<p>I am a college student living with my parents right now and going to my state school (parents are paying tuition), but next year, I have a nice chance of getting a full-tuition scholarship from this one program at my school. I would really like to move out of my parents home because my parents are too controlling, don't let me volunteer, etc. </p>
<p>I am planning to live off campus, and take a "light" load of full time classes (just the 12 credits that is required), and I will still be able to graduate when I'm young, because of college classes I took in high school.
I will also have to work to pay for living expenses, so I am just wondering what is the bare minimum I would need to have for living expenses? I really don't want to work full-time, just part-time is fine.</p>
<p>I'm thinking something like this:
$400 rent a room off campus in the same apartment as another room mate (where everyone has their own room, but share an apartment). And I have looked online for the prices, and it's approximately $400 a month.
$150 a month on food. Will this be enough? I DO NOT EVER eat out, and do not care for eating out. I eat a full healthy diet, including meat. I do not want to be hungry, but I am perfectly happy with making food at home and taking a cold lunch to school every day. I don't want to waste money on eating out when I can eat a cold pizza that I made at home.
$30 a month phone bill. The one I have right now. Tmobile is pretty cheap.
$30 a month bus pass, and hopefully I will live somewhat close to campus, but off campus.
=$610 a month.</p>
<p>HOWEVER! What I have probably overlooked is health insurance. My university requires health insurance. Their plan is like $200 a month!!! That's a lot. :(
And also I would probably pay fees, since I'm not sure if they are covered in the full tuition thing. so that equals out to about another $100 a month.
Darn, that's $910 per month. </p>
<p>Am I missing something here? Or can I reduce some/any of these costs? Perhaps there's some sort of health insurance catch where I can reduce it or not pay for it? </p>
<p>And, what are your monthly expenses as a college student?</p>
<p>However, the classes I will be taking are really hard, there will be organic chemistry for pre-med, and some biology classes for bio major. The 12 credits will still be hard courses</p>
<p>Why don’t you go visit the area around campus, and check out the rentals in the area? And talk to real students who live in the area to get an idea of what things cost. Also, do you have people that you want to live with? </p>
<p>It is sometimes a very iffy proposition to go totally random with roomies–often those who don’t have people to live with, don’t have people to live with for a reason.</p>
<p>You also seem to have left out expenses such as utilities (electric and heat), internet/cable, a social life–many times students on campus have study groups and then do things together, and while most activities are relatively inexpensive, you should budget for them. Books? Lab Fees? photocopying? Laundry?</p>
<p>Another thing about getting an off campus lease–are you old enough to sign a lease legally? Depending on the state, the age is 18 or 21. Many landlords require a lessee to be at least 21 anyway. Also, do you have the credit score to qualify for a lease? If not, your parents will need to co-sign your lease for you.</p>
<p>If you figure that you will need at least $1200 / month, absolute minimum, realize that you will need to make at least $1500-1600 gross, because you will be having to pay taxes out of your gross paycheck.</p>
<p>What kind of job do you anticipate having, and what does it pay? How many hours will you need to work, and how many hours will the employer want you to work? And don’t you have all the other pre-med things to work on as well, like shadowing, research etc.?</p>
<p>Really, REALLY depends on your city. When I was at my UG, I was only paying $295/month but I lived with 3 other people. Where I’m currently in school, you can’t find much for under ~$700 even with sharing. </p>
<p>Food, again location-dependent. You can easily spend under $200/month though if you’re living in an average cost area. We spend ~$200/month for 2 people. </p>
<p>As for health insurance- do you qualify under your parents? Do you qualify to go through the Exchange? Where I live, $200 is pretty steep for a young person with basic insurance. Pre-subsidies, I am paying ~$100/month. </p>
<p>You’re forgetting basic necessities- textbooks, shampoo, soap, toiletpaper. These things REALLY add up.</p>
<p>As others have said, it really depends on your city.</p>
<p>$400/month in Columbia, SC (where I go in the states) would be totally find-able and could include utilities/cable/internet, while having your own room. In Paris, France (where I’m studying this year), I’m sharing a two bedroom apartment with three other girls. Everything is included, but I’m spending $816 a month (with today’s exchange rate). Basically double of what I’d be paying at home! Of course, I went from one of the cheapest places in the US to live to one of the most expensive cities in the world, so it’s quite an extreme.</p>
<p>Are you really opposed to taking out student loans? (There’s good reason to be, if you are.) That being said, it might be worth it to take out $1000-2000 a year just to cover things like textbooks and your medical insurance. At the end of three years (since you’ve already got a year down), then that’s only $3000-6000 in debt. While that’s a lot, it’s pretty manageable.</p>
<p>My Boston rent is $900-$1000 a month. But where I some from in WI, $400 is totally reasonable for student rent.</p>
<p>$200 a month for health insurance is about on par with what you would expect for young adults. (Historically, it has been closer to $100 for young males and $300 for females, but since insurers are not being allowed to discriminate by gender anymore, the $200 splits the middle.) If you can stay on your parents’ plan, though, that would be much cheaper. Otherwise, you could check the health insurance exchanges for your state and see what is available with Obamacare/Affordable Care Act. Because you are young, you might be eligible for a “Catastrophic Coverage Plan” which is much cheaper but will only cover major medical expenses. (Check if this would meet your university’s coverage requirements, though.)</p>
<p>For food, I don’t think the $150 estimate is too low. I kept track of all of my food expenses last year, and it came out to $26 per week, including eating out a few times. I mostly cooked my own food from scratch, though, which keeps costs low. This is about on par with what we spent on groceries at home - $100 a week for a family of 4. I thought food costs might be higher in Boston, but the difference was not as big as I expected. (Unsurprisingly, milk is significantly more expensive outside of WI…)</p>
<p>As other people have mentioned, there are other ongoing expenses like household supplies, laundry, and utilities to consider. You will also have universities fees and textbooks to worry about at the beginning of the semester.</p>