<p>This really isn't a fin aid question, but I'm not sure where to post...</p>
<p>The "Miscellaneous Expenses" listed by the colleges I'm considering vary by a lot.</p>
<p>I.e-- $1,575 - $3,050...</p>
<p>This is separate from books and supplies and travel.</p>
<p>Is there a way to nail down a more accurate amount? Is this spending $$, like $30.00 week to go out once or twice and get a haircut, LOL?</p>
<p>This is money for things like going out, yes, and haircuts, and shampoo, soap, a soda, a coffee, a movie, etc. When you get the total COA from a college, that figure is supposed to be the average spent by an undergrad at that school. The figure is important because it is the upper limit of what you can get in school loans and financial aid. You are not permitted to borrow more than that COA for a particular school. How accurate it is, how up to date, and how it may pertain to any individual student is up in the air. I wonder how the colleges even come up with that number in terms of miscellaneous expenses.</p>
<p>You can probably “guesstimate” what you need for “walking around” money. Most freshman are required to have meal plans so going “out” might be a true once in a while thing. Same with movies. Some guys (and girls) don’t cut their hair frequently…you probably know about what you do. Also like others have pointed out you’ll need sundries. You will need to wash yourself and your clothes, ,sheets, towels (again, how frequently you want clean, not previously worn clothes, sheets and towels). If you are in a suite where you need to clean your bathroom you’ll need cleaning supplies. Then there is the odds and ends, like cold medicine or gas if you have a car on campus, food goodies for the room, drinks for the room, etc. A new flash drive when you loose yours. Replacement room key if you loose yours, etc. If you participate in a sport your gear might require replacement, fixing, etc. At least once a year S1 goes somewhere for a long weekend and splits costs with his pals for gas, lodging, etc. My oldest is the king of penny pinching by never cutting his hair til right before he comes home, doing laundry very, very infrequently and I could go on and on. My second is a spendo. Likes very clean clothes, likes to go out to eat, likes to go to movies, likes to go places, has short hair and prefers to have it “cut” by someone etc. I think $1,000 - $3,000 is probably pretty accurate for a year and in my case S1 is at the low end and S2 is at the high end, but you’ll need to think about yourself and your needs/wants/habits. If you are short on money, you can control that spending amount certainly.</p>
<p>There’s a pretty wide range of “miscellaneous expenses” estimates that different colleges use. That, along with differing estimates of the cost of books, and transportation, make comparing COA’s and finaid offers difficult. ON top of that, a few schools don’t include transportation or miscellaneous expenses in their COA-- which throws the whole comparison out of wack unless you use your own figures.</p>
<p>We decided to use our own estimate of books, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses for our daughter, based on our experience with our older son, and the locations of the various colleges (for the transportation figure). We learned that our son was able to get books for less than half of the school estimate.</p>
<p>For comparison purposes, we pegged books at $600 per year, miscellaneous expenses at $1200 per year, and transportation at $1000 per year (a bit more for a couple campuses that were further away).</p>
<p>We’re planning on daughter earning $2300 per year in work study, which should cover transportation and miscellaneous expenses.</p>