Free information about various types of loans. Information about loan budgeting and more.

Budgeting

Establishing how much your education will cost you is the first step to funding your education. Here is a handy chart with sample figures filled in so that you have an idea of how much a year of school might cost you. Make your own chart with the figures from your school: remember, the cost of living will vary from New York, New York to Regina, Saskatchewan. This chart estimates the cost of living for a student in Toronto: it can be helpful to you to see what areas you need to consider when creating a budget.

Item	Cost	Total Cost
Tuition	$6,500 /yr	$6,500
Rent	$500 x 12 months	$6,000
Books & Courseware	$500 x 2 semesters	$1,000
Utilities (gas, electric)	$100 x 12 months	$1,200
Phone, internet, long distance	$100 x 12 months	$1,200
Travel home (occasional weekends)	$120 x 6 trips home	$720
Travel to school (bus, subway, or car payments, gas, and parking)	$5 x 5 times a week x 28 weeks of classes (for two semesters)	$700
Groceries (remember to allot money for those occasional necessities, like shampoo)	$70/wk x 52 weeks	$3,640
Spending money: eating on campus, movies, clothes	$60 x 12 months	$720
Miscellaneous School expenses (such as photocopying)	$10 x 12 months	$120

estimated total cost of one year of school in Toronto $21,800 CAD

This estimate is a conservative one. Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, estimates that it costs a student living away from home $17,000 for only 8 months of school. Remember that if you are an international student, you will have to pay higher fees.

Your costs might be different than those listed above. You might choose to live in residence, in which case you will forgo buying groceries and opt into a meal plan. You might pay higher rent, but you won't have to worry about utilities and travel to and from campus. However you decide to organize your living arrangements, take these expenses into account.

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