Transitioning SD17 to College on a tight budget....

[magik]

Unless things have changed drastically in the last few years since I was in college, the only essentials, beyond computer, textbooks, and food, were 1 pair of sheets, 1 comforter, a few towels and wash cloths, cheap "shower" flip flops, whatever toiletries you normally use, quarters for laundry, and basic school supplies (pencils, pens, notebooks). A USB drive will come in handy if she has to print things out in the lab.

My parents did not provide me with any spending money. I had to work during the summers and the month of winter break in order to save up enough spending money to last me during the fall and spring semesters. This worked out just fine for me, and I never ran out. Granted, I didn't go to clubs or bars (not that buying drinks would factor in for a 17/18 year old freshman, but later on it might), and my spending money really only got used to go to the movies, pay my phone bill, occasional snack, toiletry, and/or clothes shopping, and occasional meals out with friends. I was on a meal plan, so my food was all covered by my parents.

 

[NotUrsula]

There is a major "gotcha" on the thrift-shop TV route: digital TV. Most of those thrift-shop TV's are analog, so they will only work if the student has cable or satellite service, or for watching DVD's or playing video games. You can no longer get broadcast signals on them.

I know of very few schools that include cable TV in rooms as a "free" (built into the rent) service; you normally have to pay extra for it. In the OP's case, I'm guessing that she won't finance that. Using a Slingbox might be an option, but a lot of campuses block them on their IT networks.

Really, these days on most campuses, your best bet for cheap TV is Hulu on your laptop.

PS: On the security question, call campus housing and ask if the desk drawers lock. When I was in school they did and the desk was bolted to the wall. That's where we kept our valuables. One of the habits that you really have to get into as soon as you get to college is carrying your keys at all times, as not many HS kids do that. Most everyone I knew kept them either on a lanyard, a wrist loop or a belt cable hooked to a belt loop.

One more point about dining plans: on a lot of campuses the dining halls are not open on weekends or on Friday nights, so you have to buy those meals out of pocket or cook them. Many campuses still ban cooking in dorm rooms, so you need to find out what the rules are and work with what is possible.

 

[monarchsfan16]

My last allowance was the week before I left for college. And I didn't grow up in the dark ages; I finished undergrad a year ago I was responsible for my spending money and that included books. Admittedly, my dad did start paying for books my senior year, but that was because he just about had a heart attack when he saw my sister's $800 textbook bill for ONE semester. He felt that was a bit much. And he felt he couldn't do for one and not the other (although mine were usually half that cost). I worked during school breaks for my spending money.

A checking account is a necessity for spending money, regardless of who it comes from. Teach her how to balance the checkbook before she leaves. I've used primarily plastic (debit my first year, credit ever since) since I started school, both for convenience and safety. I never had more than about $40 in cash sitting in my dorm room at any time. This was NOT reflective of my finances; it was my safety concern. But she needs to understand the whole overdraft thing if going with that strategy.

I didn't have a car on campus until junior year, so until then my parents were eating all costs associated with me going home. When I did have a car on campus, mom would usually give me some "gas money" whenever I went home. It was usually more than what it would have cost, but still, she was covering my (minimal) travel expenses. So this may be something to budget for. And as someone else mentioned, if her car won't be on campus, call the insurance company. The rates should drop.

My parents helped me with most of my dorm stuff, but there's no reason she can't buy that. You can find some great deals at Target and Kohls, and it doesn't have to cost much. Also talk with the roommate before buying anything big (tv, fridge, microwave).

 

[Cindy B]

As for student teaching, please remember that some schools require al staff to wear specific colors or uniforms similar to the students. That is what happened when I student taught.. I was placed in an inner city schol and while I wished to have a nice new wardrobe I was told before I started that I needed to adhere to the school uniform policy (yes this was a public school!)

 

[zachsmomie]

How about a laundry basket of some sort? I know alot of people like hampers but when I was in college, I preferred a regular rubbermaid basket. I could carry it to the laundry room, put the laundry in and then fold it and put it right back in the same basket afterward to take back to my room.

Also, check to see if the laundry room uses their ID cards or quarters. You might want to send a roll of quarters if the later is the case.

Also, in addition to the first aid kit, make sure they have any prescriptions or regular meds (like benadryll that they normally use). I also liked having a small rug on the floor for when I first got out of bed. If the room isn't carpeted, the floor can get cold.

