<p>The decisions have almost been finalized, and now I am thinking about next year with DS in his first year of college. Has anyone ever figured out how much of the household budget a teenage boy uses up? Will we actually be saving money (the endless showers, refrigerator raiding, electricity, petty cash, clothes and shoes for growing bodies, sports equipment, etc)</p>
<p>Has anyone experienced a significant decline in any of their household expenditures with the kid being away, or do the other kids in the household just “absorb” the savings. Kinda like waiting for the diapers to end, but no real savings realized afterward.</p>
<p>Alittle bit. Ever so slightly less groceries, less “clothes” expense but nothing that I would easily quantify or that makes an impact in a meaningful way especially in light of the tuition/food/board/books/fees etc.</p>
<p>Yes - but not enough to offset the enormous expense of college. Our food budget dropped - maybe about $100 per week. (He eats a lot and is a real meat eater - I don’t buy much red meat otherwise). Our water bill also dropped noticably. </p>
<p>I think my stress level dropped as well - care to put a price tag on that?</p>
<p>At the end of the day… I don’t care how much your kid eats, how many showers are taken a day, how often the lights are left on and he wore diapers until the day he left for college you won’t save a penny unless of course someone else is paying for his education. As far as the household items and all the money spent on the sports I am sure it drops, but as a whole what really counts is if there is anything left after it all get paid for.</p>
<p>I try to take Mr. Bennett’s perspective on Lydia, that when you count up what he spends on her now against the 100 he’ll have to give her, he’s scarcely 10 pounds to the worse. </p>
<p>(Not counting the cost of college, of course.)</p>
<p>Yes, we save a lot on groceries. When S is home I shop every 4 - 5 days and spend over $150. When he’s gone, I go every 7 - 8 days and spend maybe $120. </p>
<p>Also we take him off the car insurance when he’s away. Check with your insurance co and the rules in your state, but it saved me a couple hundred dollars his first year at college.</p>
<p>Obviously this is a drop in the bucket compared to college costs, but it’s a noticeable difference that I didn’t really expect.</p>
<p>Aside from the same household expenses listed by others, we save about $3500 per kid on music expenses like accompanists and private lessons. Pretty much all goes back to the kid though I guess.</p>
<p>Yes, lots. I once figured it out, but didn’t save the data… hmm. $1500 in personal expenses. That’s what the college budgets for personal expenses, and I figure it’s about right. DS pays this out of work/study and summer earnings. I pay room, board, tuition and fees and family-plan cell phone. Figure savings of 30 weeks of food x 70$ - $2100 a year, plus the $1500 in “personal expenses”, plus less gas and wear/tear/trips for the car, plus less hot water/electricity/ all the school stuff/e.c. costs… I figure I save at least $4000 a year. (Almost left out the biggie - DS away at college with no car. Geico insures him at no charge all year around, since he is more than 150 miles away. If he was at home, or had a car at school, that would be about $2000 a year in insurance, I believe. I guess you can look on that as savings also… ;)</p>
<p>Well, saved $$$$$$ on HS tuition, so we could turn it over for college tuition. After the merit award, the amounts were about the same, now that I think of it. For electricity, ti’s about 1/3 when he’s away as when he’s home (he runs the computers 24/7; we turn it off). For food, don’t really notice much difference, other than when we dine out it’s cheaper that there are only two of us than one.</p>
<p>I guess the food bills have gone down, but don’t notice it much one way or another.</p>
<p>For D, since we’re paying full-freight, notice more of a hit on tuition, even tho we no longer have to pay her HS tuition either, her college tuition is really up there. The electric bill is MUCH lower when both are away–with both D & S away, the electric bill is about 1/2 of what it is when they’re both home.</p>
<p>My bill for gas has gone down without having to shuttle the kids everywhere.</p>
<p>As everyone mentioned, paying room & board at college eats up these “savings.” ;)</p>
<p>The kids are now both earning their own spending money, so I don’t contribute toward that any more, which is also a savings.</p>
<p>Some on food, lots on private music lessons, surprisingly alot on water bill.</p>
<p>STILL not anywhere enough to make me feel comfortable about the enormous tuition and R&B bills over 4 years undergrad and now graduate school (R&B only luckily).</p>
<p>I spend less on food at home but since he lives off campus, we send him a monthly allowance for food and transportation so it evens out. </p>
<p>Nothing to do with being in college but our auto insurance took a nice drop when S2 turned nineteen with no traffic violations and was no longer considered an inexperienced driver.</p>
<p>Oh yea, we saved a bit when we took S off our insurance policy, after we paid to send him the car & he took over its maintenance and insurance! Hopefully, his rates will drop as he gets older & stays a safe driver. He is paying much more for himself than he did when he was covered by our policy.</p>
<p>We saved on the private music lessons. And he gave up his expensive sport when he moved away, so there is some savings there. Along with the gas to get to various lessons and tournaments. We buy much less food when he is gone, and no junk snacks.</p>
<p>But, even though I thought we would save on the water, he’s trying to prove me wrong. During spring break he sometimes took two showers a day.!</p>
<p>Same as everyone else - cello lessons, our electric bill plummeted because of less laundry and shorter showers, food bills were less, less gas in the car.</p>
<p>We spend more on eating out, travel to visit DD in college, etc. </p>
<p>I do notice when she is home on break, money flies out of my wallet!</p>
<p>Yes. We paid for child care and then tuition for 18 years. The merit award is such a blessing. The money spent for tuition and ECs is going into the accounts. We spend less on gas and food and incidentals. </p>
<p>I did splurge on a new rocker recliner, though. :)</p>
(Almost left out the biggie - DS away at college with no car. Geico insures him at no charge all year around, since he is more than 150 miles away. If he was at home, or had a car at school, that would be about $2000 a year in insurance, I believe. I guess you can look on that as savings also… ;)</p>