3/4 months in Boston- cost of living? (sales, how much, buy)

[Brit CRL]

Hi... I'm a 25 yr old british female who's going to be working at Mass' General Hosp in Boston from September to December.

I need to start to put together a budget for my time out there and am not really sure where to start in terms of the cost of groceries/ weekly shop etc. Any advice? Am hoping to be able to get the most out of the experience and plan on socialising and travelling (funds permitting) also...

Any advice would be really appreciated.....

Thanks v much.

[Stockholmaren]

I would imagine that most items would be less expensive than in the UK. I’m not sure what part of the UK you’re from, but it certainly won’t be London prices. Boston is however one of the most expensive cities when it comes to cost-of-living, so things will definitely not be cheap. It’s difficult to say how much you would spend on groceries since it depends a lot on what you eat. One person can probably get by on $50-75/week though.

What other things do you want to compare?

[Brit CRL]

It's really groceries that I was at a bit of a loss for- but that's really helpful info, thanks v much. I guess the only other thing that I'm struggling to factor in is the cost of socialising etc.. e.g. cinema ticket costs etc, or average cost of a nightout sort of thing- I suppose some of that is difficult to gague though!

[Stockholmaren]

No problem at all. A movie ticket is usually around $10, even though it may be cheaper if you go during the day. If you want snacks from the movie theater, of course those will be high, about $5 each for popcorn and a large soda. For other socializing events, it all depends on what you like to do. Like going out to eat may be fairly expensive, but it’s hard to say. What other things do you like to do?

[Brit CRL]

Like going out to eat, theatre, gigs etc... and very much looking forward to shopping for clothes which are much cheaper than in the UK!

Thanks for the info - again, really helpful!

[Stockholmaren]

Going out to eat will vary wildly, you can find a decent sit-down restaurant where you can eat for $20-25, but then there are more upscale places where the sky is the limit. Theater would be about $50 I think, but it also varies some. Gigs would be similar, but there of course some cheaper like 15-20.
And you already know about clothes, quite a bit cheaper and for the most part in MA, no sales tax (similar to VAT).

[ChunkyMonkey]

There's lots of places where you can get an excellent meal for less than $10 in Boston, just get off the tourist path. Almost all of the restaurants in Chinatown such as Penang (excellent Malaysian food) and Pho Pasteur (Vietnamese pho) have dishes that will be in the $5-$9 range. Being from the UK and the strong pound will virtually make Boston seem like a bargain. Groceries here are not more expensive than most anywhere in the U.S., base from my experience living in the Southern U.S. You should consider shopping at the Chinatown grocery stores for fresh seafood and veggies. The expensive thing is housing and cost of parking in the city. If you don't have a car, the MBTA is extremely cheap when compared to the Tube. It is less than $2 for travelling anywhere within the subway system. Be sure to apply for the Charlie Card on the MBTA.com website. It will be much cheaper than the CharlieTicket that you buy at the station $1.75 vs. $2.