Why are living costs are listed ~ 30K for most of the medical schools?

[mcotocjb]

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I was just reviewing the 2010-2011 MSAR guide and noticed that living costs are close to 30K per year for most of the medical schools across the country. Can any one explain this for me? Does room and board cost this kind of money? For example, FSU Medical school tuition is ~18K per year and living costs are like ~30K per year. Why is it so high? 😡 Thanks

 

[texahn]

isnt htat like car, cell phone, food, rent, insurance, personal expenses added up?

 

[TriagePreMed]

My experience is that most schools give an overestimate. When I went to undergrad, my living expenses were about $800-$1,000 a month.

 

[LoveTheRunner]

bar costs?

 

[Geekchick921]

Well, for one, while my copy of the MSAR is about 3 years old, the living expenses I see more often are closer to 25K. That said, it will largely depend on the CoL for the area. I am unfamiliar with how the CoL in Florida compares to the national average, but I would assume it's ahead of the curve.

And can I ask how old you are or if you have ever lived alone? While you can live on less, it's not like you're going to be living the high life on 25-30K. Assuming you aren't splitting these bills with anyone else, if you're shelling out something like 750/month rent, 300/month groceries, and 250+/month total on bills like phone, TV, internet and electricity, that's a little over 15,000 a year right there. Then you'll need to put gas in/maintain/insure your car, buy clothes and other things, go out and socialize, etc.

 

[CardiacIntensivist]

It's probably an overestimate or the average student at that school is a big spender. Just figure out what YOU will need (rent, food, car, travel, obligations, phone, utilities etc) and borrow around that amount. My school always estimates about 25K for cost of living but I always end up borrowing 10k less that suggested. They might want you to borrow more because it appears to be hard to get you money after you signed an agreement on how much you want to borrow for the year. So if you borrow too little, come the middle of next year, if you need an extra 5k, you are SOL.

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

cost of living of the area, whether or not you have a roommate or two, whether or not you need a car are just a few of the things that can vary from location to location in terms of cost. the schools overestimate so that you can take what you need, because they aren't allowed to give you anything more than the COA that they come up with. you don't have to take all of it.

 

[fahimaz7]

Maybe you should live by yourself, outside of mommy and daddy's umbrella, before you think it's an outrageous amount of money.

🙂

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

bar costs?

i love your avatar.

it reminds me of this shirt i saw sophomore year of college. it was bright yellow with a stenciled picture of bob saget on it, and on the bottom it said "What a Saget!" 😆

 

[fahimaz7]

It's probably an overestimate or the average student at that school is a big spender. Just figure out what YOU will need (rent, food, car, travel, obligations, phone, utilities etc) and borrow around that amount. My school always estimates about 25K for cost of living but I always end up borrowing 10k less that suggested. They might want you to borrow more because it appears to be hard to get you money after you signed an agreement on how much you want to borrow for the year. So if you borrow too little, come the middle of next year, if you need an extra 5k, you are SOL.

You can request more money at any time during the year (as long as you haven't taken out the maximum amount for that cycle). Also, how do you manage to pay all of your expenses with $800/month? I doubt that you don't have some other source of income coming in (parents, scholarships, etc).

 

[CardiacIntensivist]

You can request more money at any time during the year (as long as you haven't taken out the maximum amount for that cycle). Also, how do you manage to pay all of your expenses with $800/month? I doubt that you don't have some other source of income coming in (parents, scholarships, etc).

Ah, I guess I'm wrong about requesting money. Anecdotally, it seems like a few of my fellow students have ran into trouble though. As for the second point, I think your math may be off. If I borrow 10k LESS it'd be 15k which is about $1,250 a month. Given my subsidized housing, my 20+ years knowledge of cheap eats and deals of my city, I survive 🙂

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

You can request more money at any time during the year (as long as you haven't taken out the maximum amount for that cycle). Also, how do you manage to pay all of your expenses with $800/month? I doubt that you don't have some other source of income coming in (parents, scholarships, etc).

i'm guessing there is no car cost or phone bill in that 800 a month, but i could be wrong.

