How much do we spend to live and study at Chalmers? How do we live our lives to the fullest without breaking the bank? Ready to discover our tips and tricks? Read more about how we manage our finances! Amidst the excitement of embarking on a new academic journey, there is the sobering reality of living expenses that we need to consider when planning our studies. For some, a master’s at Chalmers is the first time where you will need to manage your finances on your own. Meanwhile, others have a bit more experience, having lived on their own already for a few years. Or perhaps, you have worked for a few years and are now transitioning back to university life and student costs. No matter which group you are in, this new journey at Chalmers is full of unknowns when it comes to managing expenses. So, how much should you expect to spend per month, how should you budget, what would be the largest expenses, and what tips are there? In this blog, students Bidita and Maria will go over the main spending categories. Disclaimer: The costs provided in this blog are relevant as of April 2024. Please note that costs often change due to a variety of reasons. Homemade meals Maria's favourite homemade meal (left) and Bidita's (right) Maria: My go-to homemade meal is chicken drumsticks and a salad. I usually buy a portion of 8 chicken drumsticks for 58 SEK and some fresh lettuce, radishes, and cucumbers for the salad. A head of lettuce is 20 SEK, a bunch of radishes typically costs 10 SEK, and one cucumber is 14 SEK. These last me for 3 meals, which makes the total 34 SEK per meal. Sometimes, I get a ready-made salad instead from the salad bars which you can find in most supermarkets in Sweden, which costs me approx. 38 SEK per a bowl of salad. Bidita: I enjoy a variety of cuisines and try to make them at home. My favorite comfort meal which I eat quite often is a bowl of steamed rice with chicken curry with vegetables on the side. A bag of basmati rice costs 35 SEK per kg, and a whole chicken costs around 65 SEK. For convenience, I buy cut frozen vegetable packets (1 kilogram) which cost around 20 SEK. I buy spices and other Asian ingredients from smaller stores here which often have a range of prices. Be ready to pay more than their local price because they are imported here. On average, each fully prepared meal costs me around 30-40 SEK. Apart from that, some essential everyday items for me would be milk: 13 SEK/l, eggs: 36 SEK/dz, onions: 15 SEK/kg, and oil: 25 SEK/l.  Meals at university or takeaway Cheeseburger deal at J.A. Pripps (left) and a meal at the SU Dining hall (right). Maria: I usually buy the lunch meal deal – a cheeseburger, fries, and a drink for 80 SEK at J.A. Pripps – the pub at the Student Union (SU) building. Occasionally, I get a lunch meal such as fish and chips at the main restaurant in the SU building, which is 55 SEK with a student discount. Bidita: If I plan to have lunch at the campus, I first check the options available at the SU Dining hall that Maria mentioned above. Sometimes if I want something to grab and go during busy lunch time, I buy sandwiches or baguette from the Chalmers Store which are even cheaper, around 44 SEK per meal.  Transport Taking the ferry to campus Lindholmen from the city. Maria: I walk to university every day as I live close by. However, I occasionally take the bus or the tram when I am going to the city centre or the ferry when I have classes at campus Lindholmen. A single-use ticket costs me 36 SEK and is valid for an hour and a half. Student discounts don’t cover single-use tickets, but if you are using public transport to commute every day, a monthly or yearly ticket would be better suited and those have student discounts. Bidita: It takes me a total of 30 minutes by bus and tram to go to Chalmers Johanneberg campus from my place in Kalleback. I like roaming around the cozy city too, so I buy monthly tickets from Västtrafik (the agency responsible for public transport in Gothenburg) through their mobile app. A monthly ticket for students costs 625 SEK which includes rides in trams, bus, ferries- all public transports. Bidita's commute to university by bus. Housing Maria: I live in student accommodation provided by the housing agency SGS, called Rotary. My monthly rent is around 4,900 SEK, including my utilities and bills, including Wi-Fi. When I moved in, I needed to buy my own router, which was a one-time purchase of 700 SEK. Bidita: My partner and I live in an apartment that we found through the popular rental website called “HomeQ”. The rent of the apartment is 9,900 SEK which I share with my partner for an area of 64 square metres. We got a student discount on the Wi-Fi and currently pay 249 SEK per month for 300 Mbps which is usually 