Any college students here?

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bonkers325

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
13,077
1
0
it depends on what you like to cook for food. if you can deal with cereal for breakfast, sandwich for lunch, and whatever u want to cook for dinner, u can easily do $100-200 per month for food. you'll buy mainly non-perishable stuff, like frozen fruits and veggies, putting meat away in the freezer, etc.
 

potoba

Senior member
Oct 17, 2006
738
0
76
Originally posted by: asdftt123
I'm starting school in a few weeks and moving into my apartment relatively soon and this time I'm no longer living in the dorms, which will be a nice change-up. =P I'll have my own apartment but I'll need to manage my expenses and I'm wondering if some people here could give me an idea of how much their basic spending was per month. I've alotted $1000 per month for my rent ($680), electric bill (water+gas included in rent), food, and internet. Am I missing any other basic expenses? Should $1000 be enough to comfortably get me by? I have no clue how much electric bill should be (maybe ~$60?), or how much I will spend on food (~$150-$200?), and high-speed internet (~$40-$60?). If anyone could give me a clue or how much they've spent on these things to get by, I'd greatly appreciate it! Also, does anyone living in the Baltimore, MD area know of any good internet service providers that are reliable and fast?

550 on rent, 200 on food, 100 on drinks, 100 on misc, 20 on gas
Forgot, I pay about 30 for my phone
 

konakona

Diamond Member
May 6, 2004
6,285
1
0
my past 3 years in ungrad years...

I had to be frugal, out of state tution aint cheap. Luckily, I dont place high priority on food and other short-lived activities that end up hurting your wallet badly.

food, maybe averaged out about 80~100 except one of those months with a bunch of eat outs. I did cook and ate healthy (minimal junk food or meat), mind you. Kroeger (or walmart, whatever) brand and other stuff on sale is your best friend :)

got my first phone towards the end of my senior year, and went for prepaid (tmobile) at that.

never had a car, wont be having one anytime soon (footmobile FTW)

rent was slightly under 400, but utilities and internet bill bumped it up close to 500

if you have friends, you need to give them b-day present for very least.. I wouldnt skimp on that :)

other than that, I bought some CDs, books, computer parts and audio gear time to time

Last but not least, textbooks cost easily over month's worth of groceries. Learn your profs and see if you can get by without textbook(s); time and again, there were classes where I never used the required textbook(s). Order ahead from half/amazon/biblio/<insert your favorite e-bookstore) or buy from local newsgroup at your school. Sell them at the end of the semester to recoup some of the initial cost; if you wait till the very end books go out of edition and/or you wont have enough time to sell them all

hope this helps :)
 

konakona

Diamond Member
May 6, 2004
6,285
1
0
Originally posted by: TallBill
That is rediculously low for food, $5 a day? Hope you like Ramen. 3 packs a day, $.30 total.

$150 isn't enough to even cover the cost of breakfast for a month :D

I ate much healthier than my roomates who spent triple on food than me. (at least according to people who knew what we ate)
 

S Freud

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2005
4,755
1
81
What are you people buying that spend $400 a month on food? I spend about 200 to 250 a month tops on food.

Rent:675
Electricity:60
Internet:60

I ride my bike almost everywhere, this way I can cut down on fuel costs and vehicle maintinance as much as possible. Also, get used to the idea of ramen, cup of noodle, rice and pasta.

I think having a case of ramen around is great. Quick for those late night study sessions or when you get home late from class/work/etc

Hit me up with a PM if you want to ask more questions.
 

Anonemous

Diamond Member
May 19, 2003
7,361
1
71
Rent 700 (utilities/cable/internet included)
Cell phone 35
Food 150 (including eating out)
Shuttle via School/Walking
 

Capitalizt

Banned
Nov 28, 2004
1,513
0
0
advice for food $$ savings...Get a crate of ramen noodles at Sams club..50 of them for like $6.00 ;)

either that, or buy cheap tuna and make a huge bowl of tuna salad once a week, and eat some + a few olives whenever you're hungry.

Thats what I do every time I get fired and need to save $$. :)
 

konakona

Diamond Member
May 6, 2004
6,285
1
0
Originally posted by: Capitalizt
advice for food $$ savings...Get a crate of ramen noodles at Sams club..50 of them for like $6.00 ;)

either that, or buy cheap tuna and make a huge bowl of tuna salad once a week, and eat some + a few olives whenever you're hungry.

Thats what I do every time I get fired and need to save $$. :)

before anyone starts whining that ramen is unhealthy : cook the noodles sepately, rinse them with cold water when they are done to get rid of oil (fat). boil water with some frozen veggies and put everything in a new bowl. dont use all of the soup base when you do this, excess sodium is one area where ramen is so notorious for. i usually add extra condiments (ground pepper and etc) to enhance the taste of it. Now what you have created is infinitely healthier than your typical french fries, sausages, bacon or whatever.
 