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

i think fahimaz meant to quote triage

 

[ILikeDrugs]

My living cost here in Orange County, CA is about $1600 per month for the comfortable minimum. That's about $20k per year ($80k for 4 years of med school). This would be significantly less if I chose to rent a room in a house for about $500. If that was the case then my monthly cost would be $1100 or $13200 per year ($52k for 4 years of med school). The overestimation by med schools, going by $30 per year, is huge -- $40k to $70k overestimation. 😉 I bet they add in extra for monthly clothes, supplies, entertainment. I don't buy clothes on a monthly basis, I buy supplies every 2-3 months and that's always under $50 (hygiene stuff), and my entertainment is free since it comes in the form of ocean waves, river rapids, cliffs, and other types of Earth terrain. 🙂

I'd also imagine this would be lower for the southern states (A LOT lower), with Florida being an exception.

 

[Bartelby]

Not positive but I think the school's provided "estimated cost of living" determines how much loan money can be available. If you're a single guy/girl willing to live with others you can blow that estimate away, but for the people with families or other commitments (or those who just like to live more expensively) this high estimated "need" allows for more loans or other aid to come through. If they estimated you can get by on $700/mo and capped it at that some would be fine, others would be screwed.

 

[CardiacIntensivist]

i think fahimaz meant to quote triage

Oh yeah, that probably makes more sense. but 10000/12 = 833!!!

 

[alwaysaangel]

As others have said it really depends how you want to live. They estimate on the high side.

I mean there are two extremes to how you could live. You could live in a rented room in a house, cooking basic meals at home, never buying extras or eating out, and using public transit/bike instead of a car.
$500 rent incl utilities
$200 food
$50 cell bill
$50 miscellaneous (toiletries, etc)
$50 transportation (fixing your bike, public transit, whatever)
$850/month*12 = $10,200

The other extreme would be living comfortable on your own, eating out a lot, enjoying extras when you want them and having a car.
$1000 rent
$50 cell
$100 bills (elec, gas, cable)
$200 gas/car maintenance
$100 car insurance (this is in the middle, if you have a clunker with just the basics you can do $50/month with a good record, if you have a crummy driving record and drive a lexus with excellent insurance it could hit $200/month)
$200 groceries
$200 eating out
$200 misc
$2250/month*12=$27,000/year




Other things to consider:
You're talking living expenses for 12 months/year for the most part. Except first year - med school is a year round venture. In fact, first year really sucks for a lot of people because unless you plan ahead you don't have money to live off of for the summer.

Books - you need a lot of books for medical school. And yes, here and there you can save a little money by buying used. But its not like undergrad where you can get a 5 year old copy for super cheap. Medicine changes too much. I spent $200-400 on books each year until fourth year. Then there are the Qbanks for the steps. Those are $100 for a month or so...heaven help you if you want it longer.

Most schools are including your health, dental and life insurance in that cost of living. Whether they provide it for you and take it from your loans before they give them to you or not. This is a considerable amount of money per year ($2000-2500/year approx depending on your plan)

During your second and third years that "cost of living" includes the exams you have to take those years. Step 1 costs $500, step 2 CK is another $500, Step 2 CS is $1200. So thats extra money spent during your second and third years.

Don't even get me started on application for residency during 4th year. The actual application fees are pretty reasonable, but then you need money to travel to interviews. Gets so pricey for some people that they have special private loans for residency interviews and relocation.
_______________

Med school is a painful expensive process and if you are doing it in an area with a high cost of living than hitting 25-30k/year is not at all difficult.

Ultimately, I looked at the math and decided to live with the second "style" of living. Of course, I have classmates who spend more because they're parents pay for everything. But the second style of living is sort of as far as you can stretch the maximum loans.

When I started med school I did the math:
25k tuition * 4 years = 100k loans
15k living expenses if I live like a pauper = 60k loans
160k loans plus interest is approx 175k at the end of school

vs.

25k tuition * 4 years = 100k loans
30k living expenses = 120k loans
220k loans plus interest is approx 240k at the end of school

Both sound like absurd amounts of money and I just couldn't bring myself to live like a pauper and not be able to enjoy myself in the relaxation of my own nice clean (roommateless) apartment.