 

[fenrir58]

Do you live near a Sam's Club or Costoc? Stocking up on necessities like paper towels and batteries and such in bulk really helps in the long run.

 

[PrincessBelle09]

I had one of those pop up laundry hampers, but I wish I had gotten a $5 laundry basket for after the clothes were clean. Also, a drying rack is really useful for more delicate items. The school dryers can kill clothes. This is what my mom got me: http://www.qvc.com/scripts/detail.dll?item=M7341 It's a bit pricey for budget, but a great space saver and worked really well for hanging up tons of clothes.

 

[MrsPete]

In my experience, unless you're going the sorority route, no one really cares what you wear. If I buy "in" stuff, it's because it's good quality. For example, I live in my North Face coat and Ugg boots during the winter, but I bought them because they are very good quality and super comfy.

Well, there's what's "in" and there's what's good quality -- and I've not found a great deal of corelation between the two. Sometimes good quality is also "in" (like North Face -- I don't have much of it, but what I have is great), and sometimes what's "in" is junk (like the trendy tees from zazzle.com that my daughters "have to have" and I refuse to buy; funny how after buying 1-2 each, they agreed with me that $27 for something that doesn't last long is a bad deal). I completely agree that buying quality is a better deal in the long run.

You should also consider the weight of the computer. Yes, a computer with a huge screen is lovely, but she'll have to carry it in her bag with the rest of her books and many lecture halls have minuscule table tops and a larger computer won't fit on them.

Do all students tend to carry laptops to class these days?

Related topic: Sentos (or similar products) are becoming a need for college these days. A friend of mine said that her son had to buy TWO different models for two different classes, and I thought that was awful. The school should decide, "We're a Sony school" or "We're a Mitsubishi school". Those things don't cost all the money in the world ($40-50, I think), but buying multiples would add up!

My school actually requires us to have professional clothing for teaching from first semester. We spend during freshman year roughly 2-3 hours a week observing in the classroom and my school is really strict that we have to be dressed up for those observations. So, that might be something you might want to check before she arrives (not knowing her major, this might not apply)!

Yeah, but pretty much any college student can pull together 1-2 professional outfits, and student teachers at least have the benefit of being able to buy used. Student nurses must buy THE SCRUBS from the college, but their benefit is that no one knows if they wear the same set day after day.

I wholeheartedly support the idea of students getting out to observe early in their college careers. I had a nursing-major roommate who reached her junior year never really having visited a hospital. She was EXCELLENT in her freshman-sophomore classes -- all the biology, chemistry, etc. But when she reached student nursing, it was a different story. She hated everything about the hospital. She ended up dropping out and coming back the next fall in a different major; it was an expensive and time-consuming mistake. How much better off would she have been if she'd been forced to observe 10-15 hours during her very first semester? She would've realized sooner that she was heading for disaster. Yes, I know, it would've been a good choice for her to volunteer at the hospital during high school, to have picked up a summer job there during college . . . and in retrospect, she wished she'd done that. But she was just so sure of what she wanted; she was really the last girl you would have expected to react that way.

 

[leebee]

If you are worried about overdrafts, get the student an ATM card instead of a debit card. Many of the banks in my area now have no-fee ATM cards; you can use them anywhere, at any ATM, and there are no fees! Debit cards didn't work at my house as DH would forget to record what he spent- SURPRISE! Not enough money! At least with an ATM card, you have the cash in your hand and can see it disappearing!

 

[Tistal]

I completely agree that buying quality is a better deal in the long run. Do all students tend to carry laptops to class these days?

A good many do. It's a good and bad thing. It's good because many people take better, more efficient notes on their computers, and they digitally have access to the things their instructors post online. Many instructors are moving towards putting notes and handouts online. However, it's a curse too because many students don't know how to manage their technological freedom with paying attention in class. If you've ever seen a teenager text through their entire dinner in a restaurant the same thing often happens in class with instant messenger.

 

[MrsPete]

A good many do. It's a good and bad thing. It's good because many people take better, more efficient notes on their computers, and they digitally have access to the things their instructors post online. Many instructors are moving towards putting notes and handouts online. However, it's a curse too because many students don't know how to manage their technological freedom with paying attention in class. If you've ever seen a teenager text through their entire dinner in a restaurant the same thing often happens in class with instant messenger.

