Thread: What's avg. cost of living as student in Dominica?

I'm about to move to Dominica to attend Ross. I'm not sure how much I should take out on loans, since I have undergrad loans that I'm still paying off. I'm afraid I will max out if I rent an expensive apt. But then again I feel that my studies will be affected due to power loss and lack of the generator. It would be very helpful to get a rough estimate for a cumulative food, internet, electricity and other expences. Thanks for your help!

I recommend taking out the full amount at least for the first semester. You can always give extra $$ back but you can't take extra $$ out!

It depends on ur life style...What kinda apartment you live in..what you eat every day...this that..

My example...My monthly expenses is around $900 US. This is the breakdown:-

$450 rent for apartment
$300-$350 for Food ( I don't cook anything )
$100-$150 for ur Msc. expenses ( Phone, electricity, and wht ever u get )

My apartment doesn't have a generator...But my rent included water, cable and internet.. Now electricity can be a killer...If you run ur A/C all the time..it will cost more...But if you study more on campus...then u can save on that !!

So just apply for a federal loan and get the full amount...Once u get down here..you will kinda get an idea about ur expenses !!

Hope that helps !

kingdoc do you have a room mate splitting a total rent of $900? I'm liking the $450 amount for rent.

Originally Posted by WillDCMD

kingdoc do you have a room mate splitting a total rent of $900? I'm liking the $450 amount for rent.

No I am alone...I pay $450 a month...But It's just one room...Like most apartments u have here, there will be a partition btw ur living room and bedroom..But then those will cost anywhere from $500..which would be little far from campus...to $750 + which will be closer to campus.. The one I found here is like 5 min from campus..very close to everything..and they don't much like these near campus !!

thanks guys

I was a dirt butt cheap when I came on the island. My place is $400 a month which is really nice, right next to Tina (grocery store) too which is quite convienent. However, the distance from place to main campus tends to deter a lot my fellow rossies to ever decide to come over haha. But practically I live on campus, rarely cook for myself and mostly eat out. On weekend I murder eletricity bill by having crazy electronics on, charging, laptop - gaming, etc. By the end of last semester I only spent $3000 out of my $10,000 loan lol. This semester I got another check so pretty much I got plenty of leftover to save up to pay for the expense once i get back into the states and also to pay back that that ridiculous MERP private loan that has ridiculous interest rate. So yeah. If you want to be a cheapo like me, it's possible. Just deprive yourself of some unnecessary luxeries and make your home a place of sleep and sanitation while living off of school, you'll be fine!

However, you can go all out for expenses on beautiful apartment that lies in the grand range if you wanted like some of my friends did. It's affordable with your loan but I always do wonder why? you came here for a purpose and living luxuriously isn't probably one of them. So it's up to you housing range from $400 (any cheaper has to be ridiculously far or just flat out horrible) - $1000+ and with a 10k check, it's all affordable.

As for power lost, I only had 2 experiences with it all last semester (I think there were more, but I was at school so who knows) They last relatively short. Couple of hours perhaps. Both of the time the power went out, neither cause my any inconvenient to me for I was napping.

Food...prepare to spend at least $5 per meal if you eat out. 3 meals a day would be $15 but I would say $20 a day would satisfy me more, juices are addicting...yes.... As for me, I waste a lot of money off of Energy Drink as well haha. Electricity is pricy that's the reason people love to live off of school. I tends to burn massive electricity over the weekend as i stated before. Though bed, AC, and laptop alone shouldn't be too bad. Dont count too much on generator, not many places have them. As for internet, practically every place have them.
Expenses for books...it all depends, you CAN pass all classes with flying colors without ANY books! Professor notes and mediasite are adequate. Can't say the same for board materials. Books to me are like supplemental information. I also realized that if you do need some books. The library has them that you can check it out for you for free! I checked out a lot BRS, Lange, and high yield book to do review question so it is really unncessary IMO.

Phone I probably spend like $20 a month cuz I only text or talks for a minutes. If I want long duration international calls, 3rd floor SGA building has the international phone to use for free!

Yeah Tina would b very far from Campus that's why the rent is even less thn wht i m paying..Well $50 less..But for me my place is convenient coz I got like 3 grocery stores...2 of which r very close..All got handful of rest. in the area so eating can b taken care of..It's about 5-7 min walk to Rituals and KFC, but for u coming from Tina's would just a long time...

So moral here 4 every one...depends on How close and luxurious life style u want.. I study @ home most of the time..I just calculated my monthly expenses for the month of May..and all my expenses were well under $1000 US bucks !!

just find some people to room with and u can get a house cheap thats close to the campus. I got mine for 350 US and im close to james store (2 minute walk to main campus), but its a 4 room house and we have to share 2 baths.

Electricity costs like 80EC a week for the house if you only use fridge and don't use AC. I'm guessing it'll be the same for 1 person since we rarely do anyhting in the house.

Meals range from 7 EC a meal to way up there. Average is like 12-15 EC. Just microwave some breakfast urself and eat out for lunch and dinner and u only spend like 20 EC a day on food.

Other expenses... so far it's been books/laundry(12-17EC a load)... yeah thats about it. I'm a cheapass and dont spend that much at all so it all depends.

Main expense will prob be tuition, housing (depending on how picky u are), and electricty (depending on if u use AC or not). And if u want to be really cheap u can get a place by urself and just not use the fridge and AC.

3000/semester