Spending most of the stipend on housing?

[Beezwax]

Hi guys,

i see many discussions about budgets, and I am facing a similar problem as an enrolling student to a PhD program. I would really appreciate all of your help/ advice. 

To introduce myself briefly, I am an international student who will be studying in the US for the first time, and this means many things:

1) Have hard time grasping the local situation/ making sense of things at the moment 

2) Cannot work more than 20 hours due to my visa status, so even if I need money to work more in the campus, I cannot (the uni has already designated my 20 hour worth TA work)

3) Most importantly, I could not find other options for housing, especially the options outside the campus. Tried craigslist but failed due to many unresponsive landowners, and there weren't many houses/ apartments available (at least on craigslist) near my campus area anyway. 

(I am a fully funded PhD student, but my stipend is clearly not enough considering the living expenses of the area. )

In the end, I decided to go for in-campus residences, at least just for the first year. The apartment that the school is offering seems to be clean, safe and decent, and I am pretty content with it. Since i do not have any sense of direction/ knowledge of the area, I feel secure about living inside the campus.  

 

However, the school just updated the rate this year and it's ridiculously expensive--in fact, it is almost equivalent to 3/4 of the stipend that I will be receiving in my first year. 

 

Now, I am prepared to lead a thrifty lifestyle. I don't eat a lot, I am ready to control my shopping habits, and I will bring most of the stuff from home (clothes, books, etc). I also have some money that I saved from doing many part-time jobs in the past, and I am ready to spend it if necessary.

 But then, spending 3/4 on housing seems a bit too much. I can't grasp, as of now, the things i will need in the process of settling down and living a life as a Ph.D. student. 

Am I making a terrible choice here? Should I try every other option (can't think of one now, but I may be able to find one until August) that is cheaper and affordable? 

I feel really lost  

[fuzzylogician]

Yeah, that is a high proportion of your salary to spend on housing. I think you need to collect a bit more information. First off, what are other predictable expenses? Does the dorm cover utilities (electricity, gas, *heating* if in a cold location, internet, phone) -- those can add up, especially heating, if not covered. Is your health insurance fully covered or will you have to pay more (vision, dental, spouse/children's insurance)? What are average prices for groceries? Will you have a car -- factor in insurance and gas; if you are using public transportation, what is the cost of a monthly pass/however many tickets you'll need? Important -- is the stipend for 9 or 12 months, and will there be additional summer funding? If not, you need to save on each month's salary so you have enough to get yourself through the summer. 

Then I think it'd be useful for you to get in touch with current students and get some advice from them on how they handle their budget, which I assume is similar to yours. It might be beneficial to try and find roommates in an already existing apartment situation rather than try to contact landlords directly. Current students in your department might know someone who is looking, and could put you in touch with them. If you have roommates, you should not spend nearly as much on housing as you are describing now. 

[fuzzylogician]

Oh, btw, something else to factor in: if you're international and moving to a new climate, you'll have expenses for appropriate clothing which may be unavoidable and not cheap. A good winter coat, winter boots, and warm clothes might be necessary and those costs will add up, too. Something to keep in mind. 

[cowgirlsdontcry]

I am a non-traditional graduate student and do not wish to live with others, although I did an exchange year as an undergrad and lived in an apt dorm on campus. When I factor in off-campus rent and utilities, the entire year comes to about 89% of my stipend, which is a 9-month stipend. Thankfully, I have outside income that will pay for all of the other things such as insurance (car & home I am leaving), etc., because otherwise, I would not be able to make ends meet. I believe that most students find themselves in this situation and have to learn to live on the edge of poverty for years. Hopefully, I will be able to pick up a couple of classes next summer to teach, which will ease the money situation.

One other matter you will need to calculate and allow for, is that the stipend they quote are gross dollars. What is cleared after taxes is considerably less. My numbers then turn into the fact that rent/utilities eat up all but $100 per month of my net stipend. Yet, my rent is only $300 per month higher than my car payment was (it will be paid off in August) and my stipend is $150 more per month than my MA stipend, which equals a net increase in costs of $150 per month.

Edited June 15, 2017 by cowgirlsdontcry

[ZeChocMoose]

I agree with the above posters that spending 75% of your stipend on housing is not a good idea.  Is that to live in a one bedroom apartment?  Are there cheaper university options where they assign you a roommate?  Alternatively - have you looked into subleases?  Usually those are cheaper and shorter-termed.  If you can sublease for a month or two (or even the Fall semester) and then you can move into a more permanent accommodation for the Spring semester once you have a better understanding of your city/town and will know more people to find roommates/ask for housing leads. 

