k W, W ,-: . "W w w U VWdnsay Nvmbr14w21 / wh Saemn WenedyNvebe 4,212// h5Saemn ddd a U s1,400 14,0ro CS OfcoffeSold perWeek ranscton pr ee By Lucy Perkins 700 $21,281 Sandwiches sold per week Weekly revenue l r Phone -$79/month Housing - $1,209 - $2,490/month Transportation - $320/month. Food - $150/month Cable + Internet - $69.99/month Student Loan Payments - $220/month floor-to-ceiling American flag constructed entirely bubble withot of red, white and blue beer cans in the window of said. an apartment on South Forest Avenue gives pass- At some poi ersby a visual representation of how much money its insulated by sc occupants have spent on alcohol. The questio At Urban Outfitters, the cash register rings up the mul- ing habits? Ho ticolored purchases of a thin, long-haired beauty: $249.41. splurge? After A less eye-catching college expense sits on a shelf in the independence] pantry of a house: marijuana. While most housemates tend our parents do to split the monthly bill when it comes to heat, electricity we spend? and Internet, these six housemates incorporate weed into their monthly bill, buying anywhere between $40 and $80 worth of marijuana every month for the house's enjoy- ment. On a Tuesda According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Lindsay Podsi Expenditure Survey, a survey that provides information table, calculati on consumers' spending habits, people in their 20s spend "The only r a disproportionate amount of their income on food and convenient," sr alcohol. College-aged students spend just over 7 percent of Podsiadlik their income on eating out and 1.5 percent of their income but that night, on alcohol. In comparison, people aged 45 to 54 spend 3.8 stand in line at percent of their income on eating out and .6 percent of at Buffalo Wil their income on alcohol, according to the survey. fun weekly rit College acts as a time to put aside adult concerns. For Podsiadliks those of us who grew up in the middle class, our parents to eat comes fr will give us money if we need help, whether that be in the how she spend form of rent, utilities, cell phone bills, transportation or Last month groceries. And because we're still dependent on our par- spent their mo ents financially, our bank accounts are rarely empty. their daily dan According to Rackham student Jia Tolentino, a writer money was sp for the finance website The Billfold, in these four years of times a week b our undergraduate studies, we're able to almost exclusive- ry of a meal pl ly devote our time to doing well in school and having fun. out as often be "But though that should be treasured, it is a pre-adult the weekends People under 25 spendI.5x more of their income on going out to eat than people 25-34. People under 25 spend 1.7X more of their income on alcohol than people 25-34. ut real-world responsibilities," Tolentino nt, that bubble will pop. We'll no longer be holarships and constant parental support. on is: How will that influence our spend- w do we limit ourselves, and where do we college is over and reality strikes, financial kicks in. Even if we make less money than will we shift our responsibilities in the way We need to eat, right? ay night at Chipotle, Engineering freshman adlik focused on a steaming burrito at a ng her next bite with precision. eason I'm eating out today is because it's he said. loesn't usually eat out during the week, meetings and classes made her too busy to t the North Quad Dining Hall. She also eats d Wings with friends every Thursday as a ual. said the money she uses when she goes out om her summer job, and she's careful about s it. , I asked four students to tell me how they ney every day for a week. As they reported sage, the same trends occurred: most of the ent on food. The two seniors ate out four ecause of convenience, not having the luxu- an. And though the two freshmen didn't eat ecause they lived in the residence halls, on they would spend between $15 and $20 on food. Less often, but more money per meal. Engineering freshman Gregorio Lopez depends almost entirely on scholarships, so most of his tuition and room and board is paid for. LSA junior Zach Weber said most of his money came from a trust fund his parents set up when he was born, so his tuition is also taken care of. The only expense that these students were responsible for was what they ate from day to day. My situation is similar, in that the bank account I use to pay for rent, tuition and food is partially supported by my parents. Though I've had a job since I was 14 and I saved most of my income for college, my parents cover what my savings and current income don't. Like the four students I interviewed, I also spend the majority of my money on edibles: groceries, a lot of cof- fee, alcohol and going out to eat with friends. On average, I spend about $70 a week: $40 on groceries, $20 on coffee and $10 when I go out to eat with friends. For me, food is easy to justify as a necessary cost because when I'm busy and don't have time to cook, I still need to eat. But the problem with monitoring my own spending comes from the fact that my debit cards draw from a pool of money thatisn'tentirely my own. If I am tight on money, my parents will help me out. For instance, I bought coffee four out of five weekdays the first week of November, which equaled the amount I spent on food when Iate out. Though I treated myself more often than I should have, I justified the cost by saying that this week sucked. But if I were responsible for all of the costs associated with being financially independent - that is, monthly rent and utilities, cell phone bills, loan repay- ments, car insurance, gas and food - I wonder whether I would have made the same financial decisions as I did. The Middle Class Snack Kid Some of the smallest things we buy end up costing us more money than we anticipate. Bert's Cafe in the UGLi processes more than 2,000 transactions each day, which includes 250 cups of coffee and 130 sandwiches per day. We, as students, give Bert's a weekly revenue of more than $21,000 a week - on coffee and bagels and sandwiches. Beanster's locations in Pierpont Commons and the Michigan League each rake in between $5,500 and $8,000 per week. Try to think of how you spent your last $100. It goes away quickly. Over the last few weeks, I spent my last hun- dred dollars on a ticket to the IASA show, some groceries, a dinner out and gas. It's easyto rationalize what we buy, excusing purchases with phrases like, "Well, I need to eat" or, as Podsiadlik said, she just didn't have enough time. When I have free time, any social activity usually involves money, too - the bars, restaurants, movies. It's unavoidable. In an article in The Billfold, Lindsay Katai called this type of thinking the "Middle Class Snack Kid" mentality. "'Middle Class Snack Kid' is a term I made up for people who do not spend a lot on themselves on the whole, but are running themselves into the ground buying food and drink," Katai wrote. "As a friend once put it, I am D.T.H. - Down to Hang. And for me, hanging means snacking." Lamenting her undying love for snack food, Katai admitted that the reason she was living paycheck to pay- check was because she was spending all her money on Kettle Chips and packaged cookies. See SNACKER, Page 6B >eople under 25 spend1.7x more of their incom on going out to eat than people 35-44. People under 25 spend 2.4x more of their income on alcohol than people 35-44. People under 25 spend1.9X rorc of th on going out to eat than pop 4554. :ome People under 2$ spend 2.4x more of thei income on alcohol than people 45-54. Total Cost of Living $1,867 - $3,458/month sc~~c vs~csW~ui:ti.tItj :UNG:E, <