<p>hi all, if i'm trying to form a plan to budge my spending money in college, do you guys have any ideas or tips? I'm wondering what you usually spend per week or per month on things like food that's not on your meal plan, social life, and other random things? would $50 or maybe $60 a week work? Also, if your parents send you money every month or whatever, how much is it and what is it for? finally, do you guys pay for books, or do your parents?</p>
<p>I seem to spend about $500 a month, but I am not on a meal plan.</p>
<p>what year are you? does that mean your parents give you the money or do you have a part time job in school? also do you know what it was like when you were a frosh/soph on campus?</p>
<p>My parents paid for my books. Textbooks will probably cost around $500, if you buy new, so its a considerable investment. After my first semester I learned about buying used and even renting textbooks, so it lowered my bill a lot. Still, my parents paid for them which was nice. And you can sell them back at the end of the semester and use the money toward the next semester, so all in all its not that bad.</p>
<p>I had a meal plan with 180 meals on it, plus $250 dining dollars (for coffee, smoothies, snacks, etc.). I still went grocery shopping though. I probably spent around $40-$50 each time I’d go to the market, and I’d go about every two weeks just depending on what I needed. I would buy water bottles, vegetables, fruits, peanut butter, bread, granola bars, healthy snacks, magazines and then toiletry items (shampoo, razors, hair dye, nail polish, etc.). Its really hard to eat healthy in college and depending on what school you go to, the food could be really bad. It was at my school. I’d end up eating my own food most of the time because I couldn’t stand the food at the dining halls. Plus I’d eat out as often as I could. So whenever anyone on my hall was going to In-N-Out or Chipotle, I’d join right in which added a lot to my food bills each week. We’d go to restaurants on the weekends sometimes too like BJ’s or to eat thai food or mexican, so that also added extra money. You’re not going to have a set budget each week, in college things just come up randomly, and you just have to be prepared for that. Most of the time I ate out, it wasn’t planned, it was just spontaneous. </p>
<p>Other than food expenses, there isn’t a lot of other necessary things. Depending on what school you’re at, there isn’t going to be too much pressure to spend a lot of money. Sure, you might go to the movies sometimes or on trips to the mall or concerts or whatever, but if you don’t have the money to spend, there are always people on campus to hang out with in the same situation. Its not too much different than when you’re at home - in fact I spent way less on going out in college…because everyone around me was poor and we’d just find random free things to do like go to the beach or hiking or just hanging out. </p>
<p>I had a joint checking account with my parents so any time I needed extra money for something they could easily transfer it into my account. You should try that, that way if something more expensive comes up one week, then you’re not stuck and within a minute you can have the money on your card. : )</p>
<p>Parents gave me $0 spending money.</p>
<p>I probably didn’t spent more than a couple of hundred dollars a year on entertainment.</p>
<p>I have a car on campus. I also work at home on weekends, so my gas is pretty significant. </p>
<p>Unless you’re planning on driving a lot, $50/$60 a week is quite excessive. I spend MAYBE $20 a week in stuff. $30 for gas, but if I was just planning on moseying around town it would be $10-15 a week tops. </p>
<p>Next year, when I am not on a meal plan, I will probably spend $30 a week in groceries at the most. I am a full vegetarian and my roommate just doesn’t really like meat, so not buying meat is going to keep our grocery bills nice and small :).</p>
<p>Then again, I guess it depends on what you plan to do. Most all of my friends are on a strict budget, so we go see the movies playing here for really cheap rather than go to the movie theater and we try not to eat out that much. </p>
<p>My parents send me no money. In fact, I help them out. I buy all my own books, which is why I meticulously look for them cheap online. I have only ever bought one textbook at school- and it was only because it was a school-specific package. Generally, my books cost any where from $50-300 a semester. However, I am a humanities/anthropology major so I rarely have expensive textbooks. I also make about $300-400 a week as long as one of my jobs is active. If I am only working one or two jobs and not getting any shoots, then I would probably make like $150-200 a week. I have to save most of that for my excess tuition though next semester.</p>
<p>If you want spending money, get a job. Don’t count on your parents to give you money. It’s a good transition to at the very least pay for your own non-essential things.</p>
<p>oh i have a job already, and i pay for clothes, and things like that. i’m just trying to find out how much i need to save before i go off to college.</p>
<p>^ As much as possible. Seriously lol.</p>
<p>Definitely save as much as possible.</p>
