Budget question for folks with kids in college

[eliza61]

DD mostly showers at the Y, so no big hot water savings there. And I'm sure I will be saving on the grocery bill with one less mouth to feed, but I'm guessing it won't be enough to really notice (other than the $12 bags of dried mango from Costco!). She does tend to leave lights on a lot when she is home, but so do DS and DH, so it will probably be a wash.

I am considering dropping her from the auto insurance. She HATES to drive and won't have a car at school. I don't see the point in continuing to pay to insure her. The most driving she has done this summer was moving the car in the driveway for me . I'm planning to call the insurance company and discuss the options.

We are heading out today to do a "big shop" for her dorm stuff. Getting nervous about how much it will cost me, even with coupons and such!.........P

Check with your insurance Pjila,
I have allstate and they won't let you drop a young adult that resides in your house. I beg, pleaded, threatened and cajoled. their reasoning is that even though you say she may "hate" driving there is a chance she will drive.
The only way I could remove my two sons was they would have to get their own policies, which of course is cost prohibitive. kinda of burns me because as I said my youngest is 16 hours away and definitely will not have a car.

 

[tajz90]

We are also thinking that DD will get a part time job next semester and then work enough while in college to cover her own spending money. That will allow us to shift her current allowance and the extracurricular costs to tuition.

DD is 99% sure that she has decided on a school about 5-6 hours away, depending on traffic, as the trip involves crossing a major metro area. We agree that it seems the best fit for her. That will, of course, mean an expense whenever she comes home or we visit. One of her best friends is considering this school also and they are discussing rooming together. I'd love it if that worked out as that would give her someone to split the drive and expense of trips home.

We live in the middle of no where (Texas is a big spread out state). Her top two choices are 4-6 hours away. The closest school we visited is 3 hours and didn't impress.

Texas mom here. Our child went to a school 6 hours away. We laughed when someone said its too far. No biggie, we can drive. However, it ended up being true. He never comes home. School on Monday / Fridays make it difficult for short trips. Good luck

 

[dcfromva]

I'm sure the insurance companies already know this but when colleges say students "aren't permitted" to have cars, all that really means is that they can't get campus parking permits. They're welcome to have cars. They just have to park them on the street.

My college's policy was no cars for freshman but I still had a car and I parked it right outside my dorm every day and close to campus when I drove it to class. I just couldn't get a window sticker to park on campus in a lot.

Actually, it was a military college and when they said not permitted--meant no car in the county (or getting into big trouble if discovered). There were exemptions (such as a car needed for drill duty), but they had to be sanctioned (and permitted) by the college.

 

[sk!mom]

Texas mom here. Our child went to a school 6 hours away. We laughed when someone said its too far. No biggie, we can drive. However, it ended up being true. He never comes home. School on Monday / Fridays make it difficult for short trips. Good luck

I don't expect that she will come home except for holiday weekends. She will be an hour from my brother so should she get homesick she'd more likely go there. She's not really the type to get homesick though.

I'm making myself feel better with the fact that I've heard from a few parents that living close has led their college kids to come home too often and kept them from adapting, settling in, and making college- home.

Reminding myself to enjoy this last year with her before we have big changes.

 

[tajz90]

I don't expect that she will come home except for holiday weekends. She will be an hour from my brother so should she get homesick she'd more likely go there. She's not really the type to get homesick though.

I'm making myself feel better with the fact that I've heard from a few parents that living close has led their college kids to come home too often and kept them from adapting, settling in, and making college- home.

Reminding myself to enjoy this last year with her before we have big changes.

That's true. My son had a friend go to college with him to room. The friend ended up coming home too often (he didn't mind the drive) and he didn't make friends and didn't adapt. He ended up dropping out.

Enjoy the last year... It goes quick!

 

[disneysteve]

Actually, it was a military college and when they said not permitted--meant no car in the county (or getting into big trouble if discovered). There were exemptions (such as a car needed for drill duty), but they had to be sanctioned (and permitted) by the college.

Understood. That's certainly an exception where "no car" really means "no car".

 

[clutter]

I'm watching this, as my dd16 is heading out of town for a semester of her junior hs year.

Car insurance - some companies DO accommodate this. DD got her license in early July. Insurance went up $450 for 5 months. I just called them last night (GEICO) to change her status to 'occasional' driver starting next week. Dropped $250 for 3 1/2 months. She is covered when she is home, she'll be covered if she drives someone else's car while away. Since she won't have one of our vehicles (remember, insurance coverage is on the vehicle, not the driver), that changes her status.

 

[MrsPete]

Laundry should decrease by about 40-50%,

Yes, laundry and dishes decreased in my house when she was away at school. The hall bathroom stayed cleaner too. My oldest isn't neat, but my youngest is.

I'm sure the insurance companies already know this but when colleges say students "aren't permitted" to have cars, all that really means is that they can't get campus parking permits. They're welcome to have cars. They just have to park them on the street.

My college's policy was no cars for freshman but I still had a car and I parked it right outside my dorm every day and close to campus when I drove it to class. I just couldn't get a window sticker to park on campus in a lot.

