Comments on: If I Could Do It All Over Again: Advising Myself At Age Eighteen

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:21:57 +0000

And meal plans are expensive, which you must have to live on campus. The cheapest one is about 10 meals per week, over $2000 per semester. The meals “reset” at the end of the week, so if you don’t use all 10 in one week, they do NOT “rollover,” they are lost forever. And when you eat a more convenient lunch off campus or go out to eat and miss a meal, the price is actually the $5 sandwich you bought PLUS the ~$20 per meal that you skipped

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:18:43 +0000

And also, might I add about subletting a room in a fraternity:

It is an excellent, excellent option. My aforementioned friend actually did it. It’s actually one of the “lamer” houses where there’s little drinking or parties, and they had a tough recruitment season, and less income from people living in the house. The housing contracts are for the SEMESTER. Which is excellent because EVERY APARTMENT LEASE YOU WILL FIND is by the year, not by the semester, meaning that if you want your money’s worth you have to get subletters or live in your apartment over the summer. Not always a viable option, but definitely something to consider

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 22 May 2009 03:13:07 +0000

I disagree with the living off-campus bit. In my college town, there are expensive luxury apartments for richer students right by all the bars/nightlife, but the vast majority of off-campus apartments end up being cheaper than the dorms ($1000-2000 cheaper if you live with 2-5 other friends). And of course, you’re still in school, so unless you have horrendous social skills you can save money by getting an apartment with these friends.

As for transportation, my college is on a hill, and there is considerable off-campus housing that is still on this hill-walking to class from most apartments is actually a shorter walk from where the inconveniently located freshman dorms are.

Many fraternity houses are considerably cheaper than dorm living, but this also depends on how much you pay in dues. Some fraternities have bad recruitment years and sublet rooms to random students so they can pay their overhead during the school year. Yeah, yeah, there are all sorts of stigmas about fraternities, but they’re not all Animal Houses, and a friend of mine is living in one for around $450 a month, utilities included, plus he doesn’t pay dues because he is not a brother in the house.

Depends on the campus though. I personally would not recommend living in a dorm past sophomore year (unless your school offers special upperclassmen apartment-style dorms). Sure, it’s great that the bathrooms are cleaned for you in dorms, but there are those tedious RAs, and you can oftentimes find quieter, larger, and at the same time cheaper places to live.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:19:43 +0000

Okay… this post is old. But I just had to add…

I completely support the idea of never paying more than half your last paycheck for an item of clothing. My wedding dress didn’t even cost $300… why on earth would I need jeans or a jacket that did?

By: LC

LC — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:00:14 +0000

Another thing to consider about the dorms are most require you to buy the college’s meal plan for 15-20 meals a week, which are overcharged to begin with but even more so when you skip breakfast, go out to eat, etc. So if your room and board are not part of your scholarship (which I think was the reason Trent mentioned that), consider all costs (housing, utilities, food, etc) and compare. If they are similar, go with the most convenient/desirable for you.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 30 May 2007 22:20:45 +0000

Trent, your advice is appreciated but never, EVER regret the the decision to buy a giant poster of Hulk Hogan. Some things are more important than money. :)

By: SavingDiva

SavingDiva — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 18:15:23 +0000

Great post! I wish I would have taken your advice when I was in college. I escaped without loans, but I did have credit card debt and NO savings. This should be posted in every freshman dorm around the country.

By: lorax

lorax — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 15:22:30 +0000

I think these are good rules of thumb, but this one was not true for me:

> Live in the dorms for as long as possible

First, the dorms were a party house compared with off-campus apartments. Second, it cost more for me to live in the dorms vs a shared apartment. Third, I got exercise walking to school. (There was sometimes the slight matter of having to avoid getting mugged, but that was true on-campus too.)

Anyway, a cost-benefit analysis is needed.

By: Everybody Loves Your Money » Blog Archive » Carnival Of Personal Finance #75

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 03:29:31 +0000

[...] Trent @ The Simple Dollar does what we’ve all done: Tells his younger self how to be smart at a young age [...]

By: moneysmartlife

moneysmartlife — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 07:03:53 +0000

Sorry, couldn’t resist. Seriously, what I’d recommend is finding a financial mentor. Someone to keep you honest about money, remind you why we should do the things listed above, and to take your finance questions to.

By: moneysmartlife

moneysmartlife — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 07:02:34 +0000

I’d recommend starting a web company out of your dorm room and selling it to a big corporation for millions.