Financial aid and a college food budget | 02.02.10

Posted in Financial Aid, Scholarships, Stafford Loan by Kristin Morris

FoodToday in our Financial Aid Forum I received the following question:

Next year as a sophomore our son will not have a meal plan at the college.
How much do you budget for apartment cooking?
How do you come up with a budget?

This is a great question that probably affects a lot of students. If you live on a college campus you probably have a meal plan which you pay for as part of your room and board fees. However, if you live off campus you are probably responsible for buying your own food and cooling for yourself. This could get expensive if not managed properly so it is important to setup a strict budget for yourself.

My suggestion would be to find out how much the meal plan at your school costs and use that as a guideline. Divide that number by the number of weeks you will be away at school and living on your own. That will give you your approximate weekly budget. Do a test shopping week to see if your weekly budget is too much or not enough and adjust as you see fit. Also, learn how to be a coupon clipper and stock up on items when they are on sale. Doing these two things can save you a ton of money in the long run.

The good thing is that both leftover Stafford loan funds,  private student loan funds and most scholarships can be used towards any education-related expense including food.

Does anyone else who has been there have other ideas on this topic?

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175 Responses to “Financial aid and a college food budget”

  1. Megan says on June 27, 2010 at 2:20 pm:

    Great advice! thankyou!

    Reply To This Comment
  2. hmw7 says on May 3, 2010 at 12:45 am:

    I am definitely going to need this. Thanks for posting this

    Reply To This Comment
  3. Eune says on March 2, 2010 at 1:19 am:

    this is very helpful

    Reply To This Comment
  4. shelby says on March 1, 2010 at 11:55 pm:

    well i havent yet been to college but i did research a meal plan…i didn't know tho that u needed to have one =/

    Reply To This Comment
  5. Justine says on February 28, 2010 at 8:14 pm:

    that is so helpful.

    Reply To This Comment
  6. courtney says on February 28, 2010 at 7:48 pm:

    nice piece of advice

    Reply To This Comment
  7. LeAnn says on February 28, 2010 at 4:10 am:

    Good Stuff

    Reply To This Comment
  8. Emma says on February 27, 2010 at 6:58 pm:

    It's a weekly/monthly budget that works best for me.

    Reply To This Comment
  9. Kristie says on February 27, 2010 at 2:14 pm:

    thanks for this article. Its very helpful

    Reply To This Comment
  10. Dulce says on February 27, 2010 at 5:28 am:

    This is helpful alot…..and im glad i read this, ill keep in it mind.

    Reply To This Comment
  11. Brittany says on February 26, 2010 at 4:45 pm:

    i LOVE food so this is extremely helpful!

    Reply To This Comment
  12. Mona says on February 26, 2010 at 6:36 am:

    before reading this passage i would have never thought about it! thanks for providing such helpful article to save money and learn to think about our budget! :)

    Reply To This Comment
  13. Jessica says on February 25, 2010 at 10:16 pm:

    This is very interesting, and extremely useful.

    Reply To This Comment
  14. aida says on February 25, 2010 at 4:36 am:

    This little passage was very helpful.

    Reply To This Comment
  15. Rochelle says on February 24, 2010 at 10:42 pm:

    Thanks for the info..it was interesting.

    Reply To This Comment
  16. diana says on February 24, 2010 at 8:32 pm:

    i would look at it weekly and multiply whatever money you spend to how much time youll be at school

    Reply To This Comment
  17. Keli says on February 24, 2010 at 6:31 am:

    Very interesting

    Reply To This Comment
  18. abbey says on February 23, 2010 at 9:57 pm:

    thanks

    Reply To This Comment
  19. Omar says on February 23, 2010 at 4:06 pm:

    Food is expensive :(

    Reply To This Comment
  20. Celena says on February 22, 2010 at 9:49 pm:

    I think its worth it… and very convenient:)

    Reply To This Comment
  21. emily says on February 22, 2010 at 5:48 pm:

    intresting

    Reply To This Comment
  22. Kaitlyn says on February 21, 2010 at 8:24 pm:

    Very interesting stuff, good idea's.=]

    Reply To This Comment
  23. Heather says on February 21, 2010 at 6:01 pm:

    I will have to do a test shop for sure

    Reply To This Comment
  24. Christina says on February 21, 2010 at 9:54 am:

    Thanks for the tips. Very important information in this article!

    Reply To This Comment
  25. Tiffany says on February 21, 2010 at 5:23 am:

    very helpful

    Reply To This Comment

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