Author Topic: Personal Finances? (Read 3030 times)

AVR2012 · « **on:** June 09, 2008, 08:20 PM »

Hi, I was wondering how much students(freshmen) usually spend per semester at Hopkins. Some of the financial mailings have suggested $500 per semester, but I'm not sure if that would be enough, considering things like meals not covered by the meal plan, laundry, and other expenses. Any thoughts?

Thanks

JHU_Esther · « **Reply #1 on:** June 09, 2008, 11:45 PM »

I generally end up spending between $700 and $1000 per semester. I try to budget about $40 a week for eating out, going to movies, and other fun stuff. Some weeks I go over by a lot some weeks I'm under. You can definitely spend more but I think it might be hard to spend only $500. To me that says you're not taking advantage of all that Baltimore has to offer. There are ways to have cheap fun but most things still cost money.

Admissions_Daniel · « **Reply #2 on:** June 10, 2008, 10:31 AM »

Quote from: "AVR2012"

Hi, I was wondering how much students(freshmen) usually spend per semester at Hopkins. Some of the financial mailings have suggested $500 per semester, but I'm not sure if that would be enough, considering things like meals not covered by the meal plan, laundry, and other expenses. Any thoughts?

I think this depends very much on the person. The $500 per semester is a number the Office of Student Financial Services uses based on a few-year old survey of students. The average of personal expenses per semester came out to $500. The survey is a few years old so that number might rise a bit -- maybe $600 - $650.

But as I said it really depends. If you are the type of person that will not be eating out and using all your meals than your cost per semester will be lower. If you expect to do a lot of stuff off-campus than your cost will be higher.

JHU_Mandy · « **Reply #3 on:** June 10, 2008, 10:55 PM »

It definitely depends on your lifestyle and that sort of thing. I'd just suggest kind of taking an inventory of your lifestyle as it was in highschool and setting a "bare bones" budget and making sure to leave as much wiggle room as possible since so much will change once you're living on your own in college.

Just a few things to consider when planning a basic budget:

-If you take any medications, that can add up very quickly. This can include regular prescriptions or over-the-counter medications you might want to get for a cold or injury.

-Clothing; if you're from an area with weather similar to Baltimore's, you probably won't have this issue, but if not, you may need to buy a few things here and there for the winter. Or if you "need" something for a particular event, that sort of thing.

-Like Esther mentioned, there's movies, meals out, etc.

-You mentioned laundry. I lived in Wolman and it was $1.25 to run a washer or dryer and I did laundry weekly, using two of each, each time...so $5/week on average

-Coffee/hot chocolate/misc. snacks during the day (everything adds up!)

...those are the major ones that ended up catching me off guard in terms of costing much more than I expected!

As a side note, in some mailing I got last year about JCash (I'm sure you'll get it soon), it had recommended budgets for students and how they reached the amounts (in order to get students to put money onto their jcards). You don't really need to put much money on there, but the mailing was helpful to see a suggested budget.

JHU_Roxi · « **Reply #4 on:** June 12, 2008, 11:47 PM »

I can see $500 working your freshman year...i mean it's going to be tight, don't get me wrong. I think I'm with Esther, I spent about $1000 dollars a semester. The way my parents and I figured it out though is that my dad gives me $500 a semester (so what the financial aid people recomend) and anything outside of that that I want to spend I work for so my freshman year I worked at the bookstore a couple days a week to earn a little extra cash to go down to the inner harbor or other night time amusements...

JHU_Andrew · « **Reply #5 on:** June 14, 2008, 06:31 PM »

I spend way too much money at school, and I do a terrible job of keeping track of it. My advice is to set a budget for yourself... definitely between $500 and $1000, depending on what you like to do on weekends, how much you travel, how often you eat off campus, etc.

