How can a grad feed and shelter himself?

[hoviariel]

I'm not a grad yet (still in the waiting period), but I'm a bit worried as to how I can manage working as a RA/TA+studying while also taking care of my nutrition and housing needs with a stipend that a lot of people say is the cheapest salary you can get.

Any advice or warnings?

[GradApplicant201420]

Hmm, this is a question that plagues most grad students. The very first thing you should do is create a balance sheet in Excel and plan out how much money is going to be incoming (underestimate) and outgoing (overestimate). This will give you a good idea of whether you'll be in the red every month or have a little bit left over.

 

Regarding food--learn to get by on cheap foods. This includes the notorious ramen, delicious canned tuna and soups, and scrumptious lunch meat sandwiches. All sarcasm aside, you can treat yourself to a nice meal every now and again. Just don't make this a habit. If you know how to cook, great. If you don't, learn how to cook cheap and easy meals like hamburger helper, spaghetti, chicken breasts, etc. Of course, cook for more than one meal. Invest in some tupperware and store leftover food in the fridge. Today's dinner can also be tomorrow's lunch.

 

Stay on top of your monthly bills. That is, plan well ahead of time--months, even a year, if possible--so you don't find yourself one day asking, "Gee, how am I going to afford this month's X,Y,Z payments?" If you DO encounter this situation, know that there are ways that you can get help. Donate blood plasma, ask your parents (I know), ask your school's financial department (if your school was as helpful as mine, you can count this out), and ask to delay your payments. 

 

I gotta get going, but I will help with more tips when I have more time and when I can think of ones that are helpful.

Edited January 24, 2014 by GradApplicant201420

[ANDS!]

With money.

 

With that out of the way, get a roommate, embrace public transportation, learn how to cook for yourself, and buy used if you need anything.

 

As for eating Ramen Noodles and canned tuna. . .no thanks.  Getting GOOD nutrition is an important part of making sure you don't crash and burn.  I eat Ramen Noodles when I'm feeling lazy and want a snack, never as a long term option.

[TakeruK]

I agree with the spreadsheet thing. I get paid a small amount of my stipend monthly, but the majority of my money comes in two lump sum payments, in September and in April. This means I have to make the big chunk of money I get in September last for 7 months, basically!! I find that making an annual budget for myself is helpful in understanding how much money I am able to actually spend on certain things (necessities as well as treats for myself) and it does reduce the amount of stress--instead of worrying about whether or not I have enough money for the next few months of rent and food, I have data that tells me it's all okay!

 

What I did when looking at PhD offers was make a spreadsheet that started with the annual stipend offered, then I had lines listing the large expected expenses. I researched the rent market to figure out average housing cost (by far your biggest expense, I think), and then I estimated food costs based on my previous annual budgets. Sure, cost of food varies from place to place, but unless you live in an extremely expensive location, even like a 10% price difference normally only amounts to a couple hundred of dollars per year. I also included other big ticket expenses, like health insurance and if applicable, auto insurance. This can help you determine if the stipend offered at University X in City Y is actually livable or not, and can help you compare two offers from two different cost of living areas.

 

I agree that cooking for yourself, and cooking healthy is really important to save money. I spend about $200 per month per person (there's two of us) on groceries and I cook most of our meals. We can easily feed ourselves on real food at this cost and this works out to something like $2/meal/person. When I look at it this way, I see that going out for dinner can easily cost something like $15-$20 for a meal per person, which is like 7-10 times more expensive than cooking at home! I also have a budget for occasional eating out and social activities with friends of course, but I wanted to point out that cooking for yourself is really inexpensive, even if you get real food and not ramen. If you eat crap like ramen all the time, you might be able to scrape it down to $1/meal/person and maybe this might be necessary over time, but in my opinion, I would rather sacrifice my eating out budget in order to save the extra $1/meal/person to get real food instead of ramen. I also strongly endorse the "cook enough for extra meals" and eating yesterday's dinner as today's lunch is a great plan.

 

Also, I think it's really important to work some kind of "splurge" into your budget, based on your income, even if it's only a small amount. In our first year of living together, my spouse and I realised that when we kept really strict budgets for ourselves, we would be okay for a few months, but then if we ever got a chance to treat ourselves for some reason, we would overdo it and actually spend more money than if we had allowed ourselves small but regular rewards/treats. 

[hoviariel]

Awesome advice.

But for the 'housing' issue, aren't dorms a better alternative to rent?

