<p>OK, so I am hoping that lots of students/parents give us input here on this topic. We would be a full pay family, and while doable, still a sacrifice. So how could a student save on textbooks, art supplies, housing, meal plan, other expenses? Please, only legit stuff- no snarkiness. My S would be CFA- Design.</p>
<p>I think there are certain dorms that don’t require a large meal plan.</p>
<p>Check out - <a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/dining/pdf/dining-plan-agreement-2011-2012.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cmu.edu/dining/pdf/dining-plan-agreement-2011-2012.pdf</a> </p>
<p>Check out the yellow plan.</p>
<p>Congrats. I think the fine arts is much harder and demanding than any other major.</p>
<p>Smallest meal plan…
Triple dorm, 4 years.
Send granola bars for breakfast and evening snacks.
If are flying in let others get the big stuff
No Tv or big screen monitor that can be used for Tv.</p>
<p>Don’t even bother getting textbooks. At most download them online, but frankly he won’t ever need them.</p>
<p>Also fly in with art supplies, they are expensive on campus.</p>
<p>Textbooks are certainly necessary, but used ones can be bought cheaply from upperclassmen, and online downloads are pretty widely available (although not necessarily legal…).</p>
<p>CMUCompFinance, how do you know what you need for art supplies? Sorry, really new at this art stuff, S did not really get into art/design until Jr. year.</p>
<p>Art supplies can also be purchased on Craig for cheap - there’s a store there that offers everything you’ll need for about 1/2 the price of the student store and it’s only a block away from campus.</p>
<p>Textbooks for art students are either nonexistent or not necessary, but since your son is a design student, he may have books he needs to get. I’d recommend checking them out from the library (there is a whole design section on the 3rd floor I believe, and it should have everything the course asks for) or just borrowing from a friend. </p>
<p>After almost 3 years at CMU I have only bought books one semester, and that was a silly thing to do. Ever since I’ve either A) torrented, B) borrowed from the CMU library, or C) asked a friend to borrow their book for a day if I give them $5/buy them lunch.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/housing/pdf/housing_rates_11-12.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cmu.edu/housing/pdf/housing_rates_11-12.pdf</a> </p>
<p>Yeah the quad and triple rates could save you some money over the 4 years.</p>
<p>Then if you could find out if there are quads or triples in Fairfax, The Residence on Fifth, Shady Oak, Shirley or Webster - you could room there and get the cheap yellow meal plan to save on both room and board.</p>
<p>Also, does anyone know if RA’s get reduced or free room and board?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the tips. Does anyone know yet which are the designated freshmen dorms yet? I had read that there are dorms where freshmen cannot sign up (only upper classmen). My S is looking at Mudge but noticed that it is further away from food places and that Donner is close in to CFA building and the food places. Any advise?</p>
<p>[First-Year</a> Living Areas - First-Year Housing Resources - Carnegie Mellon University](<a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/housing/firstyear/building-information/fy-living.html]First-Year”>http://www.cmu.edu/housing/firstyear/building-information/fy-living.html) </p>
<p>[Themed</a> Living Areas - First-Year Housing Resources - Carnegie Mellon University](<a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/housing/firstyear/building-information/themed-living-areas.html]Themed”>http://www.cmu.edu/housing/firstyear/building-information/themed-living-areas.html)</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cmu.edu/homeimages/campus-map/CMU_MapColor_11x17.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cmu.edu/homeimages/campus-map/CMU_MapColor_11x17.pdf</a></p>
<p>@kleibo: as far as I know from my RA friends you get a lump sum of payment that does not quite cover housing fully but would cover most of it. You can choose not to spend that on your housing, though.</p>
<p>My son follows a gluten free diet (also no sugar)- I’m actually surprised that he has stuck it out on his own. I’ve read that this can save on a meal plan but unsure how. Freshmen are required to buy a plan, and if he were to get out of this, what would he be able to get/buy?</p>
<p>He can still buy food from any campus eatery just like anyone else, but can also get food from the local grocery stores (Giant Eagle, Whole Foods and Trader Joes are all a fairly short bus ride away) and can go to any of the restaurants on Craig street (only a block away). Even if he only eats on campus for all of freshman year, which is likely, he’ll still save money.</p>
<p>I highly recommend getting off the meal plan. It was the best money-saving thing I’ve done at CMU.</p>
<p>Thank you completelykate! So should he just stick to the flexible dollars? I imagine the first year he will be sticking to the campus and eating mostly there. Glad to hear that there is a Whole Foods nearby as this is a favorite (albeit expensive) place for him but I can’t see him using it that much during the week if it is off campus. He went to Pre C and did just fine on lots of veggies, salads, meat, eggs. Just trying to figure out a least expensive but still viable plan for him.</p>
