college food budget
January 10, 2020 2:17 AM Subscribe
How did you determine a food budget for your college student if they were not on a full-on meal plan?
If your college student lived off-campus, was not on a meal plan or was on a partial meal plan (say for lunch only) AND you are not requiring them to pay for their own food, how did you figure out the most appropriate weekly or monthly dollar amount for their food?
As most parents know, a student these days can decide to order dinner delivered in from a restaurant every night for $40. Mine will do that if things are left open.
On the other hand I don't expect them to eat only dollar store ramen every day.
I also know they're not really going to cook every day. But I want them to realize they have to cook simple, nutritious, economic things most of the time.
And to learn that if they order in one night, they might have to eat cheap at home the next night to stay in budget.
For answers here, I am not looking for a dollar amount, since areas of the country and people's nutritional needs differ. Instead I am interested in how you and your student determined a food budget.
If your college student lived off-campus, was not on a meal plan or was on a partial meal plan (say for lunch only) AND you are not requiring them to pay for their own food, how did you figure out the most appropriate weekly or monthly dollar amount for their food?
As most parents know, a student these days can decide to order dinner delivered in from a restaurant every night for $40. Mine will do that if things are left open.
On the other hand I don't expect them to eat only dollar store ramen every day.
I also know they're not really going to cook every day. But I want them to realize they have to cook simple, nutritious, economic things most of the time.
And to learn that if they order in one night, they might have to eat cheap at home the next night to stay in budget.
For answers here, I am not looking for a dollar amount, since areas of the country and people's nutritional needs differ. Instead I am interested in how you and your student determined a food budget.
I too believe I used the number in the university's sample budget (which is what gets used for financial aid calculations, if I recall correctly). There were separate budgets for living on- and off-campus. I want to say it was per semester or per year and from that I worked out a monthly budget (my dad sent me money each month). Keep in mind that if some of their food budget will come from financial aid, that money may not be in theirs hands for the first few weeks of the semester.
posted by hoyland at 3:18 AM on January 10, 2020
posted by hoyland at 3:18 AM on January 10, 2020
My parents used some of the information my college gave alongside meal plan information and some relatively early online guides, if I recall correctly. I went to school in Boston so there was already a lot of data about that kind of thing available. A mealplan was mandatory for freshman year so they used the budget from that with some adjustments when I moved off campus.
But the other amazing thing they did was that my mom typed up a recipe book for me! She has always been a great cook and we regularly sat down to a home cooked meal together when I was growing up, so she had a bunch of go-to weeknight things and ones that were definitely my favorites, as well as important holiday stuff that I might miss when living away from home for the first time (we're Jewish so a bunch of holidays happen when I couldn't easily take time off.) The summer before I left for school she sat down and typed up tons of recipes, printed them out and slid them into page protectors and gave me a binder full of them.
A lot of them she'd never actually written down before, so they're really short and simple, and a lot of them she tweaked so it would be easier for me to cook a smaller amount than for a whole family. There's stuff in there like "how to cook rice" and "baked chicken parts" and she put in a bunch of blank page protectors so I could put in new recipes as I found them. This cookbook is probably the best gift I've ever received and it absolutely encouraged and motivated me to cook my own food a whole lot more than I otherwise would have in my horrible rinkydink first apartments. All the documents have subsequently been uploaded to a communal gdocs folder (called "Mom's Downhome Cookin' Mm-mm Good") and seventeen years later we still both use them.
I know that's kind of coming at your question orthogonally but if your intention is to motivate your kid to cook simple meals on their own you can help them by ensuring they have some steps to follow for the cooking part, from someone who can tailor those steps specifically to them. And, if you figure out a set of reliable meals together, you can budget that out in your area and use that as a guide, too.
posted by Mizu at 3:50 AM on January 10, 2020 [18 favorites]
But the other amazing thing they did was that my mom typed up a recipe book for me! She has always been a great cook and we regularly sat down to a home cooked meal together when I was growing up, so she had a bunch of go-to weeknight things and ones that were definitely my favorites, as well as important holiday stuff that I might miss when living away from home for the first time (we're Jewish so a bunch of holidays happen when I couldn't easily take time off.) The summer before I left for school she sat down and typed up tons of recipes, printed them out and slid them into page protectors and gave me a binder full of them.
