<p>What is a reasonable budget for "extras" for a freshman girl living in a dorm with an unlimited meal plan that includes $150 dining dollars and $150 blue bucks? The budget should include non-dorm food, personal drugstore supplies, and any other extracurriculars. The budget does not include cell phone service, sorority or club dues, textbooks, or travel home expenses. And by "reasonable," I mean for the average kid who isn't living large but does eat a meal out on the weekend, ocassionally contributes to the booze fund, and takes the rare taxi back to North Campus after the busses stop running. </p>
<p>Responses from both students and parents are appreciated.</p>
<p>I mean it all depends on your lifestyle which you really won’t figure out until you actually get to school. Probably like 50-70 a week. You’re definitely not going to eat in the dining halls as much as you think you will.</p>
<p>400-600 per month freshman year, decreasing by 200 per year. (since you would be interning over the summers and should be able earn at least enough for all your incidental expenses the next year, especially after sophomore year)</p>
<p>In our house the student’s budget for incidentals is essentially limited by how much they make in the summer and during the school year. We pay the school bill … our kids pay for the extras … and we have no idea how much they spend.</p>
<p>Everybody here is quite generous. Our daughter will be heading out to school. The most I plan to give her is $40/month which is enough to cover personal care items. If she needs more than that, she can get a job.</p>
<p>MidwesternHeart/saxlady/ForeverAlone: Good for you guys!!! Our college policy will be the same as our current boarding school policy – we are paying for room and BOARD, use it. $0 for non-dorm food. In the four years I spent at U-M, I can count on two hands the number of meals I ate outside of East Quad. Didn’t kill me. DS uses his own funds to cover non-essentials (and he’s only 16). Says he can stick to around $60/month but, technically, he could get by with $0 and a care package from us once in a while.</p>
<p>^They changed it. Every meal plan is unlimited starting next year; the only extra options you can pay more for is guest meals and blue bucks/dining dollars.</p>
<p>One better way to save money would be to find a place to live off campus and use the money saved for rent + all sorts of other things. </p>
<p>Either way, saying “0, get a job.” doesn’t seem all that helpful. How much does she need? How many hours does she need to work to get that? It’s like some of you have twisted the question in order to not answer.</p>
<p>Start figuring out now how much is spent on her personal drugstore supplies- makeup, hygiene items, toothpaste, etc. Does she have a lot of medicines she will need? (Even over the counter- does she take a daily allergy pill? prone to colds and coughs? use a lot of ibuprofen or tylenol?) Is she close enough to home that she will be coming home occasionally and you can stock her up on those things when she’s home? What kind of beverages might she want to keep on hand in her room and how often does she drink them? Will she have her own coffee maker? Again, can you stock her up on some of her favorite snacks? (microwave popcorn, granola bars, etc.)</p>
<p>My deal with my D at Barnard was this: I used to put $30 a pay period into her high school lunch account and gave her $40 a pay period for gas. Since I was used to shelling out this money, that’s what I give her now that she’s in college. She also works three jobs. But she’s far away. That $140 a month pays for a lot of stuff that I would just buy her when she came home to visit if she could do that. She’s also on a lot of medications and uses a lot of OTC meds for allergies. That stuff adds up fast.</p>
<p>“It’s like some of you have twisted the question in order to not answer.”</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve twisted the question in order to not answer. I think back to my college days where I lived on campus and had a full meal plan. The only other things I really “needed” were laundry soap, change for laundry, office supplies like pens, paper, etc. and personal care items. There was not a lot of cash really needed for these items. There were plenty of free, on-campus things to do for entertainment. Everything else I “needed” money for was a “want.” A “want” = get a job in my opinion. I worked 2 hours a day in college and that gave me enough money to do the things I wanted to do. All my basic needs were covered. This will not come as a shock to my children when they go off to college, as this is how I’ve always rolled with them. Now, if a parent has typically always given their children pretty much all they ever wanted, then this would be a harsh reality if the parent all of a sudden limited fund to them when they went off to college. What is reasonable to one parent, won’t be reasonable to another.</p>
<p>“Doesn’t work study money go start towards debt and not to the employee?”</p>
<p>No.</p>
<ol>
<li> You have to work in order to earn your work study.</li>
<li> You get a paycheck that goes straight to your bank account (assuming you have direct deposit).</li>
</ol>
<p>I know this because I had a work study job my first two years at Michigan.</p>
<p>Really, really depends on the person. In UG, I would go weeks without spending any more than $10/week. I knew people who could drop $200/week like it was nothing. </p>
<p>$50/week should be MORE than enough (with the exception of medicine or other necessities). IMO, the student should be working for any spending money. Much more likely to budget that way ;). To each his/her own.</p>
<p>Yes, work-study jobs are regular jobs. You get the same paycheck. The only difference is in where your funding comes from.</p>
<p>This is so personal. Each family will handle this differently based on their financial situation and on their philosophy. A wealthy family that likes to dote on its children will see fit to provide a much larger budget than a lower income family that believes that its children should earn their way. Of course, those are extremes, there are many wealthy families that expect their children to earn their way, and there are many lower income families that like to coddle their children. There is no right or wrong answer.</p>
<p>All of the replies are very much appreciated. I probably should have been a bit clearer in my initial question. Assume that the student does not work during the school year (I understand that this is a point open to widely divergent views). Assume that the parents can afford any amount (meaning, they have the money but that they may not want to spend it on the student). Assume that the student’s social life should not be restricted due to money - again, this is within “reason” (again, subject to widely divergent views) as I originally defined it – “And by “reasonable,” I mean for the average kid who isn’t living large but does eat a meal out on the weekend, ocassionally contributes to the booze fund, and takes the rare taxi back to North Campus after the busses stop running.”</p>
<p>I’m thinking $200 a month is pretty generous without being over the top.</p>
<p>I am currently a student a U of M and don’t understand how anybody could survive on less than $50 a week (after meal-plan and housing costs). Where this money should come from is a different story entirely.</p>
<p>I don’t think budgeting a little extra for coffee after you pull all-nighters studying, or for a snack between classes because your 15 minutes away from your meal hall is unreasonable or luxurious by any means. </p>
<p>If it means anything, I am a father of a 3 year old and 8 year old and think I have somewhat of a grasp on budgeting money efficiently (I am not rich). How anybody can budget less than $50 a week and not walk around like their homeless? I don’t know. I suppose it really boils down to what you will actually have to pay for and what you won’t.</p>
<p>Will you pay for things like: Paper towels, napkins, underwear, socks, soap, shampoo, conditioner, razors, shaving cream, bandaids, etc. ?</p>
<p>When winter hits and you rip a hole in your jacket, will you have to buy a new one or will your parents?</p>
<p>Same with shoes, these things wear out, who’s buying? You need a decent winter get-up to survive Michigan’s winters.</p>
<p>Additionally, is it really unreasonable to expect to go out with friends after working hard for a week? Going out is a luxury, but sometimes after working your butt off - you deserve it.</p>