<p>I'm about to begin my fresh year at Mizzou and was wonering, about how much money should you budget yourself for per week? I don't have to worry about feeding myselft because I got a 21meal per week meal plan and will be staying on campus, but just about what would you all say you spend per week? Exclusive of cell phone bills and car expenses please. I am just trying to think about how much money I need to make over the summer. I calculated that if I live off work study I will have about $30 a week. Is this adequate?</p>
<p>It's plenty. If room, board, and bills are paid, what other inelastic expenses do you incur? I honestly have no idea, but $30 seems like plenty to me.</p>
<p>Unless you talk a crap load on your cell phone or have a bad driving record that should be enough.</p>
<p>My budget goes like this:</p>
<p>I don't drive I take the bus, and thats about a dollar a day. For a month is about 25-30 bucks.</p>
<p>You said your on a meal plan but you will get tired of the same cafeteria food over and over again, so throw in another 30 per month for good eatin'.</p>
<p>Your personals (toothbrush, deodorant, mouthwash, shavers, ect) will set you back another 10 bucks a month.</p>
<p>You may want new clothes and that can get expensive, I suggest you wait until X-mas or other pagan/spiritual/religious holiday to get a fresh setup.</p>
<p>I usually hit up the theaters once a month and that sets me back another $10 a month.</p>
<p>I suggest avoiding a true relationship if your a guy (for girls: the more the better) and stick with "seeing each other" or whatever colloquialism you wish to describe a noncommittal close friendship with another person.</p>
<p>Music is important to me, I buy 2-3 CDs a month and that takes a 40 chunk out of my monthly.</p>
<p>If your school has any kind of sporting event(s) you like you may want to set aside money for that.</p>
<p>Cell phone payments set me back 55 a month.</p>
<p>Funds to repair/replace my various broken stuff amount ot 20 a month.</p>
<p>Club/activity dues (in total) are about another 20 a month.</p>
<p>Washing your clothes gets expensive too, I'd say 10 a month, didn't really think about it till you asked this question.</p>
<p>Monthly this all comes out to about $250-$300 (and my paycheck is around $150 biweekly, go figure) or $62 a week. Add more if you drive a car, have an insurance payment, are paying off credit cards, are paying off student loans, buy cable TV, pay utilities and rent, join a club that requires you to travel long distances, go to parties more often than usual.</p>
<p>30 bucks a week is tough, but still doable. I see many a fellow students without a shave, smelly clothes, and worn down shoes. Though it's becoming increasingly difficult to tell the rich kids doing it for "fun" and the people who do it out of necessity.</p>
<p>$30 a week isn't tough. A lot of the things that the user listed above are extras and not necessary. 4 weeks in a month so $120 to spend per month is good.</p>
<p>It is not easy to get the average college experiance on $30 a week spending money. I've meet very few students who enjoy college without joining a club/sport, going to few games, exploring the night life, eating out, ect.</p>
<p>Well, if he does everything you do except repair broken stuff for $20 and pay to join clubs, he would spend exactly $120 month. And CDs are way cheaper online at sites such as amazon.com and he wouldn't have to spend $40 on just 3 CDs.</p>
<p>And notice he said exclusive of cell phone bills and other payments.</p>
<p>Usually clubs make you pay for the whole semester upfront, not every month, and depending on which clubs the poster joins this can vary. This is how it works at the university I am attending. Also, some universities also have a "pass" that lets you use public transportation unlimited amount of times, so you would also save a lot of money if you find yourself exploring the city often.</p>
<p>"I've meet very few students who enjoy college without joining a club/sport, going to few games, exploring the night life, eating out, ect."</p>
<p>You make it seem as if the poster will not be able to do any of these, which is totally misleading.</p>
<p>$120/month to spend is not bad at all.</p>
<p>Muck Fizzou! GO KU! lol anyways i think that should be plenty o money</p>
<p>You always need more money than you think you do. Your friends will want to see a movie, go out to eat, buy alcohol, and all other kinds of things (and lots of times in the same night) and that takes a big chunk o' cash. By May I'd spent around $1750 just on going out to eat and buying clothes and buying groceries and going to see a couple movies and all the other essential college stuff. That's around 430 a month, and I wasn't even being a spendthrift like some people. You don't have to plan for THAT much (I did buy a bunch of new clothes because I lost weight), but I'd say at least 200-250 a month. It's always nice to have the option of eating out as opposed to meal plan or going to see a new movie that looks cool. I don't have that luxury right now as I'm currently broke, but yeah. Always plan for more money that you'll think you need.</p>
<p>I agree. I definitely spent more money than I anticipate, but the point is if you know you don't have that much money to spend then you won't spend that much.</p>
<p>$30 a week should be enough, I usually spend about $60 to $100 a month, except when I have breaks cause then I spend a ton going out to restaurants, movies, nightclubs, etc with old friends</p>
<p>but this is considering that I dont have to pay for meals (I had a meal plan and a food debit which my parents covered), laundry (parents covered), or parties (all free)</p>
<p>$30/month seems about right, if you're not extravagant. It just sucks sometimes to be on a budget and have your friends all going out to a nice dinner, and you're worried about paying for it. Factor in alcohol (this gets expensive. A survey I read said students spend almost $900/year on booze), parties, food, clothes. One of your friends will probably have a birthday and you'll have to shell out for that. Random expenses at the beginning of the year when you realize you didn't pack x y and z. I'd budget more like $50/mo to be safer, but you could do it on $30.</p>
<p>Pff, I will probably be the cheapest college student.</p>
<p>I don't eat snacks, drink alcohols, watch movies, go out to dinner or buy new clothes. All my clothes are bought in China when my dad goes there. The only place that I will ever go is my house and the restaurant I work in. Don't need to buy food because I get free food from my work place. I don't ever go to parties because I hate loud and crowded place. As for school sport events, I doubt I will ever spend money on those considering I am not a sport fan. I am a lonely guy, a nerd one if you ask me. </p>
<p>The only big thing that burns my wallet is gasoline. Since I don't drive a lot, I am guessing about at most $30 a week.</p>
<p>If your live coincides with mine, it is going to be cheap, very cheap indeed. :)</p>
<p>It changes every week. My budget was $25 per week, and I think that's plenty. Some weeks you'll spend $3 on laundry and that's it, but next week you'll run out of deodorant, shampoo, you'll accidently use the broken dryer and waste twice as much money on laundry, your friends'll want to go out to dinner, and you'll need to go into town to get a birthday present to send back to your brother, so you'll be well over $25 for the week. I think if you give yourself $30 a week so that the extra can roll over until the next week, you should be able to manage fine. Sure if you (or your parents) have $100 per week to spend, then great, but your college experience won't be diminished if you don't. Plus, when you're rich and your kids want $100 per week at college, you can say to junior that you made it by on only $30 and you had to walk to school 15 miles in the snow.</p>
<p>30$ per week should be fine.</p>
<p>somehow my parents were surprised that i spent 500$ this semester...sheeesh, it was even hard making that work at times</p>
<p>depends on where you go to school. in nyc, dc or boston, 30 dollars a week won't even begin to cut it. and i agree, you will always spend more than you plan to. especially as, when you're making friends, they'll ask you out to dinner, and you'll want to accept</p>
<p>What if you go out a lot? I go out about 3 times a week and spend probably upwards to 40, sometimes (rarely, though) 50 dollars. Should I plan on spending more or less in college?</p>
<p>What do you mean by "Should I plan on spending more or less in college?"</p>
<p>Yes, you will spend more.</p>