A lot of them she'd never actually written down before, so they're really short and simple, and a lot of them she tweaked so it would be easier for me to cook a smaller amount than for a whole family. There's stuff in there like "how to cook rice" and "baked chicken parts" and she put in a bunch of blank page protectors so I could put in new recipes as I found them. This cookbook is probably the best gift I've ever received and it absolutely encouraged and motivated me to cook my own food a whole lot more than I otherwise would have in my horrible rinkydink first apartments. All the documents have subsequently been uploaded to a communal gdocs folder (called "Mom's Downhome Cookin' Mm-mm Good") and seventeen years later we still both use them.
I know that's kind of coming at your question orthogonally but if your intention is to motivate your kid to cook simple meals on their own you can help them by ensuring they have some steps to follow for the cooking part, from someone who can tailor those steps specifically to them. And, if you figure out a set of reliable meals together, you can budget that out in your area and use that as a guide, too.
posted by Mizu at 3:50 AM on January 10, 2020 [18 favorites]
How much do you, as a family, spend on groceries per week? Divide by the number of people in the family, then adjust for particular nutritional needs (e.g. if Student is celiac, their proportion of the family food budget is going to be a little higher because gluten-free items tend to be a little pricier).
Other variables to consider:
-- Do they know how to cook simple, nutritious things? (Budget Bytes is a good resource for this; she also has a whole section on cooking ahead and meal planning)
-- Do they know how to shop appropriately for perishables for one?
-- Will they be living with roommates? (limited fridge space, considerate cooking/cleaning, etc)
-- Is there an expectation that any unused meal money rolls over into fun money? (I can definitely see my student self subsisting on dollar store ramen in order to buy theater tickets, for instance. Not that I actually did that. Ahem.)
posted by basalganglia at 4:06 AM on January 10, 2020
Other variables to consider:
-- Do they know how to cook simple, nutritious things? (Budget Bytes is a good resource for this; she also has a whole section on cooking ahead and meal planning)
-- Do they know how to shop appropriately for perishables for one?
-- Will they be living with roommates? (limited fridge space, considerate cooking/cleaning, etc)
-- Is there an expectation that any unused meal money rolls over into fun money? (I can definitely see my student self subsisting on dollar store ramen in order to buy theater tickets, for instance. Not that I actually did that. Ahem.)
posted by basalganglia at 4:06 AM on January 10, 2020
I had to determine my own food budget as I was working from savings that had to last me four years, plus anything I earned. It was a shock because I went from a large city to a location with one grocery store. So my first recommendation would be that you assign the first draft to your student and see how they approach it.
In that era there weren’t online flyer/shopping so I did a dry run locally and then tweaked my budget. But I actually made a four-week meal plan, went to the store, and priced it out. I forgot, but share with you now, to include soap/feminine products/etc. Then I came up with a weekly average. You can’t necessarily just divide your current budget (although it’s not a bad start) because there are economies of scale and also there will be start up costs for things like soy sauce, spices, etc.
Then I did exactly as noted above and lived on marked down stuff, ramen, oatmeal, peanut butter, and leftovers from my job to save money, along with a weekly chip trip run.
So I’d start with a bit of online research - fill a cart based on a plan and see how that is.
posted by warriorqueen at 4:17 AM on January 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
In that era there weren’t online flyer/shopping so I did a dry run locally and then tweaked my budget. But I actually made a four-week meal plan, went to the store, and priced it out. I forgot, but share with you now, to include soap/feminine products/etc. Then I came up with a weekly average. You can’t necessarily just divide your current budget (although it’s not a bad start) because there are economies of scale and also there will be start up costs for things like soy sauce, spices, etc.
Then I did exactly as noted above and lived on marked down stuff, ramen, oatmeal, peanut butter, and leftovers from my job to save money, along with a weekly chip trip run.
So I’d start with a bit of online research - fill a cart based on a plan and see how that is.
posted by warriorqueen at 4:17 AM on January 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
So much depends on exactly where your student ends up, what the kitchen there is like and what the prices and produce at the stores are that they can conveniently reach. I wouldn't figure out a final budget until I know those things. If the student cannot walk to the store and has to take public transit then they will need to spend valuable executive functioning time on the logistics of having food in the house before they need it, and that can come out of the time and ability they could be using to ensure they don't miss classes.
