SMU Families!
Would you be willing to share your cost of living in GC?

khamilton was kind enough to share her breakdown as a couple (below).
how is it different with kids? (esp: how much more in rent, food, and other activities)
(I have one infant, but others may also want to know about school)


khamilton's budget breakdown: (married couple)
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Here is my breakdown for the year I was in Cayman

Tuition - $7900 per semester

Fees - $375 - $450 for insurance

Books - about $250 per semester. I bought a lot of used books from Amazon and Ebay

Computer - if you spend $3000 on a computer you got ripped off. I just bought a brand new top of the line Gateway for $1500. You can get good one for a lot cheaper if you shop around

Equipment - The onyl thing I bought until my 4th semester was gloves for labs. For my 4th semester i purchased a stethoscope, tuning forks, reflex hammer and oto/opthalmascope and they all cost me about $500.

Rent, water & electric - $1300 per month (1BR on the ocean in WestBay 10 minutes from school)

Food - For myself and my husband we spent about $50 per week on groceries. And about $100 per week eating out. You can do this for mush cheaper and for a lot more.

Cable - $80 per month (some houses/apartments include this in the rent)

Internet - $30 per month for the slowest high speed with Weststar

Telephone - When I had a land line it was about $100 per month including long distance. After the first couple of months I got a VoIP service for $20 a month for long distance and a pre-paid cell phone for local calls.

Car - I bought a good running car for $900 and my husband bought a jeep for $2800. If you don't want to buy a car, you can bike from most places and walk from some of them. Some people went in together to get a car and split the cost.

My situation was that my wife was pregnant when we got to the island in august 2003. The financial breakdown for the married couple is just about the same accept since it was a complicated pregnancy we had to see a OB/GYN twice a month with a physician on the island it cost about 150CI/visit. Formula, diapers, wipes, baby food, medications, all these things are much more expensive on the island. Another problem is that you can't get this stuff in bulk here like you can in the states. We then had to get two cars because there's no way I'm leaving my wife and a newborn on the island to the mercy of that fantastic 911 sevice. She had to have a car and we lived in Spotts, prospect...Its on the south side of the island about 25 minutes away from school without traffic. We had to get a pediatrician for my daughters immunizations which were also slightly more expensive than the US. Clothing we got from the states but if you needed to get it shipped customs would go through your stuff and say "this baby pant is more expensive than $5.99, it cost 16CI" so they would charge you tax on what it cost in cayman (unless you had the receipt, and even then once they ignored it). I'll post more as soon as I talk with my wife to get her details.

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Finish 10/08...and then back to clown college!

Thnx Monsieur G.

School info: cost of K3/K4 is about 600CI$/month in West Bay, I was told by a student who has a child there now. The child aparently LOVES the school!

Set aside 18k per semester.

sounds about right, plus travel costs.