Physics Ph.D. studies and living expenses

[AryaKimiaghalam]

Hi everyone,
Hope you are all doing well.
I begun to think about my plans for graduate school lately.
I was hoping to learn more about the financial aid/tuition and living expenses of different universities in North America and Europe from your personal experiences in graduate school.
How does, for example, Canada and the US compare in general in terms of living expenses and tuition? (I am a Canadian)
I am aware that it depends on the location and university, however, the point of these question is just to hear anecdotal evidences that you have experienced.
My plan is to pursue a Ph.D. in CM physics and I am primarily planning for a career in industry, so being able to save some money during my phd years would be a great advantage.

I would appreciate your response.
Hope you guys stay well.

 

[jedishrfu]

It’s unlikely that you will save money during your phd years as the pay is mostly subsistence level. You are exchanging the pay for the opportunity to earn a phd.

One way you might earn extra money is by investing what little you have in the stock market and buy low sell high but that requires managing your portfoilo assiduously.

Another might be by tutoring however that takes time away from you that is better used in your graduate studies. In other words don’t dilute yourself and don’t delude yourself about saving money.

The last might be to become a video creator of a YouTube channel to get some extra income. However a search of youtube income videos will reveal the hard work needed to produce a quality video of 10 to 20 minutes can take 8 hrs at least of editing and rendering.

Money earned initially might be $2 an hour on average. However as your subscribership increases and you get better at it you’ll make some fair money. Be aware also that some quality channels aren’t done alone but have a small production crew that you never see.

One low cost channel that featured someone studying in the library or Starbucks and elsewhere. You could do a daily video of your journey into graduate studies.

However the best advice is to just focus on your studies and get your degree anything else is distracting and may cause you to become disheartened.

 

[marcusl]

Since you are asking for personal experiences, I'll share mine. I made about $7,000/year as a research assistant at a top-tier school but, by being frugal and sharing housing costs with many roomates, was able to save enough to buy both a new bicycle ($260) and a new stripped-down Toyota Corolla ($5200, AM radio only, no floor mats...) after 2 years. (Please don't ask what year this was...) Obviously, my bike was fancier than my car. Later as a post-doc, my salary jumped to $18,000 and I felt like a rich man. I'd probably still be there if my girlfriend (now wife) hadn't insisted on me getting a real job with real pay.

 

[haushofer]

Well, it's not Canada or the US, but in Holland you get like 2000 dollars a month, averaged over 4 een years, if you do a PhD. Where I did my PhD I spend 900 dollars a month on rent.

 

[CrysPhys]

My plan is to pursue a Ph.D. in CM physics and I am primarily planning for a career in industry, so being able to save some money during my phd years would be a great advantage.

I'm not sure how to parse this sentence; could you please clarify it? Is there a linkage between "planning for a career in industry" and "being able to save some money during my phd years"? One interpretation is that you don't expect to make much money in industry and therefore need to build up a reserve while you're in grad school. Is that what you mean, or something else?