If they have a car available it matters how comfortable they are driving in the area to get to stores. A car may not necessarily open up their options in a good way.
If they spend the summer before uni on a tight food budget doing planning, shopping and cooking it would be good practice for them. This way you can make sure they have learned how to cook. It will also allow you to test a trial budget although the prices and kitchen may not be comparable to what they encounter at school.
If your student screws up on their budget you can always get Wal-Mart to deliver a hamper of cheap groceries chosen and paid for by you. If you do that you don't have to provide them with as much leeway in the budget. But this may be far too over controlling for you. Wal-Mart allows you to save the grocery shopping basket that you order, so you can simply send them the same basic order each time.
posted by Jane the Brown at 4:17 AM on January 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
If they have a car available it matters how comfortable they are driving in the area to get to stores. A car may not necessarily open up their options in a good way.
If they spend the summer before uni on a tight food budget doing planning, shopping and cooking it would be good practice for them. This way you can make sure they have learned how to cook. It will also allow you to test a trial budget although the prices and kitchen may not be comparable to what they encounter at school.
If your student screws up on their budget you can always get Wal-Mart to deliver a hamper of cheap groceries chosen and paid for by you. If you do that you don't have to provide them with as much leeway in the budget. But this may be far too over controlling for you. Wal-Mart allows you to save the grocery shopping basket that you order, so you can simply send them the same basic order each time.
posted by Jane the Brown at 4:17 AM on January 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
Could your college student figure this out, and explain their reasoning to you, with numbers? That seems like a valuable life skill too.
posted by amtho at 4:52 AM on January 10, 2020 [22 favorites]
posted by amtho at 4:52 AM on January 10, 2020 [22 favorites]
I don't have this situation, but a major decision that has improved our food budgeting is to consider either dining out or ordering in as discretionary entertainment/luxury costs, not food costs. Because that's really what dining out and ordering in are - luxuries, purchased at many times the expense of making something similar for yourself.
If you figure out what it would cost to eat a reasonably healthy, easy to prepare and pleasant diet at home, and call that the "food" budget, then the money for "I'm too tired, let's order in" or "let's go out for nachos" or whatever is not part of that budget, and you can negotiate separately about how many times a week or month to budget for that.
posted by Miko at 5:36 AM on January 10, 2020 [7 favorites]
If you figure out what it would cost to eat a reasonably healthy, easy to prepare and pleasant diet at home, and call that the "food" budget, then the money for "I'm too tired, let's order in" or "let's go out for nachos" or whatever is not part of that budget, and you can negotiate separately about how many times a week or month to budget for that.
posted by Miko at 5:36 AM on January 10, 2020 [7 favorites]
One thing to be cautious of is balancing your desire to teach your college student about responsible budgeting/healthy eating (which are SUPER important life skills!) with the social aspect of eating out in college. There's a lot of bonding that happens over ordering food as a group or deciding to stay in the city and get some cheap Thai food or whatever...I like Miko's idea of making this a separate "entertainment" budget, and maybe you kick in some small-ish amount and if the student decides they'd like more they can either get some supplemental income or move to REALLY cheap eats from their grocery budget?
Of course it's all part of the same skillset, balancing financial limits with desires, but I'd be wary of making the budget too tight unless that's really unavoidable on your end. And talking about this social aspect explicitly with your student, like saying "Hey, maybe you'd want to skip the $30 Grubhub order if you're just eating by yourself, in case Friday rolls around and your friends want to place a group order for pizza?"
posted by Bebo at 5:57 AM on January 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
Of course it's all part of the same skillset, balancing financial limits with desires, but I'd be wary of making the budget too tight unless that's really unavoidable on your end. And talking about this social aspect explicitly with your student, like saying "Hey, maybe you'd want to skip the $30 Grubhub order if you're just eating by yourself, in case Friday rolls around and your friends want to place a group order for pizza?"
posted by Bebo at 5:57 AM on January 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
Cooking is a time expense.
posted by amtho at 6:06 AM on January 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by amtho at 6:06 AM on January 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
My parents did this by giving me a lump sum that they trusted me to divide between food, entertainment, clothing, travel, and other miscellaneous expenses. It's a good way to start making grown-up decisions about your priorities, in my opinion. I'm glad they didn't micromanage more than that - sure, I sometimes overspent in one category and had to cut back in another, but that was an important lesson to learn.
posted by mosst at 6:08 AM on January 10, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by mosst at 6:08 AM on January 10, 2020 [9 favorites]
Although it's sometimes faster to cook than to go through the whole rigamarole of going to a restaurant, it's often really fast to grab a burrito at the student union -- it's important to be specific about things.
