<p>Our DD shared an apartment in the East Village and did fine on $20 a day for food and incidentals; she volunteered a reduction from $25! Much went to the TJ’s on 14th.</p>
<p>I lived in 3N last year, nobody in the suite used the stove ever. I had $500/month and it was fine. I ate out a good amount and it gave me lots of room to go out and make some random purchases. Pregaming saves you a lot of money.</p>
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<p>This x10000. </p>
<p>I went out to a bar nearly every night last summer and I’m sure that accounted for most of my increase in spending. After watching bartenders for a whole summer make the same drink (Bay Breeze!), I decided to try it on my own. Mastered it. Now I drink bar drinks for a fraction of the cost. </p>
<p>Still trying to find the HUGE bottle of pineapple juice the bartender had though…</p>
<p>Thanks so much for all the great tips everyone!</p>
<p>I’ve decided on doing $300 of my own money a month (I’m used to being a bit frugal :P) and having my parents chip in about $100 or so as they please. I’ll probably get a part time job if I really feel like I need more anyhow.</p>
<p>I also decided for the 175 flex. I want to be able to have a flexible, decent sized meal plan that probably wouldn’t run out by the end of the semester, but I know I’ll be getting my meals at many other places.</p>
<p>I can’t cook in my dorm, but all these cooking tips will be well used next year. All the food-related advice has been great, though!
Thanks again everyone!</p>
<p>Monoclide, I’m surprised you spent that much.</p>
<p>I’ve been in Broome for two summers now and last academic year … living in Soho, working in finance, money to blow and all, but I’m not sure what your discretionary spending was like to add up that much.</p>
<p>I got lazy and didn’t read the whole thread, but I’ll add some comments in no particular order.</p>
<p>Whole Foods is far more expensive than Trader Joe’s. 175 Flex is better than 225 Flex, you’ll be wasting meals with that. I had more than I anticipated by finals with just the 175. You don’t always have to buy new clothes. You don’t have to drink a ton; you may have a sobering experience when you see kids getting ambulanced away from the dorm every weekend night the first few months. Drinking less = saving a ton of money.</p>