 

[TriagePreMed]

You can request more money at any time during the year (as long as you haven't taken out the maximum amount for that cycle). Also, how do you manage to pay all of your expenses with $800/month? I doubt that you don't have some other source of income coming in (parents, scholarships, etc).

My rent was $400. Utilities at about $50. Car insurance was about $40. $200 in food p/m. The rest went to gas (when it was $2.50 gallon in a small city) and miscellaneous expenses . The only thing my parents paid for me was my cell phone, which at the time was only $40. Again, the range was 800 to 1000.

 

[alwaysaangel]

My rent was $400. Utilities at about $50. $200 in food p/m. The rest went to gas (when it was $2.50 gallon) and miscellaneous expenses. The only thing my parents paid for me was my cell phone, which at the time was only $40.

What about your car insurance?
Your health insurance?
Travel expenses when you want to fly home?

I'm not being mean. My parents paid for that stuff for me when I was in college. People forget how much stuff their parents really pay for them, there's a bunch of subtleties that are forgotten. It adds up once you have to pay for it yourself.

 

[mvenus929]

My monthly expenses are somewhere in the ballpark of $1125-1250 per month, and that includes 'extra' money in case something happens that I need to pay for, in case I want new clothes, etc. I often have extra at the end of the month, because I buy food in bulk and cook most of my meals at home and whatnot, but that's what I budgeted to live comfortably.

However, I also had to take out loans to pay for insurance, travel expenses, supplies (books, etc).

I took out about 4K less than the maximum budget for my school.

 

[ILikeDrugs]

What about your car insurance?
Your health insurance?
Travel expenses when you want to fly home?

I'm not being mean. My parents paid for that stuff for me when I was in college. People forget how much stuff their parents really pay for them, there's a bunch of subtleties that are forgotten. It adds up once you have to pay for it yourself.

Car insurance can be as low as $40 per month (mine is ~$250 for 6 months) for just liability. Health insurance can be as low as $35 through a job. As far as flying home, my apartment is my home. 😀 So I don't need to fly there.

 

[Kaustikos]

My rent was $400. Utilities at about $50. Car insurance was about $40. $200 in food p/m. The rest went to gas (when it was $2.50 gallon in a small city) and miscellaneous expenses . The only thing my parents paid for me was my cell phone, which at the time was only $40. Again, the range was 800 to 1000.

The hell are you eating? Ramen noodles?

 

[DrYoda]

Are they really handing out 30k for living these days? That seems kind of excessive, don't take what you don't need guys (at least not at the current loan rates).

The hell are you eating? Ramen noodles?

If you rarely go to restaurants or buy EtOH it's actually not that hard to do while eating decent.

 

[katiemaude]

I could see living on $1,200 a month if my housing costs remain the same (about $500/mo including utilities because I own a home and have roommates who split everything).

Per month, I currently spend about $200 for food, $75 for car insurance, $100 for health insurance, $100 for gas, and $100 on personal items (clothes, toiletries, random stuff). I keep another $100 or so in my budget for things like movies and going out. I'm lucky that at my age, my parents still pick up the cost of my cell phone on their family plan.

Every so often I blow a wad of cash from birthday or Christmas money or savings or freelance earnings on something like a TV (heh, got one for $400 this year) or a vacation. Occasionally something has to be done in my house or to my car and $1,000+ goes up in smoke. I think that's what people forget to budget for if they haven't been on their own yet financially.

 

[TriagePreMed]

What about your car insurance?
Your health insurance?
Travel expenses when you want to fly home?

I'm not being mean. My parents paid for that stuff for me when I was in college. People forget how much stuff their parents really pay for them, there's a bunch of subtleties that are forgotten. It adds up once you have to pay for it yourself.

$40 car insurance. I added it before you quoted.

Health insurance was provided by my school and covered by the money FAFSA gave me.

I lived about an hour and a half from home. The trip cost me $20 in gas at the time (going and coming).

The hell are you eating? Ramen noodles?

$200 wasn't always. Like I said, it was an $800 to $1000 range, but yes, I did eat a lot of ramen noodles. Food was also cheaper then (2004ish), and I took advantage of the fact that my friend would buy me gift cards at costco so I didn't have to pay for membership.

