I used 529 money to pay for both tuition and room & board. Did you come to $30,856 by adding in room & board? I'm pretty sure that the only expense not covered by the 529 was the computer.
Last year, I was not working (my job moved several years ago to CO, but we did not), so we needed to pay for expenses only through money already saved. I am working now (although part time), so, for this year, we can reconsider a better tax strategy by using some of our money to pay expenses directly.
