How do you estimate living expenses for financial aid/loans?

[MWU2015]

Hello everyone - I was recently accepted into school and will be starting next year. I know FAFSA is open come January and I am going to be assessing living arrangments as well. How do you know what you will be able to afford being that we will not be working? Aside from aid that the government is giving you...do you simply apply for a certain dollar amount from gradplus or private loans to cover whatever your living expenses are? If my living expenses are $1200 a month and I ask for that amount is it guaranteed? I am trying to figure out what I can afford and what kind of lease I can sign soon. Loans are all new to me and google research I have found to be convoluted. Advice straight from current students would be most helpful. Thank you.

[bradyg007]

My understand is that your schools financial aid office will give you a COA amount. Cost Of Attendance includes tuition plus living expenses etc. but I don't think they give you it until FAFSA starts and all that. I'm in the same boat. I know him much my program is but don't how much more I can ask for. It's the schools choice what living expenses are so hopefully they allow 1200+ as I'm in the same boat

[just_me]

It's the other way around. You dont say "hey I added up all my bills and I need 2k a month to survive", your school creates a budget based on local cost of living/tuition/fees/insurance etc and you have to make your expenses fit within that budget; your program or financial aid website should have all estimated expenses (i.e. living, books, tuition, fees etc.).

 

So lets say your program (based on local cost of living standards) says that you should be budgeted 9k for the semester for living expenses, well you have 9k to work with and you have to make it work. I usually pay my expenses for the semester and the first month of the next semester (ex. aug to jan = 6 mos) so if I have that budget then I have 1500 a month to work with. If you dont have a ton of bills then you can do it....its the people who have a mortgage/two car payments/several credit card bills etc that have the most trouble.

 

Now you get a little extra money here and there... like if you are given a 1500 dollar budget for books but you spend 400 well now you have an extra 1100. There are also ways to get increases to your budget to cover certain expenses (you have to talk to the fin aid department to find out what they will consider) but credit card payments and all that stuff is usually not considered.

[Ducky]

I would imagine living expenses could vary quite a bit, even with non-discretionary items. Monthly car payments for example--I don't currently have a car payment but most people do. Or renting a room vs. having roommates vs. living on your own. What if an older student had a house they couldn't sell but had to move to go to school? That seems likely in the current housing market, but it shouldn't prevent them from going away to school. Is there no variability allowed in living expenses?

 

And I have another question about financial aid/FASFA: I'm assuming you have to know which program you will be attending before starting your FASFA, correct? I'm about 95% sure, but I do have a couple more interviews scheduled.

[just_me]

Doesnt matter how much your living expenses vary.....they have to fit within the budget that the school sets for you or your need to find extra money elsewhere. If the budget the school sets works out to 1500 a month but your true expenses are 2000 a month then you need to make up the extra 500 somewhere else either witha personal loan/credit cards/borrow money/have a spouse work to make up the difference etc.

 

No you dont need to know where you are going before you fill out the FASFA.....you can complete it without out listing a single school. Once you know where you are going you go back and add them so they get a copy of your SAR and they process you from there.

[mackjacks]

Also...You probably don't get the money in your bank account until the first or second week of school (at least I don't) so you need to budget to have some backup/safety net money. For example, my rent is due Jan 1st but I will not get my winter loans until the 2nd week of Jan, so I had to make sure I had enough saved from my personal emergency savings/fall loans to cover this. And when you graduate it will take some time to take PANCE, get scores, get job and everything so make sure you have enough extra for living expenses during that time.