AmeriCorps is a volunteer year of service, therefore you get paid less than minimum wage and Boston is an expensive city to live in. Never fear! Thousands of AmeriCorps members have done it before! Mass. Promise Fellows manage to do it really well by sharing resources, getting together to cook, finding the best deals in town, getting Food Stamps, and teaching and learning how to manage your finances.
- Apply for Food Stamps/EBT/SNAP. The process is lot of back and forth between you and your case worker, however, it’s incredibly worth it once you’ve been accepted - I got $200 a month from EBT.
Some tips:
* The MPF staff will give you a letter explaining AmeriCorps
* Don’t claim you’re a part time student, it’s more paperwork from NEU
* Claim as an independent (even if you plan on sharing your food with others)
* EBT works in other states! Can’t hurt to try right? - Live with or spend lots of time with other AmeriCorps volunteers. They understand your plight and won't convince you to spend lots of money all the time. The other option for this is to make lots of really rich friends who understand AmeriCorps. They might buy you stuff! Haha, I kid, but in all seriousness, don't feel guilty or ashamed if other people offer to pay for you. It means they care and understand.
- Manage your finances and try to budget your money according to a bill schedule. I managed this by knowing when my bills were due and adjusting my paychecks to it. I also fell into a bad habit of spending more when my bills weren't due instead of saving up for the end of the month rent checks, heating bill, phone bill, and internet bill. Having a budget would've really helped.
- Keep your ears and email open to Groupon deals and any other special deals throughout the year. We depended on a listserv to get info on free deal days and other promotional sales.
- Again, bring lunch to work and take advantage of any and all free meals. Eating out can really add up. Instead of doing a bit of grocery shopping and preparing a meal the night before, I would go "I can just buy something." This is a huge mistake because you spend way more money than is necessary. Plus it's not as healthy.
- Thrift stores! Buying clothes also gets very expensive. For a few staple investment type clothes (my suit jacket) you need to spend a bit of money. But for other clothes, Halloween costumes, and other seasonal gear, thrift stores are key. Urban Renewal in Allston is a great place to start, they don't have dressing rooms, but their clothes are more than 50% cheaper than the Goodwill down the street. Boomerangs in JP is also a very nice thrift store.
- Make sure you apply for a loan deferment. Paying back loans on an AmeriCorps stipend is almost impossible unless you have lots of savings. Applying for deferment not only stops your loan payback period, but at the end of your AmeriCorps year, the government will pay any accumulated interest on your loan. It saves you a couple hundred bucks!
- Borrow and share books if you plan on taking courses. Northeastern College of Professional Studies courses are quite short so buying new books every six weeks will make you cry. Buying new books for every class gets very costly very quickly, so ask around for books or go to the school library to borrow them for your courses.
I may have more tips and tricks to living modestly, but can't think of anything off the top of my head right now. I may add to this list later on though!
Living on a stipend is tough, I will say that saving up money is very tough, however, it's very doable and you adjust your lifestyle to the stipend. On the up side, after your year(s) of service, any job that pays more than $15k a year will seem like an exorbitant amount of money. Your year of living wage will definitely pay off in the long run when you know how to manage your finances much better.
