Starting school in less than a month and I have 2 money questions

[PocketRocket]

1) There seems to be a ~$250 discrepancy between the DL money I received and the money that was applied to my account. I was not told about a service fee and I imagine that that's what it went towards. Is this usually the case? I don't care if there was a charge I just would like to know about it.

2) Food! Approximately how much should I expect to spend on food annually? Has anyone kept track of their spending? I would like to know how much of the PLUS loans I received I can expect to return back.

Thank you!

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[pilotdentist]

Pay for the food money with all your NL Holdem winnings! Haha, jk. GL this school year.

(I can't answer your question as I have a family and a different budget)


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[PocketRocket]

Lol the 3000$ I've grinded up playing online micros I blew in one shot on my exotic 8 night vaca for two. Worth it

 

[whaleofatale]

1) There seems to be a ~$250 discrepancy between the DL money I received and the money that was applied to my account. I was not told about a service fee and I imagine that that's what it went towards. Is this usually the case? I don't care if there was a charge I just would like to know about it.

2) Food! Approximately how much should I expect to spend on food annually? Has anyone kept track of their spending? I would like to know how much of the PLUS loans I received I can expect to return back.

Thank you!

1) Origination fee charged at the time of disbursement. This fee is 1.068% on the Direct Unsubsidized and 4.272% on the Direct GRad PLUS Loan.

2) Your school should have a monthly budget set up for financial aid applicants. This budget will include suggestions on how much you should be spending on food. This is going to vary wildly by school and location. In a major metropolitan area you can probably expect to spend anywhere between $200-$400/month on food depending on your shopping habits and how much you eat out.

 

[PocketRocket]

Thank you @whaleofatale !

 

[txaggie03]

If you haven't already, look into a free budgeting and spending tool like Mint (www.mint.com).

If you are responsible with your credit cards, put everything on them, and pay the full balance each cycle. Doing this will help you keep track of spending because the credit card account will automatically populate the Mint database.

Mint is great for watching your trends, and showing you how much cutting spending in certain aspects of your full budget can really help long term.

 

[PocketRocket]

I have not heard of mint but it sounds very useful. Thanks for the tip!