Just reheating frozen meals gives a very different price/nutrition profile than cooking a meal with side dishes, or a balanced soup.
posted by amtho at 6:20 AM on January 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Just reheating frozen meals gives a very different price/nutrition profile than cooking a meal with side dishes, or a balanced soup.
posted by amtho at 6:20 AM on January 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Assuming it's something you can afford, you could give them either the cost of the full meal plan or the cost of the difference between their partial meal plan and the full meal plan. You want not to have to cook? Fine, just buy the meal plan with that. It might be inconvenient to get to and from the dining hall, but there ya go. Wanna save some money to spend on Whatever? Cook, me bucko.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:24 AM on January 10, 2020
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:24 AM on January 10, 2020
I think you also need to factor in how far off campus and class schedule. I lived off campus and was very bad at studying at home, so I would often buy dinner on campus from the food court or one of the fast-healthy food options across the street (urban campus) and then study in the library. This was somewhere in between budget ramen and $40 delivery. I also had classmates who were doing the budget thing and subsisting on beans and rice and I don't think it's such a bad thing to learn how to live within very limited means, tbh. And I think for context, I like cooking, and was already a decent cook at that point, but just didn't have the time/energy to do much cooking.
But in terms of how I would calculate this -- I would divide your current grocery/eating out spending by the # of people, adjust for cost of living, and bump it up by 50%. Then I would give it to your kid on a monthly basis. Bump it up during midterms and finals.
posted by DoubleLune at 6:24 AM on January 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
But in terms of how I would calculate this -- I would divide your current grocery/eating out spending by the # of people, adjust for cost of living, and bump it up by 50%. Then I would give it to your kid on a monthly basis. Bump it up during midterms and finals.
posted by DoubleLune at 6:24 AM on January 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Seconding that you should ask them to propose a budget. Do they know how to cook? If not, and if they are still at home now, could they practice meal planning/cooking as part of the research for their budget? Even if the costs are different where they'll be living, it would be helpful. Maybe decide what % of takeout/restaurant meals you're willing to fund and then let them plan accordingly.
posted by pinochiette at 6:34 AM on January 10, 2020
posted by pinochiette at 6:34 AM on January 10, 2020
At least for a period of time, I would suggest restricting the food budget to what is commonly available for food stamps in young human's area. Having the skill of 'feeding ones self on foodstamp budget) is a difficult one, but an invaluable one. Even if the kiddo is never on foodstamps (and maybe I'm an outlier; every human I know of in my cohort was on food stamps for a period of time), they'll know how to slash a food budget down in an emergency. Leanne Brown released a couple of pdf cookbooks specifically geared towards SNAP and similar benefits. They're free and worth a look, and would serve any college student well to have on hand somewhere.
posted by furnace.heart at 7:24 AM on January 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by furnace.heart at 7:24 AM on January 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
I was on my own for food and subsisted on the proverbial beans and rice. Typical amounts were SNAP amounts of money, I just wasn't on SNAP because I was a full time student. I was hungry a lot. It impacted my grades, my activities, and my social life. If you can afford to give your kid more money for food than food stamp money, you should. Hungry people do worse on almost every measure of activities of daily living and have poorer health (and thus higher health care costs). I get that it seems to some like a good idea to teach college kids a lesson on budgeting with food, but not at poverty levels if you can help it. Think of your investment.
posted by juniperesque at 8:22 AM on January 10, 2020 [19 favorites]
posted by juniperesque at 8:22 AM on January 10, 2020 [19 favorites]
And on the "food is social" tip, I went to college on the meal plan, but coming from a family with not a lot of extra money, and working a few hours a week in work-study, I didn't have much money for social outings. I had to say no a lot to running out for pizza and subs, taking my turn ordering in, grabbing snacks at the student center, etc. There were times when it was even damaging to friendships (like not being able to go out with a friend to her birthday dinner because it was at a sit-down $25 a plate place - I was too ashamed to say I couldn't afford it and she was hurt that I declined for what looked to her like no reason). So don't strip that away completely, just work to think about the balance of splurge vs. conserve.
posted by Miko at 8:35 AM on January 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by Miko at 8:35 AM on January 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
You may be interested in the USDA Food Plans - there are four levels and you can find sample menus for each on the site. FWIW, as a mostly-vegetarian in a city, I clock in between thrifty and low-cost. SNAP benefits usually don't cover peoples' full grocery budgets, I wouldn't go that far.
