is this a good idea? College Student apartment

[Hikergirl]

Living off campus can definitely be a budget decision for some.
Even as a transfer student my dd was required to live on campus for her first year. She was required to have the meal plan as well, over $14,400 for that (and it will definitely be going up by at least $150 if history is any guide), and as been pointed out it is only for 8 1/2 months.
Living off campus rent is around $10,500 for 12 months. All utilities included, plus washer and dryer in room, 24 hour fitness center (she pays $150 for the use of the one on campus), and free campus shuttle, (so no added gas expense).
The only added expense for her will be a bigger grocery budget than she has now, which will still be less than the difference between the cost of living on campus and off. In the end she will save money by living off campus. Granted it won't be a ton of money but when you've still got grad school to pay for every little bit of savings helps.

 

[lovin'fl]

Well, I do think an apartment is cheaper per month when you figure the room and board fees for college is for 8 months of stay. So my DDs' friend's father is going to charge us @$600 each kid (I think, have heard $550, $600 and $650). $600 for 8 months is $4800. Probably will give them like $600 a month (for both) for food. So $2400 per girl for 8 months. $7200. Room and Board is about $12K per kid. Crazy. Now we do have to pay a full year (well I don't think we do since it's the friend's house but we likely will do May 2019-Jan 2021 as they graduate a semester early). But I don't count those months where they'd be home if staying on campus. But if I did....7200+2400+1200= 10,800 is still less than R&B.

Back to this thread. DDs just moved into house yesterday. They are being charged $550/month which includes all utilities except gas/electric bill which the 4 girls will be responsible for each month. Now to figure out what to vive them each month for groceries and the electric bill. I figure that $600 for both should be fine as they will have jobs (one has a job and other is getting EMT cert right now) to cover extra expense (like car gas and going out to eat and shoes/clothes and haircuts and such). So $550 plus $300 per month is $10,200 for the whole year whereas the $12K we paid the college in room and board per year only covered 8 months. So this is saving us a bit. Now for all the worrying. They are alone in the house for the summer. Last night they were creeped out. Said they were going to both sleep in one DDs room together instead of their own rooms.

Anyway....wondering what people's thoughts are about grocery money per month???? Want to see if I am close. I think SIL gives her DD way more than $300. If I remember correctly, she gives $600.

 

[barkley]

Back to this thread. DDs just moved into house yesterday. They are being charged $550/month which includes all utilities except gas/electric bill which the 4 girls will be responsible for each month. Now to figure out what to vive them each month for groceries and the electric bill. I figure that $600 for both should be fine as they will have jobs (one has a job and other is getting EMT cert right now) to cover extra expense (like car gas and going out to eat and shoes/clothes and haircuts and such). So $550 plus $300 per month is $10,200 for the whole year whereas the $12K we paid the college in room and board per year only covered 8 months. So this is saving us a bit. Now for all the worrying. They are alone in the house for the summer. Last night they were creeped out. Said they were going to both sleep in one DDs room together instead of their own rooms.

Anyway....wondering what people's thoughts are about grocery money per month???? Want to see if I am close. I think SIL gives her DD way more than $300. If I remember correctly, she gives $600.

i think it depends on (1) their eating habits (will they cook/pack lunches vs. wanting to eat out/get prepared foods) and what food prices are like where they are living. my dd gets by on $300 or less a month for food but she's also gotten good about learning how to cook, watching sales/knowing what produce items are in season/less costly and keeping a lid on her eating out habits. as an example-yesterday she saw that boneless/skinless chicken breasts were on sale so she got a value pack at $1.99# so about $7.50 for 6 nice sized. that was grilled up and she will have it warmed w/a side, cold in a salad, or however it fits into her meal plan for a total of 6 meals. she's done costco before an gotten the premade stuffed bells which run about $15 for a 6 pack. she has one with a salad or a small side of pasta, and again it's 6 meals. now granted-i've got a kid who likes eating the same food several days in a row so that is helpful but with the meat packs she's also done them up in freezer bags, and done up batches of soup and such to freeze in lunch size containers so if your girls don't like to eat the same way then if they have freezer space (dd's rentals have had minimal and when she had roommates space was at a premium b/c of all the prepared stuff they filled it with) that can help. one of her greatest savings realizations was buying the makings for salads vs. overspending on prepared-a large clamshell of mixed spring greens (lasts her 2 weeks) goes for $3.99 on sale, mushrooms/baby toms can be gotten for a few bucks and last a week. she catches the canned stuff she likes (water packed artichokes, asparagus and beets) on sale and stocks up so she ends up paying $12 for seven salads vs. $7 or $8 for a single premade.

one thing we did to help dd initially was buy her a spice rack-24 brand new bottles of spices cost a fortune, a spice rack filled can be gotten for around $35 at costco or walmart. we also set her up with condiments and oils, some basic baking stuff and the other odds and ends that someone with an established home kitchen generally has on had and doesn't think about having to buy to start out. it's not unusual for her christmas gifts to include a few $20 gift cards to trader joes or other stores she likes, and if there's a non perishable on a killer sale that i know she likes i stock up as a gift to her and she either takes it all home at once or periodically when she visits.

 

[Floridaman999]

Back to this thread. DDs just moved into house yesterday. They are being charged $550/month which includes all utilities except gas/electric bill which the 4 girls will be responsible for each month. Now to figure out what to vive them each month for groceries and the electric bill. I figure that $600 for both should be fine as they will have jobs (one has a job and other is getting EMT cert right now) to cover extra expense (like car gas and going out to eat and shoes/clothes and haircuts and such). So $550 plus $300 per month is $10,200 for the whole year whereas the $12K we paid the college in room and board per year only covered 8 months. So this is saving us a bit. Now for all the worrying. They are alone in the house for the summer. Last night they were creeped out. Said they were going to both sleep in one DDs room together instead of their own rooms.

Anyway....wondering what people's thoughts are about grocery money per month???? Want to see if I am close. I think SIL gives her DD way more than $300. If I remember correctly, she gives $600.

Depends on if they will cook most of their meals at home or will they go out to eat? That would be a big determining factor over how much she'll need.

 

[lovin'fl]

They will cook. And the good thing is they can shop together and cook for 2 so it's $600 a month for 2. Maybe I'll give them that just for food and still pay the GE bill on top of that. Still money saving from when they were in dorm as it was $12K a year each plus we sent them money here and there (and got them grocery and gas gift cards for holidays and birthdays).

 

[NAB]

After eating out for a year in dorms , my son was pretty tired of eating fast food . When he got his own apartment he cooked more at home. Not hard to pop things in the oven. I remember him calling home excited about making eggs and who know how easy it was...lol

I think we gave him $300 for the month for food. He learned pretty fast about sales.