<p>Your summer income is yours; they just factor it into their calculations of what you have available to pay. It’s not like they garnish your paychecks or something.</p>
<p>The total cost of attendance is an estimate. You will pay HMC for your tuition, room and board, and books and fees. The other numbers they list are just estimates for your budget consideration (actually, the cost of books is estimated too – get chummy with a rising soph and you may not have to buy many books next year ;)). You may or may not actually spend that much on those items (e.g., travel). That’s up to you, and it’s not done through HMC. If you don’t have a checking or savings account now, you will want to set one up before you leave home.</p>
<p>There are many jobs on campus that don’t require work-study eligibility. You’ll receive mail about some of them. Also, your room and board includes a certain number of “flex dollars” that you can spend on those snacks and toiletries (though toiletries are cheaper to bring with you than to buy there). If you get the full meal plan (16/16), you may have some difficulty spending all your flex dollars every week (they expire at the end of each week). My son hardly spends anything at all on campus, except when there’s a charity fundraiser or something like that. And he usually has to “flex out” on the weekends.</p>
<p>As to the mechanics of “how to pay for little stuff,” google “Claremont cash” for one option. Also, there are Chase and Wells Fargo ATMs in Claremont Village, and I think there’s an ATM of some other bank on campus.</p>
<p>If you don’t set up a Claremont Cash account, you may want to start saving quarters now for the laundry. :)</p>