JHU_Dominique · « **Reply #6 on:** June 20, 2008, 01:00 AM »

wow i had no idea students spent upwards from 500 bucks...i thought it would have been lower. but maybe i can cut down on that because i'm 15 minutes from home... laundry, food, clothing, etc. :)

JHU_Lauren · « **Reply #7 on:** June 20, 2008, 02:45 PM »

I think it really all depends on your spending habits at home and what budget you decide on with your parents. I, personally, cannot afford to spend over $500 each semester -- I wish I could, but I just don't have that option. But there are a lot of ways to cut back if you don't/can't spend that much as well!

Remember that you're on a meal plan so, if money is running low, hit the cafeteria for meals! It's almost always open, and there's also the option of getting Meals in a Minute at other places on campus {which you don't buy with JCash or Dining Dollars, but which count as a meal block instead}. I also make a lot of my meals on my own {since I love cooking and lived in Wolman with a kitchenette -- dining dollars are great for that}, so I have leftovers and extra ingredients to last me for a while. I think eating out and ordering take out is where a lot of people spend a lot of money -- if you cut back on that, you'll have a lot of money left for other things.

It's also fun to go shopping in Towson or downtown, but it's easy to watch and make sure you don't buy something every time! Also, laundry is kind of unavoidable .. but Hopkins keeps it relatively cheap for us and you can use your JCash to pay for it, so it's convenient.

There are a lot of ways to have cheap fun too -- take the shuttle somewhere and explore {but be safe!}, see a movie that one of your friends owns instead of going to the theatre, hit the museum {which is free}, etc. You'll need money for a lot of things, but there are also a lot of ways to cut back.

Like Mandy said, I would take a look at what you spend money on now and what sorts of things {movies, eating at a restaurant, etc.} are a regular part of your routine. Consider those things and add a little room to move around, because living on your own you will obviously have more expenses to cover yourself than you do at home. That's the best way to gauge how much you'll need next year. :)

JHU_Mandy · « **Reply #8 on:** June 21, 2008, 12:06 PM »

Like Lauren mentioned, the meal plan is a great way to save money. I'm planning on choosing a meal plan that has meals instead of just dining dollars as a sophomore (as freshmen, you're required to do that anyway, but for take this for future reference or something).

If you think about it, as a freshman, you have two meal plan options: one that gives you 14 meals per week and $200 dining dollars per semester or one that has 19 meals per week and $100 dining dollars per semester. Even if you don't know for sure if you'd use all 19 every single week, it's probably more cost effective that way. On the 19 meals/week plan, you get five more meals per week multiplied by 13 weeks, so 65 extra meals per semester vs. $100 extra dining dollars, and I can assure you that you cannot get a meal on dining dollars for $0.65...they cost between 5-10 dining dollars at Einstein's or Levering.

Also, I don't know if they'll allow it next year, but what I did sometimes was get a to-go box at the FFC even if I didn't want a meal and just get some fruit or raw veggies and have them as a snack for later on (use a meal and keep from spending money on food later!)

If you're trying to save money, it's just something to think about. :)

JHU_Dominique · « **Reply #9 on:** November 16, 2008, 04:58 PM »

Like Mandy said, it depends on your lifestyle.

I kinda like the FFC a lot so I don't really eat anywhere else...the Boxes to Go are great and I store them in my fridge so I am never without food...I hardly spend dining dollars and if I do I use them in Charles Street Market on things like juice and organic milk and chips. I haven't even been to any of the other places that take dining dollars for food outside of the FFC. I have 3 yrs to buy from there, so I might as well keep it fresh for my coming years and stay with FFc primarily.

This may sound pathetic but I don't go out much...and that's MY PREFERENCE [not because people here don't have lives, because they OBVIOUSLY do hehe] so I really don't spend much money. I don't like shopping much unless it's for toiletries and cleaning supplies, I buy all my clothes on discount, I don't buy coffee or hot chocolate or other drinks cuz I can make them in my dorm or someone else's dorm. I've always been this way tho. I think the fact that I can go home to grab clothes and shoes helps me save as well.

I don't spend close to 500 dollars. But it all depends on you. I think i am just weird.

