apropos Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 I just received the details about Purdue's graduate assistantship offer. They offer $16800 per year (12 months), minus tax, minus $2033 in various university fees. Let's assume that I am in the 15% federal tax bracket (can someone confirm the validity?). I don't even know what Indiana's state income tax is. Then I will end up getting about $1020 per month. The cheapest on-campus graduate student housing option is about $445 per month (this includes electricity, local-area phone, etc). Let's assume that I will spend $15 per day on average on meals, coffee, and groceries. Then, I will be left with about $125 for all other possible kinds of expenses (cell phone, car insurance, clothing, gym, etc). So, I am a little confused about how I am gonna live on this stipend. Perhaps my assumptions about food costs or other expenses are wrong? (shocked a little after earning near $30K/year on my half-time job for the past few years.. but those moneys were already spent on undergraduate education and graduate application fees) How does this compare to other schools. Should I be expecting a similar package at IUB and MSU (if any..) Perhaps I should engage in some drastic cost cutting: drop the car, cell phone, and settle for living in a tripple dorm room or co-op house.. but this sounds so freshman year. I hoped I could live with some privacy and certain "luxury" items as a grad student. Suddenly, UC-Irvine's 15600K/9 months TAship with no fees to pay sounds a lot more livable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farggi Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Hey, I'm in West Lafayette and I think that amount of money is not a lot but it shouldn't be too bad. A lot of people I know here (all graduate, both international and domestic) spend less than $400/month on food. They cook of course. If you are talking about Hawkins (the graduate house) then many people dont like it after the first year. I moved out because they have one kitchen for the whole building (13 floors) and was not really convenient to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootermcgavin7 Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 $15/day is a lot more than I spend on food currently; and I have a full-time job. I'd guess that my fiance and I spend a combined total of around $300/month on food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kartelite Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 I would consider the fact that you can probably get some summer work to add in around $4000, maybe more. Plus your first $5000+ earned will be exempt from income tax, so your actual rate will be nearer 10%. State tax rates are generally pretty low. I would budget yourself with $1400 per month for 9 months, then assume you can find some summer work. Don't starve yourself, most people are taking out huge loans for graduate or professional school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apropos Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 I wonder how can I spent only $10 on food per day? That's less than $5 per meal, plus I need a breakfast. I just don't think I will manage to spend this little on food unless W.L. has prices in this range. I concluded that cooking will cost pretty much the same where I live. I doubt there will be much time to cook/wash dishes/buy groceries, at least for lunch time anyways. Oh yes, according to the graduate FAQ: "The Friday Morning Social Hour on the 4th floor of the Krannert Building offers Bagels, Juices along with other breakfast foods. Pizza Lunches are also offered on occasion." I will certainly count on that :-).. Ok, if I spend only $10 on food per day then that would leave some breathing space. Maybe I could just make sandwiches and eat cup noodles sometimes. I will also stop exercising in order to conserve more energy. Maybe that will help somewhat. I just got this idea that eating on-campus is going to be very expensive, based on the rates I saw on the university web site. kartelite, the admission and financial aid offer letter said that this aid is for 12 months. Of course, if they don't actually require me to do any work for the department during the summer months, then that will change the money situation completely. I will be visiting West Lafayette on Wednesday, and I will make sure to ask the graduate students and the coordinators about this. Hopefully, it will clear a few things.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apropos Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 Hey, I'm in West Lafayette and I think that amount of money is not a lot but it shouldn't be too bad. A lot of people I know here (all graduate, both international and domestic) spend less than $400/month on food. They cook of course. If you are talking about Hawkins (the graduate house) then many people dont like it after the first year. I moved out because they have one kitchen for the whole building (13 floors) and was not really convenient to use. So, where do you recommend to live instead? I hate the idea of shared appartment because that means that I should be constantly looking for roommates when people move out or take a big financial hit. Is off-campus housing much cheaper than Hawkins hall? I think if I settle for a double room at Hawkins with communal bathrooms, I will be able to pay only about 350/month. But I hate the idea of sharing my bedroom with someone else again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chauchau Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 dude, 1k/month is plenty to live on in a place like indiana. first off, if you split an apartment (ask the grad secretary to find a roommate!), you could potentially be under $300/month, and certainly under $400/m after utilities & cell phone, no problem. If you do all of your shopping at a cheap grocer (especially the int'l grocers around every campus), it'll be easy to be under $50/week on food (I spend about $30). And if you live close to campus, you won't hardly even have to fill you gas tank more than once a month. Hence, it's quite possible to even save money. Of course it will all go away in the blink of an eye if you eat out every night and drink starbucks every morning... