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A look at student spending habits

November 17, 2014
<p>Civil engineering senior Khaled Alghafli pays for his coffee with his Flock Tag card on Nov. 16, 2014, at Espresso Royale, 527 E. Grand River Ave. in East Lansing. Alghafli was awarded a free coffee after he built up enough points on his card. Erin Hampton/The State News</p>

Civil engineering senior Khaled Alghafli pays for his coffee with his Flock Tag card on Nov. 16, 2014, at Espresso Royale, 527 E. Grand River Ave. in East Lansing. Alghafli was awarded a free coffee after he built up enough points on his card. Erin Hampton/The State News

Photo by Erin Hampton | The State News

Students at MSU come from different backgrounds and different financial standings.

Civil engineering senior Khaled Alghafli is from Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, which is near Dubai.

Alghafli said he would categorize himself as an average spender.

“At the beginning of the month, since I have money and get my salary, I spend a lot of money,” Alghafli said. “At the end, I’m like, ‘Oh, I should save that money.’”

Alghafli said he doesn’t go grocery shopping a lot because like most college students, he can’t find the time to.

“For lunch and dinner, I usually eat out,” he said.

Alghafli said he doesn’t drink alcohol, so not much of his money is spent on nights out, beyond a cover fee once in a while.

One thing Alghafli said he does is drive a lot.

“I bike in the summer and the first months of the fall, but now, no,” Alghafli said. “I’m not used to the weather.”

He said he saves some cash by parking in the lot near the International Center and like many other students, parks his car in the morning and takes advantage of the gate opening later at night.

“So I can leave my car there, study at the engineering building, which is across the street, and I can be done with everything at 9:30 p.m.,” Alghafli said.

As an international student, Alghafli said he only has a student visa and not a work visa, which restricts him from working off campus.

But the United Arab Emirates’ government, Alghafli said, pays for his school tuition and insurance and provides him with a monthly salary.

“I have a full-ride scholarship, so I don’t need to really work,” he said. “They give me a salary, a monthly salary, with the scholarship.”

Alghafli said the salary helps out with the fact that he doesn’t have a work visa.

Alghafli said the government gives him a ticket to travel home once a year, and if he had a family, his government would pay for his children and wife to live in the United States and increase his salary.

“The salary depends on the scholarship too,” Alghafli said. “Some scholarship salaries may not be high enough, so they have to be careful where they spend the money and try to save money, cook at the apartment and look for a good place to stay.”

Alghafli said like him, other students from countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia  also have government-funded scholarships.

The scholarships require students to maintain a certain level of academic standing.

“You have to have at least a 2.5 or 3.0 each semester, depending on the scholarship,” Alghafli said. “The number of people that want to go study overseas increased right now, so they have higher requirements.”

But Alghafli said as an international student, some everyday tasks can be difficult.

Making payments to the Board of Water and Light is among them, Alghafli said. 

“BWL  says you need a social security number to pay online,” Alghafli said. “So you would have to drive all the way there to pay each month, or you would have to submit an automatic payment.”

Alghafli said he chooses to go there to make an in-person payment.

“I mean, I don’t know when they are going to take the money because it’s automatic,” he said. “I may need the money and I have to make sure there’s enough in there.”

Although Alghafli said he is fortunate, he still has some of the same worries about payments and parking as other college students.

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