Cost per semester for living?

[T.OMD2B]

Hey everyone,

I would like to know from those attending SABA how much they would say they spend per semester on housing, food, leisure, and transportation.

Can someone please comment on activities available on the island outside of school. Is there anything to do there?

One more thing, food shopping...is there any difficulty finding things in the stores. I've heard mixed reviews.

[sweetpeapotts]

One more thing, food shopping...is there any difficulty finding things in the stores. I've heard mixed reviews.

I cannot help you with anything esle but this is what someone emailed me about this. Keep in mind we were also discussing my child, hence the child reference at the end:

This is a hard one to explain. There are three fair sized grocery stores here. You can get just about anything that you need but you cannot be brand loyal. For example you can get scouring powders but not always Comet. You can get coffee but maybe not the brand you want. The meat situation is silly. It just isn't an American style of meat choices. They have ground beef, ground chicken, turkey etc but it is in plastic tubes and always frozen. They have various forms of pork that I would never choose. They do have boneless skinless chicken breasts but not roast beef....

Food is brought onto the island on Wednesdays. You would think on a tropical island that we would have an abundance of fresh fruits and veggies. No. :-D The only thing that is grown here is mangoes, bananas, and bread fruit. Everything else is shipped in. For example, sometimes there is cauliflower, sometimes none comes on the boat. That week I would just pick broccoli instead. Is it a hardship? Not really. I think it is all in creativeness and sense of humor. I don't mind it and others REALLY do. I find you have to just meal plan around what comes fresh that week....

Having said that, this is one of the areas I really worried about before coming here. There are lots of "normal" things like packaged cereals, cookies, canned foods, baking products, noodles, pastas, sauces, frozen foods, etc. All the basics are here...... We shipped in spices and totally didn't need to (other than cayenne pepper).

Most families place a meat order to Cost U Less (like a Costco) on St Maarten. You order on Monday and they deliver the items on Wednesday and you pick them up at the harbour. As I said earlier, if there is anything specific your child loves, ask me. If I don't know, I'll check for it and let you know. Really, as long as your family isn't too picky, the grocery stores have most of everything you'll need. My favorite family that just left were vegetarians. They seemed to do fine.

[T.OMD2B]

How is the cost of food. I would assume it is more exspensive b/c it is shipped. What is your opinion on this?

[sweetpeapotts]

How is the cost of food. I would assume it is more exspensive b/c it is shipped. What is your opinion on this?

I have lived in the Caribbean before (Trinidad). Food is more expensive, yes. I really cannot remember prices on items except ice cream for some reason. I remember desperately wanting Healthy Choice Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream and paying 10USD for a gallon. However I cannot vouch for Saba but I fed my family (husband, toddler, myself, house maid (lunch on weekdays), and a nanny (on the weekends)), for about 120-150USD a week. We gave up some luxuries but not many. As I said, this was Trinidad, NOT Saba, but I imagine it could be compared.


Hope this helps.

[lacycakes]

Hey everyone,

I would like to know from those attending SABA how much they would say they spend per semester on housing, food, leisure, and transportation.

Can someone please comment on activities available on the island outside of school. Is there anything to do there?

One more thing, food shopping...is there any difficulty finding things in the stores. I've heard mixed reviews.

Well here on Saba things are more expensive, that is true. Your loans will cover it though. We bought a car for $2500 and that is our transportation. We can't afford to go home every semester, but single students have had no problem, they only have to pay for one plane ticket. But we do island hop during the breaks.

Housing is usually around $500-$600 a month for singles or cheaper if you share housing. Couples or families rent is usually $800- 1200, depending on how many rooms you need/want.

Milk is $4.50ish for a half gallon, and most foods are are more expensive from $.50 to a couple bucks. Some a little more so. I can only think of one item that I have looked for in stores and not found. Or you may not find the brand you like or a specific flavor of something. You may not find everything you want in one store but then another will have it. There is very little you can't get, and there is a lot of ethnic foods.