<p>I never spend any money on myself; I don’t have any money to spend on myself. My budget goes towards gas and buying yogurt and diet sodas at Wal-mart. So for me, maybe $25 a week?</p>
<p>I spend a decent amount, but I think it’s because I attend an expensive LAC. Most people here don’t have to work and get allowances, with some people spending somewhat excessive amounts. I’m on scholarship that covers almost all my tuition, with student loans covering the rest. My school is also regularly in the top party school rankings, and I partake in it, and drinking and going out adds up really fast. If you don’t drink, you can save a lot of money.</p>
<p>I make on average $150-200/week, and spend all of it. My parents pay for rent, cell phone, and insurance, so I pay for food (no meal plan), utilities, gas, books, fraternity dues, internet, and entertainment. Also, I’m a varsity athlete, which severely limits my work schedule and sends my grocery bills through the roof.</p>
<p>My parents paid for tuition/dorm/textbooks/meal plan/etc. I don’t have a job but I get a $50 a week allowance from my parents, plus gas money. It’s decent. I always get more when I go back home though (once or twice a week.)</p>
<p>My tuition, fees, and housing are paid for by the school because I’m extremely poor. I get a large financial aid refund beyond this which I use for my books, sorority dues and some random stuff. My mother puts some money on my food account, which is all the financial support I get from my parents, except for some occasional random cash from my dad. I have a job (8 hrs/wk) which basically just pays for my alcohol, weed, and incidental stuff like concerts, clothing, etc.</p>
<p>Overall I’d say I go through like $300 per month, probably? Possibly more.</p>
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<p>$50 a week from your parents on top of tuition/dorm/textbooks/meal plan/etc. is decent? You should consider yourself very, very lucky. This is $50 more than my parents gave me.</p>
<p>Everything goes toward Panda Express… don’t tell me it isn’t worth it because you very well know it is.</p>
<p>Yeah man, $50/week adds up fast. My parents don’t give me anything on a weekly basis. If I come home for the weekend (rare) or if they visit me (rare), I might get a “financial gift” But for the most part I’m set with the meal plan I have. If I need anything off campus then it’s up for me and my diminishing bank account to pay for it.
Granted, my folks are paying for school/books/if I need something(necessary for school). So I don’t mind playing the part of the poor college student.
If you want a number…My school gives us $500/term for food other than the dining hall. It’s week 4 and I have about $340 left. So about $40/week on stuff besides dining hall food? And you know campus food is overpriced to begin with.</p>
<p>Social spending depends on whether you drink and/or smoke. Guys spend more on alcohol.
Food: I am not on a meal plan, and spend about $40-$50 a month on groceries, $20-$40 eating out.
If you go Greek, fees are a little pricey.
Books: Depends on your major. I need between 10-15 books/semester, at about $300. Check to see if books are available in the library.
If you have a car: at least $40 a month on gas.
If you pay your own cell phone bill $30-$90 a month.
Random things: for me, clothes. Every so often I go shopping at Urban Outfitters online or H&M, TJ’s or Marshall’s. Maybe Nordstrom rack. That’s $60-$80 every few months. I may need to get dress clothes every so often. I also save up for music festivals and concerts. My roommate recently had to buy a new IPod, you may need to pay a copay at the Dr.'s, maybe you have a magazine subscription. Always have money saved for emergencies.
I don’t get an allowance, I work.</p>
<p>I spend about $400/month including food, transportation and entertainment and not including seasonal purchases (textbooks and birthday gifts). I usually spend about $1600/year on textbooks (with a return of about $300/year) and $800 on Christmas and birthdays. I’ll also sometimes splurge and buy myself something nice for an extra couple hundred of dollars here or there. In general, I spend about $8k/year. I have excess scholarships and get a refund check each for about $2k/semester ($6k/year) and have a part-time job which produces about $10k/year. After my student loans are paid off for each year, I break out with about $2k in savings each year for an emergency fund with a total of about $10k at the moment.</p>
<p>Oh, and my parents haven’t and won’t support me financially.</p>
<p>Removing anything essential (food, gas since I drive for work, etc), I spend max $100 a month on entertainment/non-essentials.</p>
<p>That being said, I really don’t spend money on alcohol (since I’m a classic mooch in that area).</p>
<p>Keleso, I totally admire you. I’ll be going to college next year and my parents have made it very clear that they will not pay for anything (tuition, books, nothing). I’ve been working and will continue to work throughout college to be able to afford anything. Those who get money from your parents, consider yourself very, very lucky. To the OP- save as MUCH as you can, you’d be surprised how much you can spend in college.</p>
<p>100-500 per week, depending on what is going on and how much I go out.</p>