts for every event and lots of et ceteras. And as Faline2 points out, there are many off campus performance opportunities in Nashville, D has been to several shows at Bridgestone Arena in the last 2 years for example, so if your student likes that sort of thing, you might want to budget for that as well.</p>
<p>I actually have the same question. My room and board,meal plan,tuitition and text books are going to be on the college bill. I want to know how much I should have for spending money. I’m a boring person and I don’t really go out much. I hang out with friends and we eat haha. I plan on saving $5000 for the three years I’ll be at the university(in a college town in missouri). My first year is going to be at a community college. I will most likely not be taking my car and will do a work study my first year there. Should I be okay?</p>