What is a realistic budget for spending money for a child attending college in Manhattan? Assuming his breakfast and dinner are covered, and he but we need a realistic budget for spending lunch and general spending money. Any insight appreciated.
It’s been several years so I don’t remember the dollar amount, but we gave D about the same as we would have at any other school. One thing we did with both of our kids was start on the lower end as we could always increase the amount, but cutting would have been difficult.
Why wouldn’t lunch be covered? Is that the normal meal plan (lunch is on your own)?
30 days unlimited metro card is $116. Lunch would run about $10, unless your kid is willing to make his own lunch.
After that it is up to you how much you are willing to fund your kid’s fun. D2 is living at home (NYC) doing internship. She doesn’t pay for food or rent. By looking at her checking acct, I think she spends 500-800 a month. Going out at night is expensive. There are happy hours, but they don’t usually extend to late evenings. I think you can get on Yelp to look at some menus for food and drinks to get a sense of how much things cost. I think how much you want to fund it is between you and your kid.
Unless they are traveling by subway to and from classes daily, they don’t need a monthly metro card. Figure on $100 a week for additional meals and snacks. Figure on another $40 for entertainment/ transportation each week. Throw in another $50 a month for incidentals. Which brings you to approximately $600 to $700 per month. What school are they attending?
I don’t think $40 for entertainment and transportation will be enough. Living in NYC as a student, having an unlimited metro card is the way to go, unless you want to pay for uber and taxi. My kid’s $500-800 is for entertainment and incidentals (shampoo, makeup, etc). She brings lunch to work (ordered from grocery store) and she does not go out to eat a lot.
D never had a metro card as a student. She generally walked. Unless a student is 21 the expensive clubs/nightlife is off limits. Most of her social life was centered around her school.
That depends upon whether they live on campus within walking distance of campus.
One local college (in NYC) houses students in an apartment building in my neighborhood. The kids HAVE to use their metrocards to get to class. So, it makes sense for them to get a monthly pass. If you’re attending Barnard, Columbia, Fordham or Manhattan College and live on campus, it probably wouldn’t, except if you have an internship or part-time job. You can figure it out. Monthly pass is $116; single trip is $2.75 with slight discount if you put multiple rides on your card at the same time.
While I can see an intern going to “happy hours,” first year college students often don’t. Encouraging them to do so by funding them is IMO insanity. Even if they do drink, most will do it in dorm rooms not bars.
I live in NYC and think @uskoolfish 's proposed budget is a generous one. I personally think $500 a month would be sufficient if mom and dad give them a running start at the beginning of the year with toiletries laundry supplies,snacks, prescriptions, and (if female) make-up and cover the cost of books.
A lot of this is dependent upon what “crowd” your kid ends up hanging out with. There are certainly groups of private school kids who spend generously. However, at every college there are also kids on heavy financial aid and they’ll be spending less than $100 a week.
Thanks for the replies. He’s going to City College and has an apartment and we’ve agreed to cover groceries which is why I say breakfast and dinner are covered. He’s a bus ride to campus so I assume a monthly metro card. Its the day to day living Im trying to figure out.
Won’t there be leftovers from dinner that he can make into lunches? That’s what my kids did when they lived off campus. That way…less waste.
Or if you are buying groceries…include enough for lunch food too. It will be less expensive than eating out everyday.
@ellenesk You may already know about this, but just in case.
http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/dining/upload/2014-Brochure-update-08052014-CCNY-FLYER-UPDATED.pdf
You can fund him with a certain amount of $. I’d encourage this for lunch at the beginning of the year as a way to meet other students. You can get an idea of the actual cost of eating lunch here
I’m not sure what life is like at City College, but at many colleges, there are often evening events. A student who wants to attend one might not have time to go home for dinner and come back, and that could mean needing to eat dinner on campus.
It might make sense to be flexible about the food budget during the first semester but ask the student to keep track of how the food money is spent-- whether it’s on groceries or meals on campus or something else. This would allow for better planning for future semesters.
$116/month unlimited Metrocard
$20/day walking-around money (that includes lunch)
$150/month entertainment
This is assuming that “groceries,” which you are covering separately, includes other things you can buy at the supermarket like paper towels, cleaning supplies, light bulbs, toothpaste, etc. What about haircuts?