Leisure activities, hmmm. Well you can get scuba certified, you can snorkel, you can hike, there is a beach right now. One of the restaurants plays a movie every friday night and another has kareoke after that. Different restaurants have different specials and activities on weekends, and you can always have bbqs or just hang out with friends. There is also Basketball every tuesday, and Volleyball every wednesday. Or you can also study. Well hope I answered your questions.

[T.OMD2B]

Well here on Saba things are more expensive, that is true. Your loans will cover it though. We bought a car for $2500 and that is our transportation. We can't afford to go home every semester, but single students have had no problem, they only have to pay for one plane ticket. But we do island hop during the breaks.

Housing is usually around $500-$600 a month for singles or cheaper if you share housing. Couples or families rent is usually $800- 1200, depending on how many rooms you need/want.

Milk is $4.50ish for a half gallon, and most foods are are more expensive from $.50 to a couple bucks. Some a little more so. I can only think of one item that I have looked for in stores and not found. Or you may not find the brand you like or a specific flavor of something. You may not find everything you want in one store but then another will have it. There is very little you can't get, and there is a lot of ethnic foods.

Leisure activities, hmmm. Well you can get scuba certified, you can snorkel, you can hike, there is a beach right now. One of the restaurants plays a movie every friday night and another has kareoke after that. Different restaurants have different specials and activities on weekends, and you can always have bbqs or just hang out with friends. There is also Basketball every tuesday, and Volleyball every wednesday. Or you can also study. Well hope I answered your questions.

Thank-you you for that very informative reply! I think Saba and I will be a perfect fit. I really hope that I have the opportunity to attend. My interview is coming up. Hope to see you there!

[islandhopper]

Hey everyone,

I would like to know from those attending SABA how much they would say they spend per semester on housing, food, leisure, and transportation.

Can someone please comment on activities available on the island outside of school. Is there anything to do there?

One more thing, food shopping...is there any difficulty finding things in the stores. I've heard mixed reviews.
About the transportation part, I can tell you hitchhiking is the way to go. There are no island buses. There are school buses but these are operated by the students. Thus if you live far away from the school, it's better to have your own transportation...

Hitchhiking isn't too bad. But you do have better chance in getting a ride from the students/tourists than the locals...

[texmex2]

About the transportation part, I can tell you hitchhiking is the way to go. There are no island buses. There are school buses but these are operated by the students. Thus if you live far away from the school, it's better to have your own transportation...
Islandhopper, I realize you're trying to redeem yourself and build some credibility after being wrong so many times. But this isn't going to cut it. You first have to learn to read and understand the question. T is asking how much these things cost. Not how to get around the island. Now I know this is a difficult concept for you to grasp, but you're going to have to really give it your all. Good luck!

And by the way, I just have to say that not only did you fail to answer the question, but you completely contradicted yourself in 4 sentences. "Hitchhiking is the way to go... it's better to have your own transportation?" Did you really think this would be helpful to anyone? Embarrassing.

Who wants to bet where Islandhopper will land next on his adventurous island-to-island saga? I think St. Matthews is the heavy favorite here.

[rdecastro]

Islandhopper, I realize you're trying to redeem yourself and build some credibility after being wrong so many times. But this isn't going to cut it. You first have to learn to read and understand the question. T is asking how much these things cost. Not how to get around the island. Now I know this is a difficult concept for you to grasp, but you're going to have to really give it your all. Good luck!

And by the way, I just have to say that not only did you fail to answer the question, but you completely contradicted yourself in 4 sentences. "Hitchhiking is the way to go... it's better to have your own transportation?" Did you really think this would be helpful to anyone? Embarrassing.

Who wants to bet where Islandhopper will land next on his adventurous island-to-island saga? I think St. Matthews is the heavy favorite here.

