<p>I am curious what current students (and their parents) found to be a reasonable amount of spending money per month to cover the necessities of food shopping in center city and weekend fun and frolic. Also, what are the costs for books and school supplies for freshmen MT students? I think I have a good ballpark figure based on our experience with our son but he goes to Temple’s Ambler campus, lives in Lansdale and is taking a traditional academic curriculum. For him, we estimate $70 - $80 per week for food shopping, $50 per week for cafeteria lunches and snacks in between classes and about $40 per week for miscellaneous stuff and social activities. We also plan on $150 in books and supplies for each class. I imagine there’s got to be some differences based on center city living and a performing arts curriculum.</p>
<p>Michael, this is a hard thing to be precise about. </p>
<p>Because there is no food plan, the costs can vary greatly. It depends to what extend the student cooks, etc. Also, in my daughter's case, she has gone to many many shows (steeply discounted student tickets, but that is another expense). And then there is Internet/phone/cable TV costs when applicable. </p>
<p>Books were not an onorous expense. Certainly on average below the $150 per class estimate you gave. </p>
<p>If you have any particular questions, please email me.</p>
<p>MichaelNKat,</p>
<p>You've been tremendously helpful with answers for various questions. Now that your D will be a sophomore, did your estimate on spending money turn out to be pretty accurate? We have two other college students but they both have meal plans, and don't have the opportunity to go to plays, etc. I'm curious to get feedback regarding, food, books, general expenses. We're trying to estimate some kind of monthly budget, any advice would be greatly appreciated....</p>
<p>bbellach, here's what our experience was for a freshman:</p>
<p>Books and supplies - about $250 - $300 per semester. Mostly plays and other literature that can be obtained in paperback. Binders and copying charges for music.</p>
<p>Food - This really can vary from student to student and whether the student purchases from neighborhood convenience stores or takes the time to go to the 2 supermarkets in the area, whether the student cooks or buys prepared foods, buys fresh or frozen. Assuming breakfast and dinner at the dorm and lunches/snacks on the fly from area cafes and food courts, can be as high as $100 - 120 per week total food related costs. The wild card is the number of lunches purchased from cafes and food courts - you can't get away with less than $10 for a sandwich/salad and drink. Packing your lunch will of course be much more economical. On the low side, if a student really figures out a meal plan and budget, costs can be as low as $60 - 80 per week. All of this presupposes that we are talking about a healthy nutritious food plan.</p>
<p>Social activities- $40 - 50 per week is plenty. That will cover a meal out with friends, a movie, a show at student prices. All of the UArts shows are free to students. Area professional venues offer student rush tickets often for as low as $10. Students are required to see a couple of outside productions a semester so this can run up costs a bit if student rush tickets are not available for a particular show.</p>
<p>Misc expenses - The only recurring ones I can think of off the top of my head are bottled water and cab fare. Hydration is a big "must" because of the activity level in the program. My daughter can go through 2 liters a day on the fly. Over the course of a week, it adds up. Cab fare is often a necessity. Figure on $10 one way for most locations within the center city area. Then there is clothing. Dance attire seems to have a high attrition rate. Also, Philly does have seasons so there is a need for warm clothing/coats in the winter and lighter comfortable wear in the fall and spring. Expect a lot of purchases of sweats and hoodies. All of the performance classes require a lot of movement and clothing for these classes seems to be in high demand. </p>
<p>Hope this is helpful.</p>
<p>MichaelNKat, as usual very informative, thanks.</p>
<p>As I mentioned above, one of the factors that can significantly increase food costs is shopping at neighborhood convenience stores and small grocery stores instead of the local supermarkets. The former are often situated a block or 2 from the dorms while the latter are a minimum of 12 blocks away. As a result, time constraints can often push MT students to shop the former or increase buying prepared foods from cafes and other retail vendors.</p>
<p>An alternative that my daughter is trying is online shopping with delivery service. Acme and Genaurdi's, 2 major supermarket chains, provide online shopping with delivery.A student can sit in their dorm room or apartment, order their food shopping online and have it delivered to them during a prearranged 2 hour block of time. The additional cost is $9 - $13 per delivery, depending on the size of the order, which is more than made up for by the savings compared to shopping at convenience stores or buying from cafes and the savings of time. The only down side is that you need a credit card to pay for the order (perhaps you can use a debit card, I'm not sure). Well worth looking into.</p>
<p>Michael, has your daughter tried the grocery delivery service, yet? If so, does she have a preference between the two in terms of price/quality. I am considering helping out my son every so often with a delivery of groceries and am looking for a recommendation.</p>
<p>She used Genuardi's and it worked very well. Accurate order picking, produce was fresh, delivery was on time. Also, the Genuardi's website had much more complete nutritional information available for its frozen and other pre-packaged products than did Acme's and was easier to navigate. Her only problem was visualizing the volume of food versus her half of the fridge/freezer!</p>
<p>Thanks, Michael!! I just placed an order for delivery Friday morning. We'll see how it works out going to the dorm.</p>
<p>Which dorm is your son in? Security will not let a delivery person up unescorted so make sure your son makes arrangements to be called when the order arrives. In addition to cell phones, I believe all the dorms now have school phones in each apartment so perhaps security now has the capability to call up to an apartment.</p>
<p>I already told him to let the person at the desk know that there will be a delivery arriving for him during the designated times. Hopefully, this will work with little hassle. Thanks again!!</p>