[rising_star]

Re: dorms. It depends. At my PhD university, on-campus housing in the grad student apartments was like $550/month to live in a place with 3 other roommates and shared common areas. I lived off campus my first year, a mile away, in a house with two other people and spent $450/month. (Both amounts, btw, include all utilities and internet, though no phone service at the off campus place. Then again, parking on campus was another $700 so I would've had to either pay that or get rid of my car.) So, in my case, the dorms weren't cheaper than renting. I did have to buy a bed, dresser, and desk, but, since I spent less than $1200 on all 3 and didn't have to pay for parking, I came out ahead financially by not living in the campus housing.

[hoviariel]

I'm gonna ask a very noob-ish question: does anyone know a grad-student-oriented database for comparing between two cities' living standards/expensiveness or to collect healthy grad-student-friendly recipes and grocery lists?

[GradApplicant201420]

I'm gonna ask a very noob-ish question: does anyone know a grad-student-oriented database for comparing between two cities' living standards/expensiveness or to collect healthy grad-student-friendly recipes and grocery lists?

 

Not a bad question. Here is a calc to help you compare two cities: http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

 

As far as grad-friendly recipes, I would do a little Googling into cheap and inexpensive meals to prepare.

Edited January 24, 2014 by GradApplicant201420

[rising_star]

A few links to get you started.

 

Money:

 

 

 

Food:

[TakeruK]

For housing in dorms vs. off-campus, you should talk to current graduate students and get their thoughts. I visited a few places and the differences are pretty vast. At my current program, on campus housing is usually much cheaper than the market rate off-campus. My campus also has "off-campus", but University-owned apartment buildings (some furnished, some unfurnished) that are rented out to students at a subsidized rate. At other schools I visited, the off-campus market rates are so cheap that grad students own their own homes.

 

For cost-of-living comparison, I found that standard cost of living calculators are useful to get a general feel but they don't always provide the most useful information. I think these cost-of-living metrics include a lot of things that the average graduate student would not care about (e.g. property taxes). Our biggest expenses are probably going to be rent, food and health insurance, with rent really dominating. I think the CNN link above is handy to compare two stipend offers quickly, though.

 

However, I would recommend using something like padmapper and scoping out the actual rent market prices for the types of place you want to live and the area you want to live in. Maybe the nice area you like near campus is some weird region that is much different than the averages used in these cost of living calculators. So, I would really figure out how much rent would cost, subtract that off your stipend offer, subtract costs of health insurance (some schools subsidize a lot more) and then see if what's left over is enough to pay for everything else. At this point, for most students, the cost of everything else--food, phone, Internet etc. will all be pretty much the same from city to city and will depend more on each person's usage/needs than the location, I think.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

No offense, but that one poster gave you horrible food advice. If you want to eat cheap and healthy do pretty much the opposite of what that person said. You can probably get by on $200-$300 a month on food and be healthy and nourished. This will require cooking and preparing your own meals. There's nothing less healthy than eating Ramen noodles regularly. And hamburger meat and canned tuna get expensive. I'd recommend investing in a super blender. You can get a NutriBullet for $100. You can get the most out of your fruits and vegetables. It breaks through the cell walls of the plant and lets you consume everything without throwing away parts you would if you eat it by hand or cook it. For meats and protein, it's expensive so try to limit it, but you can get frozen chicken breast and cheaper fish like tilapia for a few bucks a pound. There is cheap meat like liver and pig's feet, if that's what you're into, but it's not very healthy or tasty. Limit the amount of milk you consume, but milk and healthy cereal is always a great breakfast.

As far as where to live, I'm a big advocate of renting a room from someone you find on Craigslist. Anyone can sell on Craigslist and they can sell anything (they used to sell sex before it got banned), so just be smart and careful. But it's easier to find legitimate housing in college towns/cities. Go with renting a room in a house or apartment. Renting your own apartment is very expensive. Just rent a room. Also, I wouldn't recommend living in the dorms. Most people I know who live in dorms pay way too much money. It's usually 2 or 3 times what you would pay if you found something off campus. Plus, many dorms are very limited. It's a small room with no kitchen or bathroom that you have to share with multiple people. No privacy, no amenities, no luxuries.

And then just take advantage of things that you can get for free or cheap. If you don't have the money, don't buy the most expensive phone on the market. There are many cheap or free smart phones. Don't get the unlimited 4G service for $70-$100 a month. Get the limited 3G service for half that. Don't waste money on an overpriced gym membership. You should have free access to your school's gym. If you don't have money, don't get a car if you don't need to. Take the bus, ride a bike, walk, catch a ride, carpool, etc. Car payments, insurance, gas, maintenance can be over a thousand bucks a month. And if you're concerned about health and fitness, you should have nothing to worry about. If you eat right and bike or walk everywhere you need to go, you won't even need to go to the gym.