My daughter's school has plenty of parking for freshmen -- two miles down the road. Just hop on the campus bus and take a ride to the parking lot. Of course, if you stay on the bus only a few minutes longer, you will arrive at your destination and be able to skip the car altogether. The reality at my daughter's school is, For a freshman, a car is only useful for going home on Friday. Or pay $1000 for one of the few private adjacent to campus spots (only a dozen or so exist, so that's how they can command that price). Upperclassmen can purchase good parking spots in a deck, but freshmen are definitely discouraged from having cars. My daughter said it wasn't really a big deal not having a car on campus -- not as a freshman, while all her classes and plenty of social life are within easy walking distance.

Check with your insurance Pjila,
I have allstate and they won't let you drop a young adult that resides in your house. I beg, pleaded, threatened and cajoled. their reasoning is that even though you say she may "hate" driving there is a chance she will drive.
The only way I could remove my two sons was they would have to get their own policies, which of course is cost prohibitive. kinda of burns me because as I said my youngest is 16 hours away and definitely will not have a car.

Yep, ditto for us. To remove her from our insurance, she would've had to turn in her license to the state . . . and that would cause problems in the future. Regaining a license after a period of non-licensure is expensive because the only people who do it are those who've lost their license for DUI (or similar). Testing again would be nothing, but the fees are significant. Likewise, it's difficult and expensive to get insurance after a break in service. AND she wouldn't be able to drive when she comes home, which would be a problem for summer jobs. PLUS she's only going to be car-less her freshman and sophomore years. When she's a junior and begins nursing clinicals, a car will be required. So IF we went to great lengths to get her off our insurance for four 14-week semesters, we would pay much more in the long run and inconvenience ourselves in the process.

I don't know that other states are the same, but I investigated this option thoroughly, and -- for us -- the system wins.

I don't expect that she will come home except for holiday weekends.

During the school year we saw our daughter about once a month, which pleased us and her. It was "just right".

As for making college "home", my daughter hasn't. She LOVES her school. Right now, while she's home for the summer, she occasionally mentions, "I miss so-and-so or such-and-such about school." I believe her entire wardrobe is school colors now. She fit in well, she had tons of friends and has kept in touch with them over the summer, she's said to me 100 times, "I'm so glad I chose my school", and she's excited to return in only a few weeks . . . but home remained home for her. She looked forward to trips home, and she was very ready for a break from school and from dorm life by the time May arrived (she was burned out after exams). Home is the ties she has with us, and I'm not a bit sorry for that!

 

[tajz90]

I don't expect that she will come home except for holiday weekends.

My son, after two years away, is now negotiating about heading home for the holidays. He never came home for small holidays, always keeping himself busy at school, but was required to come home for Thanksgiving & Christmas.
After his "negotiation", he is skipping Thanksgiving and coming home for a week for Christmas.

As for making college "home", my daughter hasn't. She LOVES her school. Right now, while she's home for the summer, she occasionally mentions, "I miss so-and-so or such-and-such about school." I believe her entire wardrobe is school colors now. She fit in well, she had tons of friends and has kept in touch with them over the summer, she's said to me 100 times, "I'm so glad I chose my school", and she's excited to return in only a few weeks . . . but home remained home for her. She looked forward to trips home, and she was very ready for a break from school and from dorm life by the time May arrived (she was burned out after exams). Home is the ties she has with us, and I'm not a bit sorry for that!

Our son loves his school and totally claims the area as home now. We are fine with it. His first year out, instead of coming home for summer, he got a job with the school as an orientation leader. This summer, he started work as an RA. He's happy. We're happy. And yes, his entire clothes collection seems to be school colors. It's weird how that happens He's not thrilled with calling the dorms home either and gets tired of them often. Looking forward to getting an apartment when he graduates next May and starts Grad school.

 

[Pigeon]

On the campus where I work, there really is no on-street parking anywhere nearby. The roads near the campus just don't allow parking, period. Our freshmen can't have cars on campus.

Most of the colleges dd is looking at are similar. I'm not unhappy about it. We're not buying her a car as it makes no sense to me to pay for it to mostly sit around and depreciate and money she earns with summer jobs is expected to mostly be a contribution to college expenses.

 

[disneysteve]

On the campus where I work, there really is no on-street parking anywhere nearby. The roads near the campus just don't allow parking, period. Our freshmen can't have cars on campus.

Most of the colleges dd is looking at are similar. I'm not unhappy about it. We're not buying her a car as it makes no sense to me to pay for it to mostly sit around and depreciate and money she earns with summer jobs is expected to mostly be a contribution to college expenses.

If our DD gets into her first choice, having a car wouldn't make any sense for her. The campus is very self-contained and not near any streets for parking. Very different than where I went. I was able to park right outside my dorm and very close to any of my classes or the campus center because city streets ran all along and through our campus. There are no city streets where she wants to go so all parking requires a permit.

 

[disykat]

It never even occurred to us to consider a car a part of the equation. We kept our kids on our insurance because we wanted them to be able to drive on all their vacations, etc.