JHU_Mandy · « **Reply #10 on:** November 16, 2008, 08:13 PM »

Just to add, my biggest expense during the semester is trips home. My parents are extremely generous and they pay for me to fly home for fall break, Thanksgiving, and winter break (and obviously the return flights), but you also have to factor in getting to/from the airport in Baltimore.

Another huge expense is books/other school supplies. I was able to save a lot of money this semester by buying most of my books online (be sure to take shipping into account though--make sure it's worth it!). I also tried to buy most of my paper/pens/pencils, etc. from office supply stores or wholesale stores before coming to Baltimore, since they really are more expensive at the bookstore. There have been times when I've needed another folder or notebook and for that I've had to just go to the bookstore, but in general, I think I've saved a lot by planning ahead (it's hard to do that as a freshman, but as a sophomore, I learned from last year especially).

JHU_Julia · « **Reply #11 on:** November 17, 2008, 01:07 AM »

Everyone is totally right, there are so many ways to save money on and around campus! And yes, you learn these things mostly after your freshman year. I would recommend that you actually over-budget for freshman year. There are so many little things that come up that you'll need and when you haven't really navigated the cheap ways to do things yet, you'll just need to go for the most convenient option which is sometimes the most expensive option :(

So yeah, I'd leave yourself a bit of breathing room in terms of money for your first term.

JHU_Peter · « **Reply #12 on:** November 19, 2008, 04:12 PM »

So, I actually worked a lot during the summer before Hopkins so I would have spending money. And then I also got some money as a graduation gift, so together, I have a good chunk of money. So far, I've spent around $500 (some of it were bigger purchases too, such as my external harddrive), so in general, I figure around $700-$1000 would be more accurate.

JHU_Jackie · « **Reply #13 on:** December 04, 2008, 06:07 PM »

A lot of the money will end up going towards your school books. I highly recommend purchasing them on ebay to save money. I didn't have time to do that this semester and sincerely regret it. I would have saved myself a lot of money. Also, you can always get a job at school to get some extra money!

JHU_Lauren · « **Reply #14 on:** April 12, 2011, 09:46 AM »

As a senior now, I'm getting even more of a taste of having to "fend for myself" in the world, specifically in terms of finances. I was good with budgeting before when I was on a meal plan and didn't have rent to pay but, now, it has become even more important that I balance my financial aid with my paychecks...and even more difficult to do so with bills coming in all the time. But you can't just give up, because it's really crucial to have enough money for food, going out with friends, clothes, and whatever else you want to spend it on.

What I started to do this year was keep a sticky note on iGoogle (the personalized homepage for your Gmail/Google account) with all of that information, specifically the amount of financial aid that had to be in my checking account for my rent payments. Each month, I would subtract my portion to keep an updated total, which I could easily compare to the amount in my account to make sure I was on track.

It's hard to believe that working three different places and having financial aid to cover your rent would still leave you broke, but a lot of months I was definitely in that situation. This taught me to make meals for myself (and have potlucks where my friends come over with different dishes to contribute), take advantage of happy hours and daily discounts at local restaurants, and learn to eat smaller portions (like the club sandwich at Carma's - perfect, petite lunch!). Turning 21 was also difficult because you do tend to spend more social time at bars, which can get expensive. But staying aware of my finances at all times - and sometimes leaving my debit card at home to avoid the temptation - really does help!

JHU_Dominique · « **Reply #15 on:** April 16, 2011, 05:58 PM »

LOLOLOL I just looked back at my 2008 freshman yr post about how I didn't go out much (sorry it was true,..I usually stayed on campus and went to on campus events like concerts and watched movies, if I left campus it was usually for retreats or to upperclassmen friends' apartments for stuff haha, wasn't really into the whole party/shopping thang) and I definitely spent little money. I bought books from the bookstore that semester and was out of almost 400 bucks but that was the first and last time I did that foolishness...I got wiser after that!