 

[coldweatherblue]

<--- spends ~10k a year on living and it sucks lol. $30 a week for food, drive <5k miles a year, POS car, apartment w/ roommate, no vacations, no cable, got all appliances for free.. blah blah. but i'm lucky cause most of the things i love are free.

 

[Kaustikos]

If you rarely go to restaurants or buy EtOH it's actually not that hard to do while eating decent.

So you're living like you're in Ethiopia? I'd rather take the 30k and live comfortably and not stress out over finances than include financial stress on top of being in Medical School.

I don't know how much I'm spending now on food, but it's definitely more than 200/mo. I lived the cheap life and it sucks.

 

[45408]

$40 car insurance. I added it before you quoted.

Health insurance was provided by my school and covered by the money FAFSA gave me.

$40 is very cheap. I'm only now getting a rate like that, at age >25, married, with an 11-year old car, in an area with pretty low risk for car crashes. I wouldn't assume such a low rate for the average med student.

The health insurance is part of your $30K if it's "covered by the money FAFSA gave" you, because that's a loan too. Unless it's a grant, but that's different.

Here were my basic expenses as an M1/M2:

Rent: $675
Utilities: $70-120 (more in winter)
Cable/Internet: $100
Food: $300 (wife and I), not including fast food or cafeteria food at school
Car insurance: $110
Car maintenance: at least $100/month
Gas: $60-100 (wife drove it to work daily)
Health insurance was covered by my wife's work, but the school policy was $1500 or more, I believe.

Not included is vacation, textbooks ($$$), furniture (since I had none), cost of a car, and lots more.

 

[DrYoda]

So you're living like you're in Ethiopia? I'd rather take the 30k and live comfortably and not stress out over finances than include financial stress on top of being in Medical School.

I don't know how much I'm spending now on food, but it's definitely more than 200/mo. I lived the cheap life and it sucks.

I didn't say I was doing anything, I said it's easily doable while eating well and how it could be done.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Med schools intentionally overestimate so that you CAN request up to that much money in loans if you think you'll need it, but you can certainly decline part of those loans if you think you can live more frugally. And yes, it also varies with location.

 

[Geekchick921]

So you're living like you're in Ethiopia? I'd rather take the 30k and live comfortably and not stress out over finances than include financial stress on top of being in Medical School.

I don't know how much I'm spending now on food, but it's definitely more than 200/mo. I lived the cheap life and it sucks.

Amen, brother. 👍

We spend probably around 500/month on groceries, but that's for 2 adults and a toddler (my husband eats like a horse... le sigh).

 

[deleted307836]

Kind of off topic, but how are some of you spending so little on groceries? I'm looking for ways to really cut down on my food spending. I don't even eat that much but to eat healthy gets really expensive.

 

[TriagePreMed]

$40 is very cheap. I'm only now getting a rate like that, at age >25, married, with an 11-year old car, in an area with pretty low risk for car crashes. I wouldn't assume such a low rate for the average med student.

The health insurance is part of your $30K if it's "covered by the money FAFSA gave" you, because that's a loan too. Unless it's a grant, but that's different.

Yes, I agree that the car insurance was cheap, but that was the rate.

Health insurance at my school was about 250 a quarter or perhaps less. It was covered by the grant portion of FAFSA.

I didn't factor in books in my calculations as I think of those as educational expenses, not living expenses. I also didn't factor in furniture, although the only thing I bought was a bed and the rest I got it for free on Craig's list. Never had a vacation either :-(

I'm not saying my life was the best living arrangement, but it did get me through school with very minimal debt.

 

[mvenus929]

The hell are you eating? Ramen noodles?

You can quite easily spend $200 or less per month on groceries and eat fairly well. Not top of the line, but fairly well. My food budget is $250 per month and that includes going out once a week or so, and I'm certainly not eating ramen or starving myself.

I spent about $350 in August, but that's because I had to set up my pantry again and buy all my spices and whatnot again. September and October I spent well under my $250 limit. November was a little higher, because I was eating out a little more and had to dip into my food budget for gas money so I could drive down to my dad's house (on the bright side, I also didn't have to buy food for a week). This month I've hardly spent anything on account of having a fully stocked pantry and being away from home for two weeks (hitting up the free lunches at school helps too).

