Average Monthly Student Expenses During Student Life in Canada

Managing money is one of the most important task when you are living all by yourself in a completely new country. It is very likely that you will find it hard to manage your expenses in your first couple of months. You will also be making money with part time jobs and this might make you think you are dependent enough to spend money on unnecessary things. Here is a list of expenses you will have to bear during your student life.

1. Accommodation – There are four different options for accommodation. A basement, an apartment, a condo and a house. Basements are usually cheapest, apartments cost little more while houses and condos have high cost. The cost of basement usually starts from $180 - $250 per month when you are sharing it with 4-5 other people. A two-bedroom apartment can cost you $250 - $400. Condos are way more expensive and ranges from $400-$650 per month depending on location. Houses have varied cost based on location and usually costs $300-$450 per month on a shared basis.

2. Transportation – It is always affordable to buy a monthly pass. If you are living in Toronto, you can get a post-secondary TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) monthly pass for $116.75. We can take an average of $120 per month for all over Canada. Note – a post-secondary pass is different from a student pass. If you are over 19 and studying in a college, you should always go for a post-secondary pass.

3. Internet and Phone Charges – Internet data is very expensive in Canada. A basic phone plan usually costs $25 per month without any internet or data. If you want 2 - 4 GB of data per month, you can expect a charge of $55 including taxes. Although this are rates for the cheapest carriers which might not give you good network range. Some of the top carriers in Canada are Bell and Rogers. You can check the plans of some good networks here: Bell Plans, Rogers Plans, Freedom plans, Chatr plans. Apart from these, you will also have to pay for the home wifi plan. They are also very expensive but since you will be sharing it with your friends or roommates, it is not something to be concerned about. We can expect $10-$20  per month per person for this.

4. Food and Groceries – This is largely depending on how well you can cook and how much you eat at home. You can save lot of money cooking by yourself. If you are eating 5 days a week at home and say twice outside, you can expect a cost of around $150/month including everything. If you eat everyday at home, you can bring it down to $100/month or even lower.

5. Miscellaneous expenses – Do not forget to have fun in life while taking responsibility of everything. A movie twice a week, a club once a month or any other leisure spending is not really an expense but a way to experience different things and have some fun. It also largely depends on you, but we can keep $100 per month for this. Don’t spend more than that in your student life. Otherwise, credit card debt will make your life more stressful.

So, here’s the summary of all the expenses:

a.       Accomodation - $300/month

b.       Transportation - $120/month

c.       Internet and Phone Charges - $100/month

d.       Food and Groceries - $150/month

e.       Miscellaneous expenses - $100/month

Total – around $800/month

Hopefully, this article will help you manage your expenses and you will be able to save good amount of money keeping everything in mind. Do not forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel – Ravi ThakoR to know more about life in Canada.