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wobo82 Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 If you eat out all the time of course $10 per day for meals might not be enough. Just a cook a big pot of something that will last you for 2 to 3 meals. It's certainly not glamorous but I guarantee it will cost a LOT less than $10/day. W. Lafayette is cheap. Relax... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apropos Posted March 29, 2007 Author Share Posted March 29, 2007 Hey, I'm in West Lafayette and I think that amount of money is not a lot but it shouldn't be too bad. A lot of people I know here (all graduate, both international and domestic) spend less than $400/month on food. They cook of course. If you are talking about Hawkins (the graduate house) then many people dont like it after the first year. I moved out because they have one kitchen for the whole building (13 floors) and was not really convenient to use. By the way, do they give you a refrigerator or do you need to rent one? chauchau, thanks for the tip. I'll ask the graduate secretary about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shootermcgavin7 Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Ok, if I spend only $10 on food per day then that would leave some breathing space. Maybe I could just make sandwiches and eat cup noodles sometimes. I will also stop exercising in order to conserve more energy. Do the on-campus housing options have a kitchen? If not; that may be why our numbers differ so much. I don't have any problem eating massive amounts of food for $10/day, but we cook at home a lot. Staples needed for cooking (chicken/beef, pasta, beans, eggs, nuts, oil, vegetables, etc) are very cheap in their basic form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farggi Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 @apropos: I spend more money on housing when I move out but I have a lot more space by myself. The $445 room in Hawkins is incredibly small. And no, you have to buy a fridge. It's gonna be small to be fitted into the room. You can look at this for housing, it's pretty good http://www.boilerapartments.com/ Also, my office is on the same floor with econ students' offices and even though they study a lot, they party a lot too. You can bump into econ grad students almost every Thursday night in the Neon Cactus (the local bar). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butler blue Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Yes, that's plenty to live on. I could live on it in Indianapolis easily (and Indy is more expensive) For the record, my TA offer from Bloomington was less than yours and the idea of not being able to live off it never crossed my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbsears Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 I would say it is definitely not enough. I'm from Indy and went to school at IUB. I lived off of $1250 a month at IUB and it was hard to make due on plenty of months. And I wasn't paying for my car insurance at the time or any car payments. It will certainly not be even close to enough if you like to socialize and eat out. Indiana can be cheap but you won't be able to live a comfortable life at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illiniguy Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 I will also stop exercising in order to conserve more energy. This is pretty funny. I think the health/endorphin effects of exrecise far outweigh the calories you expend to exercise. That is enough money for West Lafayette. My Taship at UCDavis is a little under 16k, plus 1k of extra fees, and costs of living are much higher than in a place like West Lafayette. PS, if anyone is going to Davis and needs a male roommate, pm me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apropos Posted April 18, 2007 Author Share Posted April 18, 2007 Yeah, after looking carefully, I think it's livable. Housing is cheap. I think I could get away paying as little as 400 for rent + utilities if I find a roommate. Food is fairly affordable too.. I'll live.. By the way, is that a year round TA ship or just 9 months? That could alter the monthly income significantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
butler blue Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 I know that the Georgetown stipends are distributed on an 8-month basis and then many people fill in the summer working somewhere (except during the first summer, when everyone's studying for August comps) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apropos Posted April 18, 2007 Author Share Posted April 18, 2007 I was told that at MSU second-year and older graduate students are allowed to teach undergraduate courses during summer and that there is little or no competition for those positions. The pay is about $700/week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skipper Posted April 18, 2007 Share Posted April 18, 2007 Just borrow some money if you need to. It's not that big a deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.