[Beezwax]

Thanks guys. I will continue on with my research for better options  

[NoirFemme]

Why haven't you looked on Facebook? There are groups set up to connect people needing apartments or subleases in just about every city in the US.

[tonydoesmovie]

Agree with much of the above. Also, in my experience, some schools have resources to 1) connect you with other students that are looking for or are offering off-campus housing and/or 2) local complexes that the school recommends as off-campus housing.

It may not hurt to reach out to Residence Life and see if they have any information or resources that could help you keep more of your stipend.

[ExponentialDecay]

Dude no OP this is insane. 50% of your income is the maximum you should be spending on housing. If you are in NYC (or any east coast metro area), moreover, you are underestimating how much everything costs, even if you don't eat at all. 

Ask current students about how they deal with housing. It is unlikely that many full-time PhD students also work full-time jobs.

[Lycaon pictus]

The dirty secret of most grad programs is the stipend is rarely enough to live on especially if you're in an expensive area, don't want roommates, or if you're an 'atypical' grad student (read: have family to support, don't have parents to support you, have a health issue, or any external adult responsibilities).

Most grad students take out student loans to fill in the gaps in their living expenses, but many don't ever talk about it because grad school is supposed to be 'free' and our packages are 'fully funded'. It's a bit of an issue actually...

[cowgirlsdontcry]

1 hour ago, Lycaon pictus said:

The dirty secret of most grad programs is the stipend is rarely enough to live on especially if you're in an expensive area, don't want roommates, or if you're an 'atypical' grad student (read: have family to support, don't have parents to support you, have a health issue, or any external adult responsibilities).

Most grad students take out student loans to fill in the gaps in their living expenses, but many don't ever talk about it because grad school is supposed to be 'free' and our packages are 'fully funded'. It's a bit of an issue actually...

I completely agree. If I didn't have the outside income every month, I absolutely would not be able to make it on the stipend. Humanities stipends are rarely enough to cover living expenses. I had to pay tuition as a master's student, which meant loans even though I had a stipend for serving as a TA. That is covered in my funding package for the PhD program.

[biotechie]

1 hour ago, Lycaon pictus said:

The dirty secret of most grad programs is the stipend is rarely enough to live on especially if you're in an expensive area, don't want roommates, or if you're an 'atypical' grad student (read: have family to support, don't have parents to support you, have a health issue, or any external adult responsibilities).

Most grad students take out student loans to fill in the gaps in their living expenses, but many don't ever talk about it because grad school is supposed to be 'free' and our packages are 'fully funded'. It's a bit of an issue actually...

 

 

 

The thing the original poster did not mention was what field they are in. "Fully funded" stipends vary in definition by field, and for some, they only fund you for 9 months and you're off in the summer or may still require you to pay a couple thousand dollars in fees. In my case, my biomed program is year-round and our projects require so much work that we cannot work other jobs. We're paid as part-time, 20-hour employees, but we're working far more, so they really have to give us enough to live on.

I actually don't know any grad students in my field that have taken out student loans to "fill gaps." Everyone I know around here is able to live reasonably comfortably. I have my own apartment close to school and spend about 50% of costs on living expenses. I don't live like a queen, but I make enough to provide what I need, make a car payment, and go on a short vacation each year (or in the case of this year, get married). One thing that is different about my program than some others is that healthcare is included, and doesn't come out of my stipend. This, and the total amount of my stipend, may be the difference between my biomed program and your biology program. However, I would not go somewhere where the stipend is not enough to have the necessities. If you're paying more than 3/4 of what you make in rent and basic living expenses, I would probably not have accepted that offer and would have chosen a different program.

One thing to remember, as has been mentioned by others, is you need to establish what you need (over wants) and how much those needs are going to cost. I decided fast internet was a need so I can video chat with my long-distance fiance each night, but I decided to forgo cable because it isn't something essential to my life. I didn't need brand new, stainless steel appliances, a huge pool, and a state of the art fitness center, so I went for an older condo with older, working appliances because I wanted to live on my own, which shaved off about $400 in rent for me a month. However, I could have gotten a roommate and saved even more, and this is something I highly recommend. I don't wear name-brand clothes, but I save enough that I get to go for a good shopping adventure every once in a while. You get the picture.