349 SEK. Entertainment and social activities Getting some cinnamon buns (left) and FestU party at the Student Union building (right). Maria: I sometimes go to the cinema, where a ticket costs 179 SEK, which is comparatively more expensive than in other countries. There are many social activities organized on campus. The party student committee “FestU” organizes parties at the Student Union building, where the entry ticket for Chalmers students is 150 SEK. I also went to a hockey game a few weeks ago, where the Chalmers team was playing, and the entry ticket was just 40 SEK. Bidita: The first thing that comes to my mind is “fika” which means afternoon coffee-snacks time in Sweden. I am fond of the fika culture here and often visit coffee shops in Chalmers and also around town. Monthly, I spend 300 SEK for this. I am a part of the sports club (called CIS) which has cost me 150 SEK for one academic year to become a member. I also joined Chalmers Women’s Association (CWA) which did not have a membership fee. I get notifications and take part in interesting sports events and women’s empowerment events from these two societies. Like Maria, I also enjoy watching movies at the theatre at similar prices. Besides these, I put 200- 250 SEK aside per month for hangouts with friends! The movie theatre during the Gothenburg film festival. Wellness and gym membership Maria: For toiletries and cleaning products, I usually spend around 400 to 500 SEK per month. And gym memberships are available from 312 SEK per month if you buy the annual student membership. Bidita: Self-care and mindfulness are important to me. So, I spend around 500 SEK on personal wellness and hygiene. Since I don’t live in the campus area, I am a member of a gym near my apartment which is a bit expensive and costs me 350 SEK using student discount on a monthly basis.  Other expenses Maria: I use a pre-paid SIM card, which costs me 299 SEK per month for 40GB of data and unlimited calls and minutes. There are also much cheaper options starting from 99 SEK per month, but I chose this one because I have up to 400 minutes of calls abroad in the EU and 90 minutes in non-EU countries, so I can call my friends and family. Bidita: I come from a warm country in Asia, so I had to buy weather-appropriate clothes. Regular clothes, shoes, and especially winterwear, on average cost around 1,000 SEK. It is good to invest in durable jackets and boots for the winter. And for my phone, with the student discount, I pay 110 SEK per month for Hallon’s package, which includes 10 GB of data and unlimited calls and texts. Summary Maria: My largest expenses are food and rent. Determining the ideal monthly spendings is challenging and it will take the first few months until you settle in and learn where to shop and what student discounts are there. I personally spend between 10,000 and 15,000 SEK per month, including rent. This greatly varies dependent on your housing situation, commuting, habits, and lifestyle. Bidita: Expenses can vary from person to person. I think rent in Sweden is generally everyone’s biggest expense. As I like traveling and exploring the city, it comes with some additional costs. So, I approximately spend 13000 SEK every month in total, including my part of the rent.  Tips for managing your budget And lastly, some tips we can give you for managing your budget: Maria: When I first moved out to live separately from my parents, I made a small spreadsheet with all the categories of spendings I expected. Four years later, I still use this spreadsheet, which has evolved into one with many branches and categories. Having a spreadsheet has helped me immensely with tracking my spendings as well as planning my budget for the month. Additionally, another big tip is to use the student discounts on campus. If you want to eat out or crave some takeaway, go to one of the many great university canteens, restaurants, and cafés on campus, as at Chalmers there are student discounts on all food and drinks when you use your Student Union card. Bidita: I have a similar approach to budgeting as Maria. I keep my expenses logged in a spreadsheet too and recommend everyone to avail student discounts whenever possible. One tip would be to check out Mecenat (a website and an app where student discount codes are available) every time you make a purchase. They have some wonderful deals available for us students! Further, before making any one-time purchases such as headphones, clothes or even medicines, make sure to check the prices on price comparison websites. An example would be “PriceRunner” which shows the same product’s price on different retail stores. This way, you can grab a good deal or store discount. This helped me save a lot of money as a student.