chicagoboy12

I'm aware that you can get room and board through the college obviously, but I am trying to think about other expenses. I come from a small town in PA and I understand everything is more expensive in cities. Pittsburgh (the nearest city to me), however, is a pretty inexpensive, and I figured Chicago would be more expensive like NYC. So, is everything pretty expensive in Chicago for a broke college kid?

kodama

Everything is relative, but here is the sort of thing you might deal with:

Transit: ~$2 each way
Deli/Chicken-Shack... food: $5
Reasonable, sit-down meal w/drink-tip-tax: $13 (or, of course, more)
Nice desert out: $4
Party expected chip-in: $5
Gas (maybe not): $3/gal
Shows are usually free (some campus/public amphitheater stuff) or $5 (anything with student discounts) or vastly more (anything else)

Maroon8

If you are used to small town prices (I was), then Chicago can seem a little expensive. There is a rather high sales tax (~9%+) and a restaurant tax, too. It's not unbearably more expensive, and it depends on the domain. Movies downtown are $10.50, which, compared to my hometown, is quite expensive. It's not something I notice a lot, since between doing campus stuff and using public transportation, I'm not spending on a lot of the things I spend at home (gas, pretty much all recreation, etc.). If you are used to paying for gas to drive around pretty much everywhere you go, it's a big relief on the budget not to be driving that much in Chicago (since everyone lives in the same neighborhood, and there are buses everywhere, driving [or having a car] is not at all necessary.) Most students only need to pay for transportation when they leave Hyde Park (typically only on weekends).

uofcrocksstone

Yeah, I agree with maroon8, but here is the deal, remember, The University of Chicago is located in the Hood. Its surrounded by a lake on one side, terrible neighborhoods on three fronts. So, if you are quiet the bullet dodger, you really do not need to worry about paying to much in Hyde park. I mean, I had a friend who lived very close to the hood a couple of years back and invited me and a group of friends to a party where he cooked us Chitlens? I am not sure that is the proper spelling. Anywho, If you are not well versed in Slang/hood food, thats pig intestines, and he bought a whole bucket of it for a dollar, I am talking about a bucket that can contain maybe 8 or 7 gallons of water. So, you can live economically. I am in NYC now, and now, NYC is expensive. If you don't budget yourself, you will have problems but frankly, compared to my current living expenses, Chicago was superb.

cottonwood513

CTA bus or train is 2.25. Gas might be 4.29 regular today but living on campus, who cares?

There are plenty of free entertainment things going on and cheap ones, too. The museums all have free days plus you can check out passes from the neighborhood libraries. The Lincoln Park Zoo is free. When you get to
campus, check out the alumni center, I think sometimes they give away
tickets. Your house family will be doing things together, too.

jay123

But i must say, the sales tax here in Cook County (where the city of Chicago is located) just went up to 10.25% last week, making it the highest sales tax in the nation. =/

cottonwood513

Isn't that in the Loop area? Isn't the tax a little lower in Hyde Park?

jay123

no, the tax is for all of Cook county, which is the entire city of Chicago and some local suburbs. Hyde Park is still in Chicago. Jeez, this whole tax hike thing is really preposterous.