What I Spend Each Month as an ECE Student in Calgary

School: Bow Valley College, early childhood education and development

Age: 24

I’m from Seoul. In 2018, I lived in Montreal for eight months to improve my English. After that experience, I wanted to move to Canada permanently. An immigration resource centre connected me with a restaurant in Spiritwood, Saskatchewan, and I moved there in 2021 to work as a server. Two years later,  I relocated to Calgary to be in a bigger city, and I began studying early childhood education at Bow Valley College. I’ve always loved working with children. I use a student loan of $10,000 and a government grant of $4,500 to pay for tuition. I work part-time at a Japanese restaurant, making $600 per month, and part-time at a daycare, making $1,500 monthly. I use those earnings for rent and spending money. My college also has a matched savings bursary program: I take workshops about budgeting and banking, and commit to saving $50 a month, which they match with $150 a month. I can use the savings from the program to buy something for school; I bought a new Samsung laptop from Walmart for $750. 

When I graduate, I want to become a manager or director of a daycare. I hope to save enough money to open my own childcare centre in the future. 

Rent, utilities and insurance: $843.03

I rent a one-bedroom apartment in downtown Calgary with a friend, who’s also from South Korea. The daycare where I work is a seven-minute walk from our place, and my college is 10 minutes away by C-train.
My share of the rent is $780. At first, we thought we’d swap between the bedroom and the living room every six months, but my roommate liked her bed in the living room, so I have the bedroom. I also pay $15 for hydro, $32.55 for internet and $15.48 for tenant insurance.

Phone: $40.38

I’m on a Fido plan that includes 30GB of data and unlimited texting and calling.

Groceries: $225

I don’t shop for food that often since I get staff meals at the restaurant—usually fried rice or sushi rolls—which I can split and save for lunch or breakfast the next day. I buy groceries about once a month at Walmart. I eat a lot of rice, so I buy a big bag and make fried eggs, soup or ground pork or beef to have with the rice. I also buy instant noodles and a bag of onions, which lasts me for one or two months. A few times a year, I go to a Korean grocery store to get staples like gochujang, which is a red pepper paste, kimchi and dried seaweed to eat with my meals.

Eating out: $130

My roommate and I go out for dinner once or twice a week. We enjoy going for pasta and to a Korean-Japanese tonkatsu place near us. A meal out costs about $20 to $30. I would eat out more often, but I know I need to save money for my future plans, like opening my own childcare centre.

Transportation: $5.90

Because I have a low income, I’m eligible for a subsidized transit pass. I only pay $5.90 a month. I use transit to get to school and work, and to go shopping.

Textbooks: $75

I usually need to buy two or three textbooks per semester—one for each course I’m taking. This semester, the books that I needed were about outdoor play and inclusion in early childhood education, and were around $300.

Entertainment: $250

Twice a week after work, my roommate and I go out to a bar near our apartment. I love Caesars. I tried one when I moved to Canada and immediately fell in love with the spicy flavour. One Caesar costs about $15 with tax and tip; I get a couple of them on a night out. Some Wednesdays we go to a bar that offers $11 wings and order a plate each.

Subscriptions: $18

My favourite show on Netflix is The Good Place. I’ve also been watching an older show called Victorious, which has been good for learning and practising English. The rest of my monthly subscription costs are for email and cloud storage.

Recent Splurges: $53.43

I bought a pair of Samsung wireless earbuds directly from their website and chose the option to pay them off monthly without any interest. My payment for them is $27.43 a month. I also bought a brown miniskirt from H&M for $26. It’s pretty, and I can wear it when I’m working at the Japanese restaurant. Our dress code there is dark or black clothing.

Total: $1640.74

This story appears in the 2026 edition of the Ultimate Guide to Canadian Colleges. You can buy the issue for $19.99 here or on newsstands.