<p>How much are you giving your kids, who aren’t in dorm housing to cover food expenses?</p>
<p>I’m not a parent, but my parents gave me $200 per month during one semester when I was unemployed. This amount was alright but not very comfortable where I lived. </p>
<p>I think $300 a month would be sufficient for one person eating healthily (i.e. no junk food), as well as maybe eating out once or twice a month. It depends on where you live.</p>
<p>You don’t wanna know- her rent plus utilities is $470. Her food money doesn’t always get spent on food if you know what I mean
She spends some on medication/health care & some on books, but there are also charges for urban outfitters and the local brew pub.</p>
<p>So why can’t she drink PBR like everyone else?</p>
<p>This is what I did that made my life simple. I looked up what a meal plan cost at their respective schools (one was on semesters, one on quarters, but the annual cost was about the same). I put this amount of money in their account at the beginning of each quarter/semester. It was expected that this money covered food, personal care items, and school supplies (not books). It was up to them if they wanted to splurge on food and other items or be frugal and make money off the deal. I think that they both made money, which was fine with me, because I didn’t want to micromanage or scrutinize their spending.</p>
<p>My D gets $300 per month for food, etc. She also has a job so I really have no idea how much she actually spends. But she hasn’t complained.</p>
<p>I gave my kids -0-. I paid the bill that came from the bursar; they were responsible for everything else. The food plan was mandatory for the first year at each of their colleges, so that was include in year 1, but not in subsequent years. When the food plan was mandatory, I paid for the minimum (least expensive) plan offered if given a choice.</p>
<p>When our kids lived off campus we gave them about $50 a week for food. We talked it over first and that seemed like a reasonable amount to all of us. My kids are into being thrifty and not big eaters. I also gave my son a Sam’s club membership and a Costco one for my daughter.</p>
<p>Depends on how much food is planned to be delivered at student’s apartment by the parents. Mrs. Turbo is planning on a Berlin Air Lift to deliver frozen cooked home meals to DD1; we’re also planning on monthly visits (3 hours away) with stops to Costco. With these two DD1 will probably need just milk, coffee cream, fresh vegetables, and the like.</p>
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<p>This is what we did. It was a great lesson in how to budget, in my opinion. If I was feeling generous on occasion, I would send a gift card to Whole Foods or a Groupon to a restaurant for an occasion.</p>
<p>It is definitely a good idea to talk about budgets with your kid before they move into an apartment. Once my D sat down and listed her expenses (rent incl. electric, cable, internet, phone, food, subway pass, etc) she was surprised. We gave her a lump sum every month that covered rent and the $300 for food. She had to learn how to manage money so that she didn’t end the month eating rice and beans.</p>
<p>$300 a month? Oh wow, you could cut that in half if you shopped with sales and didn’t eat a lot of processed junk.</p>
<p>My d spends about that much.but she doesn’t have a car so she shops within bike distance, she also has dietary needs which makes food a little more expensive.</p>
<p>$300 is very generous, IMO. S2 has a credit card and we have not given him a spending limit, just asked him to be careful. Rarely does he exceed $300 / month for groceries and eating out. And when he eats out, he usually pays for his friends on the credit card and they pay him cash, so that’s how he gets his spending money.</p>
<p>I think mine spends so much because she is a bit of a gourmet.
That and she eats lunches on campus oftentimes.
[USDA</a> Food Plans: Cost of Food Cost of Food at Home](<a href=“http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodCost-Home.htm]USDA”>http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodCost-Home.htm)</p>
<p>$300/month. No meal plan. Publix just on the edge of campus & D has no car. </p>
<p>Much like EmeraldKitty’s D, my D is a bit of a gourmet & likes lots of fresh fruits & veggies. Given the family tendencies towards diabetes, I’d rather have her eating that rather than ramen. And my food bill the past week since she’s been home has bumped up quite a bit due to the extras from the produce & dairy aisles.</p>
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<p>Will you and Mrs. Turbo please adopt me please?</p>
<p>^^^ If you’ve ever seen the UCLA clip where Asian parents come to campus on weekends to do laundry for their kids and deliver them fresh casseroles of food… That’s us except DD1 is 1/2 Asian :). </p>
<p>Missing home cooked meals was by far the biggest gripe DD1 had regarding college food. As good as the food in her college is - on campus and off - she was raised on pretty good 100% home cooked food and making the switch was not easy.</p>
<p>My parents give me 0. I wouldn’t expect my parents to pay my food, I’m a grown woman lol. I spend about $200 between my boyfriend and me.</p>
<p>I’m sure S2 spends $300/month on food. He’s a big guy living with other big guys who like to grill a lot…which means a lot of beef and chicken plus sides. When not grilling,they’re grabbing fast food…no salad eaters in their house:) They do look for cheap specials when eating out. One restaurant in their college town has $1 tacos every Tues. night so always hit that deal up.</p>
<p>Well, I can cover a family of 4 on $400/month, so $300/month for just one person seems really excessive. </p>
<p>I like the idea of basing $ on a percentage of what a meal plan would cost, assuming the idea behind off campus living is to save money.</p>