<p>Can someone give me a more precise breakdown for the cost of NYU. i recently got accepted into Stern school of business.</p>
<p>Im mostly interested in how much the food will come down to if i mostly cook and go out to eat(not too much) with friends. Im going to purchase the minimum 113 flex meal plan/semester ($3000/year). So i want to know on top of that $3000 how much would i expect to pay for food. The 113 meal plan is about 1 meal per day. </p>
<p>Also how much should i budget to spend misc stuff?</p>
<p>also if i were to rent or buy used textbooks how much would i end up spending on books for the year? The estimate i got was around 500 a semester or 1000 a year.</p>
<p>In some cases renting textbooks is cheaper and in other cases buying them used is cheaper. As far as food goes this would be up to you. I am not fimilar with NYU dorms or anything so I don’t know if they have a kitchen to cook but I am sure they have something.</p>
<p>Go the to supermarket where you live and price out what you would buy for a typical week, then, unless you already live in NYC, add 20%–everything in Manhattan is very expensive. The cost of “misc. stuff” will completely depend on your lifestyle choices, but assume that everything from shampoo to movie tickets will cost more than you are used to at home. My D moved to Manhattan for grad school after attending college in another major city, and was stunned at how much everything cost–the first week she actually called me from a bar in disbelief over the cost of a drink she had just ordered!</p>
<p>It depends upon how good you are at cooking and preparing meals. It is a discipline, I can tell you as the mom to a large family. You also need to keep yourself well nourished as that can be very important to both mental and emotional health. </p>
<p>My son does not go to NYU,but to a city school where a big inexpensive grocery store is not easily accessible. So I provided a small chest freezer and loaded it up with Costco goods along with other bargain items when he went off campus this year. His food bill is minimal and he still has about a quarter of a freezer full. Told him to fill it up with ice bags for energy efficiency until we can do another run. He makes his own coffee every morning. He says he only buys produce, bread, milk and eggs, and only goes out for entertainment and special events. When it’s just a fun thing to do with friends, he orders sparsely, as he has food at home. He is very disciplined that way, which is the key.</p>
<p>If you are intrepid, you can live cheaply in Manhattan, as you get to know the deals and the lay of the land, but it can take time. </p>
<p>The problem that anyone who moves to Manhattan has, is that the temptations to spend, enjoy, partake are many and the costs can be very high. Even the bargains often cost, indulging in even too many of those can be expensive. My son’s best friends, and my close friend’s son are at NYU, and it is very, very difficult not to spend a lot of money, because there simply is so much there and you want to take as much of it in as you can. But there are dollar shops and cheap venues for shopping too. You gotta find them. </p>
<p>There are a lot of poor (economically challenged) people in Manhattan and they get by on little. It’s just that you are going to be in the company of high rollers, and you can feel very poor when you have less than your peers. Sticking to a budget is always difficult, but hurts even more when those around you are not so constrained.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse nailed it. Whether you can live on a budget in Manhattan, or any major city, is completely in your control. As already mentioned, do your research. There are many, many tips, websites, blogs out there offering great info on living on a shoestring. I’d suggest going into it with the mindset that it’s a game…finding bargains, hunting down “cheap eats” and fun free/low cost entertainment…so you don’t spend the next four years feeling deprived. I know you shouldn’t pick friends soley based on economic background, but it will help alot if you don’t surround yourself with people who get tons of allowance from Mom and Dad or have free reign with their credit cards.</p>