Hi all! I just got my acceptance to SGU and I’m starting to build out a real budget. Tuition I have a handle on, but living costs feel like a black hole, every estimate I find online is either super old or super vague. How much should I realistically budget per month for rent, food, transportation, and just general day-to-day stuff in Grenada? Any island-specific tips welcome. Also curious if it differs a lot school to school / island to island. Thanks!
SGU MS2 here. Grenada is more expensive than people expect — it’s a small island so almost everything is imported. My honest monthly breakdown:
Rent: $700–$1,100 (shared apt) / $1,200–$1,600 (solo)
Groceries: $300–$450 (cooking most meals)
Eating out: $100–$200 if you’re moderate
Transportation: $60–$100 (buses + occasional taxi)
Utilities (electric, water, internet): $150–$250
Personal/misc: $100–$150
So realistically $1,400–$2,250/month depending on your lifestyle. Budget $1,800 to be safe. The electricity bill will genuinely shock you — AC in a tropical climate is brutal on your wallet.
Ross in Barbados here. Bridgetown is noticeably more expensive than Grenada — Barbados uses the Barbadian dollar (fixed 2:1 to USD) and has a higher general cost of living. I budget around $2,000–$2,500/month for everything. Groceries are the biggest shock — imported goods like cereal, peanut butter, or anything “American” can cost 2–3x what you’d pay at home. The trick is buying local produce and fish at the market. Way cheaper and honestly better quality.
Rileyyy: Barbados uses the Barbadian dollar (fixed 2:1 to USD)…
Wait this is a great tip — so you basically always know the exchange rate? Does that make budgeting easier at least?
LeahCole: so you basically always know the exchange rate?
Exactly, yes. 2 Barbadian dollars = 1 USD, no fluctuation. Super easy to convert in your head when shopping. The challenge is that prices are just high in absolute terms regardless of which currency you’re counting in. But at least you’re not dealing with exchange rate anxiety on top of everything else.
AUC on Sint Maarten, honestly one of the more unique situations because the island is split between Dutch and French sides. The French side (Saint-Martin) has better restaurants and markets but can be pricier. The Dutch side (Sint Maarten) is more budget-friendly for daily shopping. My monthly costs run about $1,500–$1,900. Housing is around $600–$900 shared. One thing nobody warns you about: Sint Maarten is still recovering infrastructure-wise from Hurricane Irma (2017), so things like reliable water and internet can still be inconsistent depending on where you live. Factor that into your housing decision, not just price.
Saba University student here — Saba is tiny (5 square miles!) so the dynamics are completely different. There’s basically one grocery store, one pharmacy, and a handful of restaurants. Rent is actually lower than the bigger islands — around $500–$750/month for a shared place — but you pay for it in selection. You will get tired of the same grocery rotation fast. Many students do a big Costco-style haul when they travel to St. Maarten every few weeks. Budget an extra $50–$100/month for those trips. Total monthly living: around $1,200–$1,600.
Ethan89: Saba is tiny… one grocery store, one pharmacy, a handful of restaurants
Honestly that sounds kind of peaceful for studying?? Or does it get claustrophobic? I’m asking for a friend (the friend is me, an introvert).
MiaRoss: "Honestly that sounds kind of peaceful for studying? "
Haha I won’t lie — for an introvert med student it’s actually great in semesters 1 and 2. The lack of distractions is real. By semester 4 some people go a little stir crazy though. It’s a very tight-knit community, which is either amazing or suffocating depending on your personality. The hiking and nature are genuinely beautiful when you need a mental reset.
I track every dollar, here are the habits that saved me the most money at SGU:
1. Cook with 2–3 roommates and split grocery costs. Shared cooking dropped my food bill from ~$400 to ~$180/month.
2. Avoid AC at night if you can tolerate fans — your electric bill will be half. Heavy curtains help too.
3. Buy produce at the local market in St. George’s, not at the supermarket. Night and day difference in price.
4. Skip the bar scene except for one night a month. It adds up fast and the drinks are expensive.
5. Carpool for taxis — share with classmates going the same direction.
Doing all this I live on about $1,100–$1,300/month in Grenada. It’s doable.