[danieleWrites]

What Gnome said, with an added caveat. Anything you can put meat in, you can put beans in. If you make tacos, replace half or more of the beef with a can of beans. It's cheaper if you use dried beans and stick them in containers yourself. Find the discount grocers in the area, like Aldi or Save-a-Lot. Though Aldi's prices have gone up since they put in the card machines. It used to be cash only.

Eat healthy, period. It's cheaper to eat well than to get over being sick. Drink mostly water (not only cheap, but good for you). If you can, get or bring a bicycle. If not, walk. Invest in a good pair of shoes for walking around in. Make sure you have a good coat and jacket if you're going somewhere that it might be cool. I'm officially in the South and it's butt-hurt cold out right now.

If you TA, don't cultivate a "professor" look. It costs too much.

[juilletmercredi]

I totally agree that you don't have to live on ramen and Hamburger Helper as a grad student...ugh.  I do eat ramen but only occasionally.  You can get inexpensive food options and cook them.

One of the things I decided as a grad student was that the stipend they paid me was not enough to live the way I wanted, so I got an addition part-time job.  I've been doing something on top of grad school since my third year when I finished coursework and had the time.  This has the added benefit of giving me non-academic skills to take into the non-academic workplace should I choose to go that route.  I've TA'ed courses for more money, worked an as intern for a market-research firm, worked as a hall director in the office of residential life, worked as a statistical consultant, and worked as a student tutoring assistant in the library.  If you live in or near a big city, there may be lots of part-time jobs that you can do for 10-15 hours a week to make a little extra cash on the side.  Some of them may be office work that will give you useful skills and experience to talk about should you choose to seach for a non-academic job.

The other half of this is to be frugal.

-Some people budget every dollar that leave the wallet.  I neither have time nor interest in doing this.  What I do is budget for essentials.  $X for rent, $X for utilities and phone, $X for food and $X for other essential bills that have to get paid every month.  I set those aside in a separate account.  The rest is mine to spend however I want.  So some months I may decide to spend, I don't know, $100 on coffee and $0 on movies, whereas other months I spend $150 on clothes and $30 on coffee.  But be cognizant of what you are spending and know where you need to cut back.

-Do free and cheap things.  I live in NYC.  I have yet to see a Broadway play, the NYC Ballet, the opera, etc. because they all cost lots of money.  I would like to do those things, but I'd rather eat good food.  So I choose to do things like go to the museums (all cheap or free with my university ID), go to the park, walk around, etc.  My city has free concerts all the time for no reason at all, lol, and sometimes the university has free or cheap events.  Search out student discounts.  And I'm friends with students and friends at a similar life stage, so I just remind them whatever we do needs to be cheap.

-Shop for clothes on sale and stop buying clothes when you don't need anymore.  Only buy more when you need to replace something.  Do invest in some quality, though - there's a balance between quality and price.

-Cook most nights.  Seriously, I have started saving so much money by cooking rather than eating out.  Learn to make meals that use a lot of the same ingredients.  When I lived alone, dinner Tuesday would become lunch Wednesday and sometimes also dinner Wednesday depending on how much came in the package.  I'm married now so we usually eat it all but it's still cheaper than eating out - and healthier and tastier, too.

-Housing.  I have met so many grad students who make a face at living with roommates, even one.  They claim that they are completely unable to live with other people, and they would rather pay $$$$ to live alone than $$ to live with a roommate.  I am not one of those.  I love people, and I don't mind sharing my living space - I actually prefer it.  And generally speaking, the cheapest way to satisfy housing needs is to acquire some roommate(s).  You can find respectable, quiet, private, sane people out there to live with - I've lived with several of them.  Other grad students need housing, too.  I once had a roommate who I saw for maybe like 15 minutes the entire week - she was always gone.  I've had other roommates who I'm still friends with to this day.  It can be really pleasant, I promise.

-Related to the above...I would personally investigate any neighborhoods.  People have different definitions of "dangerous" or "run down."  I lived in a very nice neighborhood in upper Manhattan that a lot of other students didn't want to live in because it wasn't trendy or filled with nice restaurants and shopping.  The trade off was that I got a relatively large apartment that I only had to share with one other person for a pretty low price.

