How much to budget for additional expenses?

[Anonymous]

Our DC is the first one to go to college in our family. What is a good estimate of how much money we should budget for beyond tuition, room, board and books? Thinking $400-600 for phone, incidentals and meals outside of meal plan. Anything else? Location is suburban with a medium cost of living. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Don't forget frat/sorority dues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't forget frat/sorority dues.

Thanks but DC not interested in joining at all.

[Anonymous]

Consider a budget for uber. If the student is not likely to do a ton of things off-campus socially, then maybe it isn't a big deal. It adds up.

I think 600 per semester is low (esp incuding phone!), but a lot depends on how your student will be socializing, whether they will need to go off campus often to take advantage of opportunities, and whether there is public transportation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Consider a budget for uber. If the student is not likely to do a ton of things off-campus socially, then maybe it isn't a big deal. It adds up.

I think 600 per semester is low (esp incuding phone!), but a lot depends on how your student will be socializing, whether they will need to go off campus often to take advantage of opportunities, and whether there is public transportation.

To add, if the student will have a job this summer, and summer job earnings are not already planned to help pay for billed costs from the university, often summer earnings will be enough to pay for books and personal expenses. It just depends on how much the kid works.

I don't know about phone, though.

[Anonymous]

I give my kids about $1,500 for the semester, to cover books, transportation, toiletries, supplies, off-campus and meals. They also buy their own clothes for the most part. One is in NYC, where everything is expensive. It's definitely more than the other one needs--so far he has saved the difference.

[Anonymous]

Useful tips! Had not thought of Uber expenses. Thankfully kid is rugal and already has a summer job lined up so that will help with expenses. We are not a well off family so under $700 is something we can work with. Thanks for the replies.

[Anonymous]

If she is smart, give her a credit card. Mine managed it quite well and I rarely had to ask them to watch their expenses. If you can’t trust the kid’s decision making then give a prepaid card, you can add more if needed.

[Anonymous]

It’s very personal, if your kiddo is into eating out, concerts, drinking, designer clothing, luxury grooming etc then she needs more than a nerdy kid who doesn't care about stuff.

[Anonymous]

Our child is a freshman at an urban school. We already have been paying for his cell phone so that is not a new expense. His summer job is all for his spending money, and we pay tuition, room, meal plan (required for freshmen) and books, which vary. First semester was less than $400, second semester was closer to $800. And he buys all books online/used.

[Anonymous]

Really too personal to estimate beyond those fixed costs.

I would also say that alot of kids have no desire to join greek life and then when they get to school they end up rushing because their friends are, and the next thing they know they're pledging. It happens! My DS had absolutely ZERO and my DD had a "i'll rush and see what happens attitude" and they are both in houses now. That's an additional $1000 per semester most likely.

[Anonymous]

Op, The College Board has a website, "Big Future". Under the information re: tuition, room & board, is a $ figure for other expenses. We found it very accurate.

[Anonymous]

I made my son pay fraternity dues. Want vs need. If your child has a meal plan, how often will you be willing to pay for a pizza? Typically, kids aren’t going anywhere for fine dining.

[Anonymous]

My kids have not spent much money in college. Their school offers many free or low cost activities--Division 1 sports so free tickets to the games, lots of opportunities for free food (beyond the meal plans), movie nights, bowling, etc.
I think $600/semester, in addition to whatever they earn over the summer, should be plenty.

[Anonymous]

DC goes to college in a major city and pays for all expenses other than those directly billed (tuition/fees/room and board), a cell phone, and travel to/from school. My kid works part time over breaks and full time in the summer to cover books, clothing, and other incidental expenses.