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What's everybody's opinion on a reasonable food budget for college kids? Neither of mine wants to take the meal plan this year because they'll be living off campus. I'm thinking $75.00/wk?
I think $75/week is low. College meal plans usually cost more than that. I'd calucate what a meal plan would cost per week by dividing the meal plan amount by the number of weeks in school. (Most meal plans I've found come out to $130 to $150 per week.) I'd start there to determine a fair weekly budget. You can still make it lower than what the meal plan would have cost but it will give you an idea of if you're going too low or too high.
Hopes, I am looking for info on laser therapy for dogs. Have you ever heard of it? Our Lab's xrays are inconclusive for a torn crutiate, and I really don't want the surgery if I can avoid it. She will be crazed if I have to keep her penned up for a couple of weeks afterwards. I'm glad your puppy made out well.
Instead of lazer surgery, I'd look for laproscopic surgery. That's what makes surgery less invasive more than if lazers are used or not.
We aren't keeping ours in a cage. We're letting him live his normal life inside---just restricting him to only going outside in the yard to do his business and then he's right back inside. He only has to severely limit his acitivity for 5 days---no stairs, no jumping. There's a high step into our back door, which he usually jumps into the house, so I'm picking him up when he's going back inside after his business. He's an old man so it's not too hard to keep him mellow though.
Even with minimally invasive surgery, I'm sure you'd still have to limit his activity for a period of time, maybe a couple of weekes. Heck, my husband wasn't allowed to take his arm out of a sling for 6 weeks after he had laproscopic lazer surgery on his shoulder.
Since you want surgery to be your last resort, have you looked into physical therapy?
75 only equals out to about $10 a day.
I would say $130-$150 would be pretty close to what they would need.
If you think about it they need a good balance of food they cook at home and then money so in case they are out and can't get home anytime soon and are hungry they can get something out.
I would say it all depends on what you want them to get out of it.....If you want them to be able to eat whatever/whenever and "out" without having to really think about it, then that's one thing. If you want them to have to weigh their budget carefully, learn to prepare some foods for themselves and that "going out" is done occasionally, when the budget allows, that's another thing.
I agree MM. I still think $75 is low even if they don't eat out. It's next to impossible to leave the store with a week's worth of groceries for one person for under $75 these days. Unless she wants them to live on an unhealthy diet of ramen noodles.
Thanks. I want them to learn how to budget! The meal plans at their colleges are great deals, because the food is unlimited. I offered to take them food shopping with me last week, so they could understand how it's done, but they both poo-poo'd the need.
I am not interested in leaving them enough money to eat out on a whim (or, to have beer $$). On the other hand, I don't want them trying to subsist on ramen noodles. Neither of them are into junk foods, so the biggest expenses will be fresh produce and dairy. Youngest can buy meat and chicken on campus, because his school has an agriculture college that butchers on Friday.
I think I will offer the $75/wk and wait till they make a case for more.
My experience has been that fresh produce isn't expensive when not buying processed food also. I used to think fresh produce was super expensive. When I stopped buying processed food, except for absolute necessities, I realized that fresh isn't really more expensive. When buying only fresh produce, dairy and meats, my grocery bill is unbelievably low. The real expense is when I start adding processed food to the cart. The real question is how much processed food do they eat since junk food isn't the only processed food.
Thanks. I want them to learn how to budget! The meal plans at their colleges are great deals, because the food is unlimited. I offered to take them food shopping with me last week, so they could understand how it's done, but they both poo-poo'd the need.
I am not interested in leaving them enough money to eat out on a whim (or, to have beer $$). On the other hand, I don't want them trying to subsist on ramen noodles. Neither of them are into junk foods, so the biggest expenses will be fresh produce and dairy. Youngest can buy meat and chicken on campus, because his school has an agriculture college that butchers on Friday.
I think I will offer the $75/wk and wait till they make a case for more.
Yeah, I think a couple of ramen meals never killed anybody, if they can't keep it around that level. I don't spend $150 a week for a kid and a contractor husband, I'm not sure what one college kid needs for $150.
Grocery stores are the last place I'd shop for produce on a budget, so if they can find a farmer's market or a discount produce place they'd be well ahead of it.
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