Monthly budget for students

What should international students expect to spend every month?

For most students, the monthly budget in Germany depends primarily on the city and then on the lifestyle.

In smaller or lower cost cities, a student may manage with about €700 to €1,000 per month. In bigger cities, a more realistic range is often €1,000 to €1,250, and in Munich and Frankfurt am Main it can be even higher.

Official university pages reflect that gap clearly:

• Rostock suggests roughly €700–€900
• Lübeck estimates €700-€950
• Berlin says students should count on at least €934
• Cologne gives an example budget of €986
• Freiburg suggests to budget €900–€1,000
• Hamburg estimates €900-€1,400 per month
• Munich is the clear outlier, with TUM showing about €1,250-€1,300 on one 2026 student guide and €1,300–€2,000 on another official cost estimations page.

The most useful way to read this is simple: a cheaper city can still become expensive if you live without a monthly budget plan.  

What does a normal monthly student budget in Germany include?

A normal monthly student budget usually includes:

• rent
• health insurance
• groceries
• local transport
• phone and internet
• Rundfunkbeitrag
• personal spending such as toiletries, clothing, laundry, or leisure

These are the costs students feel every month, even when tuition is low or zero. DAAD’s finance guidance and university budget pages show the same pattern: housing is usually the biggest item, then food, then health insurance and the rest of daily life.

There is also one important planning benchmark: the blocked account. Current student visa regulations require €11,904 per year, which equals to €992 per month, as the student benchmark. The safest advice is to use €992 as a basic student planning reference, but as shown above there are some cities in which this amount may not be enough.

Which monthly costs are fixed and which ones change?

Some student costs are fairly predictable. Others move up or down depending on city, housing type, and habits.

Fixed or semi-fixed monthly costs

Health insurance is one of the fixed costs. Rundfunkbeitrag, the public broadcasting fee, is €18.36 per household per month. Phone and internet are smaller, but still regular. TUM’s Munich budget guide groups communication and media costs at around €50–€60 per month.

Variable monthly costs

Rent is the biggest variable cost. Food also changes a lot: students who cook at home spend far less than students who order food often or eat out several times a week. Transport can be partly covered by the semester contribution at some universities, but if not, the national Deutschlandticket costs €63 per month in 2026.

How much does accommodation cost across German cities?

Accommodation is the biggest reason your monthly budget looks very different from someone else’s.

This is why students should not choose a city only by its image.

How much should students budget for food, clothing, and daily life?

Food is one of the easiest places to save money, but also one of the easiest places to overspend without noticing. University budget pages from Cologne, Leipzig, and Munich all point to roughly €200–€300+ per month for food depending on habits, with around €300 being a practical number for many students.

A useful food breakdown is:

• Budget groceries: mostly home cooking, discount supermarkets, basic ingredients
• Regular groceries home cooking plus branded items, snacks, and convenience food
• Groceries + eating out: much higher, especially in bigger cities

A simple weekly basket for a careful student usually includes basics like bread, rice or pasta, eggs, milk or yoghurt, vegetables, fruit, chicken or another protein, and a few household items. The exact number changes by city and habit, but the big difference is usually not the basket itself. It is whether the student cooks regularly or relies on takeout and cafés.

Clothing is different. It is not a steady monthly cost in the same way as rent or health insurance. The first big spike often comes in the first winter, when students may need a proper jacket, shoes, and other warmer layers. Cologne’s official student cost example uses €47 per month for clothing as an average planning figure, which is useful as a long-term estimate but not how students actually spend every single month.

What about semester contribution, phone, internet, and the Rundfunkbeitrag?

The semester contribution is not paid every month, but it still needs to be planned. DAAD says this usually falls between about €150 and €400 per semester. If you mentally spread that over six months, it becomes an extra budget item. In Cologne’s official budget example, the semester fee is treated as about €53 per month when averaged out.

Phone and internet are smaller than rent, but they still matter. Cologne’s official student example uses €33 per month for communication, while TUM’s broader estimate is closer to €50-€60 for telecommunication and media. The Rundfunkbeitrag is a mandatory fee to finance the public broadcasting service. In 2026 it remains €18.36 per apartment per month, and in a WG it can be shared among all roommates.

Two monthly budget personas students can relate to

A monthly budget is easier to understand when students can see themselves in it.

Budget-friendly student

This student usually lives in a WG or a shared dorm, cooks most meals at home, shares broadcasting costs, watches spending, and uses discounts where possible.

This is the student who makes Germany feel affordable.

Flexible-spending student

This student is less strict, may choose a better room or studio, eats out more often, and spends more on convenience, social life, or shopping.

How can students stay safe on a lower budget?

Students who want to play it safe on a smaller budget should focus on the biggest levers first:

• choose a WG or dorm instead of a studio
• cook at home more often
• check whether transport is already covered by the semester contribution
• share the broadcasting fee where possible
• build a buffer for deposits and first-month costs
• do not choose a city only because it is famous

One more realistic way to make life more comfortable is part-time work. Germany allows many international students to work up to 120 full days or 240 half days per year, which can help cover part of monthly life.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)