Living in Ithaca: Expenses

<p>Ok, I know this can drastically vary from one person to another... However, me & my parents are making some calculations. Or at least trying to. And since I'm an international from Eu, it gets even harder.
So guys, what would you say? How much do you think you'll be spending each month in Ithaca? (plz be "painfully" honest, I really don't want to make wrong estimations)
-Overall? Basically, how much do I need per month? (Excluding rent, tuition, etc... just "living")
-for food? (outside of meal plans)
-for clothing?
-college expenses (such as supplies)
-'house' expenses (buying bedsheets, cooking utensils, etc)
-for "fun"
-Any other expenses...?</p>

<p>PS: I'll be off-campus...</p>

<p>If you could make your post "detailed" that'd be great.
Thanks!!</p>

<p>are you a freshman? b/c unless you live off campus, you wont need that much money...</p>

<p>i'd say one could survive with $100/month
the cheapest food meal (drink & side) would be about $10 (both on and off campus)
for clothing, depends on if you're one of those i need a new outfit for every event/party...if you're talking about winter clothes check out Landsend's website for a decent jacket + boots...
for your typical class you'll only need pencils/pen/paper...and will be doing lots of computer printouts...so make sure you have a computer + printer (pgs cost 9cents at the library/computer labs)
for bedsheets i'd recommend you check out linens&things...i found an incredibly cheap bed kit...</p>

<p>dude, theres no way you can sustain going to cornell on 100 bucks a month. i mean, if you wanted to take the real cheap route and shy away from partaking in things because of excessive spending, be my guest. but you definitely aren't going to cover/do/buy everything you want or be satisfied with just 100 bucks. realistically you're looking at around 200-250.</p>

<p>fd36:
Yes, I'm a freshman, BUT I'll live off campus.
I tried to look for prices online, but they differ so much from one place to another, that I wanted to know what the real situation is Ithaca. For instance, when you say "incredibly cheap bed kit" - how many $$ would this be? (approximately)
Concerning the food: does this mean I should set aside $30-40 for 3 meals/day? In that case, the $100/month are just for the extra stuff, right?
thx btw ;)</p>

<p>ajp87:
so 200-250$... what do you include in that? both "fun" stuff & necessities?</p>

<p>Freshman can't live off campus AFAIK.</p>

<p>Yes, they can ;) It's written on Cornell's site, and I've also talked with people from the housing system. Actually, I believe I'm not the only one who will, looking at the Q&A of the class2011 website :)</p>

<p>about $200 a month</p>

<p>why are you living off campus as a freshman? if there is no solid reason for it i'd say you're making a big mistake, especially at a big school like cornell. the dorms are infinitely more fun as a freshman. where do you expect to meet friends, in class?</p>

<p>of course i dont know your circumstances and you may very well have a great reason for it. i'm just speaking from experience.</p>

<p>I think it's an absolute mistake to live off campus during your freshman year but that's another topic.</p>

<p>As for me, I lived on around $400-500/month not including rent. Most of it went towards food (since I typically ate out or ordered in).</p>

<p>it would be cheaper to have a campus dining plan...</p>

<p>freshman living off campus is news to me...oh well more room for us upperclassmen :)</p>

<p>thanks for the replies guys :)</p>

<p>Believe me, if I chose to live off campus in the end, I've had serious reasons for it. Besides, I've already been a freshman (and a sophomore), so I've had the "experience" once, and that's fine by me. Obviously, at Cornell, it's totally different, but I'm also very social, so I'm not worried about friends ;)</p>