My name is Louisa, and I’m a 20-year-old third-year student (U3) at McGill University studying sociology and political science on the honours track. I’m from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and I currently live with three roommates in a furnished four-bedroom apartment in the Plateau-Mont-Royal. As someone for whom money is an important consideration, hopefully, this week in my life can illuminate the cost of living off-campus while still enjoying a university experience!
Fixed expenses
- 5k/year tuition (after financial aid) » $550/month. Paid by loans » $138 per week
- Miscellaneous monthly expenses (Netflix, Spotify, etc) » $7.50 per week
- $620 rent per month (including utilities) » $155 per week
Fixed income
- Rent paid by my grandmother » $155 per week
- Work-study job, 10 hrs/week, $16/hr » $150 per week
A quiet day off in spring
Monday, March 21, 2022. Daily total: $0 (thanks to my family!)
- 10:00 a.m. Woke up, made myself a bagel and coffee at home because I don’t have class! Went for a walk around the neighbourhood to celebrate the snow and ice melting and being able to wear sneakers again. $0
- 2:00 p.m. Got back from my walk and had leftovers for lunch. My family was in town for the weekend, so I took full advantage and ate tons of great food and had tons of great leftovers! $0
- 7:00 p.m. Had leftovers again from my favourite bar/restaurant on Av Duluth, Reservoir, and ate with my roommates! $0
Weekly total discretionary spending:
- Overall: $234.70
- Groceries: $54.47
- Coffee: $11.25
- Going out food/drink: $75.32
- Other: $93 (semiformal ticket and dress, plants)
This week I went considerably over budget (unfortunately!) and had to put a bit of a balance on my credit card. However, my “other” expenses are usually much less, since I don’t buy semiformal tickets/dresses/plants every week – I’ll just have to be a bit more careful next week!
Campus tour and volleyball intramurals
Friday, March 25, 2022. Daily total: $16
- 10:00 a.m. Made myself a big fancy breakfast and had some coffee in my favourite McGill mug! $0
- 3:00 p.m. Got back from a walk around campus taking photos for work. I spent the afternoon studying for finals. $0.
- 9:00 p.m. Had some friends over before we headed to our intramural volleyball game, where we lost (as usual) but had a ton of fun (also as usual). We picked up some beer and wine for the night and ice cream sandwiches. $16 for a bottle of wine and an ice cream sandwich.
A much-needed break
Sunday, March 27, 2022. Daily total: $0
- 10:00 a.m. Decided to take a walk through the neighborhood and managed to resist buying coffee. It was freezing cold out, and I was not dressed for the weather. $0
- 12:00 p.m. Got back from my walk and made myself a nice bean and egg bowl for breakfast to celebrate not having to do any work for the day. $0
- 6:30 p.m. Ate some tortilla soup leftovers after a long nap and a full season of Trailer Park Boys. $0
Attending McGill Drama Festival
Thursday, March 24, 2022. Daily total: $15.25
- 10:00 a.m. Got out of class and headed to Dispatch in McConnell Engineering to grab a coffee before meeting a friend to study in the Birks reading room (the prettiest place on campus!). $5.25 including tip.
- 12:00 p.m. Got burned out of doing work and headed home to make myself a quick lunch and take a nap before my French class from 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. $0
- 6:00 p.m. Went to see my friend’s play as a part of the McGill drama festival – she was incredible, and it was my first time seeing a play at McGill! $10 for my ticket.
- 7:00 p.m. Had a few friends over for dinner and wine – they bought the wine in exchange for dinner! I made vodka pasta and salad, my go-to “having people over” meal composed of groceries I already had. $0
Back to classes: A typical day
Tuesday, March 22, 2022. Daily total: $89.53
- 10:00 a.m. I got out of my Latin American politics class and walked to Milton gates to meet up with friends and head over to Burnside to grab a snack and coffee and study. I picked up a coffee and muffin from the Soup Café in Burnside basement to fuel a few hours in the Geographic Information Centre, my favourite study spot, on the fifth floor. $5.66 including tip.
- 4:00 p.m. Left campus after some studying and French class and resisted the urge to pick up another coffee on the way home. I made myself an iced coffee at home to power through some more work! $0
- 6:30 p.m. I finished work and had some friends over to eat arepas from our favourite takeout place in the neighbourhood on my roof since it’s warmer and still sunny! $18.87 including tip.
- 9:00 p.m. Bought tickets and a dress for the Political Science Students’ Association Semiformal at Crew in April. $65 (35 tickets, 30 dress)
Work hard, play hard
Wednesday, March 23, 2022. Daily total: $79.92
- 9:00 a.m. Woke up and realized I was completely out of groceries, so I ran in my pyjamas over to my favorite grocery store to stock up. Of course, I ran into about five people I know on Boulevard Saint-Laurent! It was still beautiful out, so the walk home weighed down with my groceries was more pleasant than usual. $54.47 for about ten days’ worth of groceries.
- 2:30 p.m. Made myself another coffee to take to my three-hour class (I’m trying to cut down my spending on coffee) and snatched my roommate’s Desautels mug to keep it cold. $0
- 8:00 p.m. Went to trivia at a pub around the corner on Saint Laurent with some friends! We did remarkably badly, but we go pretty much every week and always have a great time. I got two beers and sweet potato fries (the best I’ve ever had!) to celebrate being halfway through the week! $25.45 including tip.
Getting ready for finals!
Saturday, March 26, 2022. Daily total: $34
- 8:30 a.m. Got up early for a weekend and spent the day at the law library finishing up my 20-page final paper for my Latin American politics class. This paper is the last of the semester. After finishing it (and three finals), I’m officially halfway through my degree! On my way, I stopped for coffee at my favourite local coffee place. $6 for an oat cappuccino plus tip.
- 4:30 p.m. Had another intramural volleyball game that we won this time (for the first time ever!) On the way home, I stopped and bought three new plants from the depanneur (or convenience store, as Quebecers call it) that inexplicably also sells plants since I killed three of mine this winter. $28
- 6:30 p.m. Made myself a nice big batch of tortilla soup since it’s getting cold again (despite being almost April) and to get through some more of my groceries. $0
- 9:30 p.m. Had some friends over before heading to a party thrown by the ultimate frisbee team, which was a lot smaller than we expected. Headed home pretty early and sat and talked on my roof for a couple of hours, which was really nice! $0