My kids don't have cars at school unless they're doing an internship etc. (We have a 3rd family vehicle they can take temporarily in that case) They can find rides pretty easily by chipping in for gas or using public transportation. Even my son who will go to school in the podunks can take a shuttle van trip to the airport from school and then public transportation to where we can pick him up a half hour away.

My oldest has the car right now and hates having to pay parking and gas. It has also had some minor maintenance issues he had to deal with. (We paid for those, but he had to do the legwork.) He'll bring the car back and go back on the bus as soon as his internship is over!

 

[sk!mom]

Interesting thoughts on cars. As a lifelong Texan, it's hard to imagine getting around without a car on a daily basis.

We've traveled a lot and never get a car if we're in a major city with adequate public transportation (NYC, Paris, London, Vegas, Seattle) but Texas doesn't have many cities like that. I need to look into DD's college town and see what the parking and public transport situations are. It's a Texas school so I would imagine that they plan on most students having a car. She has a car as our hometown has very little public transit but we hadn't even considered the possibility of no car at college. No car could be a savings.

 

[disykat]

My older son is in the city so has public transit. My younger son will be in a small town. He'll have a bicycle and everything he needs on campus and there are a few things walking distance. For transportation home there are 3 options, him catching a ride with someone and giving them gas money, catching the airport van followed by public transit that brings him pretty close, or us going to get him.

It never even occurred to us TO have them have cars. I did everything without a car, including all my practicums and student teaching! I was 400 miles from home and found rides easily, I'm sure it's even easier with more kids having cars now. In my case, my town was a good stopping point for people going further so they had a free place to stay at the 400 mile mark. Everyone carpooled and my parents sometimes got two carloads, about 8 kids, sleeping on their floor.

 

[ceecee]

I always told our DD if she stays at our local college (which is really good) and commutes she gets a new car. She is now looking into the community college for an associate degree and stopping which we don't want. She got a really good ACT score and the scholarship $ offered is good. I suspect her boyfriend who thinks college is a big waste of $ is influencing her decisions now. Hopefully with her Sr year ahead of her she will break up with him and/or come to her senses. At this point, $ is the least of my worries, we always assumed and therefore she has a college fund, I never really thought of the $ we would save on the homefront just the extra room and board, but without a 30 minute hot shower every day and every light upstairs on all the time, it probably would save a lot. AND the grocery bill and eating out!

 

[Patience]

Our electric bill, gas bill and grocery spending went down a bit after our daughter went to college last year. I can't say that we really "saved" anything though because the cost of driving back and forth to campus, either her coming home or us going there for football games (2.5 hours away from home), probably negated the savings. As someone else said, the move in costs for freshman year are kind of high too so that also offsets the savings. Our eating out spending didn't go down much either because we always took our daughter (and usually one or two of her friends) out to dinner with us on football weekends. We are a bit unusual in that, however, because our daughter cheers for her university and my husband is an alumni there so we tailgate and attend all of the games. We get two free tickets per game as the parents of a cheerleader but we have to buy our younger daughter a ticket.

This fall, our daughter is moving into an apartment so I had to buy some furniture this summer (thank you Craigslist!), kitchen items, etc. but not everything because she has roommates who are also bringing things. We are renting a U-Haul to take her stuff back to school this year so there's that expense too. The apartment is more expensive than the dorm (and we are paying for it) but she will have a full kitchen and plans to mostly cook because she is tired of the dining hall on campus so her food bill should be less this year. Hopefully, her junior year will be less expensive because we won't have to buy anything new.

 

[imsayin]

It never even occurred to us to consider a car a part of the equation. We kept our kids on our insurance because we wanted them to be able to drive on all their vacations, etc.

DD does not have a car at school. We got a reduced rate on our insurance because she is away at school. She is still on our insurance, but it costs less since she is only home on school breaks.

 

[disykat]

DD does not have a car at school. We got a reduced rate on our insurance because she is away at school. She is still on our insurance, but it costs less since she is only home on school breaks.

Our kids are both too close for a discount. You have to be 100 miles as the crow flies. One child is only 75 miles away and the other will be 165, but too close as the crow flies. (just barely)

 

[tvguy]

DD is going to a state university, and I am paying her tuition on the installment plan, about $1,000 a month for 6 months a year.
DS is going to a private university that we had to borrow money to pay his tuition, that payment is $550 a month 12 months of the year.

As for reduced costs running our home with them gone, the $1550 a month outlay most months kind of overshadows any savings at home. Maybe $40 a month on food, and $10 on electricity.

 

[MrsPete]

We're not buying her a car as it makes no sense to me to pay for it to mostly sit around and depreciate and money she earns with summer jobs is expected to mostly be a contribution to college expenses.

Yes, we have exactly the same philosophy. She and her sister share an old, beat-up car that will get them around town when she's home. When she's a junior and begins nursing clinicals, then she will need something more reliable. She'll be driving up to an hour one way for experiences in different hospitals. Once it's a need, we'll be glad to fund it, but right now while she's still taking only on-campus classes, it's just an unnecessary expense.

She doesn't understand the concept of a car depreciating while it sits in the driveway, but her father and I do. When she graduates with a two-year old car that still has plenty of life to see her well into her first job, she will grasp the concept and will be very glad that we made this choice.