<p>My D will be living off-campus next year. This is a first for us, and I’m looking for advice as to how much money per month is likely to be needed for food for one girl. And anything else you think might be helpful for us to know. Thanks!</p>
<p>What state? </p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, $200/month is a pretty common budget for food around these parts (urban Michigan). I think that’s a bit high, but I eat pretty cheaply and I don’t know how much meat costs. It’s much cheaper if you’re a vegetarian. But I know that food prices are much higher in certain parts of the country. </p>
<p>A tip that we’ve learned is that we often had fruits and veggies that we buy that go bad if we’re neglecting them so at the end of most weeks, we’ll get together with friends and have something like a potluck. Less food waste that way. Not for everyone, but it’s something that we’ve found fun and beneficial.</p>
<p>Good luck to her :)</p>
<p>We gave $50 a week, but that was for food, toiletries, paper goods too. Our kids both lived in pricey urban areas and never had a problem with this budget. We did help them stock up on staples when they moved into their apartments (things like olive oil, spices, sugar, soaps/detergents, napkins and paper towels and toilet paper). And they both often received gift cards for their local grocery stores for gifts.</p>
<p>She’s in Delaware. My plan was to stock up on paper goods, non-perishables and toiletries when we move her in, but then we have to give her money regularly. $200 per month sounds reasonable.</p>
<p>Fifty a week? That’s seven a day and about 2.80ish per meal. Okay…if you want her to eat healthy I’d up the budget.</p>
<p>Check out the commuter meal plans. If your student is likely to eat meals on campus a couple times a week, that could be a backup for days when cooking doesn’t sound like fun. My daughter’s U offers meal plans that don’t expire for as long as the student is there which means the students can have a significant amount of time to use up all those meals.</p>
<p>Its harder when you are making meals on your own as opposed with combining resources with roommates.
My D belongs to a CSA with two others, and buys toiletries & cleaning products as well as groceries with her “allowance”. But just a month of medication is about $150. ( after insurance)</p>
<p>We give D3 $200 a month plus enough “bucks” to cover cafeteria meals for lunch and coffee several times a week. She also “shops” our pantry when she comes home, and I seem to make sure there are things she’d like to take back to her apartment. She’s a vegetarian, so there’s no meat, though.</p>
<p>ek is right. I’ve actually found it cheaper to get carry out many times than eat every meal home cooked. So I usually buy breakfast and lunch food for cheap and snacks but I often, very often, get carry out dinners now. How sad is that?</p>
<p>I’d say that is too low by a third. Ten dollars a day amounts to a 2-3-5 dollars plan. Unless you can arrange for 3-4 of meals at the school, such a budget will have to include mostly unhealthy food. </p>
<p>You might decide to shop for yourself and buy 100 dollars of food (for two weeks) and see if that would work. Of course, not everyone has a huge appetite.</p>
<p>I went on an online grocer to see how much it would cost for D1 to get healthy food for a week, and it was more than $50/week. We decided to give her what it would cost to have a full meal plan at school.</p>
<p>I don’t know why everyone breaks it down to how much it costs per meal. That doesn’t make any sense. </p>
<p>When you eat a serving of noodles at a meal, you’ll only eat about $.25-.50 worth of noodles. When you have a bowl of cereal, it’s about the same price. Bread can easily be only pennies. That doesn’t mean they’re not good meals.</p>
<p>I had a quick look at my d’s debit card purchases - she spends $30 to $60 per week at Kroger. The amount varies depending on how many times she eats out. I also stock her up with soups, chilli, frozen “left overs” etc when she comes home. I would budget nearer $250.</p>
<p>I live on my own, and cook pretty much every meal for myself. I take a lunch with me to uni, and cook in the evenings. I spend approximately $50 a week. I frequently make meals with about four servings, and then freeze three of them. That bring down prices pretty handily.</p>
<p>However, I am located in the UK. I think food prices are fairly similar to that of a large city in the US, though.</p>
<p>It varies a lot - </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Will they prepare most of their meals or will they buy meals at a restaurant? Huge difference in cost here.</p></li>
<li><p>If they prepare their own meals will they prepare it from scratch or will they mostly reheat already prepared food like frozen dinners and other packaged food from a store? Preparing from scratch s/b cheaper as long as they don’t have a lot of waste. Doing what ‘Spriteling’ does and preparing multiple servings and freezing them for later is a great idea since it makes it easier to prepare and is less expensive - i.e. cook chili one time and eat it for at least 5 meals with 4 of them being just microwaving the frozen portion on the quick. She’ll want a half dozen or so of those ziploc plastic leftover containers she can freeze the extra portions in.</p></li>
<li><p>Are they vegetarian? That can be cheaper.</p></li>
<li><p>Are they a big eater or light eater? </p></li>
<li><p>Is there a real grocery store they can go to or will they hit a neighborhood market that’s likely more expensive?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Realistically most will eat at least some meals at restaurants, for example between classes on campus, and sometimes on weekends. Every restaurant meal adds a lot of cost.</p>
<p>Mine do just fine on about $200 a month, but they know how to cook/bake/shop/make meals. I believe that they pooled some money with roommies and I know when they made dinner they made for all and took turns. Both were working in restaurants during college so I’m assuming that came into play also.</p>
<p>Mine is not a big eater at all, but she does cook. She took cooking classes for years and is pretty serious about healthy, fresh foods. I’ve never had occasion to shop or cook just for one, so I’m a bit flummoxed.</p>
<p>zoose, she might look in to getting involved in a food co-op. I have friends involved in them and they do save you money and have a lot of other perks. I don’t eat enough fresh fruits and veggies to make it worth it, but it sounds perfect for your D.</p>
<p>EK is right.</p>
<p>When shopping for one person only there will be frequent unintended waste. It’s hard to shop for one person in an economical fashion unless you’re a very simple eater and don’t mind eating the same thing frequently. </p>
<p>If your D is home this summer, you might have her figure out what she’ll be eating and how to do it in the most budget-wise fashion. </p>
<p>Sometimes the order of foods for a week’s menu can make a big difference.</p>
<p>Will she be living alone?</p>
<p>Younger d’s school did require a minimal commuter meal plan that she had to use when she lived off campus and she used that lunch on campus or late breakfast and coffee. She cooked with roommates and boyfriend for dinner. Can’t remember exactly how much money we gave her for food but did stock up and still do for d’s with paper goods and cleaning supplies from Costco. When they are home and heading back to their apartments, I always have them look to see what they might need from the house or what I can pick-up from Trader Joe’s.</p>