Saving money during law school - Extremes Forum
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- jks289
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
I do know someone who lived a relatively decent student lifestyle in South Bend, IN for $9,800/year. That included 100% of all expenses. So maybe those Notre Dame kids just know something the rest of us don't.
- TheBigMediocre
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
I'm going to reuse trojans as well as alternate between fewer fake names.
- The Dan
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
shepdawg wrote:Too little. What city can you get rent for $400, or eat for $80? The average American now spends $17/day on food. Rent where I am going to school is $1300 for a studio.
$80 per month on food is difficult, but definitely possible in certain places with low COL. Just cook all your meals and you can do it. No alcohol. Drink water instead of soda. You probably won't find food prices to allow that in a city, though.
The average American may spend $17 per day, but the average American is also fat and lazy. And, in general, has more discretionary income than a law student.
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
I live in Portland, OR and my rent is $650 for a beautiful down town double studio! My food is about $200 per month and I waste so much $$. I could probably get by on $80 if I just stopped going out to eat.
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
You should allocate more money for food. I think the last thing you are going to want to worry about is whether or not you have enough money to eat. The stress of figuring out how to pay for the tiniest extravagance (i.e. a big night out at Burger King) or moderate food disaster (i.e. your week old mushrooms and chicken goes hairy faster than you thought) is going to far outweigh the stress of taking out another thousand bucks in loans.nick637 wrote:everythingMr. Pablo wrote:What are you expecting to get out of that 12k?nick637 wrote:what is everyones expected COL?
I hope to take out and live on roughly 12k. I'm gonna need your prayers
rent= 400/month
food= 80/month
books= 1500
leaves money left over for anything else i may need. Is this too much or too little
- sjk
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
Blog I stumbled upon. I think the writer is a current 2L.
http://everydaynarcissism.blogspot.com/ ... of-us.html
http://everydaynarcissism.blogspot.com/ ... of-us.html
- gwuorbust
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
Is the extra stress associated with spending only $80 a month on food really worth the, say, marginal $220 a month that it would take to live on a somewhat normal food-budget?
IMO it is not.
IMO it is not.
- Cole S. Law
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
Everyday at law school some stupid group has free food at lunch time. It you don't mind eating pizza 5 days a week you could have free lunches all year. You may have to listen to a presentation from the Jewish Lawyers for Jesus Society, but who wouldn't want to do that?
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
It depends. Saving money is awesome! And freeing. When you realize that you can live much more cheaply than those around you then you can save for the things you really want: trips, clothes, etc. Things that last. Food is a waste of money. But it also lets you live.gwuorbust wrote:Is the extra stress associated with spending only $80 a month on food really worth the, say, marginal $220 a month that it would take to live on a somewhat normal food-budget?
IMO it is not.
- pany1985
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
Cole S. Law wrote:Everyday at law school some stupid group has free food at lunch time. It you don't mind eating pizza 5 days a week you could have free lunches all year. You may have to listen to a presentation from the Jewish Lawyers for Jesus Society, but who wouldn't want to do that?
Yeah. If you're going to law school and not getting lunch for free at least once a week, you're doing something wrong.
- cardnal124
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
Ya. I'm all for saving money, but screw not eating real food for 3 years. For me savings come from not taking ridiculous trips or buying extravagant clothes. But if that's your thing, do it... do it.Hey-O wrote:It depends. Saving money is awesome! And freeing. When you realize that you can live much more cheaply than those around you then you can save for the things you really want: trips, clothes, etc. Things that last. Food is a waste of money. But it also lets you live.gwuorbust wrote:Is the extra stress associated with spending only $80 a month on food really worth the, say, marginal $220 a month that it would take to live on a somewhat normal food-budget?
IMO it is not.
- pany1985
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
I'm living with my fiancee and we generally spend about 300/month on food, which I think is pretty reasonable for two people.
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- General Tso
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
I am running about $1000 to 1,100 a month in the Bay Area. I live with my g/f and 2 other roommates in the East Bay.
Rent - 425
Elec - 35
Cell - 45
Water - 15
Transit - 250
Food - 100 (my g/f pays for most of it)
Car ins. - 40
Fuel - 60
Random shit - 50-100
I don't eat lunch at school...I take a sandwich or something else to eat. Even if you tripled my food expenses this would total only around 1250 a month. My school recommends $20,000 a year for living expenses, I figure I am running about $7,000 under that.
Rent - 425
Elec - 35
Cell - 45
Water - 15
Transit - 250
Food - 100 (my g/f pays for most of it)
Car ins. - 40
Fuel - 60
Random shit - 50-100
I don't eat lunch at school...I take a sandwich or something else to eat. Even if you tripled my food expenses this would total only around 1250 a month. My school recommends $20,000 a year for living expenses, I figure I am running about $7,000 under that.
- Notor
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
I am planning on not heating my unit during the winter, and relying on the ambient heat from the surrounding units as a way of cutting my gas bill. (3 story building, I am on the second floor in the middle)
- kaydish21
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
jtxcounitah wrote:I'm going to live in a van. down by the river.
