commuting or renting (need advice)
Hey everyone, looking for some advice on a decision I’m stuck on.
I’m going into my 2nd year of engineering at Guelph. Last year, I commuted back and forth from Kitchener, which took a little over 1h each way by bus, so over two hours out of my day total. After both the Fall and Winter semesters, my parents and I decided it’d be best to live off-campus in Guelph for this coming Winter term. Road conditions get terrible, and dealing with winter transit on top of an engineering workload is just a massive headache.
Recently, I asked them how they felt about me renting for the Fall term as well, and they were really open to it, basically saying it’s up to me and whatever I think is best for myself. Originally, I was set on renting for both terms, but now I’m genuinely torn on whether taking on the extra cost for Fall is actually worth it.
Financially, here’s where I’m at. I have around $37k in my RESP, but other than that, I don’t have much saved up. I worked part-time and built some projects over the summer, but the job didn’t bring in a ton of cash. I’m planning to keep working part-time in the fall and winter to help pay for stuff, and I’ll be applying for the Financial Need Assessment Form at Guelph. For renting, a four-month term would cost me around $5,500 to $6,000 all-in, including rent, utilities, groceries, and miscellaneous expenses. The OSAP situation changes a bit depending on what I choose too. If I commute, I get about $4k in grants and $6k in loans. If I rent, I’d get $4.5k in grants, but my loans jump to about $11k.
Looking back at 1st year, commuting caused a lot of problems for me. First semester was super lonely because of commuting but also because I left as soon as classes wrapped up. I couldn't really stay for club events or hang out late since the last buses back to Kitchener are either 8:30 PM or 10:30 PM, and I hate asking my parents to come pick me up from the bus stop at 11:30 PM.
My classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday start at 8:30 AM and end around 4:30 PM, while Tuesdays end around 7:00 PM. My parents did mention I could take the car sometimes if I commute, but I wouldn't have it every day. The biggest issue is that whenever I get home after commuting, I’m just completely wiped out. I’ll get home around 7 or 8 PM, eat dinner, and go straight to sleep because I’m too exhausted to do any homework or personal projects. I did manage to make a handful of good friends in second semester to eat lunch and hang out with, which helped a lot, but the overall routine still feels isolating and draining.
So that’s where I’m at right now. We’re definitely set on renting for the Winter term, but for the Fall, it comes down to whether I should pull an extra $5-6k out of my RESP. Renting for both terms means using around $10-12k total from savings instead of the $5k originally planned. Is it better to spend that extra $5k upfront for the extra time and convenience during Fall, or would you recommend saving the money and sticking with the commute for one more semester?