Will i survive on a $1840/monthly salary as a work-student applicant in louisiana, USA?

Question

can anyone give me a breakdown for the food, rental, utilities, transportation and other expenses i might incur? i'm a foreigner hoping to study in a university in louisiana. my tuition and books will be covered by the scholarship.

Answer 1

I'm not sure about Louisiana, but I live in Oregon and I'm a single mother of 2 and I survive on less.  I would say it is do-able, but you have to ask yourself how willing are you to stick to a budget?

For sure you will have to pay rent, utilities, food, and transportation.

I pay $600/month in rent (this could be different for you if you are living on campus), around $70-$90/month in utilities (this depends on how much you use), and around $80-$100/ per week in food (this may be less for you if you are only providing for yourself).

Transportation is another issue. Will you be buying a car, or public transportation?  With a car you will have a monthly car payment, monthly insurance, gas and upkeep costs. With public transportation they usually have a monthly or yearly pass you can buy at a discounted cost.

You also need to think of things like, phone costs and other misc. expenses you might incur.

It is workable, you just need to sit down and budget what you anticipate to spend vs. how much spendable income you have and stick to your budget. Don't spend more then you can afford to budget.

Answer 2

It depends upon what city you're going to be living in.  You can likely do it in ANY city in Louisiana, but it will be a lot easier in some cities than others.

If you're going to school in Baton Rouge, I'd say it's pretty doable.  If you're going to school in New Orleans -much more difficult, as rent has gone up post-Katrina.

If you're going to be in just about any other area?  Oh, very doable.

Let me know the city and I can help you out more.