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Living-cost planner

Build a monthly budget from your own housing, food, and travel estimates.

Monthly expenses

0 / 5 entered

Enter monthly USD amounts. Use 0 for a cost that does not apply.

Monthly totalIncomplete

Add all five categories for a total. Blank amounts stay unknown.

Open internship budget

Your estimates · USD / month

Your monthly picture

Entered so far—Estimate incomplete

Start with a cost you know. Your picture takes shape as you add amounts.

Set an amount you want to stay within each month.

Compare another scenario

Compare results

Keep this result, then change your amounts.

Complete your amounts to compare.
Monthly costsYour comparison starts here

Try a different rent, commute, or food budget.

Look up a housing benchmarkHUD · FY2026 reference
State spending contextCalifornia

State spending is background context. Your monthly plan comes from the amounts you enter above.

California · state context

$67,565

2024 consumer spending per resident, per year. US figure: $58,499.

This includes housing, health care and other spending, including amounts paid by third parties. It is a broad state benchmark, not a student budget or a measure of local prices.

BEA · 2024 state consumer spending. Released September 26, 2025. Your city, housing arrangement and needs can differ.

What to include in your estimate
Housing
Rent, a room, or campus housing.
Utilities & internet
Power, water, phone, and internet.
Food & groceries
Groceries and meals.
Transport
Your commute, transit, and fuel.
Other essentials
Personal care and other recurring costs.

Use housing quotes and costs you expect to pay. Add deposits, moving costs, and employer support in the internship budget.

Shares use the amounts entered so far until all five categories are complete. Chart labels round to whole dollars; totals and target balances show cents. Your target stays in this tab and clears on reload.

Complete five categories to download.

Where the data comes from

State spending: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024 personal consumption expenditures, released September 26, 2025. Amounts are per resident, per year, and include third-party spending. They are not a living-cost price index or a personal budget.

Amounts clear when you reload or leave this page. Downloads are created only when you choose to export. No application is submitted by these tools.

How to use

Plan the everyday costs of an internship

Build a monthly estimate before committing to a placement or a move. Start with housing quotes and the transport you would actually use, then add groceries, utilities and other recurring essentials.

  1. Enter your monthly costs

    Add an estimate for each category. Enter 0 only when a category does not apply; a blank amount stays unknown.

  2. Explore the breakdown

    Select a category in the chart to edit it. Add an optional monthly target to see the remaining room or gap.

  3. Use the plan

    Use the monthly total in your internship budget. Export the categories if you want a separate copy.

Good to know

Can I use the housing benchmark as my rent estimate?

The optional FY2026 HUD reference is gross monthly rent for an exact HUD area, including covered utilities. It is not a quote for student, furnished or short-term housing. Choose your own amount after checking housing options; benchmark values never replace your entries automatically.

Should I include moving costs in my monthly total?

Keep recurring costs here. Add deposits, moving travel and other one-time costs separately in the internship budget. Confirm which deposits may be refundable and when you would need the cash.