 

Edited June 17, 2017 by biotechie
Clarifying "in my field"

[fuzzylogician]

15 minutes ago, biotechie said:

The thing the original poster did not mention was what field they are in. "Fully funded" stipends vary in definition by field, and for some, they only fund you for 9 months and you're off in the summer or may still require you to pay a couple thousand dollars in fees. In my case, my biomed program is year-round and our projects require so much work that we cannot work other jobs. We're paid as part-time, 20-hour employees, but we're working far more, so they really have to give us enough to live on.

I generally agree with everything you said, but this statement kind of rubbed me the wrong way. A lot of how funding is decided has absolutely nothing to do with how much work you have to do as a student. It has everything to do with how much funding is available in your particular field, and what the norms are. Any good program in any field, be it in the exact sciences, the natural sciences, the social sciences, or the humanities, are going to require more than 20 hours a week of work, and very often more than 40 (and let's not get into wars about who works more, I don't think it's healthy to be proud about working 60 and 80 hour weeks anyway). Point being, humanities and social science students can be just as busy as in the natural sciences. It's true that we are often more portable and don't need to spend time in the lab (I'm writing this from a coffeeshop where I'm taking a break from working on a manuscript, for example, though I also do experimental work that does require a lab), but that doesn't mean we magically have all this free time for outside work. This doesn't even address the OP's problem of being an international student who isn't allowed to obtain outside work, even if they did have the time. But more generally, the funding you get has no correlation with how busy you are. It is simply the case that across the board, humanities students are offered lower funding packages. I would personally not accept such a package if I had to take out loans (I don't think a PhD in the humanities or social sciences is something to get into debt over), but I think that in some fields it's not all that uncommon.

That said, I knew no one who took out loans in my program (or at least no one who admitted to it, but since many were international and couldn't get student loans anyway, I believe they really didn't). I lived in an expensive city, and my family didn't give me any money. As an international student, I also wasn't able to work beyond my grad school TA/RAships. I had roommates, and I was conscious of spending, though not too frugal, and I was able to save on my stipend each month. It was more about not getting myself into a situation I couldn't handle than finding ways to survive it. 

[évariste]

So, I'm still an undergrad and have never needed to take out any loans--but as a high school graduate, I managed to support myself while paying just over 70% of my income as rent (in a region that is quickly gaining notoriety for unaffordability), so here's my advice.  University-provided housing might not be the worst option for you--it'll suck for 75% of your stipend to go toward rent, but that amount should also include utilities, Internet access, etc.  If it's university-owned you may also be able to cut down significantly on the costs of transportation (eliminating the need for gas/car insurance/public transit fares).  Then, in terms of anything else you need on top of transportation and shelter:

Health insurance: Ask your department if there's any way they can cover your student health fees/student insurance--you might have more of a case with this than you think if your university mandates proof of insurance (most do).  As an undergrad, I emailed the college financial aid office and was literally handed a couple thousand dollars (the cost of the college health insurance plan) immediately, no questions asked.

Food: Buy dry foods (cheap), buy in bulk, from discount (e.g. Grocery Outlet) retailers, clip coupons (Safeway has a great smartphone app)--I know this sounds ridiculous (if not outright avocado toast-y), but I have been able to feed myself on $80/month by extreme thrift.  If your university has lots of student organizations, keep an eye out for flyers advertising free food at events (someone at my school once made an app consolidating event posts containing strings like "lunch will be served" and discovered it was definitely possible to subsist on only free leftovers).  If all else fails, look into food stamps.  Seriously.  Eligibility may vary by state, but in most cases certain noncitizens can receive benefits, depending on factors like how long you have been in the country etc.

Cell phone: avoid contract plans (this will save you $30-70/month), stay in wi-fi range (easy on a university campus), decide if you absolutely need a phone number for emergencies--if so, opt for prepaid by-the-minute rates.

Extras: peruse Craigslist for extra work beyond your 20 hours a week.  Especially in affluent areas, tutoring is always in demand.  If either your current university or your undergrad institution are brand names, consider freelancing as a private college counselor--I have two friends who have made $50+/hour as "admissions consultants" by letting high schoolers read their college application essays [essays that ~got them into x school~, OMG]; of course, you could also take a less fanatical approach and revise kids' application essays and such.  Same goes for SAT/ACT tutoring if you have high scores on those.  If you do this privately, you're likely to end up with cheques (à la teenage babysitter) that you can choose not to report as income.

