Tips for saving/earning money while in med school?

[DeepSpacer]

So I've seen a thread like this for US med students and was wondering if anyone had some tips for saving money for med students studying in Australia?

Since I'll be in Sydney specifically, are there any special websites/stores that sell discounted items such as textbooks, public transportation tickets, food, home appliances, clothing, or basically anything that a student would want in his/her daily living? Also are there any good banks for students?

Thanks for your advice in advance!!

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[lms1712]

Hmmm, if you are going to USyd, I think the textbooks are available online from their library. So I guess you can save on that. Not sure about other schools... As for rentals, don't stay near the school, but near train stations, further from the town might save you some $$$$....


Ah.. one more thing, if you can transfer to a domestic fee paying student during your studies, i think you will save a lot $$$$$!!!!


Good luck... PM me if you like

 

[redshifteffect]

Do not buy textbooks from any aussie store! You will pay much more then market value...

I recommend booko.com.au -> calculates prices in Aussie dollars including shipping from all the popular online sites.

Re: Banks - all offer no fee banking for students, but depending on which country you are coming from might have a relationship with your bank at home. For example Westpac allows you to use your Bank of America/Scotia bank ATM cards in any of their ATMs for free...so you could use that to withdraw money from your home bank (if part of this network) without any fees. You do not have to be a member of Westpac to use this service! Though it's nice if you are, so that you can instantly deposit your withdrawal into your Westpac account.

 

[PacificBlue2012]

So I've seen a thread like this for US med students and was wondering if anyone had some tips for saving money for med students studying in Australia?

Since I'll be in Sydney specifically, are there any special websites/stores that sell discounted items such as textbooks, public transportation tickets, food, home appliances, clothing, or basically anything that a student would want in his/her daily living? Also are there any good banks for students?

Thanks for your advice in advance!!

You could buy used books or simply go to the library. And living near campus is expensive, there are some cheaper areas away from campus like Stanmore and Marrickville. The areas right next to campus and east of the campus are very very expensive, you could easily pay 300 AUD or more for a room/studio, for that amount in the other areas I mentioned you can get a 2 bedroom apartment. If you live further away go near a train station. Saving money is important but having a decent environment is important too, there are certain suburbs in the West I would avoid such as Bankstown/Blacktown.

 

[Winged Scapula]

You could go to the big file sharing websites and download books instead of buying them.

Please note that doing so is a copywrite violation and that SDN does not endorse or encourage doing so. Users found guilty of doing so can be subject to court orders by publishers and SDN subpeonaed for your user information.

 

[jaketheory]

as an international student you are not eligible for discounted public transport tickets. such tickets are concession tickets and you need a valid concession card to prove you are eligible. actually anyone can buy the tickets but you risk being asked to show your card to prove youre eligible to ride on such a ticket. ive been in Sydney 11 months and pretty much have never been asked, however, i have a valid card.

food: cheapest food is rice and beans. brown rice is 29 cents/kilo and dried lentils are a little more. cook them up in mass quantities and freeze it. i mix the two, add a little home made salsa, a little frozen mixed veggies, and a little low fat cheese. dirt cheap, really healthy, and quite tasty. oats for breakfast is cheap and healthy too. just dont buy the individual packets or the quick cooking stuff. the individual packets are just a huge rip off and they all actually cook in about the same time, but the regular tastes better than the so called quick cooking.

as others said, live farther away but near a train station. but what train station is important. having to switch lines even once can significantly increase you commute. try to stay near a line that goes directly to your destination.

home appliances: i just shopped around, but i bought new. 2nds world usually has great prices. do not be afraid to haggle here. unlike the US, you can negotiate most prices here. as for used, check out gumtree.com.au. its like craigslist.

clothing. it expensive here. try to bring it with you. i just had levi's shipped from the US cuz they are 130AUD here (115USD with current exchange rate). you can always do the 2nd hand stores, but ive yet to buy anything more than a dress shirt here and didnt like having to pay 50AUD for it. it was the cheapest i could find and the sleeve length wasnt even measured; it was 'regular'. thus it will be cheaper and you will have a a much better selection in the US (guessing canada too).

if you drink beer be prepared: beer is outrageously expensive here. i could buy a 6'er of coopers (made in Adelaide, S. Australia) back in boston cheaper than i could here. they tax the hell out of alcohol here. best solution is to homebrew, which i just started. it easy and cheap as hell. ~20AUD for 2.5 cases.

