Law School Budgets Forum

[Aroldis105]

I'm trying to figure out some of the estimated costs for law school and need a little help finding more exact numbers than what I've seen online. I know that most COL calculators are based on the loan amount you can take out and others may not be appropriately altered for lifestyle or location. I'm lucky enough to be attending a school where I'll be paying $0 for tuition and housing. I will however be paying for utilities, food, gas, and weed (i.e anything one may consume over the course of a year) and will be living in a large city. If any of you could post an estimate for even just one of these categories (if not all) then that would be most appreciated.
Gracias.

[Bronck]

I live in NYC, spend roughly $40-70 a month on utilities and internet, and give myself a budget of $500 for food and whatever else. The only time I ever get close to reaching the $500 limit is when I buy clothes, but I'm usually well below it.

[eric922]

I live in NYC, spend roughly $40-70 a month on utilities and internet, and give myself a budget of $500 for food and whatever else. The only time I ever get close to reaching the $500 limit is when I buy clothes, but I'm usually well below it.

40-70$ that's cheaper than you'd pay here. I always expected NYC to be much worse, but maybe it's only the rent that's a killer, which the OP doesn't have to worry about.

[Bronck]

I live in NYC, spend roughly $40-70 a month on utilities and internet, and give myself a budget of $500 for food and whatever else. The only time I ever get close to reaching the $500 limit is when I buy clothes, but I'm usually well below it.

40-70$ that's cheaper than you'd pay here. I always expected NYC to be much worse, but maybe it's only the rent that's a killer, which the OP doesn't have to worry about.

Part of it is because I split 50-50 with my roommate, but it's not that unreasonable here. If you're alone, TW internet is around $40/month (for 2.5mb/s dload speeds) and gas is at 23c per kWh or something like that.

ETA: I don't use any sort of heating in the winter (it's warm enough in the apartment w/o it) and don't use AC in the summer (I just use a fan).

[Aroldis105]

Thanks for taking time out of your day to help me out.
Is $250 a month too low of a food budget if it is spent on groceries and not restaurants, froyo, and alch?

[kay2016]

I feel like its hard to tell what your food budget to be.. Do you eat organic? Lots of meat? Do you cook a lot and make leftovers? Do you do like frozen/oven/microwave meals? But you have several months to start paying attention and plan accordingly.

Just note with budgets.. If you're unsure about how much you will spend, overestimate. Budgets won't work if you constantly are going over because of underestimates.

So if you never eat out or go out or drink, fine. But if you do from time to time, account for it.

Also, depending on your current wardrobe you may need to acquire some professional attire in the next year or so, and that's an extra expense too.. Hth

[Bronck]

Agreed; overestimate from the beginning. You can always adjust.

I probably spend around $200 on groceries, but the law school provides free lunches nearly every day, so that's a meal I never have to account for.

[Lacepiece23]

Agreed; overestimate from the beginning. You can always adjust.

I probably spend around $200 on groceries, but the law school provides free lunches nearly every day, so that's a meal I never have to account for.

damn I've gotten maybe 2 free lunches the entire time I've been here.

[sublime]

..

[Tiago Splitter]

Somewhat related question, if you underestimate and had turned down loans, can you still get them if you run out of money. And how hard is that process? The example I am thinking of is that if I try to stay with just Stafford and can't quite make it, can I still grab offerred grad plus loans later in the semester? What about summer? Should I take enough loans and save to cover summer just in case? Thanks

Getting more money during the semester is easy. You can't get extra for the summer unless you are taking summer classes. If you aren't going to take summer classes (not even an option at my school) you should make sure you take enough during second semester to get you through to the fall.

[sublime]

..

[pinkyandthebrain]

Somewhat related question, if you underestimate and had turned down loans, can you still get them if you run out of money. And how hard is that process? The example I am thinking of is that if I try to stay with just Stafford and can't quite make it, can I still grab offerred grad plus loans later in the semester? What about summer? Should I take enough loans and save to cover summer just in case? Thanks

Getting more money during the semester is easy. You can't get extra for the summer unless you are taking summer classes. If you aren't going to take summer classes (not even an option at my school) you should make sure you take enough during second semester to get you through to the fall.

Thanks for the information!

check with your school financial aid office first. I know my school told us we wouldn't be able to once a semester started, I don't know how much they enforce that though as I never tried.