Living as a Poor Grad in Expensive, Social Cities (DC, NY, LA etc.)

[CML55]

So, like many, many others, I will be a poor grad student living in an expensive city this fall.

With or without funding, it might be diffiult to estimate what personal expenses may be in a different, more expensive city. The budget estimates schools provide are helpful, but who knows how much they are under or overestimated.

So, I think it'd be great to hear thoughts, plans, experiences from grads who actually live in expensive cities (DC, NY, LA, etc.) or who are looking to move soon ( Esp to DC! ) and need to keep expenses down.

There is a thread about living of stipends in general, () but a lot of the advice comes down to don't eat meat and never go out. While I have no problem with cutting out meat, some professions rely heavily on networking and socializing, so "never go out at all" is somewhat unrealistic.

There is of course forums topics for specific cities, but some have morphed into meandering conversations and make it hard to just find this specific type of info. So it would be great to hear some city specific money saving tips.

If you are so inclined, it would be helpful to later readers if you specified your city and perhaps estimated how much you pay (or plan to pay ) per category and any advice or insights for saving money.

Example:

City: DC

Total Monthly Budget: $3kish

Housing: 1500 for 1BR in Adams Morgan (1/2 of $3k shared with SO) + advice or insights

Food: 250/month + advice or insights (does DC have farmer's markets btw?)

Transportation: Metro, no car 200/month + advice or insights

Social/Entertainment: 150/month + advice or insights

Comments: (the specifics of this example are complete ballacks btw)

Please, keep it limited to big, expensive cities. Living in Cleveland on the cheap is not so much of an issue

Thanks!

[washdc]

You can do DC for less of a budget than that. I have a stipend of $1950, and I lived in Silver Spring by myself in a studio, commuted to classes in DC and shopped at Whole Foods for that price (for a full year) - plus I was still able to go out once or twice a month with friends. Granted, you're not going to be *saving* any money but it's doable.

For housing.. do you need a 3K/mo 1 bedroom in Adams Morgan? Which school are you going to that you're living in Adams Morgan? 3k/mo is pretty expensive.. you can find something much cheaper. I currently live in a 2 bedroom luxury apartment with a pool on the rooftop, indoor gym and 24/hr concierge downstairs for $2200 in Crystal City.

DC has many farmers markets.. there's one here in C City a couple times a month, Dupont has a weekly farmer's market on Sundays. I was spending more than $250/mo going to Whole Foods often, but I thought it was worth it.

Again, not sure where you're going to school.. and living in Adams Morgan in relation to your school for the metro - but $200 sounds about right. We don't have monthly metro passes, so you pay for each trip - metro fares will be going up this Summer.

Socially $150 works depending on where you go.. if you're into dive bars, 930 club, etc. then that works. You can even get cheap tickets at basketball games, etc (they sometimes have really good deals for $5 dollar tickets the day-of).

Let me know if you have any other questions on DC, I've been living here for three years.

[CML55]

If you are so inclined, it would be helpful to later readers if you specified your city and perhaps estimated how much you pay (or plan to pay ) per category and any advice or insights for saving money.

Example:

City: DC

Total Monthly Budget: $3kish

Housing: 1500 for 1BR in Adams Morgan (1/2 of $3k shared with SO) + advice or insights

Food: 250/month + advice or insights (does DC have farmer's markets btw?)

Transportation: Metro, no car 200/month + advice or insights

Social/Entertainment: 150/month + advice or insights

Comments: (the specifics of this example are complete ballacks btw)

Thanks for the tips!

As I said, the example wasn't a real budget

[washdc]

Ah okay, I thought you were giving an 'example' of your future situation.