College student moving off campus - how much money for food?

[Anonymous]

I give my kids each $1,000/mo towards their expenses for the month - groceries, gas for their car, haircuts, shampoo, coffee, school supplies, etc.

[Anonymous]

They just used our credit card. $50-75 a week for groceries approx. We did not cover $15 beverages at Starbucks. We never set a budget but would have asked for more info if the amount was excess.

[Anonymous]

I was just searching for this information and pulled up this thread.

My daughter will be a sophomore next year and living off campus, completely cooking for herself.

She has a summer job and earned her own spending money, but I want to cover basic groceries for her. I decided to give her the same amount I'd spend if she were on the full meal plan at school. That works out to about $300 every 2 weeks or about $600 per month. That should be ample for basic groceries and things like toilet paper and dish soap.

She can supplement with meals out from her own earnings if she wants to eat out and she can use her summer earnings for the fancy personal care items she enjoys.

I found this source of information online that makes me feel this amount is reasonably generous.

https://educationdata.org/average-monthly-food-spend-college-student

Report Highlights.

The average cost of food per month for a college student is $672.

College students spend on average $410 a month eating off-campus.
Meals cooked at home average $263 a month when the cost of eating off-campus is included.
A campus meal plan averages $570 a month.
A vegan diet cooked exclusively at home averages $281 a month.

She is going to school in a medium cost of living location, where the average cost of groceries for a college kid is about $350 ( but I assume that doesn't include dining out).

[Anonymous]

Ask them to track all the food costs for a month and send that info to you. I would give the same amount + $200 more.

[Anonymous]

We give our daughter $500 a month, which is also to cover toiletries and household supplies. MCOL area. It’s enough for mostly cooking at home plus a few cheaper meals out a week. Not enough to cover the daily Starbucks that she likes. She has a part time job to supplement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD is a rising junior in college and moving off campus . She says she doesn't want a meal plan of any kind.

How much should she expect to spend per month for meals? We are planning on putting that much in a debit account every month.

You put the cost of meal plan in account and anything more she pays out of summer jobs she may not want meal plan but doesn’t get more. Also, should have an agreement about what happens to money if any leftover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I give my kids each $1,000/mo towards their expenses for the month - groceries, gas for their car, haircuts, shampoo, coffee, school supplies, etc.

Wow!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d give her the amount the meal plan would cost and let her figure out how to make it work. It will be a good part of her education.

+1

College is really scaffolded independence and your kids need to learn how to live on their own. When I was in college my parents paid the remainder of my tuition (after scholarship), books, car insurance and rent. It was my responsibility to get a summer job for food and spending money during the year. My freshman year was a tough one, bc I didn’t realize I couldn’t live the way I had in high school with my parents paying for everything. By senior year I figured it out. It’s generous that you are funding their food; I would give them a lump sum so they learn to budget and save

[Anonymous]

Bumping this thread up so as not to create a new thread.

Sophomore daughter moved off campus, shares an apartment with two roommates.

I send her $350 biweekly to cover groceries, basic home goods like lightbulbs and TP, and utilities (they need to pay everything as renters except for water bill. So wifi, electric, and gas).

Does this seem like sufficient money? She needs to use her own money to cover makeup, incidentals like coffees and meals out, and any trips or activities. I told her to think of it as about $400 for groceries per month, $150 for her share of utilities, and $150 for household?

[Anonymous]

One month in..
Roughly $100 weekly.

[Anonymous]

We're trying $200/month, plus the lowest food plan the school offers. So far that seems sufficient. We did stock her apartment with toiletries and things like laundry detergent and trash bags at the beginning of the year.
We aren't paying for coffees and meals out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d give her the amount the meal plan would cost and let her figure out how to make it work. It will be a good part of her education.

This!

[Anonymous]

Our senior gets the cost of what the unlimited meal plan amount would have been each semester divide by five months plus additional $75 per month for allowance. It is around $750 per month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A Starbucks Iced Blonde Vanilla Latte per day adds up to over $215 per month. We gave our daughter $1000 per month.

Simple math, divide the cost of a semester meal plan by the number of weeks the student will be on campus.

What a stupid waste of money.

[Anonymous]

We just gave them a credit card for living expenses. Some weeks it’s $50 and weeks they stock up on household goods it’s $150.