Lets hope so

[Bad_Dobby]

Who wants to bet where Islandhopper will land next on his adventurous island-to-island saga? I think St. Matthews is the heavy favorite here. You bad boys - poor hopper - he most likely will wind up on Aruba at Xavier or St Thersa's - Maybe if he is on Aruba he can find poor Natalee or Frankenstone ghost. Maybe he was one the of the 30 SGU students who all got sick because of bad Dobby's potions and missed a major exam.
Well Bad Dobby is headed back to St V to poke more useless posts at all those naughty SGU students....so long

[islandhopper]

You bad boys - poor hopper - he most likely will wind up on Aruba at Xavier or St Thersa's - Maybe if he is on Aruba he can find poor Natalee or Frankenstone ghost. Maybe he was one the of the 30 SGU students who all got sick because of bad Dobby's potions and missed a major exam.
Well Bad Dobby is headed back to St V to poke more useless posts at all those naughty SGU students....so long
Aruba is a beautiful island -- an extra info for you poor soul who never even step your foot on ANY caribbean island but spend most your life typing useless crap on VMD.

What's the deal about using a third person voice??? Is Bad Dobby stoned???? For some reason, I seriously doubt many SGU students will be pissed off by more useless comments from Dobby.

Naughty SGU students??? Are you jealous because you are no where near SGU????

[islandhopper]

Islandhopper, I realize you're trying to redeem yourself and build some credibility after being wrong so many times. But this isn't going to cut it. You first have to learn to read and understand the question. T is asking how much these things cost. Not how to get around the island. Now I know this is a difficult concept for you to grasp, but you're going to have to really give it your all. Good luck!

And by the way, I just have to say that not only did you fail to answer the question, but you completely contradicted yourself in 4 sentences. "Hitchhiking is the way to go... it's better to have your own transportation?" Did you really think this would be helpful to anyone? Embarrassing.

Who wants to bet where Islandhopper will land next on his adventurous island-to-island saga? I think St. Matthews is the heavy favorite here.
Huh, Huh, Huh.....You crack me up every you speak. YES, T is asking how much these things cost, but there is no need to be so uptight about my comment.;) Not sure how you go about your everyday life but whew, being so uptight isn't going to get you very far in medicine.

Not only are you uptight about my comment, but you lack the basic reasoning skills. I said hitchhiking is the way to go but if you live far away, it's better to have your own transportation. The reason is dead and simple -- it would it be easier to hitchhike for a short distance than a long distance. I assume it is common sense, but I guess it is not for some people.:D

Who wants to bet texmex2 will fail out of any med school? I think the odds are very heavy here...

[islandhopper]

Lets hope so
Sorry to trash your hope but nope, I haven't step my foot on St-Matthew's yet and I won't ever need to. After visited the SGU, AUC and Saba, I found SGU to be the best of all the schools.

[Bad_Dobby]

Aruba is a beautiful island -- an extra info for you poor soul who never even step your foot on ANY caribbean island but spend most your life typing useless crap on VMD.

What's the deal about using a third person voice??? Is Bad Dobby stoned???? For some reason, I seriously doubt many SGU students will be pissed off by more useless comments from Dobby.

Naughty SGU students??? Or are you jealous that you are no where near SGU???? Yes, Dobby does hang with Microphage making useless comments - right on that yes you are. However, Dobby has been to many caribbean islands - yes he has. No Dobby is not jealous of SGU students - Dobby thinks some lacks backbone. Really 10% of a class missing an exam due to being ill. NO Dobby does not get stoned. However, Dobby does chill with beer now and then. Dobby will not bother poor hopper again. Hopper has bigger issues to deal with.

[texmex2]

The reason is dead and simple
I think the odds are very heavy here...
Now these are some Islandhopper classics. Not English, but I love it!

[islandhopper]

Now these are some Islandhopper classics. Not English, but I love it!
Now these are some texmex2 classics. Extreme tightass, but I love it!

[DRDRWMD]

You bad boys - poor hopper - he most likely will wind up on Aruba at Xavier or St Thersa's - Maybe if he is on Aruba he can find poor Natalee or Frankenstone ghost. Maybe he was one the of the 30 SGU students who all got sick because of bad Dobby's potions and missed a major exam.
Well Bad Dobby is headed back to St V to poke more useless posts at all those naughty SGU students....so long Side note, St Theresa's is an actual school? I though it was a joke by student trying to see how many people will apply to a non-existent school.