Obviously YMMV, but hopefully at least some of this is helpful.

[fuzzylogician]

^ Re the above post, note that as an international student, some of this advice could get you in trouble, so be careful. You shouldn't work off campus without authorization, and you won't get that for tutoring or editing jobs (and yes, you can work off the books, but do that at your own peril). Same goes for health insurance, make sure you're within the legal requirements for your visa. As for food stamps or other government assistance, if you ever want to stay in the US long-term and immigrate, this will cause trouble for you later, so beware. 

[cowgirlsdontcry]

1 hour ago, fuzzylogician said:

That said, I knew no one who took out loans in my program (or at least no one who admitted to it, but since many were international and couldn't get student loans anyway, I believe they really didn't).

I had to pay tuition as a master's student, although I had a stipend as a TA, so I needed loans to pay tuition. Every master's student at my university had to pay tuition. Tuition and insurance are covered in my PhD funding. I am a non-traditional older student, and I have no intention of living with roommates because I need it quiet to either read or write. As a result, most of my stipend will go to rent and utilities, but since my car will be paid for in August, that is a huge sum I will no longer be paying that will roll into the rent category. Overall, I will be laying out approximately $150 per month more than during my undergrad/MA. The house I live in is one I inherited and is paid for so that is all about to change as I begin to pay rent instead of a car payment.

[fuzzylogician]

3 minutes ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:

I had to pay tuition as a master's student, although I had a stipend as a TA, so I needed loans to pay tuition. Every master's student at my university had to pay tuition. Tuition and insurance are covered in my PhD funding. I am a non-traditional older student, and I have no intention of living with roommates because I need it quiet to either read or write. As a result, most of my stipend will go to rent and utilities, but since my car will be paid for in August, that is a huge sum I will no longer be paying that will roll into the rent category. Overall, I will be laying out approximately $150 per month more than during my undergrad/MA. The house I live in is one I inherited and is paid for so that is all about to change as I begin to pay rent instead of a car payment.

Which is great but has exactly zero relevance to the OP's question. But good for you. 

[Lycaon pictus]

2 hours ago, biotechie said:

I actually don't know any grad students in my field that have taken out student loans to "fill gaps." Everyone I know around here is able to live reasonably comfortably.

 

I agree there's variation between in fields. There's also variation between prestige of different universities/programs in how much they offer. Have you considered yours might be an exception? I'm not speaking (only) about my personal experience. It's a well-known trend that many grad students have to take out loans for their living expenses, especially those that don't fit the mold of '20-something, with parents of means, and no external adult responsibilities or family to support'. https://theprofessorisin.com/2014/01/22/the-shame-of-ph-d-debt/

[cowgirlsdontcry]

8 minutes ago, fuzzylogician said:

Which is great but has exactly zero relevance to the OP's question. But good for you. 

It does and is relevant because I am still paying out most of my stipend on rent and utilities. Sometimes It just can't be helped and you have to figure out what has to be cut back or out. Living on campus, while not cheaper than off-campus does have the benefit of not having to pay deposits for rent and the various utilities. I don't have a TV so only pay for high speed internet. On campus that is all provided, at the least it was on the two campuses I have been on. Living on campus one doesn't have to worry about how high that electric bill is and can run the AC as high as they will allow you to. Same with water/sewer, although that's only a concern in a house most of the time. In the town, where I will be living, I see apartment shares every day on the Grad Student FB account and on the English list-serv where they want $500-$650+ per month (electric in addition) for a single room w/bath. That is not cheap, if you don't have a large stipend.  

[fuzzylogician]

4 minutes ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:

It does and is relevant because I am still paying out most of my stipend on rent and utilities. Sometimes It just can't be helped and you have to figure out what has to be cut back or out. Living on campus, while not cheaper than off-campus does have the benefit of not having to pay deposits for rent and the various utilities. I don't have a TV so only pay for high speed internet. On campus that is all provided, at the least it was on the two campuses I have been on. Living on campus one doesn't have to worry about how high that electric bill is and can run the AC as high as they will allow you to. Same with water/sewer, although that's only a concern in a house most of the time. In the town, where I will be living, I see apartment shares every day on the Grad Student FB account and on the English list-serv where they want $500-$650+ per month (electric in addition) for a single room w/bath. That is not cheap, if you don't have a large stipend.  

You know none of that was in your post that I replied to, and even then it's advice that's already been given. But this discussion is really not going in any positive direction, so I propose to end it here. 

