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Old 09-12-2004, 05:33 PM   #13 (permalink)
amonkie
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Location: Windy City
Kudos to you guys for being responsible enough to think about stuff like this beforehand. A few suggestions:


Looking over your numbers, there seems to be a few places that some numbers didn't seem quite realistic. For example, gas = $80/ month. Especially with a camaro, unless gas prices are extremely low in San Jose, this seemed a little low to me. In order to prevent unpleasant surprises, I'd rather err on the side of caution when you're trying to budget. It's always more fun to have money left over than to be trying to scrape for some more.

One thing to think about is maybe trading in the camaro for a car that has lower insurance costs. The motorcycle is theoretically a good idea, but is that the only mode of transportation for the two of you? A car might be more feasible to handle all weather conditions, and especially things like getting groceries to and from places. Having a bicycle to use for local transportation might be good, as well as looking into taking a public bus at times.

The biggest thing I had to learn was what was a neccessity, and what is a luxury. Seeing your food allotment at $350/month, I remember back when I had $80 a month for food, and I made it stretch. For two people, that could be $150-160. Coupons, bulk, and creative cooking will be your friends. It is especially tempting to eat out when you're on a college campus, but make lunches and pack snacks with you, and resist the temptation to kiss the money goodbye. Don't be afraid to splurge every once in a while, but a splurge becomes a trip to McDonalds for a hamburger instead of Cheesecake Factory.

And I hate to say it since I love internet/cable tv too, but if you're close to a campus and can access internet from there, that might a place to cut some bucks as well. I type this as I suffer withdrawls from The Daily Show and Who's Line is it Anyway


I hope this gives you some ideas. I had my students under my care as an RA who were struggling to pay their bills, and these were some of the things I suggested to them as well.
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