 

Whether renting on the market is cheaper than living on campus really depends on the city and the university.  My university has two campuses.  The main campus is in a very trendy/expensive area, and renting through the university is cheaper than renting an apartment of comparable size and quality in the same neighborhood.  But if you are willing to commute just a little bit further (and I'm talking 30 minutes or less on the subway) you can pay a lot less, or get more for the same money.

 

The medical center campus is in a more residential/less expensive neighborhood.  I would say that the on-campus housing there is either the same price or actually more expensive than the other housing available in the area; not only that, but the market rental units were generally nicer and better maintained than the campus housing, with better amenities and probably more space.

[jrockford27]

You'll find in many cases that you don't have a lot of time to spend money on the things you used to blow a lot of your money on, and that your social activities will be with other people who also have very little money, and the cost of your activities will scale accordingly.  I took about a 40% paycut to come start my PhD.  I still manage to eat well, keep gas in my car, pay my bills on time, go out and have a good time with my colleagues/friends on the weekends, and still have a little left over in the bank at the end of the month. This is in a mid-sized metropolis with an average cost of living.  I rent a converted attic apartment from a family that lives near the university, affordable places are available if you're willing to look and be flexible.  While it's not exactly easy living, I think the financial doom and gloom of grad student life is overblown if you know how to spend wisely.

Edited February 4, 2014 by jrockford27

[McKenna]

My stipend is not all that much, and more than 50% goes to rent and utilities.  I figured out that I could live in a nicer apartment if I have a roommate.  But that comes with it's own issues.  On the other hand it allows me to split utilities which gives me a bit extra for groceries and spending money.  

 

Figure out the rental opportunities in the area.  If cheap enough I would choose to live alone. If not, a room mate helps pay the bills.  Then I always cook almost every meal for myself.  I spend a fair amount of time one weekend day to get most of my dinners cooked, pack lunches and line them up in the fridge, make sure I have healthy choices that are easy to grab for breakfast.

 

My social life tends to revolve around game nights with friends at one of our apartments, usually each person brings a snack.  A real splurge is to go bowling or out for cheap bbq.  When the weather is nice we might meet up for a bonfire on the beach.

[ballerina18]

I know I am a little late to this discussion, but I thought I would add something about saving on food costs.

 

I'm not in grad school yet, but one thing I do that really helps is meal plan and prep food in advance. I go grocery shopping every Saturday and then I do a big cook on Sundays so that I can put all my lunches in tupperware containers for the week. I started doing this about a month ago and my life has gotten so much easier. It is also easier to see how much money I am spending each week.

 

Here is a link to a video that helped me get started: I hope this helps

 

[seeingeyeduck]

What Gnome said, plus:

I just figured this out last year and it's saving me a ton of money: in the age of smartphones, old style phones have become super cheap. Especially if you never sign a contract. With prepaid services like Platinum Tel (T-Mobile network piggyback) or Page Plus (Verizon) you can buy a phone for $40-60, a SIM for $5-10, then do a pay as you go plan if you're not a heavy user or use a lot of data. I find that mostly I used data for maps and it didn't add up to much, so with a bit of old school pre-planning, I didn't need data at all.

In the last 6 months phone service has cost me $43. Total! I mostly text and they cost $.02 to send or receive. That's a lot on top of a contract rate, but on its own, it is cheeeeap! The international rates for Ptel aren't much higher either. With a contract I would've paid at least that much every month for the same amount of usage. So that's a savings of $400-800 over half a year.

I really recommend looking at prepaid. I made a spreadsheet with all the costs and went with the cheapest one. I also found a T-Mobile promo which gives anyone who owns a tablet outright 200mb of data free every month, no strings attached. You buy a SIM (can be $.99 + shipping online or $11 in store) and are good to go. I use that plus my prepaid and thus have a mini $8/mo phone and data plan!

Edited March 3, 2014 by seeingeyeduck

[seeingeyeduck]

Oh and as for food, I don't think noodles are that bad - Asian people have historically survived on a lot of noodles.

But the key is to actually use it as part of a balanced meal, not on it's own with the crappy flavor packets. I get some chicken (can be a simple packet of 5-6 drumsticks, which I find is easiest) and every Sunday I cook them for 50 minute in a giant pot of water. I save the broth, which tastes great compared to processed packaged chicken soup/broth, and the use that through the week to make soup noodles from for lunch. I throw in a tomato, optional potato, bamboo, bok choy, shiitake mushrooms (pretty cheap at the Asian store instead of $20/lb at western stores!), winter melon, a drumstick and an egg, so it is a pretty loaded batch of noodles. I use somen or soba noodles in bulk and avoid the ramen packets. Cuz all the ingredients all affordable, this costs <$5/meal but is full of veggies. It only takes 20min.