 

[ILikeDrugs]

I spend about ~$50-60/week on food. Here is a breakdown of what my diet can look like.

Breakfast:
cup of cereal
cup of milk
fruit bar
banana
2 scrambled eggs with a couple of fried grape tomatos
prep/cook/eat time: 10 minutes

Lunch:
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup green beans
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup carrots
green or red apple
side of wheat thins
cup of orange juice
sandwich: 2 slices whole grain bread, romaine lettuce, chopped up sweet onion, slice of cheese, fish or chicken with some mayo or ranch
prep/cook/eat time: 20 minutes

Pre-dinner snack:
cup of oatmeal
1/4 cup of raisens
kiwi or orange or strawberries or blueberries
prep/cook/eat time: 7 minutes

Dinner:
2 roma tomatos
1.5 cups of broccoli
spinach
one serving (and then sum) of pasta
extra virgin olive oil or alfredo sauce or some other sauce
1/2 cup of black beans
grapes
water
prep/cook/eat time: 30 minutes

Trust me this leaves me full and well fed. It's about ~2600 cal. I actually had to do a full analysis of this diet for my nutrition class and it meets every single nutrition requirement. I don't even need to take a vitamin supplements. I think it's short on potassium, but who the hell meets the potassium requirement anyways? I guess you could throw in another banana. This food works for me, so if it makes you cringe that's too bad. 😀

So for people who think that ~$200/month equates to eating ramen noodles or eating like a bum everyday, you're very wrong. I haven't eaten ramen noodle packets since I was a kid. Most of the people that say this seem to be people that have never attempted to go to the grocery store every week. They just assume that eating healthy and buying your own groceries is more expensive then eat out. Eating out is a lot more expensive. You don't just pay for the food.

This diet: ~220/month, 55/week, 7.33/day, 1.83/meal.

If you think the small meal skews the average per meal to the low side, divide 7.33 by 3 and that's $2.44/meal.

Think about that the next time you buy your "inexpensive" take out meal for $7. 😉😉😉

You 'mirin?

 

[BiochemGirlYay]

I'm surprised how no one's mentioned how important location is in determining expense. Washington DC area monthly rent (other than Anacostia) is ~$800-1200 with housemates while other cities I've lived in have been ~$300-400 for comparable situations. This isn't even beginning to think about sales tax, food etc.

 

[cliffhuxtableDO]

I'm surprised how no one's mentioned how important location is in determining expense. Washington DC area monthly rent (other than Anacostia) is ~$800-1200 with housemates while other cities I've lived in have been ~$300-400 for comparable situations. This isn't even beginning to think about sales tax, food etc.

😕

multiple people mentioned location...

 

[fahimaz7]

Rent $450
DirectTV $70
Cable Internet $65
Heating/Air $100 average
Water etc $40
Cell phone $80
Car payment $350
Car Insurance $90
Gasoline $100
Health Insurance $130
Textbooks, supplies, etc $100/mo
Healthcare/Prescriptions/dental/etc $50

Food $300
Eating out $200
Travel $100
Clothes $50

=$2,175/month on average for a grown adult with a car payment and no parental support.

PS. You can't compare your "cost of living" in college to what it is going to take to fully support yourself in medical school. If you aren't getting parental support, and want to have any form of independence and sanity, it's going to take more than crates of ramen noodles and packets of instant lemonade.

 

[texahn]

Rent $450
DirectTV $70
Cable Internet $65
Heating/Air $100 average
Water etc $40
Cell phone $80
Car payment $350
Car Insurance $90
Gasoline $100
Health Insurance $130
Textbooks, supplies, etc $100/mo
Healthcare/Prescriptions/dental/etc $50

Food $300
Eating out $200
Travel $100
Clothes $50

=$2,175/month on average for a grown adult with a car payment and no parental support.

PS. You can't compare your "cost of living" in college to what it is going to take to fully support yourself in medical school. If you aren't getting parental support, and want to have any form of independence and sanity, it's going to take more than crates of ramen noodles and packets of instant lemonade.

do you drive a lexus IS or a 3 series or something?

