Parents of the High School Class of 2017/College 2021

My DD has been at school for 2-1/2 weeks. I just looked over the grocery bill and I've paid $85. I was going to give her $50 a week but I don't think she will need that much. She only eats twice a day. This was all bought in two different shopping trips. One was move in day and the 2nd was this weekend. The little things added up like seasonings, butter, cheese slices(for grilled cheese), bread, eggs. She also bought frozen stuff corndogs, bag of frozen chicken breast, frozen pizza, burritos, frozen veggie bags like broccoli, broccoli and cauliflower, stir fry veggies, waffle fries, seasoned potato wedges. Plus we bought pasta sauce, pasta, bj&butter, ranch dressing, baby carrots, yogurt, bananas, blue berries, black berries and some other stuff .

We didn't realize Costco was closed on Monday so we didn't get her frozen crusted taplia and raw shrimp. So we headed to walmart for some of the above items. She put some stuff in the main freezer and some in her room freezer. I think she will be fine the rest of the month. She will only need to buy fresh fruit or lil things here and there. We see her in two weeks and will take her to get talipia and shrimp. By then hopefully some of the frozen stuff will be gone.

How is everyone doing with their grocery budget?

As far as roommates. DD is fine with the girl in her room which is a friend. The other two girls are loud, don't clean up, use dd's and her her roommates side of the bathroom counter and sink, were using their soap. One of the girls is fine with the other isn't there but the 4th girl always has her boyfriend over during the week until 12am and sometimes he's there in the morning. DD isn't sure if he stays the night or get there early. Rule is no over night guest. I guess the one girl also has the boyfriend and his friend over and the other girl has a couple of friends over and cooks for her friends. Stove burners was gross . I told my Dd and she said its the two girls because she hasn't used the stove yet.

DD and her actual roommate are going to call another meeting and discuss some of the issues especially the late night guest during the week. The guys live in the same building so hopefully they go over to their own place. I think once they sit down hopefully things will be better

How are your kids doing with their roommates?
I think DD spends about $80 on groceries a month. She has been eating out more now, since she has a boyfriend. But sometimes he cooks for her.

Same roommates as last year, 4 girls in 4 bedrooms. One girl has become her BFF, the other two are pretty nice but more distant and one a touch passive aggressive in needing it super quiet. No real issues, thankfully.
Ok you guys are making me feel better about my DD's grocery budget. I had no idea how much she'd need each month. I based my monthly figure off of what her meal plan cost last school year and then reduced it a bit because she will make her own meals half the time. For the first month, we got her $200 in Dining Dollars and $100 for groceries. At the school dining halls, she can use the Dining Dollars for a 5% discount and pay no tax. She is eating 1 meal a day on campus and 1 meal at her apartment. She went grocery shopping after the first week and spent about $80. DH doesn't really trust her with money because she tends to spend so unwisely on frivolous stuff, so he wanted most off her food money to go into Dining Dollars. That way she'll still be able to eat even if she spends her grocery money on concert tickets. Yes...this has actually happened before! I need to keep track of her Dining Dollars to figure out her monthly usage rate and adjust (hopefully down) as needed.
 
That way she'll still be able to eat even if she spends her grocery money on concert tickets. Yes...this has actually happened before! I need to keep track of her Dining Dollars to figure out her monthly usage rate and adjust (hopefully down) as needed.

If my daughter did that then she would be living on Raman until her next payday came around- I would not bail her out of that one.
My daughter is feeling a little better today than she has been- hopefully hers does not linger like mine- over 2 weeks now and I am still not better, they are scheduling surgery for me next week for my ear- I am like a giant toddler and need tubes put in my ears because they are filled with fluid!
 
If my daughter did that then she would be living on Raman until her next payday came around- I would not bail her out of that one.
My daughter is feeling a little better today than she has been- hopefully hers does not linger like mine- over 2 weeks now and I am still not better, they are scheduling surgery for me next week for my ear- I am like a giant toddler and need tubes put in my ears because they are filled with fluid!

I'm glad your daughter is feeling better but sorry that you aren't.

I completely agree with you about food money. My daughter is actually pretty frugal and ended up with a lot of leftover dining dollars last year. Fortunately they rollover, even after graduation. However, if she were spending my money on frivolous stuff she'd learn the consequences of that.

I imagine most of us had times when we were getting started where we made bad financial decisions and didn't know how we were going to make it to the next paycheck. Somehow we survived. I think that's an important life lesson.
 
So I go in for tubes in my ears this coming Monday- fun. My daughter is doing ok this semester so far, she is all better from being ill. She has her first job interview on Monday for some pharmaceutical company- she would be working full time Jan-July. She can still live in her dorm/apartment on campus until the end of April which is good then she needs to find a sublet for May & June. The thing she is finding hard is Mon-Thurs she has classes and/or work study 10-6 with only 20 minutes between classes so she was saying she is really hungry some days with no time to eat so I just sent her a big box of granola/ fiber one and other things she can put in her bag to snack on until she can get food.
 