I laughed, great reference.
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
I plan on walking/biking as much as possible, forgoing cable and enjoying hulu instead, packing lunches/dinners/snacks and taking a thermos of coffee to school daily. I plan to keep my grocery/household items budget to about $50/week. This isn't really much different than how I live now, except I drink my free coffee at the office and <3 my DVR.
I plan on working for pay of some form (even if it's just 5-10 hrs/wk), my 2L and 3L years, as well as during the summers. If I end up with unpaid law jobs in the summer I will waitress some evenings as well to offset expenses.
I've worked my ass off the last two years to pay off all my existing debt before school. Seven day work weeks unimaginably suck, but I'll be thanking myself later for not using law school loans to make car payments.
I will also try to limit my living expenses as much as possible. However, I'm headed to DC so rent is absolutely horrendous. I'm hoping to keep my total rent/utilities/parking (if any) below $900 or $1,000. The further you live from school brings cheaper rent, but more $$ spent on Metro.
I plan on working for pay of some form (even if it's just 5-10 hrs/wk), my 2L and 3L years, as well as during the summers. If I end up with unpaid law jobs in the summer I will waitress some evenings as well to offset expenses.
I've worked my ass off the last two years to pay off all my existing debt before school. Seven day work weeks unimaginably suck, but I'll be thanking myself later for not using law school loans to make car payments.
I will also try to limit my living expenses as much as possible. However, I'm headed to DC so rent is absolutely horrendous. I'm hoping to keep my total rent/utilities/parking (if any) below $900 or $1,000. The further you live from school brings cheaper rent, but more $$ spent on Metro.
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- nick637
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
good god. Where do you live?Notor wrote:I am planning on not heating my unit during the winter, and relying on the ambient heat from the surrounding units as a way of cutting my gas bill. (3 story building, I am on the second floor in the middle)
- cardnal124
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
Coloradonick637 wrote:good god. Where do you live?Notor wrote:I am planning on not heating my unit during the winter, and relying on the ambient heat from the surrounding units as a way of cutting my gas bill. (3 story building, I am on the second floor in the middle)
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
I might give this a go: http://www.brokelyn.com/crockpot-diarie ... ery-night/
Fifteen dollars a week for food, a hundred bucks a week on beer. Not healthy, but worth a try.
Edit: Oh, I will also quit smoking. While it looks cool and keeps me thin, a pack-a-day costs around $300 a month now. Wasn't worth it before, certainly won't be worth it in school.
Fifteen dollars a week for food, a hundred bucks a week on beer. Not healthy, but worth a try.
Edit: Oh, I will also quit smoking. While it looks cool and keeps me thin, a pack-a-day costs around $300 a month now. Wasn't worth it before, certainly won't be worth it in school.
Last edited by ccs224 on Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- nick637
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
Oo then that's understandablecardnal124 wrote:Coloradonick637 wrote:good god. Where do you live?Notor wrote:I am planning on not heating my unit during the winter, and relying on the ambient heat from the surrounding units as a way of cutting my gas bill. (3 story building, I am on the second floor in the middle)
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
I do this now. Tip: Take super hot baths/showers. This can raise your internal temperature and keep you warm for hours. My apartment pays for the water and the heater so it doesn't cause me anything.Notor wrote:I am planning on not heating my unit during the winter, and relying on the ambient heat from the surrounding units as a way of cutting my gas bill. (3 story building, I am on the second floor in the middle)
- TTH
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
Either Columbus or Athens Georgia, so it should be doable. Will your husband be able to get a job quickly enough for the fall if you get off a WL late?jks289 wrote:What city are you living in? At the moment I am deposited at WUSTL. I think it is totally doable in St Louis. But if I get off a WL and we end up in a big city it seems a lot less likely.TipTravHoot wrote:This is pretty close to my situation. My girlfriend will (hopefully) have a K-12 teaching job next year and we hope to live off her salary.jks289 wrote:My husband is a PhD candidate planning on teaching, which pays roughly 35K a year. We are going to try to live almost entirely off his salary and modest savings, depending on the city we end up in. Yikes.
- nick637
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
ccs224 wrote:I might give this a go: http://www.brokelyn.com/crockpot-diarie ... ery-night/
Fifteen dollars a week for food, a hundred bucks a week on beer. Not healthy, but worth a try.
Def gonna try some of these especially the beer. Thanks!
- swc65
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Re: Saving money during law school - Extremes
nick637 wrote:ccs224 wrote:I might give this a go: http://www.brokelyn.com/crockpot-diarie ... ery-night/
Fifteen dollars a week for food, a hundred bucks a week on beer. Not healthy, but worth a try.
Def gonna try some of these especially the beer. Thanks!
I just worry about spending 10x what I saved by eating cheap crappy food on healthcare later on. Raman noodles will kill you eventually!! LoL
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