 

[BiochemGirlYay]

😕

multiple people mentioned location...

Like two people vaguely in the beginning...but my point was that a lot of students can't easily compare their budgets to the ones others have posted in this thread.

 

[Slack3r]

do you drive a lexus IS or a 3 series or something?

My car payment is $270 a month and it cost me $13k...

 

[Slack3r]

I spend about ~$50-60/week on food. Here is a breakdown of what my diet can look like.

Breakfast:
cup of cereal
cup of milk
fruit bar
banana
2 scrambled eggs with a couple of fried grape tomatos
prep/cook/eat time: 10 minutes

Lunch:
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup green beans
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup carrots
green or red apple
side of wheat thins
cup of orange juice
sandwich: 2 slices whole grain bread, romaine lettuce, chopped up sweet onion, slice of cheese, fish or chicken with some mayo or ranch
prep/cook/eat time: 20 minutes

Pre-dinner snack:
cup of oatmeal
1/4 cup of raisens
kiwi or orange or strawberries or blueberries
prep/cook/eat time: 7 minutes

Dinner:
2 roma tomatos
1.5 cups of broccoli
spinach
one serving (and then sum) of pasta
extra virgin olive oil or alfredo sauce or some other sauce
1/2 cup of black beans
grapes
water
prep/cook/eat time: 30 minutes

Trust me this leaves me full and well fed. It's about ~2600 cal. I actually had to do a full analysis of this diet for my nutrition class and it meets every single nutrition requirement. I don't even need to take a vitamin supplements. I think it's short on potassium, but who the hell meets the potassium requirement anyways? I guess you could throw in another banana. This food works for me, so if it makes you cringe that's too bad. 😀

So for people who think that ~$200/month equates to eating ramen noodles or eating like a bum everyday, you're very wrong. I haven't eaten ramen noodle packets since I was a kid. Most of the people that say this seem to be people that have never attempted to go to the grocery store every week. They just assume that eating healthy and buying your own groceries is more expensive then eat out. Eating out is a lot more expensive. You don't just pay for the food.

This diet: ~220/month, 55/week, 7.33/day, 1.83/meal.

If you think the small meal skews the average per meal to the low side, divide 7.33 by 3 and that's $2.44/meal.

Think about that the next time you buy your "inexpensive" take out meal for $7. 😉😉😉

You 'mirin?

No meat?

 

[Geekchick921]

Like two people vaguely in the beginning...but my point was that a lot of students can't easily compare their budgets to the ones others have posted in this thread.

What's so vague about this?

Well, for one, while my copy of the MSAR is about 3 years old, the living expenses I see more often are closer to 25K. That said, it will largely depend on the CoL for the area. I am unfamiliar with how the CoL in Florida compares to the national average, but I would assume it's ahead of the curve.

I don't see how it's much more vague than your previous post, aside from the fact that you mentioned one area you've lived in by name.

This post is less about comparing living costs in various parts of the country and more about the fact that it seems the OP hasn't actually lived on his/her own yet and doesn't realize how much you need to live with moderate comfort in any part of the country.

But I'll be clearer. Everyone can go here and see how things might change when they move to the city or town where their medical school is located.
http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/savings/moving-cost-of-living-calculator.aspx

 

[ILikeDrugs]

Like two people vaguely in the beginning...but my point was that a lot of students can't easily compare their budgets to the ones others have posted in this thread.

Vague? Heh. Yeah right. I mentioned my location, OC CA, an expensive place that I'm sure only someone in NY or SF could relate to, and stated that if my cost of living is far below the med school average then the cost of living elsewhere, especially the south and mid-west, would definitely be much less. 😉

 

[ILikeDrugs]

No meat?

I do believe chicken and fish fall under the "meat" category. If you mean "red meat" as in cow, every blue moon.

 

[mauberley]

Eating out is a lot more expensive.