Victoria88: Avoid AC at night if you can tolerate fans…
The AC thing is real but I’ll be honest — trying to study for USMLE content in 85°F humidity with no AC is a different kind of suffering. I tried going fan-only during basic sciences and I genuinely think it hurt my concentration and sleep. Some costs are worth it. Know yourself. My rule: AC at night for sleep, fans during the day unless it’s unbearably hot.
AUA in Antigua here! Antigua is mid-range cost-wise. I budget about $1,600–$1,900/month all in. One thing specific to Antigua: on-campus housing through AUA is actually pretty convenient and not outrageously priced compared to off-campus rentals once you factor in utilities being included. Worth checking if your school offers on-campus options — the convenience during exam season is underrated. Walking to the library at midnight is much better than negotiating a taxi.
Something nobody’s mentioned yet: emergency fund. I cannot stress this enough. Caribbean islands get hit by hurricanes, have random water outages, power cuts that fry appliances, sudden landlord disputes. In my 2 years on Grenada I had to replace a laptop (power surge), cover a hotel for 4 days when my apartment had flood damage, and pay for an emergency flight back to the US for a family situation. None of that was in my monthly budget. Keep $2,000–$3,000 in a separate emergency fund that you don’t touch for routine expenses.
Zachary: Keep $2,000–$3,000 in a separate emergency fund…
This is such an important point and I never see it mentioned in official school budgeting guides. Also worth adding: travel insurance for the year, especially during hurricane season (June–November). It’s like $150–$300/year and covers evacuation costs if a major storm hits. Totally worth it for peace of mind.
Quick island-by-island cost-of-living summary based on my research and this thread:
Higher cost: Barbados (Ross): $2,000–$2,500/month
Mid-high: Grenada (SGU): $1,500–$2,000/month
Mid: Antigua (AUA): $1,500–$1,900/month
Mid-low: Sint Maarten (AUC): $1,400–$1,900/month
Lower: Saba (SU): $1,200–$1,600/month
The gap between highest and lowest is roughly $800–$1,000/month, which over 2 years of basic sciences adds up to $20,000–$24,000. Not nothing when you’re already borrowing $200k+.
This thread absolutely delivered. Going to pin this to my desktop while I finalize my budget spreadsheet. Key takeaways for anyone landing here later:
• Monthly living costs range from ~$1,200 (Saba) to $2,500 (Barbados) depending on island and lifestyle
• Electricity/AC is the sneaky budget killer, plan for it
• Buy local produce, cook with roommates, limit eating out
• On-campus housing can be worth it for exam season sanity
• Keep a $2,000–$3,000 emergency fund separate from your monthly budget
• Get travel insurance especially during hurricane season
• Island choice can mean $20k+ difference over basic sciences alone
Thank you all So much, this communiversityersityty is genuinely the most helpful resource out there for Caribbean medical school prep 
Something I don’t see in the budget breakdowns above is the cost of flying home. If you are from the US or Canada you are going to want to go home at least once or twice a year. Grenada is not a major hub so flights are usually two connections and can run $600 to $1,000 return depending on time of year and how far in advance you book. Over two basic science years that is potentially $2,000 to $4,000 just in flights. Budget it explicitly rather than discovering it mid-year.
BenjaminWard I had not even started thinking about that. I was budgeting island costs and completely forgot that getting off the island has a cost too. Do people generally try to consolidate trips home or does the semester break structure make that easier?
MiaRoss most people go home at semester breaks, usually around December and May. If you fly over semester break even two to three weeks in advance, the prices are much higher because everyone is traveling at the same time. I learned to book the December flight in September and the May flight in February. The savings are real and the stress of hunting for last-minute seats during finals week is something you do not want.
Jumping in on the Saba housing piece because I want to add something Ethan89 didn’t mention. Housing on Saba is almost entirely word of mouth. There is no Zillow for Saba. Apartments get passed between students when someone finishes their semester and leaves. The official way to find housing is to contact the school housing office before you arrive but the unofficial way, meaning reaching out to current students on the Saba Facebook group and asking who is about to vacate, is actually more effective. Join the incoming student Facebook group the second you get accepted and start watching those conversations.