For some of my classes, I don't even buy books if I know I can get them from the library, borrow them, find them online with googlebooks, or if the syllabus has us using them for like, only one week (I hate when professors do that!) so that can definitely save you some money. Like this semester, I didn't purchase any books for my physics class or my sociology class or my epidemiology class...saved me like 300 something dollars!

Rent is a huge chunk of cash each month now of course, but my job helps that a lot as well as a couple of outside scholarships.

What also has helped me like CRAZY is having summer internships/jobs btwn my freshman/soph yrs and soph/jr years, because I took that money and saved it for the coming school year so that I could have some money in my checking account. So if you don't have to take classes, I would definitely look for some jobs or paid internships if you can. The cool thing is those paid internships are better than jobs sometimes because they give you connections and experience related to your major, but money too. So yea.

All in all, unless you're rich, we are all in similar boats and struggling to save and make some $$! You'll learn how to budget according to your means and needs. I LOVE online banking because I can see every single purchase I've ever made and when it was made and where it was made and I can see every deposit and how much is in my balance, so it helps me keep track of what's what. I highly recommend it! I also recommend using a debit card/check card instead of a credit card--this way you only spend what you have.

HTH! :)

JHU_Kaitlyn · « **Reply #16 on:** December 10, 2011, 05:55 PM »

For purchasing text books, I would definitely recommend Amazon Prime for students! You need a .edu email address to set up an account, and after that you're able to purchase text books on Amazon and get free 2-3 day shipping! Amazon Prime seriously saved me a ton of money when I was purchasing my books for first semester (an upward of 70% savings!). Amazon Prime also has a trade back program where you can sell back your books for a great price, and they will take care of shipping. I'm planning on trading in a lot of textbooks over winter break so that I can get my new books for the spring semester. For example, I'm going to sell my Single Variable Calculus 7th Edition (originally $152.32) for the trade in price of $115. This will allow me to purchase my math text for next semester, Elementary Differential Equations, that happens to be $98 (used). If you play the system right with this textbook buy back program, I'm positive that you'll have a ton of extra cash to help you through the semester!

Here's the link -->http://www.amazon.com/b/?ie=UTF8&node=2205237011&tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=5151576295&ref=pd_sl_84vay8hzof_b

JHU_Kevin · « **Reply #17 on:** December 15, 2011, 04:59 PM »

I'm going to forget books for this post, because it fluctuates major-to-major, class-to class.

In terms of J-cash, it's my first semester and I've spent about $150. That's laundry and food around campus for the most part. I don't generally buy things at the coffee shops because I have a fully stocked keurig in the dorm, and the $100 dining dollars all got spent at charmar.

Then of course there's been the debit card, on which expenses have been significantly higher. That covers restaurants not on campus, clothes shopping, mock trial tournament trips (about $50 for transportation and lodging, not counting food), and miscellaneous expenses that pop up. Probably about another $500-$700

JHU_Noah · « **Reply #18 on:** December 28, 2011, 11:13 AM »

I don't really spend a lot of money on campus. My meal plan is pretty sweet, so I'm covered for food. I'd wager that you could get through an entire semester comfortably without spending more than $100. However, if you want to spend money/have money to blow, there's tons to do around Homewood and throughout the city.

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Author Topic: Personal Finances? (Read 3030 times)

AVR2012

Personal Finances?

JHU_Esther

Personal Finances?

Admissions_Daniel

Personal Finances?

JHU_Mandy

Personal Finances?

JHU_Roxi

Personal Finances?

JHU_Andrew

Personal Finances?

JHU_Dominique

Personal Finances?

JHU_Lauren

Personal Finances?

JHU_Mandy

Personal Finances?

JHU_Dominique

Personal Finances?

JHU_Mandy

Personal Finances?

JHU_Julia

Personal Finances?

JHU_Peter

Personal Finances?

JHU_Jackie

Personal Finances?

JHU_Lauren

Personal Finances?

JHU_Dominique

Personal Finances?

JHU_Kaitlyn

Re: Personal Finances?

JHU_Kevin

Re: Personal Finances?

JHU_Noah

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