Sustaining a living at college?

[zinfamous]

Sustaining a living at college?

The first thing you need to remember is to keep breathing. Be sure that your air passage is unrestricted.

 

[gorcorps]

Loans are common, don't be afraid to take advantage of them. Just don't go crazy and blow them on a new TV or something.

 

[hanoverphist]

i stayed home with my 3 kids during the day, worked concerts setting up stages on weekends and weeknights that i could, did drafting out of my house when i wasnt doing those. went to school full time. if i hadnt had a wife that was ok with the whole deal id have never made it through it. and i still have loans to pay off, i only took out loans for the actual bills instead of living expenses as well.

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: akubi
find roommates. $720/mo rent for a college student is utter stupidity. move into the student dorms if that's an option.

Uh do you KNOW what you're talking about? I lived in Berkeley and 2 BRs were going for 1900+ last year. My apartment was listed for 1990 /mo when I moved out. Guess what I moved in at? 1490. Split 2 way that's PRETTY DAMN GOOD in Berkeley. I tell anyone what I paid for rent and they were amazed. Yeah. I have friends at Davis paying sub $500 for their own room, but tough. People who go to Cal or UCLA pay top dollar for rent.

I paid $1010 / month in the dorms for a TRIPLE. Screw that. It's like 12k or something for a double per year, and divide that for 10 months and you're paying 1200+. I can get a studio for less than that.

My gf lives at a 2br with 4 people total ($2350/4).

Trust me, housing is NOT good here. I remember searching for sub $1400 apartments with my roommate and stuff that went for 1300 were utter crap and junk. Unless you're paying $2000+, you're probably getting some 50 year old apartment that looks like crap here.

Good god you people, unless you understand CA housing, stop going nuts. Paging neutralizer and ed21x my Cal buddies. Housing is NOT cheap.

I live less than 1 mile from campus, 2 BR house with one shared wall, private backyard. $1500/month. Walk to Bart, Monterey Market, etc. Lots o space.

I'm paying less for my share of rent than I was paying for my 1BR apartment in Chicago the previous 2 years. And, I find COL equal, or even cheaper than in Chicago....

 

[Eeezee]

Your plan should be 2-fold

1) Get rid of your car. Get an apartment close to campus within walking distance of a market. Get a zipcar membership for those times that you really need a car (free to join, renting the cars is cheap) and your friends with cars are tied up. Zipcar operates at most of the UC campuses. Seriously, this is going to be one of your biggest expenses and it is unnecessary when you're in college. Edit: If you need to, get a bus pass. You'll still save a ton of money

2) Get a job on-campus. There are countless opportunities that pay well on UC campuses. Most UC schools have half a dozen different tutoring centers, several libraries, and various other positions. It's a well-known fact that Apple stores are way over-staffed; go get a job there!

Rent at $720, assume $300 for food, maybe $50/month for books (average, especially if you go for the India/Pakistan editions), that's $1070/month that you need to make. Assuming 20 hrs/week, that's approximately 80hrs/month. To meet that, you need to make $13.40/hour. In Southern California on a UC campus, that shouldn't be too difficult.

Supplement this with student loans, you should qualify for subsidized student loans. This means that interest payments are paid for you while you're in school. With unsubsidized loans, you have to pay all of the interest that accrued while you were going to school after you graduate. Obviously you want subsidized loans. You may as well get as much subsidized loan money as you can, plunk whatever you don't spend in a savings account (accrue interest), and pay as much back within the grace period after graduation as you can.

Try to avoid student loans, but keep in mind that you can always fall back on them. You will never starve, but in exchange you will be indebted. Worst of all, student loans are impossible to get rid of; even if you go into bankruptcy, you will still have to pay back your student loans.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
Top Ramen <-- fixes the food issue for many a college student

Don't forget to also buy some basic fruits. I had a friend who developed a mild case of scurvy because all he ate was oats. It was pretty hilarious. Most college students get their Vitamin C from pizza

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: RadiclDreamer
Top Ramen <-- fixes the food issue for many a college student

Don't forget to also buy some basic fruits. I had a friend who developed a mild case of scurvy because all he ate was oats. It was pretty hilarious. Most college students get their Vitamin C from pizza

pfft any serious college student knows the best source of Vita C is from screwdrivers

 

[Imdmn04]

$750 is not a ridiculous price at all for Cali, God I swear you midwest people needs to see the rest of America before making stupid comments on housing prices without taking into account the cost-of-living.

A 2 bedroom apartment can easily be $1500/month if not more, if you share it with one roommate, that is $750/month.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: irishScott
Live in the dorm. Much cheaper, better social life. It also satisfies a lot of the stuff you're having problems with:

Phone is obviously provided, as is the ridiculously fast University network and about 60 channels of analog cable.

As far as food goes, my University requires everyone on campus to have a meal plan, so I just use it. You can get up to 19 meals a week, and the dining halls are actually pretty good (burgers are freshly grilled, once they had close to restaurant quality rotisserie chicken). You also get a certain number of "points" that can be used elsewhere.