<p>After freshman year, move off-campus and get off the meal plan. Caveat - I have not actually moved off campus (current sophomore), but I have looked into it, and everything I found was a whole lot cheaper. That can save a ton of money.</p>
<p>I have gone off the meal plan, and that saves a LOT of money. I do most of my grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s and a little bit at Whole Foods, and it costs so much less than the meal plan would have. And, my food is so much better ;)</p>
<p>Thank you California Dancer! So do you cook at the dorm? I’m not sure as to how this would work. Do you have a fridge in the room and store prepared foods you have bought from Trader’s Jo’s. And what about eating with other’s? I would think that for a freshman, it would be important to share some meals in the food halls so as to have some socialization during the week.</p>
<p>I am also a pretty big Whole Foods nut. The bus ride there is easy - there are two different buses he can take that will drop him within one block of Whole Foods in a fairly safe area. It’s about a 15 minute ride and about 15-30 minutes waiting for the bus, though, so it can take almost an hour to get there and back. </p>
<p>Freshman year I had a tall minifridge which I kept next to my bed. You can buy things like dry goods and keep those forever - cereal etc. Things like milk, eggs, butter, yogurt can be bought at Entropy on campus. For things like fruit and vegetables, I’d usually buy the smallest cartons and one or two of my favorite things, and then plan on eating those over the next week or so (since they can spoil fast, especially in a lukewarm dorm fridge.) If your son finds a friend with a car or can find a buddy who wants to go shopping (my roomie and I usually went together) it turns into a fun weekly thing that isn’t really a big deal. </p>
<p>Though to be honest, for freshmen (most of whom WILL be on the meal plan) eating on-campus for every meal is the typical thing to do, and it’s a social experience your son probably won’t want to miss out on.</p>
<p>I’m not in the best situation for cooking since I live in Morewood Gardens, which is still dorm style, rather than the campus-owned apartments, where students have their own kitchen. My roommate and I have a minifridge in our dorm, and I keep all my food in their. We keep it pretty cold, and I’ve never had any issue with that fridge in terms of things spoiling (actually, quite the opposite - sometimes there’s a little ice in it).</p>
<p>Anyway, I go grocery shopping once a week, and there is a shared kitchen on my floor that I use to do cooking. I mostly cook a bunch on things on the weekend, and then reheat in the microwave (in my room) during the week. It works really well for me, but it does help that I like to cook/am a pretty good cook. The shared kitchen is not the best situation since it’s small, lots of people use it, etc. I have my own cookware that I keep in my room. </p>
<p>Last year, as a freshman, I was on a meal plan as is required, so meal times were a more social experience. This year, in all honesty, I pretty much eat alone, so I guess I’m not the best person to comment on this! I do eat lunch on-campus, so I often eat with friends that. Other than that, I guess it does make me a little antisocial…
But in all seriousness, a surprising number people of people seem to be cooking in the dorm kitchen, and people eat in the common areas and such.</p>
<p>My S was off the meal plan freshman year for health reasons as well.
Like Cdancer, he shops at Wholefoods on Saturday- does a ton of cooking, freezes and has enough food through mid week. He eats at a few places on campus- Indian one of the better ones and he keeps abunch of staples like wraps, salsa, cheese, and canned beans for emergencies.<br>
There’s 1/2 off at all the restaurants after 11 - I think he does that quite often.</p>
<p>I had written in a few other places about money savings.
Keep in mind the total budget includes $2500 for personal expenses. Your S does not need to spend 200 a month on goodies- my kids do not!
Buy any airline tix well in advance for transportation home.</p>
<p>We buy text when needed at half.com - but as many posted already- my S and D borrow many books as well. </p>
<p>The only true unnegotiable expense is tuition.
From there-- as a freshman - consider the Mudge Triple or Mudge Quad
and then head off campus for the least expensive housing.</p>
<p>Most certainly no meal plan.</p>
<p>There are “flex dollars” with a 10% bonus. So if you put 500 in for a semester (it rolls over) you actually have 550. The on campus food is about $7 a meal and it really isn’t that good. There are sufficient alternatives in proximity. As a freshman though- start with cash in the plan and your S can learn the ropes. Since most if not all his friends will be freshman on the meal plan - he’ll want to eat on campus with friends. But don’t buy a meal plan !</p>
<p>I want to thank everyone for their input- got lots of “insider” stuff that I would otherwise been clueless to help out my son save money and help him keep his gluten free diet. That’s exactly why I come to CC- to find answers from people in the know.</p>