To Budget or not to Budget…
Living the Greek vs. LA lifestyle.
Per inspiration from a peer (Thanks, Zharia!), I decided to compare a budget for a month studying abroad in Greece vs. a month at USC. In my previous blog post about the food in Greece, I mention how a Gyro is only 2 euros — which is equal to around $2.31. This is very cheap for a fast, nutritious meal that fills you up.
In my budget, I will include travel costs, meals, tuition, and the usual entertainment. I want this budget to be as accurate as possible and to be realistic.
At CYA, my program in Athens, the semester tuition is $20,500. This includes full academic tuition, as well as room and board. If you take that and divide it by 15 weeks, which is the average semester length, that’s roughly $1,366.
As far as food goes, if you are eating out for every meal, this is what the costs will look like:
Breakfast: 2 euros/day (includes coffee and a sesame ring, popular as breakfast amongst the Greek people. Breakfast isn’t all that popular in the country but I’m including it for the sake of comparison.)
Lunch: Free with tuition Monday through Friday. This helped to save lots of money on food costs.
Dinner: Let’s say that I would get Souvlaki 3 times a week at 2 euros each time. The other four times, I would spend anywhere from 8–10 euros on a meal with friends somewhere else.
And the rest of the costs for a week in Greece are as follows:
Travel costs: I will explain my costs from my weekend trip to Warsaw, Poland. This includes roundtrip flights, hostels, roundtrip train tickets to Krakow, entrance fee to Aushwitz, and other meals:
-Flights — 100 euros roundtrip
-Train Tickets — 75 euros roundtrip
-Hostel/Airbnb — 48 euros (12 per night at hostel, 24 per person per night at Airbnb)
-Entrance to Aushwitz — 30 euros
-Lunch and Dinner for 2 days (did not eat breakfast) — 50 euros
-Bus to and from Airport — 12 euros
The total for a week in Greece is roughly $1,790 with conversion rates, tuition, food, and travel. This may sound like a lot, but it does include both necessities and fun. Let’s now look into a week at USC.
Tuition per semester at USC is currently $37,412. This includes academic tuition, room, board, transportation, and personal charges. Slightly higher than at CYA. Down to a 15 week semester, per week this would cost around $2,494.
The costs in LA are going to be slightly different, if you are eating out for every meal as well:
Breakfast: $6 for a coffee and food item from Starbucks.
Lunch: Usually $10 a day, somewhere on campus or in the Village.
Dinner: Anywhere from $10-$15 a night.
As for leisure, let’s say you want to go to a nice dinner and movie with friends one night. A movie ticket costs around $15 and your meal per person may be around $20.
The total for a week at USC is around $2,711. That is almost $1,000 more at USC per week than at CYA. And while I don’t take into account any financial aid or scholarships, these do transfer to CYA so the numbers would be proportionately the same.
Granted, the cost of living in Los Angeles is notoriously high. But, it is amazing how inexpensive it can be to study abroad compared to staying in the US. Many people think it is way out of budget to go abroad and actually see the world — but, as you can see from the budget that I prepared, it can be surprisingly cheap.
I think Greece may be a special place, due to its economic situation and geographical location. Since its economy is and has been in a rough state, this lowers costs of living for its citizens and for tourists. Also, its climate and relative proximity to the Middle East and other parts of Europe, it makes it a perfect location to travel to many different parts of the world.
The cost of living is essential to discovering the livability of a place. If it’s too expensive to live in a place, then it probably isn’t livable to you and to many others in your situation. A livable place should make you feel comfortable, not restrained.
