Ten free tools · No sign-up · Nothing to install
The money math of living on your own, done for you
Dorm or apartment, what rent you can afford, splitting bills with roommates, getting your deposit back, meal plans, textbooks, work hours, loan interest, and the grade you need on the final. Quick answers, worked out in a browser tab.
Ramen Ledger is a set of ten free calculators for college students handling their own money for the first time: the first lease, the first utility bill, the first time a loan statement shows interest you didn’t know was building up.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or saved, and there’s no account to create. Where a tool relies on outside figures (a state’s deposit law, the federal loan rate, USDA food costs, minimum wages), it tells you the source and the date it was checked.
It’s general information, not financial or legal advice. Use it to get a fast, honest starting number, then confirm anything important with your school, landlord or lender.
5 tools
Housing
Where to live, what you can afford, and how to get your money back when you leave.
Dorm vs. Off-Campus Cost Comparator
The real yearly cost of each, side by side: rent, utilities, food, commute, and the summer months a 12-month lease still charges you for.
Compare the two →First Apartment Budget Calculator
Rent against the 30% guideline using job pay, financial aid and family support, plus the move-in cash first-time renters forget.
Check the rent →Roommate Bill Splitter
Split rent or any bill evenly, by bedroom size, or with a private-bath adjustment, to the exact cent and ready for the group chat.
Split a bill →Renter’s Insurance Estimator
A realistic monthly range from national NAIC premium data, what a policy covers, and whether your lease will require one.
Estimate the cost →Security Deposit Calculator (Tenant Edition)
Your state’s deadline for returning your deposit, whether it was over the legal cap, and what you can do if the landlord is late. All 50 states + DC.
Find my deadline →4 tools
Money
The recurring costs of a semester, and what it takes to pay for them.
Meal Plan Cost-Per-Meal Calculator
What each swipe really costs once you count dining dollars and meals you won’t use, compared with cooking at USDA food-cost levels.
Price my meals →Textbook Buy vs. Rent Calculator
Which is cheaper once resale value is counted, and the break-even resale price for every book on your list.
Compare books →Work Hours Needed Calculator
Hours per week and per month to pay for a goal after taxes, with every state’s 2026 minimum wage built in.
Count the hours →Student Loan Interest Calculator
How much interest builds up before you graduate, subsidized vs. unsubsidized, at the 2026–27 federal rate or any rate you enter.
Show the interest →1 tool
Academic
Because your grades protect your financial aid too.
How the tools connect
Each calculator ends by pointing you to the one that usually comes next, using the numbers you just entered: from choosing dorm or apartment, to checking the rent against your income, splitting it with roommates, insuring your things, and getting your deposit back, then through the semester’s meals, books, work hours and loans, to the final exam, and back around to next year’s housing.