Forget The Freshman 15, Start Planning Now For Freshman 800
By Lynne Adkins
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Forget the freshman 15. It's the freshman 800 you need to worry about.
Freshmen will spend at least $800 the first year, according to a national back to college survey. That's on top of tuition and room and board.
David Gill a CPA with Haefele Flanagan and Company of Moorestown says students find they need cash for a number of things.
"For incidental items that you probably didn't think about. Items like clothes, dorm furnishings, food, drug store supplies, personal care items, book supplies, school supplies -- things of that nature."
Gill says, if your student has a summer job, it's a good time to start allocating money for the extras.
"It's a good opportunity to start the kids in budgeting to try and see how much they're going to need. Think about these things early and plan throughout the summer to raise this kind of money."
Parents and students should discuss if the student will be given money as needed or if the funds will always be available in a debit account.