 

[jaketheory]

oh yeah, and this website has sweet deals on books with free shipping worldwide: http://www.bookdepository.com/

 

[redshifteffect]

booko searches bookdepository and other sites as well.

You can find bargain dress shirts for less than $50 but you have to shop around. Paddington Markets has some cheap dress shirts but of course quality varies highly. Also don't be afraid to bargain, you can do it even in the big chain stores, and it usually works.

 

[PacificBlue2012]

as an international student you are not eligible for discounted public transport tickets. such tickets are concession tickets and you need a valid concession card to prove you are eligible. actually anyone can buy the tickets but you risk being asked to show your card to prove youre eligible to ride on such a ticket. ive been in Sydney 11 months and pretty much have never been asked, however, i have a valid card.

food: cheapest food is rice and beans. brown rice is 29 cents/kilo and dried lentils are a little more. cook them up in mass quantities and freeze it. i mix the two, add a little home made salsa, a little frozen mixed veggies, and a little low fat cheese. dirt cheap, really healthy, and quite tasty. oats for breakfast is cheap and healthy too. just dont buy the individual packets or the quick cooking stuff. the individual packets are just a huge rip off and they all actually cook in about the same time, but the regular tastes better than the so called quick cooking.

as others said, live farther away but near a train station. but what train station is important. having to switch lines even once can significantly increase you commute. try to stay near a line that goes directly to your destination.

home appliances: i just shopped around, but i bought new. 2nds world usually has great prices. do not be afraid to haggle here. unlike the US, you can negotiate most prices here. as for used, check out gumtree.com.au. its like craigslist.

clothing. it expensive here. try to bring it with you. i just had levi's shipped from the US cuz they are 130AUD here (115USD with current exchange rate). you can always do the 2nd hand stores, but ive yet to buy anything more than a dress shirt here and didnt like having to pay 50AUD for it. it was the cheapest i could find and the sleeve length wasnt even measured; it was 'regular'. thus it will be cheaper and you will have a a much better selection in the US (guessing canada too).

if you drink beer be prepared: beer is outrageously expensive here. i could buy a 6'er of coopers (made in Adelaide, S. Australia) back in boston cheaper than i could here. they tax the hell out of alcohol here. best solution is to homebrew, which i just started. it easy and cheap as hell. ~20AUD for 2.5 cases.

Sydney is expensive but other Australian cities are very moderate, Melbourne is nowhere near as expensive as Sydney. Brisbane is cheap, even if the US Dollar is weak in Australia. Adelaide is inexpensive too. Prices for things in Sydney are a lot more expensive than elsewhere in Australia for just about everything, if you shop for food near the university, you will pay nearly double what people in the outer suburbs pay. The small grocery stores in Newtown are a ripoff, I heard rumors of a Woolworth's opening in the area and some of the little stores were giving petitions to prevent it from being opened. I honestly hope it does open. Also the cheapest supermarket in the Inner West is Aldi which is in Leichardt.

Sydney makes international students pay full price for public transport, in Queensland, all students can get concession fares. That is why I did the smart thing and got PR before applying to medical school in Oz.

If you want to live near campus, look for share accommodation because getting your own place will be very expensive. If you want your own place you will need to look further away.

Clothes in department stores are expensive but there are other places which are moderate for Oz, especially outlets. I usually go to DFO to buy clothes.

Almost a decade ago, an American Dollar bought 2 Aussies, now the Aussie is about 94 US cents, which essentially means that everything is twice as expensive here as it was a decade ago if you are using US Dollars. My guess is that it could get even more expensive with the good economic news in China and continued bad news in the States. We can thank the criminals in Wall Street and Washington for that.

If you really worried about cost of living I would outright avoid going to school in Sydney and try a less expensive town like Brisbane or Adelaide. Melbourne is another idea because its transportation system is very good, but avoid Western Melbourne, lots of gangs and trouble in Western Melbourne. I also would avoid certain suburbs of Sydney, particularly Bankstown, Blacktown, and Lakemba.