An overview

Overall, we had 10 respondents in our little survey, with the majority being international students. Predictably, the most common expense categories are accommodation (both dormitories and rented apartments), groceries, eating out, mobile services, and transport. Five of our respondents have also named clothes as a regular monthly expense. Let’s take an in-depth look at these categories. 

Accommodation 

If you are looking to stay in a dorm room of a Russian university, you will likely be paying about 1,800-2,000 rubles a month for this commodity with no additional utility bills. 

When it comes to apartment renting, however, the price range varies dramatically, depending, among other things, on whether or not you are renting a room or a whole apartment and where in the city it is located. Our respondents pay between 15,000 and 33,000 rubles for their monthly rent, which falls within the average price gap for rooms, studio, or single-room apartments. You can read more about renting an apartment in St. Petersburg here.

Food

Most of our respondents stated that they spend under 10,000 rubles on groceries each month, which is an indication of how relatively affordable various popular food products are in Russia. Though you can definitely splurge if you want to, you can also easily stay within this limit. 

Eating out is a different matter, for it depends entirely on your preferences. Most of our respondents tend to spend between 3,000-5,000 rubles on restaurant food per month. Others have also stated they stay within the 1,000-3,000 expense range or mostly eat at home. 

Transport and mobile services

Likely thanks to student travel cards and discounted rides, the majority of our respondents spend less than 1,000 rubles on transport each month. The advanced public transport system in St. Pete will ensure that it’s good value, too, conveniently bringing you to all the necessary destinations. 

The country is also known for its cheap and fast internet, which explains why half of our respondents tend to spend under 400 rubles for their monthly mobile plans.

Cultural events

This category is again completely tailored by your personal preferences. Some participants of our survey don’t have a monthly cultural budget, while others spend between 200 and 3,000 rubles. With many discounts provided by various cultural institutions in the city, you can easily dive deep into the world of art with close to zero expenses. So if you are a big culture buff, check out the last section of our money-saving tips collection. 

Extras

Our respondents also stated that some of their recurring expenses are additional classes, sports, and books and online materials. You should also budget for winter clothes: although they are a one-time expense, it can be a considerable one (read more here). 

Total

On average, if you are planning to stay in a dorm in St. Petersburg, eat out semi-regularly, and attend one or two cultural events a month, you are likely to spend about 17,000-18,000 rubles. You can easily increase this sum, naturally, but you could also prefer to cut down on eating out and bring it down to about 15,000-17,000 rubles. 

If you are looking to rent a room or an apartment and are generally planning to spend money within the outlined categories, you should plan for about 35,000-40,000 rubles a month. 

We hope that this has been informative and helpful. If you are looking for more tips, check out our other articles on the subject.