Unless you just order from the dollar menu. 😉

 

[BiochemGirlYay]

Quote:
Originally Posted by BiochemGirlYay
Like two people vaguely in the beginning...but my point was that a lot of students can't easily compare their budgets to the ones others have posted in this thread.
What's so vague about this?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Geekchick921
Well, for one, while my copy of the MSAR is about 3 years old, the living expenses I see more often are closer to 25K. That said, it will largely depend on the CoL for the area. I am unfamiliar with how the CoL in Florida compares to the national average, but I would assume it's ahead of the curve.
I don't see how it's much more vague than your previous post, aside from the fact that you mentioned one area you've lived in by name.

This post is less about comparing living costs in various parts of the country and more about the fact that it seems the OP hasn't actually lived on his/her own yet and doesn't realize how much you need to live with moderate comfort in any part of the country.

But I'll be clearer. Everyone can go here and see how things might change when they move to the city or town where their medical school is located.
http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/...alculator.aspx

Vague? Heh. Yeah right. I mentioned my location, OC CA, an expensive place that I'm sure only someone in NY or SF could relate to, and stated that if my cost of living is far below the med school average then the cost of living elsewhere, especially the south and mid-west, would definitely be much less.

Maybe I just need to work on my VR skills 😉. I'll be more careful next time I try to say that no one's already said something

 

[deleted307836]

I spend about ~$50-60/week on food. Here is a breakdown of what my diet can look like.

Breakfast:
cup of cereal
cup of milk
fruit bar
banana
2 scrambled eggs with a couple of fried grape tomatos
prep/cook/eat time: 10 minutes

Lunch:
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup green beans
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup carrots
green or red apple
side of wheat thins
cup of orange juice
sandwich: 2 slices whole grain bread, romaine lettuce, chopped up sweet onion, slice of cheese, fish or chicken with some mayo or ranch
prep/cook/eat time: 20 minutes

Pre-dinner snack:
cup of oatmeal
1/4 cup of raisens
kiwi or orange or strawberries or blueberries
prep/cook/eat time: 7 minutes

Dinner:
2 roma tomatos
1.5 cups of broccoli
spinach
one serving (and then sum) of pasta
extra virgin olive oil or alfredo sauce or some other sauce
1/2 cup of black beans
grapes
water
prep/cook/eat time: 30 minutes

Trust me this leaves me full and well fed. It's about ~2600 cal. I actually had to do a full analysis of this diet for my nutrition class and it meets every single nutrition requirement. I don't even need to take a vitamin supplements. I think it's short on potassium, but who the hell meets the potassium requirement anyways? I guess you could throw in another banana. This food works for me, so if it makes you cringe that's too bad. 😀

So for people who think that ~$200/month equates to eating ramen noodles or eating like a bum everyday, you're very wrong. I haven't eaten ramen noodle packets since I was a kid. Most of the people that say this seem to be people that have never attempted to go to the grocery store every week. They just assume that eating healthy and buying your own groceries is more expensive then eat out. Eating out is a lot more expensive. You don't just pay for the food.

This diet: ~220/month, 55/week, 7.33/day, 1.83/meal.

If you think the small meal skews the average per meal to the low side, divide 7.33 by 3 and that's $2.44/meal.

Think about that the next time you buy your "inexpensive" take out meal for $7. 😉😉😉

You 'mirin?

Wow, this is is awesome. I really need to make a nutrition/grocery plan like this.

As for the bolded... yeah... that could be why my food costs are kinda high.

I'm totally gonna refer to this though, thanks dude 👍

 

[TooMuchResearch]

So you're living like you're in Ethiopia? I'd rather take the 30k and live comfortably and not stress out over finances than include financial stress on top of being in Medical School.

I don't know how much I'm spending now on food, but it's definitely more than 200/mo. I lived the cheap life and it sucks.

Factor in the interest on that extra $15k/year, and you might be able to figure out why people often say that physicians are terrible at building wealth. You can't invest money you're forced to use to pay off loans.

 

[deleted307836]

Factor in the interest on that extra $15k/year, and you might be able to figure out why people often say that physicians are terrible at building wealth. You can't invest money you're forced to use to pay off loans.

So true.

I know this isn't the route usually taken... but I'm planning on living like a student/resident after I graduate until ALL of my student loans are paid off. This CAN BE done within a few years. I don't care if possible inflation makes the debt less daunting... I just want to get it paid off ASAP.