<p>americanDAD</p>
<p>$100 should be fine. You honestly won't be playing that many PS2 games, you probably will not be buying a new one each month, and I don't see why you would need to shop for new clothes each month either. Most of your meals will already be paid for with your dining card. Personally I don't think your parents should supply you with your poker money, but that's just IMHO. =)</p>
<p>Find guy friends who refuse to let girls pay when out to eat!! ;)</p>
<p>Joking, but not really. I find that an allowance of about $20-$25 a week from the parentals covers one nice treat - a manicure with female friends, going out to eat somewhere decent, enough cheap "champagne" (ie grown in California) to throw a small mimosa party before a football game... just a few examples of things my friends and I have done. If you desire new clothes just call your parents to beg/plead/tell them about your latest "A" grade for extra money. Or figure out what companies just come up as paypal or amazon and say "I needed a few extra books." (I HAVE NOT done this but I know someone who successfully bought the entire sex and the city set this way... ha) There will always be people more and less frugal than you at school; you'll be fine.</p>
<p>Also, graduation money from your grad party should keep you through first term, at least.</p>
<p>Be sure to save for spring break!</p>
<p>My parents pay for it all, including spending money for shopping. At my school, I am damn near the "starving college student." </p>
<p>Here's why: I only have four lacoste polos, 1 pair of seven for all mankind jeans, a couple of designer purses/handbags, designer shades, and practically an entire collection of Ralph Lauren Blue Label sweaters, oxfords, and polos. Yep, I grew up at a country club, playing golf and tennis. We take ski trips to the Vail or the like at least twice a year, etc. </p>
<p>How, may you ask do I fit into the stereotype of "starving?" Answer: I go to Bucknell University. Also known as the "country club" of east coast schools. </p>
<p>I don't drive a BMW, Audi, or Mercedes Benz. I have a nice, newish little SUV, with all available options. But it's not an X5 or RX300, Land Rover, etc. To demonstrate to you how starving I really am, my parents don't even drive one of these cars....They drive...<em>hush</em> Volkswagens. We don't have a $200,000 yacht and a place in Nantucket. We cruise around in one of those cheap $40,000 ski boats. My grandfathers didn't invent Toaster Strudel, nor were they a Merill, Lynch, Smith, or Barney. They were members of labor unions and mined iron ore for a living. Oh, and to top it all off, I can't afford a coke habit and the $900/mo. sorority dues that go with it.</p>
<p>But Daddy, those Chanel's are only $750. The sun is REALLY bright in Lewisburg. I want them, and I want them NOW!</p>
<p>....uhhhh</p>
<p>kay?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>May as well be minimum wage living that close to San Francisco, Berkeley has to cost a lot more to live in than most places in the country. How much is a candy bar there? $1.25?</p>
<p>Candy bars are still 50 to 75 cents, though at the GBC they tend to charge a bit more because we can use our meal points there. What usually happens though, is that a lot of students end up with a couple hundred meal points and head over there to stock up on snacks, that's what I did :)</p>
<p>Anyhow, it's definitely near impossible to live in the Bay Area if you move there now and earn $9 an hour because of the prices of homes. But for a college student's wage, that's more than enough to go out for a drink and party every Thursday night (for those with no classes on Friday like me!) and still help pay a portion of the "educational fees."</p>
<p>Would appreciate your advice on location in NYC of "tj maxx and ross".</p>
<p>Well, I skrimped and saved and worked and I have about $2,500-$3,000 saved for the upcoming school year. I've gotten a lot of shopping done already, for fall season and winter season, so I won't have much reason to go binge spending.</p>
<p>I'm a very frugal person; I slickdeal (;) any other slickdealers?) whatever I need, and if it's more than my personal budget allows, then I just do without.</p>
<p>I'd say that money I have saved up will get be through the year and probably beyond. $2,500 in 52 weeks is ~$48/week, and I'm pretty sure school is less than 52 weeks, and $25 a week will suffice for me generally, if even. The meals are paid by meal cards.</p>
<p>I will probably want to work part-time, or work-study my second year on, but I want my first year to be focused on meeting new people, doing new things, and studying, not on worrying about if I will have enough money for next week.</p>
<p>I'm a fatwallet-er. (fatwallet.com)</p>
<p>well, i think how much money people spend is very dependant on where they go to school. if you're at say...grinnel in iowa, there might not be anything to spend money on.</p>