Just sayin'! Not all noodle meals are made the same!

[QASP]

-Housing.  I have met so many grad students who make a face at living with roommates, even one.  They claim that they are completely unable to live with other people, and they would rather pay $$$$ to live alone than $$ to live with a roommate.  I am not one of those.  I love people, and I don't mind sharing my living space - I actually prefer it.  And generally speaking, the cheapest way to satisfy housing needs is to acquire some roommate(s).  You can find respectable, quiet, private, sane people out there to live with - I've lived with several of them.  Other grad students need housing, too.  I once had a roommate who I saw for maybe like 15 minutes the entire week - she was always gone.  I've had other roommates who I'm still friends with to this day.  It can be really pleasant, I promise.

 

Yeah, this is me. I cannot live with other people. Whenever I am told that an area is really affordable if you live with somebody, I make a face and usually add "Yes, anywhere is affordable with roommates," and probably also roll my eyes. Some people probably think I am a jerk, now that I reflect on it. But I can't do it, and I become a bit frustrated when people suggest this, because it is not an option for me (and also, seriously, it's true of all places on the planet earth).

 

I've got an acceptance now, and I'm starting to worry about this; a private apartment, a car payment, and car insurance all on a stipend? I know how to cook so I can keep those expenses pretty low, but I am afraid I am going to blow all the money I am getting just on rent/car expenses every month. I should probably stop worrying at least until I am at the point of looking at apartments/cars....

[Vene]

I should probably stop worrying at least until I am at the point of looking at apartments/cars....

No, do not wait, look now. You don't have to buy anything now, but you really should look at what realistic prices for these things are so you can get an idea of how much money you will have available for other expenses. And as for a car, charity and police auctions are a great way to get something inexpensive. I got a year and a half out of a car I only spent a grand on. Also keep in mind that a lot of the cities universities are in have public transit and you may well be able to get by without a car for a while so you can save up money instead of having to make payments.

[QASP]

No, do not wait, look now. You don't have to buy anything now, but you really should look at what realistic prices for these things are so you can get an idea of how much money you will have available for other expenses. And as for a car, charity and police auctions are a great way to get something inexpensive. I got a year and a half out of a car I only spent a grand on. Also keep in mind that a lot of the cities universities are in have public transit and you may well be able to get by without a car for a while so you can save up money instead of having to make payments.

 

I appreciate the advice; I am definitely looking casually, but prices on rent seem to vary so much I guess I feel like I won't really know until I visit to find a place.

 

I've never owned a vehicle before, but for this I do need a car; I have lived in the place where the grad program is in the past, and while it is technically possible to live there without a vehicle it's a pretty miserable existence. I spent a lot of time begging for rides back then and it was all sorts of unpleasant, not to mention there are zero grocery stores in walking/biking distance of the campus. Also, as a part of my particular grad program I am going to need to travel to sites that are not accessible by public transit, several towns away. I had not thought of auctions for cars, though! Thank you, I will definitely be looking into that!

[rising_star]

If you get really desperate, this might help: http://thepeacefulmom.com/2012/07/11/reader-question-how-can-i-eat-for-20-25-a-week/

[reinhard]

How did you survive when you were an undergrad?

[QASP]

Gosh, I hardly remember posting in this thread. In the end, the solution to my problem is to live without a car. Frustrating, but Zipcar should manage for those times I absolutely need a car and the rest is just the necessary sacrifice of getting this degree.

 

How did you survive when you were an undergrad?

 

Can't speak for anyone else, but for me there are a lot of differences between grad school and undergrad: in undergrad I worked and went to school full time, which my schedule allowed; my stipend is less than half my current salary and there is going to be no real time for working outside the program. In undergrad I lived in a city with viable public transportation that made driving unnecessary, not so for the city my grad institution is in. In undergrad I had a partner splitting expenses with me.  It's a pretty drastic financial shift, for me. Basically I'm living on 1/4 of my undergrad income, with additional expenses. Hard to compare the two, really.

[rising_star]

How did you survive when you were an undergrad?

 

Full scholarship that covered tuition, room, and board plus a part-time job on the side. So I didn't have to worry about meals because they weren't a separate expense for me unless I chose to eat out or off campus. I also had/have a generous BFF that would order a pizza for us to split and not make me pay for half. And I didn't have or need a car as an undergrad. Now, I have to live off a stipend that I use for all my living expenses, have a car that I need, and have other, additional expenses that I just didn't have 10+ years ago.