Cost of Living in Poland

Student life is not so easy. Apart from the stressful exams at the university, students also have to worry about money for everyday expenses. To assist you in this, we have prepared a list of monthly expenses of average Polish student. This list will help you to plan your budget, and both you and your parents will find out what is the cost of living in Poland. We already wrote an article about this but we decided to look at it in more detail.

I. Accommodation in Poland

First and the most important when you are moving to a foreign country is accommodation. In Poland you have several options for student accommodation – university dormitories, private dormitories, shared flat and studio flat.

The cheapest option is public dormitory, however it’s the hardest to get a place. Depending on the city and type of room, for a place in the dorm you will pay monthly from 140 to 440zł. It’s much easier to get a place in a private dorm, though costs are usually about 200zł higher than in a public one.

Another option is a room in shared flat. It’s more expensive than dormitories but it’s easier to find and it’s certainly more convenient. Costs of room in shared flat are starting from 450zł in smaller Polish cities to 1000zł in big cities like Warsaw, Wroclaw or Krakow. The most expensive are studio flats which you rent just for yourself. Costs of studio flat are starting from 1500zł in Wroclaw, Krakow or Warsaw and from 1000zł in Katowice or Lodz. You can find out more about types and costs of accommodation in Poland here.

Do you need assistance in searching for perfect accommodation in Poland? Contact Pepe Housing team! We will help you to find the offer that meet all your requirements. Browse through active listings at www.pepehousing.com.

II. Food in Poland

Unless you don’t eat every day in expensive restaurants, food in Poland is relatively cheap. 550zł per month for food products and basic hygiene accessories should be just fine. If you are from Warsaw, visit this article to find places where you can eat for less than 10zł.

III. Public transport in Poland

In Poland, public transport is usually the buses and trams. In addition, in Warsaw, you can use the subway. It’s not worth to buy individual tickets and much better option are monthly tickets. Cost of monthly ticket is different in every city but usually it cost around 55zł (with student discount). You can find everything about public transport in Warsaw here.

IV. The Internet and phone in Poland

In this post you can find information about internet providers and phone carriers in Poland. Currently, you can have internet and phone in Poland for about 60zł per month.

V. Books and stationery

In college, you’ll need books, notebooks, pens and mass of other things. New books might by pricy and cheaper solution could be copying books from library. If you are copying in big amount, cost can be up to 150zł per semester. The total cost of books and stationery for the semester could be around 220zł.

VI. Entertainment in Poland

We assume that your time in Poland to not only dedicated to studying, but also to have good fun! Unfortunately all the pleasures like parties, theatres or cinemas costs. Our student experience has taught us that the party fund is about 250zł per month but a lot depends on you – you can spend much less or much more.

VII. Unexpected expenses

You need to get ready for the unexpected expenses like doctors visit, broken laptop and many others. It’s hard to prepare for it because it can come in the least expected moment but you absolutely need to have an emergency budget, which overlay the most needed things.

How to plan your student budget?

As you can see, student expenses consists of several different points. Now when you know what they are and how much money do you need, you can calmly plan your budget for next year. Awareness of your expenses is very important to set your budget.

But how to do this?

We suggest you to compose two tables for example in Microsoft Excel. On one side, list your expenses, and on the other your income and divide it into categories.

Basic categories of expenses include practically everything that we have described in the first part of the article, so you can just rewrite them, but remember to type your expenses based on your bills.                                                                                                                     

We propose to divide revenues into 2 categories – fixed income and variable. 

When you have a steady job, scholarship or your parents send money to you regularly – those are fixed income.

If you are selling something on Ebay from time to time or you won a lottery – those are variable income.

Enter the data on regular basis or at least once a week all the revenues and costs. If at the end of the month revenues exceed the costs – it’s great. This means that you manage money well and you do not have to worry about anything.

If at the end of the month, the result is 0, it’s not the worst, but think what costs you can reduce.

Problems begin when the result is negative. This means that you have more expenses than revenues. Of course, this may be a situation when you had a one-time special big expense like buying new phone, but if it’s a regular occurrence, then you have to think about how to fix it. Try to find a job, even part-time, this will certainly help. Also, look carefully to your table with the costs and think which are the highest or least needed and how you can reduce them.

Money saving tips for students

We prepared several money saving tips for you:

I. Take advantage of student discounts

Remember that as a student you are entitled to many discounts. On public transport, trains, cinema tickets and much more.

II. Impulse purchases

Don’t make impulse purchases, consider carefully whether the thing you want to buy is necessary for you.

III. Prepare your food

Preparing food by yourself is a lot cheaper than going to a restaurant or buying ready-made sandwiches.

IV. Save on transport

If you can – use bike or walk. You can save a lot of money on public transport that way!

V. Coffee

If you drink coffee everyday and you buy it in coffee shops – stop doing it! Prepare coffee by yourself, and you will see how much money per month you save.

VI. Sell stuff

If you have old books, clothes or other things that you don’t use anymore – sell them on allegro, ebay or facebook groups. You can earn some money and get rid of unused things.

VII. Cigarettes

Quit smoking! Pack of cigarettes costs a lot of money, when you stop to buy them you will save a lot of money.

Setting your budget is very important, regardless of whether you are a student or a grown man with a family. This requires a lot of involvement and dedication of time, but it’s definitely worth it and after a while you notice the effects.

Our article helped you? Do you have any additional questions? Let us know in the comments!