<p>so the financial office partitions about $3000 for personal expenses, food and transportation. I have a net cost of about $8000 and im trying to see whether or not ill have to take loans, so my question is, realistically, how much do you think the average berkeley student spends on food and personal expenses? could anyone tell me what they think they actually spent? (california resident for transportation)
thank you in advance. much appreciated :D</p>
<p>Same question</p>
<p>Well, it really depend on you as a person. It seems like you are just a freshman and will be living in the dorm (and possibly with a meal plan). If so, you usually don’t spend a lot of food or transportation. But if you are living off-campus without a meal plan. I am not sure how these would factor it depending on your choice (cooking yourself vs eating out, driving/biking/walking etc).</p>
<p>Generally, the food around Berkeley are yummy and decently priced. From my experience , it usually around 7 to 10 dollar. There are more expensive meal around but that’s just my experience. During my freshman year, I only eat out about once or twice a week. But I definitely stocked up on snacks and other foods for me to eat when i am staying up to study.</p>
<p>For transportation, Berkeley has a really great bus transportation system that is completely free to Berkeley student (You just need to get a sticker from the Cal1Card Office) and a lot of the bus stop is walking distance from campus/the units. You need to pay quite a few bucks for the BART (Bayarea’s metro system) but I don’t think most people uses them on a daily basis. </p>
<p>I am not quite sure about personal expense, but i am pretty sure that it depends… well, on your personal choice.</p>
<p>Overall, the estimation is usually an overestimation of what you actually need. And the difference will be refunded to you through out the semester with the CARS/E-bill system. Hope that helps!</p>