What would be the ideal amount of money to have at Northeastern? I know Boston is expensive and all and was just wondering how much I would actually need per year
My daughter saved about $2000 last summer to use for spending money and still has more than half of it. The food plan comes with dining dollars that they can use at various eateries on or off campus in addition to the food swipes they get at the dining halls. She really only needed money for the T, CVS purchases, maybe an ice cream or snack etc. She purchased tickets to see Kevin Spacey on campus and maybe bought a few clothing items. I’m sure you could spend a lot of money if you wanted to, but it is not necessary. I didn’t include textbooks, but even those are much less expensive than most schools.
Are you talking Freshman year? If so, you can spend as little as $100 a semester. It really depends on different factors you choose.
If you want groceries every week, add about $15-$30 a week.
If you go the 15 meal plan and don’t eat out, you don’t need any more money for meals. If you want a few meals out a week, thats $20 per week added.
If you go the 10 meal plan route you can still feasibly not eat out and save over $400 dollars on the meal plan. If you eat out, put $10 a meal towards that to compensate. If you want to transfer the $400 to eating out meals, you get about 2.5 meals a week out of it.
Personally, I do the 10 meal plan and then eat out about 6 times a week plus groceries because I prefer to avoid the dining hall. That means 4*$10 (counting the $400 saved from switching meal plans) + $30 = $70 a week for 10 dining hall meals, good meals out, and a stocked dorm room weekly.
Add that to the $100 a semester for transportation / miscellaneous and your total is $1200. Again, this is the very high end of the spectrum. The idea is to give you a good idea of the options. You can find a middle ground here.
Here are some good standard options:
15 meals and no meals out plus groceries: $600
10 meals and no meals out plus groceries: $200
You get the idea. Basically, you can survive on as little as $100 or up to $1000. It really depends on what you prefer / can afford. I am in the lucky situation of being able to afford the luxury but I know many who do well without.
I saved close to $1800 last summer as well and I have about $1200 now. That includes all my textbooks, transportation around the city and often home for breaks, buying clothes and meals out, and all the Christmas/birthday presents I’ve bought people this year (and I tend to go all out when buying others gifts). To be fair, my grandfather sends me $100/month. So I guess that means I’ve spent close to $1300 dollars, but like I mentioned I got a lot of stuff with that money. You can definitely be more frugal if you’d like- cost of living in Boston can be high, but the highest expenses (rent and food) will likely be prepaid- so what you spend on entertainment is up to you.