Depending on the options / student's schedule, having some money on the ala carte meal plan can be a good value, typically it's discounted from retail prices.
posted by momus_window at 1:51 PM on January 10, 2020
Depending on the options / student's schedule, having some money on the ala carte meal plan can be a good value, typically it's discounted from retail prices.
posted by momus_window at 1:51 PM on January 10, 2020
It was on me to cover any "fun money" expenses back in college. That felt like a reasonable expectation as, even if I were still dependent on my parents in various ways, I was legally an adult and the goal was to be fully independent. Paying for my own discretionary expenses felt like a good way to establish that. I had a part-time job on campus every semester to cover those expenses.
The difference in the cost of a full meal plan sounds reasonable. The meal plans at my university felt very spendy to me, so that would have felt very generous back then. Plus help with getting a working kitchen set up.
Doesn't need to be money, going shopping together for second-hand pans and small appliances or the gift of cooking oil and spices can be a greater gift than cash.
posted by Goblin Barbarian at 2:50 PM on January 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
The difference in the cost of a full meal plan sounds reasonable. The meal plans at my university felt very spendy to me, so that would have felt very generous back then. Plus help with getting a working kitchen set up.
Doesn't need to be money, going shopping together for second-hand pans and small appliances or the gift of cooking oil and spices can be a greater gift than cash.
posted by Goblin Barbarian at 2:50 PM on January 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Whatever the full meal plan costs. (Make sure that covers the entire time they’ll be away. My school had weeklong breaks at Thanksgiving and spring break where the dining halls shut down. Since my parents couldn’t afford to bring me home, it was spaghettios in a hot pot for me.) If they want more for socializing, as they probably will, they can take it out of the fun money you’re giving them. If you’re not giving them any, then I assume you’re planning for them to work, anyway.
I’d probably slip them a little extra around exams and I think Goblin’s suggestion of taking them around to get initial kitchen supplies, if affordable, is an excellent idea, especially if they won’t have a car. (Also, they’re going to exceed that budget at least once. If it’s not egregious, help them out the once. Budgeting is definitely something that has to be learned by experience, because of the big psychological component.)
Unless I missed some context about this kid being disabled or not neurotypical, there’s really no reason to think that an 18 year old should find it overwhelming to cook for themselves while going to school. Within the usual margins of error, of course—they will burn things, make inedible things, eat weird unhealthy stuff etc. as part of working it out.
posted by praemunire at 7:58 PM on January 10, 2020
I’d probably slip them a little extra around exams and I think Goblin’s suggestion of taking them around to get initial kitchen supplies, if affordable, is an excellent idea, especially if they won’t have a car. (Also, they’re going to exceed that budget at least once. If it’s not egregious, help them out the once. Budgeting is definitely something that has to be learned by experience, because of the big psychological component.)
Unless I missed some context about this kid being disabled or not neurotypical, there’s really no reason to think that an 18 year old should find it overwhelming to cook for themselves while going to school. Within the usual margins of error, of course—they will burn things, make inedible things, eat weird unhealthy stuff etc. as part of working it out.
posted by praemunire at 7:58 PM on January 10, 2020
I used the USDA thrifty meal plan and adjusted it for the more expensive cost of living. If he wanted more convenience or restaurant foods, that was his responsibility.
Giving cash for the full amount of the meal plan didn't make sense, because meal plans were VERY expensive per meal and one reason I was paying more for an apartment with a kitchen was to avoid that.
posted by metasarah at 8:58 AM on January 13, 2020
Giving cash for the full amount of the meal plan didn't make sense, because meal plans were VERY expensive per meal and one reason I was paying more for an apartment with a kitchen was to avoid that.
posted by metasarah at 8:58 AM on January 13, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jacquilynne at 2:46 AM on January 10, 2020