<p>Thus far, if I chose not to eat out ever, I could eat for roughly $50 a week. Cooking can be very very cost effective, but only if you have access to a car and can thus shop at Costco (highly recommended!).</p>
<p>Evanston is very expensive on the surface of it, but it can be very affordable, as long as you try to make it so, but that escapes most students. If you’re from an area like the suburbs of NYC (Westchester, Greenwich, Sayosset, etc.) then you’ll find hte pricing to be somewhat cheaper, but think along those lines. Eating out can be cheaper than previously described, but thats only if you’re willing to “rough it” and not go to the nicer restaurants, again something that seems to escape many students.</p>
<p>There’s a budgeting worksheet on the fin. aid website here: [Northwestern</a> University - Undergraduate Financial Aid](<a href=“http://ug-finaid.northwestern.edu/topics/current/living_off_campus.html]Northwestern”>http://ug-finaid.northwestern.edu/topics/current/living_off_campus.html)</p>