I imagine your Univ does something similar to the above?

Dorms are much more expensive at most schools. There are only a few exceptions, and they are the commuter campuses; they only lower dorm rates because they want more students to live on campus. At my BS university dorm rates were twice as expensive as the apartments literally next to campus, and the dorms were shared bathroom + one kitchen for the entire building... and of course they were studios split for 2 people No, chances are that the dorm is the worst deal

Your university REQUIRES a meal plan? How fascist is that?! Meal plans are typically a rip off if you know how to cook at home.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
$750 is not a ridiculous price at all for Cali, God I swear you midwest people needs to see the rest of America before making stupid comments on housing prices without taking into account the cost-of-living.

A 2 bedroom apartment can easily be $1500/month if not more, if you share it with one roommate, that is $750/month.

I think the studios around UCI are around $1k/month.

Luckily, the super-subsidized graduate housing is in the region of $1200/month for a 2-bedroom. It's still shitty, but better than the surrounding area (although you pay for it with some fucked up draconian rules)

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: akubi
find roommates. $720/mo rent for a college student is utter stupidity. move into the student dorms if that's an option.

Uh do you KNOW what you're talking about? I lived in Berkeley and 2 BRs were going for 1900+ last year. My apartment was listed for 1990 /mo when I moved out. Guess what I moved in at? 1490. Split 2 way that's PRETTY DAMN GOOD in Berkeley. I tell anyone what I paid for rent and they were amazed. Yeah. I have friends at Davis paying sub $500 for their own room, but tough. People who go to Cal or UCLA pay top dollar for rent.

I paid $1010 / month in the dorms for a TRIPLE. Screw that. It's like 12k or something for a double per year, and divide that for 10 months and you're paying 1200+. I can get a studio for less than that.

this is why cali sucks

for 1500-2k a month you could buy a 3000+ sqft house where i went to college

Jesus, California sucks ASS. You pay as one person what me and 4 other guys were about to on a house, COMBINED. Course, that didn't work out, and now me and my roommate are paying $510/ea for a 1100 sq. ft. apt. 3 miles away from campus. And we're moving farther away from campus to newer, nicer apartments for cheaper, $400/ea and slightly larger. The drive is 10 miles vs. 3 miles, but I'm kind of sick of being everyone's party place and hangout. Now I'll only be seeing people at home when I actually want them there.

Oh, and in Florida, get a 3.5 weighted GPA in high school and a 1270 SAT/28 ACT and you get a 100% scholarship to any university in the state, plus some cash for books. 3.0 weighted and 970 SAT/20 ACT gets you 75% at a university, 100% at a community college. Hooray for lotto money.

wow thats a pretty kickass deal,

yeh, Florida college students can also thank the tourist dollars that are pumped into the state for that one.

It's too bad my gf's sister in FL was stupid and did not even try. She had a 3.9 GPA in high school and a 1400 SAT but she claimed it was not good enough for college because she "knew it wouldn't be". She did not even bother to apply to colleges and decided to get high and drunk instead. She ended up going to the army because they would pay for school, but she then got kicked out. She got married, then divorced in one year. She is a dumb smart ass that thinks she knows the world. She is now stuck in Birmingham, AL making $9/hr and working 60 hours a week. Why she is there? "Oh, they have a tuition reimburement program...I am gonna go to community college". At 21...she has not changed one bit....oh well...it is her life, not mine.

 

[Eeezee]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: akubi
find roommates. $720/mo rent for a college student is utter stupidity. move into the student dorms if that's an option.

Uh do you KNOW what you're talking about? I lived in Berkeley and 2 BRs were going for 1900+ last year. My apartment was listed for 1990 /mo when I moved out. Guess what I moved in at? 1490. Split 2 way that's PRETTY DAMN GOOD in Berkeley. I tell anyone what I paid for rent and they were amazed. Yeah. I have friends at Davis paying sub $500 for their own room, but tough. People who go to Cal or UCLA pay top dollar for rent.

I paid $1010 / month in the dorms for a TRIPLE. Screw that. It's like 12k or something for a double per year, and divide that for 10 months and you're paying 1200+. I can get a studio for less than that.

this is why cali sucks

for 1500-2k a month you could buy a 3000+ sqft house where i went to college

Jesus, California sucks ASS. You pay as one person what me and 4 other guys were about to on a house, COMBINED. Course, that didn't work out, and now me and my roommate are paying $510/ea for a 1100 sq. ft. apt. 3 miles away from campus. And we're moving farther away from campus to newer, nicer apartments for cheaper, $400/ea and slightly larger. The drive is 10 miles vs. 3 miles, but I'm kind of sick of being everyone's party place and hangout. Now I'll only be seeing people at home when I actually want them there.

