Life is going to get expensive in a hurry. It already has. I have a certain amount of stress, but not the wake up in the night hyperventilating stress. Perhaps I have a bit of drama queen inside, but I seem to thrive a little bit better when I do have a little stress. Key word little. Knowing a deadline is fast approaching, I often can do my best thinking on a work project. My house projects seem to get done in a higher gear when I have an upcoming event. And while I know we have crunched the numbers of our budget, college savings, regular savings, and cash flow and should be fine for the next four years, the stress of knowing that thousands of dollars every six month will be leaving those accounts will be the steady incentive to avoid stupid spending. Yet, life still is for living beyond my child's classroom so the good stuff of life still has a place in our budget. This said, I had some savings here and there for the week.
- Our college visit came in $15 under my budget. This was more luck and timing than planning as we ate one less meal out than I had planned for. Still, it's $15 I didn't spend instead of going over budget which is often my norm on these short trips.
- We were able to take advantage of the book rental for most of DD2's books. We still have four books to purchase that were no in stock and we'll either order from Amazon or hopefully do the rental option. Either way, I think we will end up spending about 40% less than estimate for books for the semester.
- We decided to drop her meal plan from the unlimited to the "Gold". This still gives her on average 17 meals a week, and for a kids who is a light eater, likes to sleep in when she can, it might be a stretch for her to ever eat more than 2 meals a day in the dining hall. She'll probably keep oatmeal packets and other grab and go items in her room anyway.
- DH and I went out last Thursday night for supper. We used a Buy One Get One 1/2 off coupon. My leftovers provided me with lunch on Friday.
- I found quite a bit of loose change doing laundry, adding to the tea biscuit tin. As we never used for the croissants and baguettes last summer, it has just continued to grow. My target is to fill it by September 21 and use to offset the family weekend trip costs.
I just packed my lunch with a couple tortillas, the last bit of cheddar, and the remaining Sloppy Joe's from the batch I thawed on the weekend. DD2 is meeting her new roommate today at a malt shop. I gave her a little splurge money for the occasion, but otherwise it will be a frugal day and we plan on a frugal weekend, just our family, at the lake. That is a rare treat and I plan to even let minor stress, no matter how motivating, leave my mind for a couple days.
My grandson preferred to sleep late and eat junk for breakfast.
ReplyDeleteIt's not so much she would eat junk, but likely she would just eat some oatmeal, or a yogurt, and fruit. That's a lot of extra money plus time to stop in the dining hall before morning classes. I was proud of her for thinking ahead.
DeleteI think he bought Rice Krispy bars!
DeleteI think your dining plan adjustment makes sense. Even in college, I don't think I ate three meals a day in the cafe very often. I typically grabbed a bar, skipped breakfast, or had oatmeal. Or, was studying or attending an event with food (free pizza is everywhere) in the evening.
ReplyDeletePlus, sometimes they will be off campus and just want to get burgers or a pizza.
DeleteNice little savings add up. We can normally take care of the bigger things but the real leak is ususally about small stuff we do not think about. So, I think you did really well. As long as your DD2 has access to some healthy options, two meals a day is quiet OK for a student. All through my student life, I had two meals a day with an occasional snack. It depends on class hours too so, I am sure she will figure out what is good for her.
ReplyDeleteShe'll still grab something, but not a dining halls worth of breakfast. She has three days with early classes (so can imagine it will be throw clothes on, grab a granola bar and hot tea and go) and two whee she doesn't start until after 12, so likely will have an early lunch on those days.
DeleteI think it is very smart to pare down the meal plan. When I was in school if you went into the cafeteria even just for morning coffee it was charged as a full meal. And people think Starbucks coffee is expensive!
ReplyDeleteThat's what they say as the benefit of the unlimited-it wouldn't matter how often you went in. With the 255 plan, or ave 17 per week, she'll need to think about that a bit as it would be considered a full swipe just for a snack. However, there are so many other nice places to study, relax,and she has gotten in the habit this summer of bringing her water bottle or her thermos of tea to the library or work. I
DeleteYou were smart to downsize that plan. I have heard many parents say what a waste it was.
ReplyDeleteShe may use more at first, but as she develops her social life and finds her norm, I can't imagine she will need more than the 255.
DeleteEnjoy your weekend alone with your family at the lake. Yes, definitely the right thing to do to pare the meal plan down, better you fill her room with extras to snack on if need be
ReplyDeleteShe's a small but frequent snacker. We'll stick her well, plus she has $125 flex dollars if needed.
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