I think this is an interesting and underappreciated topic. Many people find the cost of college daunting, as well they should. But there can be hidden savings that partially offset the cost. I say this as the full-pay parent of two daughters who both opted for expensive LACs, to the tune of $50K to $60K per year. Maximizing savings opportunities at home became a non-trivial element in our strategy to finance these costs. I’d estimate these savings offset at least 15% of the cost of our daughters’ college education. For families paying less than the full sticker price for college, the percentage reduction is potentially greater, but YMMV; pre-college expenses vary widely by family.
Here are some of the big categories for us:
Water: As a family of 4, we used nearly 25% less water with 1 daughter at college, and nearly 50% less with 2 away at school. It’s not just long showers; it’s also fewer loads of laundry and fewer dishwasher runs.
Electricity & natural gas: Sharp reductions. Fewer lights and electronic gadgets in use, especially late at night, but for us the big savings came from not fully heating D1’s basement bedroom in the winter which was done by electric baseboard heating because the gas forced air in the rest of the house didn’t sufficiently warm that subterranean space. Also, half as many showers (and shorter ones at that), combined with fewer laundry and dishwasher runs, translate to less cost to heat water, resulting in substantial natural gas cost savings.
Groceries: Substantial savings, probably less than 25% per child but 15-20% per child wouldn’t be unrealistic. Both daughters love fresh fruit and we were in the habit of buying the best seasonal organic fruit; our fruit bill dropped by well over 50% with both daughters at school. Apart from that, fewer meal portions to prepare with roughly pro rata savings, and more meals from leftovers. Especially big savings came from the fact that D1 is a vegetarian, which meant we often needed to prepare parallel veg- and non-veg meals. D1’s being away at college eliminated that redundancy. To be clear, her meals at college cost at least as much as feeding her at home, but meals at college were part of her COA, thus on her budget, not ours, and our at-home savings substantially offset the cost of her at-college meals.
Restaurant bills: We were in the habit of eating out or ordering in as a foursome at least once or twice a week. This became less frequent with daughters away at school, but the big savings came from the fact that a restaurant meal for 2 costs much less than a restaurant meal for 3 or 4.
Entertainment: We’re a big theater family. As a family, we’d see typically 2 to 3 productions per month. Two tickets cost half as much as 4, and 1/3 less than 3.
Transportation: Our daughters didn’t have free use of our family cars, but they did use them, and they frequently relied on us to transport them. Our total mileage dropped by 10-15% with one daughter at college and a like amount with the second one at college. That translates to substantial savings in gas, oil changes, wear-and-tear and related maintenance costs, depreciation, as well as lower insurance rates with no teenagers covered as “primary” drivers and fewer miles driven per year. We were also able to cut back from 3 cars to 2, and we eliminated the cost of D2’s monthly transit pass.
ECs and course & program fees. This is a category that will vary widely by household. Our daughters didn’t have particularly expensive ECs, but there were always fees and expenses associated with the ECs they did have. We also homeschooled right through high school, but in our case that meant lots of courses and programs taught by others, with fees attached. These costs alone amounted to roughly $5 to $6K per daughter per annum, on average, or roughly 10% of the total COA of the colleges they ended up attending. For parents of students who attend expensive private high schools, the offsetting savings are potentially much greater; less so for the parents of students who attend public high schools, depending on the cost of ECs.
:((