So I go in for tubes in my ears this coming Monday- fun. My daughter is doing ok this semester so far, she is all better from being ill. She has her first job interview on Monday for some pharmaceutical company- she would be working full time Jan-July. She can still live in her dorm/apartment on campus until the end of April which is good then she needs to find a sublet for May & June. The thing she is finding hard is Mon-Thurs she has classes and/or work study 10-6 with only 20 minutes between classes so she was saying she is really hungry some days with no time to eat so I just sent her a big box of granola/ fiber one and other things she can put in her bag to snack on until she can get food.

I hope you're doing better with the tubes in.

Anyone else's student have a fall break? My daughter will be home late tomorrow afternoon until Tuesday morning. The 2 of us are going into NY on Saturday and spending the night.

It'll be good to spend time with her. I did have an unexpected few days with her a few weeks ago when she was really sick with a kidney infection.

Hope everyone's students are having a good semester.
 
I hope you're doing better with the tubes in.

Anyone else's student have a fall break? My daughter will be home late tomorrow afternoon until Tuesday morning. The 2 of us are going into NY on Saturday and spending the night.

It'll be good to spend time with her. I did have an unexpected few days with her a few weeks ago when she was really sick with a kidney infection.

Hope everyone's students are having a good semester.

I wish- they postponed the surgery the Friday before I was supposed to get them! I have appt tomorrow at ENT so will see what they are going to do now. My daughter comes home tomorrow with her boyfriend for a few days- can't wait!

Oh and everyone remember- FAFSA opened on Oct 1st- got mine done already LOL
 


I wish- they postponed the surgery the Friday before I was supposed to get them! I have appt tomorrow at ENT so will see what they are going to do now. My daughter comes home tomorrow with her boyfriend for a few days- can't wait!

Oh and everyone remember- FAFSA opened on Oct 1st- got mine done already LOL

Ugh, that stinks about your surgery. Enjoy your time with your daughter. I have FAFSA on my list of things to do. It really is simple after the 1st year.
 
No fall break, no breaks at all really, between working 30 hours and taking 17 credits and a boyfriend. I think her work schedule is lighter the next couple of weeks though. She actually has a weekend day off this Sunday without asking for it! That never happens! Not sure if she'll come home or do something with boyfriend or if we'll go to her. I've been asking her to draw a Christmas card design- last year my boss used her design for our office card and paid her well for it. I know she's swamped but it would be a very profitable few hours.

She's ready to just have a full-time job as it will be easier than all this.
 
Two pieces of good news I got yesterday! Went to the ENT and my ear took care of itself and is no longer full of fluid so no need for tubes! Glad they postponed that surgery!!

Second- at my daughters college they do co-ops- so 2 or 3 times in their 5 years at the college they don't take classes for full semesters and they go to work in their fields. My daughter started interviewing for co-ops 2 weeks ago, she went on 4 so far and really liked one she went on best- she had a 11:00 interview with them yesterday and at 1:00 they called and offered her the position! She starts Jan 6th and it goes until July 1st. They offered her 23.00 an hour plus travel expenses and she accepted! She will be working in property, casualty and cyber risk management for a company in Boston. Her boyfriend graduates this year and is currently interviewing for full time jobs in Boston for after graduation.
 
Aprilgail - That is great news, how exciting for your DD! My DD goes to a co-op school as well, she is starting to explore her options. One of my co-workers Grandson's goes to a co-op in New Jersey, he is in his second 6 month gig, he makes enough to pay what his scholarship doesn't which will help greatly with his post graduate debt load.

Filed out taxes a little over a week ago - will wait another week or so, then get the FAFSA done.
 
Aprilgail - That is great news, how exciting for your DD! My DD goes to a co-op school as well, she is starting to explore her options. One of my co-workers Grandson's goes to a co-op in New Jersey, he is in his second 6 month gig, he makes enough to pay what his scholarship doesn't which will help greatly with his post graduate debt load.

Filed out taxes a little over a week ago - will wait another week or so, then get the FAFSA done.

Does she go on co-op this school year?
 
Does she go on co-op this school year?
No, she took a gap year so unlike the rest of your kids, she is only a Freshman - she is looking at shadowing her personal physician over the Christmas break, her adviser suggested it and is working out the details - this just came up today.
 
So excited. DH and I decided to take a long weekend to Anaheim in January. We will do supercross for him and Disneyland for me. I've never been to California. I just realized that school won't have started yet for DS. So we asked him to join us and he is excited to come. I haven't been to WDW with him since 8th grade so I'm thrilled.
 
Any tips on the FAFSA? This will be our first time filling it out.

Most of the info can be imported from your tax return which makes things easier. You'll need your bank and investment statements to enter that information. It's actually pretty easy. There are help bubbles if you it.
 
FAFSA This year I printed The form prior to filling it out online. I gathered all my numbers prior then I just plug them in and it was much easier . And I completed it on a laptop not my iPad . I needed to do tWo, and I used the IRS retrieval tool for myself and DD; DS I did not use the IRS retrieval tool I entered his information myself. I completed them both, each of them separately took me less than one hour each. And I wrote down the password for next year .

DD got a grant this year the school must of had extra money and she only got it because the FAFSA was done, is what I think.
 
You'll need to create a FAFSA id and password for your student and for yourself. Write them down and save them for next year!
I was just going to do the whole thing myself. Why do I need to create separate id's and passwords. I was going to enter the site as "the student" and go from there. Is there a section where I would have to log out of the student section and log in as the parent?
 

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