PLEASE help- year out on an EXTREMELY TIGHT BUDGET!!!

Question

I'm going to live in france for a year as a english assistant in a french school. The problem is, i will only receive €115/month from the school, which is next to nothing. so ill need to find another part time job on the side. my question is this- how much money roughly do you think i would need to keep me going for maybe 2/3 weeks until i find another job?? i just need a ball park figure.

PS- i will not have accommodation to find/pay as that is already organised for me.

- my flight is already paid for.

- Ill be living in a smallish town in western france, so i presume it wont be too expensive.

any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

I would have abuot 1000 Euros to hold me over for 2-3 weeks if I were you.  You likely won't need it but just in case it's good to have extra.

Is there no minimum wage in France?  115 a month is unbelievable.  I guess they are counting your accomodations as part of your salary, but still that seems like they are being overly cheap

Answer 2

Transport and food as a minimum. In a small town things are less expensive, and even cheaper if you buy at a supermarket. Don't go into small shops. With 50 Euros you can survive for a week, but first go around the supermarket and check for the cheaper prices (bottom of display racks) and buy in bulk. Don't buy sodas, tap water is perfectly healthy and way cheaper. Housecleaning stuff are expensive, even if you don't have to buy them often they still take a good chunk out of your budget. Then you need a bus card, a monthly one is cheaper in the long run. Ask for the price and budget for it.

You can survive with 60 Euros a week but that is if you can budget yourself to the bare minimum. 80 to 90 Euros to be safe.

You can try to give English lessons on the side (that is expected of a teacher so it won't be a problem) ask for the price per hour at your school and put up an offer in bakeries and small shops, you can also offer to babysit (only if you speak French fluent). That will give you some additional revenues while you hunt for that second job.  

Answer 3

Sorry to break if to you but EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE in France is expensive. That's good that accommodation is found and paid for. What about meals? I would try to budget 50 euros a week for groceries. Eating in restaurants is expensive (plan 10-20 euros a meal).

You may consider buying a mobile phone which costs about 50 Euros, plus the credit to charge the phone. Plus there will always be little things you need (a hairdryer, etc). Transportation as well. A small town will probably have buses--count 1.5 euros for one ticket.

I think you already posted a similar question about finding extra work. As you'll find, unemployment in France is very high. It is extremely unlikely that you will find another job in 2-3 weeks. It took me two months! Not to mention you'll need to find a job where you can work legally or under the table.

Salaries in France are paid at the end of the month so you won't be paid right away. In the assistantship program I did, we started on Oct 1, and technically didn't get the full pay (for Oct and Nov) until the end of November. Fortunately we could ask for an advance. Check with your employer about the actual date of your first payment and try to arrange an advance if possible.

So.....that said...I think you should budget for a lot longer than 2-3 weeks. I would say 1000 euros to be safe.