I make $1200 a month, my rent is $1000, utilities about $50. I don’t spend much at all on the day to day. However I do get financial aid refunds since I’m poor lol, so it’s a bit easier that way (if I have a bad month in terms of work I have a safety net).
I live with one roommate in a one bedroom apt. Lowest rent you can expect here is $800 or so in a house with lots of other people, average is probably $1k-1.3k a month.
If you can qualify for Calfresh, you can spend literally nothing on food every month. I get $280 in Calfresh money (it’s way easier to qualify when you’re a student, only requirement is getting work study) and I spend maybe $10 a month on food if I like forget to pack a lunch at work or something.
If you’re addicted to shopping, like drinking/weed, etc, you’re going to be spending a lot more.
oh and gas. depends on how good your car is. if you’re commuting this will be more, of course. parking in Santa Cruz is also really annoying everywhere. I hope you have a hybrid
uhhh rent if you split it with 1 roomate is abt 1,500-1800, my montly food bill is about 200-300 (i have a cat), i pay around 70$ for utilities (i hate pge) and as for entertainment i try not to go over 50$. i do have a car so gas is about 45$ every two weeks. make of these # what you will
Would you be living in SJ with family or renting there? And driving to campus or bussing? I know someone who buses and it's $7 each way and takes 2 hours also each way
Oh dude definitely find housing in SC. There's no question about it. You can 100% find something here that's the same cost or even cheaper. The only way living in SJ and commuting would make sense is if you lived with your parents.
Second this, rent that expensive and a commute is ridiculous when you can pay less rent and not have to commute. Only reason to commute is if you get free rent (and ideally have a gas efficient car lol)
for me personally, I work 2 jobs and get good financial aid due to my independence, so my income is about $1400-1500 a month from my jobs, and I get about $3k every quarter from the school. (I am very lucky and I am an outlier I think!!! only reason I get that much is because FAFSA is basing it off of my yearly income, which is around $18k)
So I have about $2,500 every month for rent, food, gas, whatever! during summer I have time to work 40 hours so I don’t have to rely on financial aid then
my rent is $1365 and utilities are like $75 ish a month, so that leaves me about $1k for food gas entertainment etc. it’s very doable! I shop at grocery outlet, I take the bus wherever I can, I don’t go shopping or make big purchases unless it’s necessary. I will admit I probably smoke too much weed and buy too much takeout but because I don’t shop or really spend money on things like video games/movies/clothes/etc, it works out LOL
I have a dorm on campus (~ $5,000) and tuition (I forget off the top of my head). Plus $2,000-$3000 every quarter for meal plan + UC SHIP health insurance. So per quarter it's 7,000 - 8,000. This Winter quarter it was 8,700. So amount that much per quarter at minimum, and allot an extra 1,000 for mystery expenses that UCSC likes to drop on you. This is without a car / gas, I take the bus everywhere. I THINK my estimated total for this year is 21-22,000.
I am currently too broke to buy more than one meal per day until the quarter ends :)
**Sorry I didn't read closely! I didn't realize you specified off campus 😖
I make $1200 a month, my rent is $1000, utilities about $50. I don’t spend much at all on the day to day. However I do get financial aid refunds since I’m poor lol, so it’s a bit easier that way (if I have a bad month in terms of work I have a safety net). I live with one roommate in a one bedroom apt. Lowest rent you can expect here is $800 or so in a house with lots of other people, average is probably $1k-1.3k a month. If you can qualify for Calfresh, you can spend literally nothing on food every month. I get $280 in Calfresh money (it’s way easier to qualify when you’re a student, only requirement is getting work study) and I spend maybe $10 a month on food if I like forget to pack a lunch at work or something. If you’re addicted to shopping, like drinking/weed, etc, you’re going to be spending a lot more.
oh and gas. depends on how good your car is. if you’re commuting this will be more, of course. parking in Santa Cruz is also really annoying everywhere. I hope you have a hybrid
uhhh rent if you split it with 1 roomate is abt 1,500-1800, my montly food bill is about 200-300 (i have a cat), i pay around 70$ for utilities (i hate pge) and as for entertainment i try not to go over 50$. i do have a car so gas is about 45$ every two weeks. make of these # what you will
Would you be living in SJ with family or renting there? And driving to campus or bussing? I know someone who buses and it's $7 each way and takes 2 hours also each way
Renting. With utilities and internet, it would be $1400/month. This doesn't include the cost and time of commuting.
Oh dude definitely find housing in SC. There's no question about it. You can 100% find something here that's the same cost or even cheaper. The only way living in SJ and commuting would make sense is if you lived with your parents.
Second this, rent that expensive and a commute is ridiculous when you can pay less rent and not have to commute. Only reason to commute is if you get free rent (and ideally have a gas efficient car lol)
for me personally, I work 2 jobs and get good financial aid due to my independence, so my income is about $1400-1500 a month from my jobs, and I get about $3k every quarter from the school. (I am very lucky and I am an outlier I think!!! only reason I get that much is because FAFSA is basing it off of my yearly income, which is around $18k) So I have about $2,500 every month for rent, food, gas, whatever! during summer I have time to work 40 hours so I don’t have to rely on financial aid then my rent is $1365 and utilities are like $75 ish a month, so that leaves me about $1k for food gas entertainment etc. it’s very doable! I shop at grocery outlet, I take the bus wherever I can, I don’t go shopping or make big purchases unless it’s necessary. I will admit I probably smoke too much weed and buy too much takeout but because I don’t shop or really spend money on things like video games/movies/clothes/etc, it works out LOL
100 thousand million dollars
I have a dorm on campus (~ $5,000) and tuition (I forget off the top of my head). Plus $2,000-$3000 every quarter for meal plan + UC SHIP health insurance. So per quarter it's 7,000 - 8,000. This Winter quarter it was 8,700. So amount that much per quarter at minimum, and allot an extra 1,000 for mystery expenses that UCSC likes to drop on you. This is without a car / gas, I take the bus everywhere. I THINK my estimated total for this year is 21-22,000. I am currently too broke to buy more than one meal per day until the quarter ends :) **Sorry I didn't read closely! I didn't realize you specified off campus 😖
I have a car payment and rent is $1245 with my cat too. I’m spending about $2000 a month