Tips on calculating personalized cost of living?

[Xenith]

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Hi everyone,

I am trying to figure out my expected cost of attendance for some of the medical schools I am interested in; however, I just don't feel that I will be spending the amount of money recommended by these schools' websites. Does anyone have tips on how to calculate expected cost of living (aside from school tuition and associated fees)? I am sure I could figure out how much I expect to eat, expected rental costs, transportation, etc. but it would be interesting to see if others have done this and how.

Thanks!

 

[BluMist]

Are you living on your own now? Do you have a budget and/or tracking what you are spending on each category each month?

 

[Xenith]

Are you living on your own now? Do you have a budget and/or tracking what you are spending on each category each month?

No, I am a senior in undergrad who lives on campus housing. My goal is to minimize the burden on my family by becoming financially independent (as much as I can) post matriculation. I don't have a financial tracking system in place yet, but I want to play around with it for my last semester of undergrad to prepare for med school.

 

[123456123456]

What I have been doing is seeing their cost of attendance, deducting tuition and fees and seeing what I have left over (which is like 18-22k depending on the school I have looked at) and then dividing that by 12 to see my monthly budget and going from there. It is easier to budget when you know what you have to work with

 

[Dr. Death]

Or you can work the other way, I kept track of everything I spent money on for one month and categorized them. Then set a budget and try to stay within that budget and adjust accordingly.