Budgeting For Our Year With TAPIF
Teaching with the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) is a wonderful opportunity for native English speakers to live abroad for a school year. One of the major perks of the program is receiving a monthly salary, but TAPIF participants need to be careful budgeters! For non-EU citizens, TAPIF visas – visa type D (visa de long séjour, mention travailleur temporaire) – prevent participants from making any money outside of their 12-hours-per-week contract. This means that assistants have only 785,62 € to live on each month.
Fortunately, TAPIF assistants are covered under the French healthcare system at no additional cost, are eligible to apply for government housing assistance called Caisse d’Allocations Familiales (CAF), and can apply to have 50% of their work transportation costs reimbursed. All the same, 785,62 € per month is a small income.
Jalen and I are currently participating in TAPIF as a couple and have our monthly expenditure down to a science. We want to share our budget in hopes of helping current and future TAPIFers manage the program’s modest stipend.
Monthly Salary
Maria’s Salary (785,62 €)
+ Jalen’s Salary (785,62 €)
= 1571,24 €
- We receive our salaries from the Académie de Reims via direct deposit at the end of each month.
Monthly Transport Costs (After Reimbursement)
Maria’s Bus Subscription (21 €)
+ Jalen’s Train Subscription (32,80 €)
= 53,80 €
- Given that we don’t have a car, I take the TCAT buses to work while Jalen uses the SNCF buses and trains. It has been wonderful to use public transportation to get everywhere we need to go!
Monthly Rent
615 €
- We live in a 49m2 (528ft2) apartment in downtown Troyes. To get a feel for what our apartment is like, check out our apartment tour here.
Monthly Renters Insurance
14,71 €
- Renters insurance is compulsory in France. Usually, you can get a policy when you open your bank account.
Monthly Phone Bill
Maria’s Phone Plan (9,99 €)
+ Jalen’s Phone Plan (9,99 €)
= 19,98 €
- We brought our unlocked cellphones with us to France and have Free Mobile phone plans that came with a SIM card and gives us each 60 gigabytes of data per month.
Groceries & “Fun” Expenses
Maria’s Monthly Allowance (320 €)
+ Jalen’s Monthly Allowance (320 €)
= 640 €
- Each week, we allow ourselves 80 € each to pay for groceries, meals at restaurants, shopping, and miscellaneous items including toiletries and cleaning supplies.
Monthly CAF Allowance
327 €
- After submitting all of the required paperwork, we began to receive 327 € total per month via direct deposit.
Total Monthly Expenditure
1343,49 €
Net Monthly Savings
554,75 €
- We often use a portion of our monthly savings to take trips during our school breaks. So far, we have gone on vacation in Paris, Clermont-Ferrand, Caen, and Marseille without breaking the bank!
Money-Saving Tips
- Sign up for loyalty cards
Just like in the US, stores of all types offer loyalty cards that can add up to big savings in the long run. Make sure that you sign yourself up to save at the shops you frequent. Jalen and I have a Monoprix card and a Colruyt card that save us money each week!
- Shop at budget grocery stores
Budget grocery stores like Lidl and Colruyt offer in-house brands and have significantly lower prices than places like Casino or Carrefour. The food is just as fresh and delicious, and I’ve had no problem finding food that suits my pescatarian diet.
- Have fun for cheap
Taking a stroll around town, relaxing in a park, visiting historical sights, and checking out museums are all activities that are cheap, and sometimes completely free, in France. You’d be surprised at what a great time you can have by simply exploring your local community without having to spend your hard-earned money.
We hope this article gives you some insight on what living on a TAPIF salary is like for Jalen and me. If you have any questions or want to know more, leave us a comment!
Note: The cost of living varies across France and in the overseas departments. An assistant in the Academy of Paris and an assistant in the Academy of Aix-Marseille, for example, would have drastically different lifestyles if they both lived only on the TAPIF stipend. In fact, the TAPIF website states that the stipend is not enough for an assistant to live like a typical French student in the Parisian region. Elsewhere, however, the stipend allows assistants to live a normal student lifestyle.
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