Gibson486

Lifer
Aug 9, 2000
18,378
1
0
Originally posted by: Quasmo
I've spend about $400 on food a month

I live in Boston and i do not even spend that much a month on food....Do you go out to eat everyday?

Anways, when i was in college, I spent around $250 a month on food and that was eating out about 2 times a week. What youa r egonan find out soon is that healthy food cost more than fatty food. Most of my grocery bill was due to veggies and meat.
 

MagnusTheBrewer

IN MEMORIAM
Jun 19, 2004
24,135
1,594
126
Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
ugh, I have 3 roommates (4 people total) and we each pay $1000 for rent alone. I envy all of you.

Time to let the maid and pool boy go.
 

invidia

Platinum Member
Oct 8, 2006
2,151
1
0
Seriously, what EXACTLY do you people spend on food that comes up to $500+ a month? $150 a month here and I don't eat out at all. I have steak at least 3 times a week. Go to Sam's Club or some grocery club place where you buy bulk stuff for cheap. I can see how eating out everyday can easily add up to over $500, which you shouldn't do if you're on a budget. Even eating at McDonalds everyday will add up to $400+ a month.
 

Acanthus

Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
19,915
2
76
ostif.org
Simply dont eat out if you want to limit your food budget.

As others have mentioned Costco/Sams Club memberships help a *TON* in cutting down food costs.
 

MustangSVT

Lifer
Oct 7, 2000
11,554
12
81
ya.. if you go out.. esp. drinking.. all your careful planning goes to gutter.

sigh..

alcohol and chicks..
 

HombrePequeno

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2001
4,657
0
0
Originally posted by: asdftt123
Originally posted by: invidia
Over here, rent+sewerage is $555, for 2 people (about $280ish each), electric/water varies from $25-$60 a month (depending on the month), and my phone bill is about $90 (I have a super fast internet connection). I shop at a supermarket club (Sam's club) and that shit is only $30 a week per person. Good food too. I only drive to work, so that's less than $25 a month for gas. So my bill is about 750-900 a month for 2 people.

I don't have cable, since the internet is my entertainment and all the episodes, movies, etc ends up on youtube, dailymotion, etc.

I have to applaud you... That's a very nice budget. If I were to go over $1000 I would have to get a stable job and some sort of income while in college because the money I made over summer would not be enough to get me by. Like you, I plan on doing all my grocery shopping in a supermarket.

Getting a job during school isn't a bad idea. It gives you some extra spending money that you could use for things that aren't in your budget...like booze.

During the summers when I'm cooking for myself I tend to spend about $300 on food.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,924
45
91
Damn, My rent + utilities (including cable TV & cable modem) was only $400 a month. :Q

You can do food for $150 a month pretty easily.
 

pstylesss

Platinum Member
Mar 21, 2007
2,914
0
0
Originally posted by: invidia
Seriously, what EXACTLY do you people spend on food that comes up to $500+ a month? $150 a month here and I don't eat out at all. I have steak at least 3 times a week. Go to Sam's Club or some grocery club place where you buy bulk stuff for cheap. I can see how eating out everyday can easily add up to over $500, which you shouldn't do if you're on a budget. Even eating at McDonalds everyday will add up to $400+ a month.

like beef?
 

asdftt123

Senior member
Jul 27, 2007
612
0
76
Alright thanks guys. :) I guess the best thing for me to do is keep a close eye on my spending for the first month and see how much I actually end up spending. Any idea on furniture? I will need a bed (mattress), desk, office chair, and nightstand. I'm thinking around $500?:/
 

slag

Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
10,473
81
101
Originally posted by: Corporate Thug
ugh, I have 3 roommates (4 people total) and we each pay $1000 for rent alone. I envy all of you.

Id never ever ever have to live with someone and still pay 1k/month for rent or mortage unless I was married to said person.

Thats just insane. My mortgage is $1800.00 but I'm married with 2 kids and another due in 2 weeks.

 

kinev

Golden Member
Mar 28, 2005
1,647
30
91
This reminds me of the classic Cosby Show episode where Theo told his dad that he didn't need good grades because he was just going to be "regular people" i.e. drive a bus or something. So, his dad gives him like $400 in Monopoly money for the month and takes back certain amounts for all of his expenses. Theo says he can save $ by getting by on bologna and cereal. Anyway, at the end Theo has like $50 bucks left and says that he can get by. Cos asks him "are you gonna have a girlfriend?" Theo responds, "For sure"....and Cosby takes all of the money he has left.

Point is, if you plan on entertaining the opposite sex (or same, if that's how you swing) add at least 30% to your food budget and a bunch to your miscellaneous expenses budget.