Budgeting

College students are pretty stereotypically associated with living on a "shoestring" budget. We understand that between your Fulbright and Notre Dame stipends, there's not much left over at the end of each month. 

Your two stipends add up to roughly $1,300 per month, which IIE calculates based on the regional cost of living in South Bend, Indiana. 

At minimum, you should budget the following items:

• Rent: $720/month

• Mobile phone service: $30-60/month

• Groceries and living supplies: $250-400/month

Notice that these are the minimal living expenses and the list doesn't include "non-essential" like entertainment, travel, souvenirs/shopping, gifts, and more. Non-essentials would need to be saved/budgeted strictly for or purchased with outside funds.

Using supplemental personal, Fulbright, or family funds:  we would recommend being sensitive and aware of your fellow FLTAs' financial situations being potentially different from your own. Some of our FLTAs do not feel the pressure of such a tight budget because they have access to personal savings, family contributions, or supplemental funds from their country's Fulbright commission to use in addition to their regular stipends. Other FLTAs don't have this luxury, so if you do, being self-aware and sensitive of this matter is crucial. 

Food Insecurity -- if your financial situation changes (e.g. sudden or large unexpected expenses such as medical bills, loss of family income, etc.) which results in you feeling that you may not have the resources to adequately provide meals for yourself, you must let us know. There are resources on campus such as Cultivate that are meant to assist graduate students in need.