Oh, and in Florida, get a 3.5 weighted GPA in high school and a 1270 SAT/28 ACT and you get a 100% scholarship to any university in the state, plus some cash for books. 3.0 weighted and 970 SAT/20 ACT gets you 75% at a university, 100% at a community college. Hooray for lotto money.

wow thats a pretty kickass deal,

Yeah, but you have to live in Florida... a fate worse than debt

 

[akubi]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
$750 is not a ridiculous price at all for Cali, God I swear you midwest people needs to see the rest of America before making stupid comments on housing prices without taking into account the cost-of-living.

A 2 bedroom apartment can easily be $1500/month if not more, if you share it with one roommate, that is $750/month.

if you can hardly afford it, you shouldn't expect to have a room to yourself. hell when I was in college I had to room with two others in a tiny studio. plus there were like a dozen guys to one bathroom & shower in our suite. if your college doesn't have a proper dorm in place with cheap(er) housing, you should've looked into it before signing up.

and no, my housing's a little over 5k/month I know it's not cheap in certain cities.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I worked a full time job and took 12-15 hours a semester. I worked 2-3 shifts doing tech support for a national company. I'd get up and go to class from 8am-12:00pm...drive to work by 12:30pm and work until 9pm. I'd usually choke down lunch on the drive between school and work....and they'd give me a 30 minute lucnh some time around 5pm.

It worked out. Even though I didn't really get a lot of money for what I did, they knew I was in college and gave me a lot of scheduling considerations around the holidays. The flexibility made it worthwhile. I only had $1300 in loans after completing my undergrad.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: mrSHEiK124

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: akubi
find roommates. $720/mo rent for a college student is utter stupidity. move into the student dorms if that's an option.

Uh do you KNOW what you're talking about? I lived in Berkeley and 2 BRs were going for 1900+ last year. My apartment was listed for 1990 /mo when I moved out. Guess what I moved in at? 1490. Split 2 way that's PRETTY DAMN GOOD in Berkeley. I tell anyone what I paid for rent and they were amazed. Yeah. I have friends at Davis paying sub $500 for their own room, but tough. People who go to Cal or UCLA pay top dollar for rent.

I paid $1010 / month in the dorms for a TRIPLE. Screw that. It's like 12k or something for a double per year, and divide that for 10 months and you're paying 1200+. I can get a studio for less than that.

this is why cali sucks

for 1500-2k a month you could buy a 3000+ sqft house where i went to college

Jesus, California sucks ASS. You pay as one person what me and 4 other guys were about to on a house, COMBINED. Course, that didn't work out, and now me and my roommate are paying $510/ea for a 1100 sq. ft. apt. 3 miles away from campus. And we're moving farther away from campus to newer, nicer apartments for cheaper, $400/ea and slightly larger. The drive is 10 miles vs. 3 miles, but I'm kind of sick of being everyone's party place and hangout. Now I'll only be seeing people at home when I actually want them there.

Oh, and in Florida, get a 3.5 weighted GPA in high school and a 1270 SAT/28 ACT and you get a 100% scholarship to any university in the state, plus some cash for books. 3.0 weighted and 970 SAT/20 ACT gets you 75% at a university, 100% at a community college. Hooray for lotto money.

wow thats a pretty kickass deal,

Yeah, but you have to live in Florida... a fate worse than debt

id rather livein Fl then Cali

 

[zinfamous]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: nonameo
Live in a tent?

I knew a few guys in college who lived in a yurt.

did you attend college in the steppes of Mongolia?

 

[FleshLight]

UCLA?

 

[Gooberlx2]

Well, my parents helped, and I worked, so I didn't have to accrue any debt.
<--- very fortunate and owes everything to parents.

My roommates had grants, loans, and part time jobs. Eating cheap garbage like ramen and living in cheap ass, off campus shitholes and splitting the rent+ultilities between 5 or 6 people really helps..

 

[Oil]

You can always be homeless

 

[FoBoT]

spend less, especially on rent
live in a cardboard box behind the dumpster at Arby's

 

[Mo0o]

Your loans dont account for cost of living?

 

[Electric Amish]

I worked fast food.

My rent was only $125 (total of $250 with roomate).

 

[ric1287]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04
$750 is not a ridiculous price at all for Cali, God I swear you midwest people needs to see the rest of America before making stupid comments on housing prices without taking into account the cost-of-living.

A 2 bedroom apartment can easily be $1500/month if not more, if you share it with one roommate, that is $750/month.

Too bad California doesn't count as "the rest of America" outside the MW. Arizona is cheap as hell, and about the same distance away.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I had a full tuition scholarship and lived with the family. Also had no car. Pell Grant covered my book costs.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: astroidea
I'm aiming for a PhD btw. Am I going to make it out of this under $200k in loans?
A career as a research professor doesn't sound too promising to pay back this loan either, especially in the first decade or so with little experience.

If you are doing a PhD in science or engineering, you should be receiving a tuition waiver and living stipend in exchange for working as an RA or TA. The stipend isn't much (usually in the ~$20k/year range) but it should be enough to live as a broke student, assuming your expenses are typical of what a college student would have.