What should be my realistic budget?

[Mavericke12]

Over the course of the three years of a grad program from TISCH, USC or AFI, how much does one end up spending in total approximately in tution fees and other course related expenditure? Also since I am going to be an international student any figures as to what my living expenses budget/year in New York or LA will be, shall be appreciated greatly.

 

[titaniumdoughnut]

A year at Tisch costs around $50,000 including housing and food. It ends up being slightly cheaper to find your own food and housing, but not much. Expect to spend a decent amount of your own money on filmmaking, too. How much is up to you.

 

[Fellini77]

are you counting with daily expenses, T.D?
Nyc is a very expensive city.In Europe, only Monaco and London can top that.Cheers

 

[titaniumdoughnut]

Well... technically you could survive here without spending anything else. I mean, if you've got a meal plan and housing, and don't go anywhere, you have no daily expenses. Subway rides are $2. The average lunch is $7-$10. That's about it for my daily expenses. Movie tickets are $11.

 

[Evan Kubota]

Only buy food from Chinese grocery stores, cook yourself as much as possible, and the food expenses are really no more than other parts of the US...

 

[titaniumdoughnut]

That's soooo hard to do when you live in Union Square. I have a farmers market 12 feet from my front door every other day, Whole Foods within 100 feet, and Trader Joes a block away. I spend a fortune on food... it's so hard to resist.

 

[Josh]

Originally posted by Evan Kubota:
cook yourself as much as possible

The only problem with this is that there's only so much of yourself that you can cook. You'll probably have to start spending once you run out of body parts (or while waiting for them to grow back).