[évariste]

23 minutes ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:

In the town, where I will be living, I see apartment shares every day on the Grad Student FB account and on the English list-serv where they want $500-$650+ per month (electric in addition) for a single room w/bath. That is not cheap, if you don't have a large stipend.  

Ahh, this probably colours why everyone else thinks it's outrageous for 75% of a stipend to go toward housing, and why the majority here seem to think OP should find something cheaper off-campus.  For perspective, I just checked my local Craigslist and 1br/1ba apartments go for $2500-3200 a month (DON'T LIVE IN MY AREA if you can help it, seriously).

I take this to mean that in some markets it's expected that you'll spend a majority of your income on housing...and NYC is probably one of them.  And in such markets, I've learnt that it's often better to bite the bullet and pay the going rate to the university, than to chase "deals" and get caught in an awful bidding war with flighty Craigslist landlords (prices don't get that high without exorbitant demand)...

 

EDIT: whoa I lied there are multiple apartments here listed as high as $4700/month for a 1x1.  This may actually be worse than NYC...

Edited June 18, 2017 by évariste

[ProfessionalNerd]

On 6/17/2017 at 8:20 PM, évariste said:

Ahh, this probably colours why everyone else thinks it's outrageous for 75% of a stipend to go toward housing, and why the majority here seem to think OP should find something cheaper off-campus.  For perspective, I just checked my local Craigslist and 1br/1ba apartments go for $2500-3200 a month (DON'T LIVE IN MY AREA if you can help it, seriously).

I take this to mean that in some markets it's expected that you'll spend a majority of your income on housing...and NYC is probably one of them.  And in such markets, I've learnt that it's often better to bite the bullet and pay the going rate to the university, than to chase "deals" and get caught in an awful bidding war with flighty Craigslist landlords (prices don't get that high without exorbitant demand)...

 

EDIT: whoa I lied there are multiple apartments here listed as high as $4700/month for a 1x1.  This may actually be worse than NYC...

Likewise. The least expensive apartment I could find within walking distance of my Uni was about $1009 (not including parking or utilities)... and that's for a 25 minutes walk. Wan to be closer? The price jumps into the $1,600+ range, especially if you don't want to live with roommates or live in a place that looks like death. One place that I laughingly stopped looking at was a studio apartment for close to $1800. I think it is totally possible (albeit, painful) to spend most of your stipend on housing.

Edited June 19, 2017 by ProfessionalNerd

[AP]

On 6/15/2017 at 11:00 AM, Beezwax said:

2) Cannot work more than 20 hours due to my visa status, so even if I need money to work more in the campus, I cannot (the uni has already designated my 20 hour worth TA work)

Just to clarify something here: graduate school is work. Please, check with your school the amount of time besides school that you can work (that is, the official amount of hours per week the school considers as work). In my case, I could only work 10pw. 

[amstu]

Do not spend that much of your stipend on housing in New York. I paid 700$ for a room in Washington Heights to get to CUNY recently, which is reasonable for Manhattan and I know that NYU and Columbia pay at least 30,000$ in stipends. New York is an international city, with many people in a similar situation. Finding a living situation is nearly a full-time job--anyone in NYC will tell you that. So, put aside time daily to look, to follow up, to contact, to set up alerts. If you're confused or scared about NYC crowd-source it. 

[savay]

I moved from Chicago to a city with a ridiculous housing market. My university's graduate apartment housing was on par with the cost of renting in any of the neighborhoods easily accessible via transit, so to save the hassle of trying to find a place from half-way across the country I signed up for one of those units. I spend at least 60/70% of my stipend on housing, though the grad apartments do include utilities and internet. My university fees cover an unlimited transit pass, which seems to be the norm for most urban campuses, and my university also pays for grad student's healthcare premiums, which BLESS. I almost cry every time I pay my rent - it is double what I paid for similar housing in Chicago, but it is a decent apartment and a 10 minute walk from the library and my office. Those expensive pod style apartments are really common in my city and they depress the s!!!! out of me. I know I'm paying a lot, but I also know that my home atmosphere is really important for my well-being and my ability to get my work done.

My university has a really active facebook housing group that I found through the resident life/university housing website. While it's mostly undergrads subletting or looking for roommates, I know some grad students who have found places on it. I would definitely check what your university has about off-campus housing, normally there is some type of message board/group for people looking for roommates. Also check with your department to see if anyone else from your cohort has expressed that they are looking for a roommate. Good luck!