<p>my parents give me $400/month spending money during the school year provided I work during the summer...otherwise they give me nothing - counter intuitive i know. if i decide to spend more then i have to come up with it.</p>
<p>its great because i can save the money i've made over the summers (i have almost $17000 now!) and when i graduate i won't be desolate (my parents are cutting me off the day i graduate...or so they say :-(</p>
<p>"Oh, and to top it all off, I can't afford a coke habit and the $900/mo. sorority dues that go with it."</p>
<p>Hahahah. HurricaneJane, are you sure you don't go to UCLA? Sounds awfully familiar.</p>
<p>Anyways. My fees/books/etc are covered and I get an additional $1000/month. But rent is $800 so the rest usually goes to utilities and cell bill. I cover food/personal/credit card/entertainment/insurance/gas myself. Which adds up to A LOT. Very, very high cost of living here. </p>
<p>Yay for paid internships. Even then, about 3/4 of my paychecks (which is usually another $1000/month) go to bills or food and a tiny little bit of entertainment. It's super hard to save, which is annoying. Really can't wait to have my degree so I can just work full time and start making real money.</p>
<p>dude - a coke habit is hard to support. you can go through a ball in like a week if you put your mind to it - thats $200-$220.</p>
<p>So I hear.</p>
<p>"I was just wondering what the 'college life' is truly about. "</p>
<p>College is where people get to learn various aspects of life in supposition
prior to coping the real deals outta college. College admission is subject to a person having met and complied with perquisites and financial supports to back up the college years. Money is scarce and hard to come by, so are time and opportunity. Holding this in mind, one will amass resources in-and-out college to empower oneself with working tools so much so that one is knowledgeable to come up in life. Making parttime and in the summer is part of the learning, which exposes a learner to life outta classes, income from which should not be deemed as token money to spend lavishly. Deep pocket and fat wallet are old-fashioned habit that holds no rationale to hook up. Remember a student has obligations to his parents and to his teachers to bring up performance and outcome. Only when one realizes his college objective that he/she gets a way to reap the benefit of college education; not to forget that a college opportuntiy is mutually exclusive to one another student.</p>
<p>Yeah, I really have no idea how much money I'm going to be getting. I got my dorm, meal plan, cell phone, laptop all paid for by the parents. Mom is trying to convince me that 100 bucks a month is all I need but ehh.</p>
<p>I'm the starving college student to a t. Last year there were days where I could only afford one meal a day. I don't have a well connected mom or dad to hook me up with a nice office internship for the summer so I got a job as a security guard where I get paid about $900 every two weeks, depending on my hours. I only recently managed to pay off my credit card bill but I'm still two weeks behind on my last tuition bill (they bill me in installments) and to top it off I just signed the lease to my new apartment and first month's rent is due soon. Even the act of buying groceries is painful, do you people realize how expensive meat is? God damned expensive.</p>
<p>I get $80 a month from my parents and I survive just fine...not to say that I would love it if they gave me $300 or $400 a month because I would never spend a cent of my own cash, but I get by easily on $80 a month from them.</p>
<p>$100 a month would be plenty, $400 a month is pretty excessive.</p>
<p>My parents pay most of my tuition, my room and board, buy my computer, and a certain amount of my clothes. My ski passes, parking permits, etc are all my own responsibility. </p>
<p>Sometimes I do wish they paid for everything and then some, though.</p>
<p>I will be attending college in NYC, so I'm probably in one of the most expensive areas in the nation.</p>
<p>I will have about 2800 saved from this summer and another 2000 from a scholarship that I can use for personal expenses. However, I am very frugal by nature, so we'll see how it goes. I do plan to work about 10 hours a week to offset some of the living costs.</p>
<p>From working this year I've saved approx 3k for spending, plus a federal work study on campus</p>
<p>I've pretty much lived on my own for the past two years. Now, I'm going to Cornell, putting myself through with very ltitle support from mom and dad--mostly a car ride to and from school and $500 a semester for family's expected contribution. Just get a job, don't be foolish with your money, eat at on-campus dining, and rip off convenience stores. I do just fine!</p>