Good to know. My high school sophomore daughter doesn't have a computer of her own (and she thinks herself quite put upon because she has to use one of the three family computers, which are shared between a whopping four family members), but we're planning to buy her one for Christmas when she's a senior. I wouldn't have considered size/weight an important consideration. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[pezheadmeg]

Have her invest in a good quality bag. I went through college always switching bags. The second time around, I bought a Nike back pack and a laptop sleeve, and my load was a lot easier to manage.

And for the keys and id, pack a hole puncher. For 3 years I kept my dorm id punched with a hole on my keys. I took it off and put it into a key ringed wallet--within a week I lost that id.

 

[Boston Tea Party]

I think that might consider a printer. Someone is always ahead of you in the lab...

 

[dnbent]

Another item that we ended up running out and buying when moving our DDs in was a fan. The dorms here in Wisconsin can be very hot at times.

 

[hffmnheidi]

Walmart has an HP printer/scanner/copier on sale for 59 dollars. You never know when you have to copy notes for a classmate or scan a document for a class.

I had to scan documents every week for an education class onto a school website/message board. It was actually part of the class requirement and who wants to slug through weather to the library if you are able to do it in your room and at all hours of the night.

There may be additional class reqirements of equipment that she has to have for classes, so set some money aside for those expenses. I once had to buy an 80 computer program because it was a class requirement and not mentioned until the first day of class after buying 500 worth of books for the semester.

 

[laurafergie]

One thing that was a surprise to us - I can't remember the name of them - but it was those electronic clicky things that the kids use in the larger classes to make choices for the professor - I hope I made sense.

Anyway, there was no info about the need to buy them and it did not help the budget the first month. So be prepared for a few hundred dollars for class related items that you did not know about, and your DD needs.

 

[Shmily1]

I have DS20 going into his 3rd year at college and DD19 who commutes. We got DD a computer from Walmart when they were on sale for $299. Its a great computer!! DS took his tv from home to college.

I would agree on the account for using outside of campus. DS has the card that can be used on campus and some places off campus, but that's not everywhere. I got him a checking account at the CU that I use and I can just call and transfer money to him whenever I need to. It came with the Visa debit card.

At the college DS goes to, you can't hang things on the walls so that's not an option there. I found all of his dorm bedding, towels, etc at JCPenney right before he started and got it all for like 40% to 50% off.

DS loves his pop up hamper that I got at Walmart (it has a flap at the top so the clothes don't fall out and smell up his room) and it came with a shower caddy too. It was $8.

All of his shampoo/ shaving cream/ toothpaste/ cleaning supply came from CVS and Waggs. I can use coupons and get stuff free/cheap there. Pens and pencils make great fillers

I got DS's printer from the clearance at Best Buy. It was $39 for a photo printer/scanner/copier/fax.

DS doesn't work but he only spends about $50 every two weeks.

 

[MrsPete]

Walmart has an HP printer/scanner/copier on sale for 59 dollars. You never know when you have to copy notes for a classmate or scan a document for a class.

Check the cost of the ink replacements. HPs are usually pretty good, but all ink is outrageous.

One thing that was a surprise to us - I can't remember the name of them - but it was those electronic clicky things that the kids use in the larger classes to make choices for the professor - I hope I made sense.

That's a Senteo Smart Response unit.

 

[powellrj]

One thing we found out second semester last year (too late after we spent $900 on books the first semester) was that many teachers will let you buy chapters of books on-line instead of the whole book. It was a huge budget saver for us.

Kids are resourceful, our DS wanted to join a fraturnity and we didn't want to spend the money so he started selling plasma. While I wasn't thrilled, he was able to make extra money.

DS needed a more polished and professional wardrobe for fraturnity events so I started shopping at Goodwills and have found lots of nice suits and dress clothes such as a long navy wool coat, a trench coat and lots of nice dress shirts.

We have found that he can live much cheaper off campus than on. Just the meal plan alone is a huge budget buster. Room and board is more than tuition at his school. I fix small servings of our meals and freeze them for him so he has a selection of frozen entrees and he just adds a starch and a vegetable. He enjoys cooking so its no big deal for him to make quick meals for not very much money.

 

[Floridagal23]

Make sure to budget for:
1. Laptop lock
2. Insurance (like renter's insurance)