Cost of living in Milan Italy

Cost of living in Milan – It’s your 1st time in Milan and you are wondering about cost of living and how to save money?

Milan is famous all around the world for the fashion, the good food, the mild weather and…nice people 😉
You’ll definitely enjoy your time, but you can do it even more, checking out these 10 interesting tips how to save money (even if you are sponsored by your parents;))

The cost of living in Milan: how much you need a month?

10 Interesting tips to save money in Milan

Italian fashion brand clothes

“Il Salvagente” outlet, via Fratelli Bronzetti 16, Milan.
The most popular brands (Armani, Gucci, Versace…) for clothes and accessories.
You can find a beautiful branded outfit (shirt and trousers) around € 100.

To avoid: the shops in the city center (via Montanapoleone, Brera)

Restaurant

Prefer lunchtime, than dinner: same food, lower price.
I can’t suggest you a good and convenient restaurant, it depends on your tastes!
You can easily infer from the design and see from the menu outside the average price.
For a pasta and meat/fish, good quality and price, it can be around € 30.

To avoid: design and touristic restaurants in the centre, high price and low quality/quantity!

Bar e Club

“Aperitivo” time (h 18-21) in the bars can be a smart solution!
€ 8-12 for a drink and unlimited food from a Swedish table, mainly pizza, pasta, salad, sandwiches.
Along the Naviglio Grande it’s plenty of nice bars!

To go to a Club, it’s better to take advantage of being a student, requesting the special discount for you and making a reservation in advance.
If you are a girl, before h 1 am, it’s usually free!
The price could be € 20, including 1 drink.
If you are at least 6-7 friends, chek the price for 1 bottle at the table, sometimes it can be cheaper than buying 2-3 drinks a person! Plus you’ll have your private table.
My suggestion is Cavalli Club.

To avoid: arriving after h 1 am without any reservation, on Friday and Saturday night, you can risk to make a long line paying the full price, or even worst, if you are just men, maybe you can’t neither enter!

Cell phone

It’s better to take as soon as possible an Italian sim card.
At the moment (December 2015) the best rate is from Vodafone, for under 30 y.o.
12€/month with 2GB, 200 minutes and 100 sms
Source: http://www.vodafone.it/portal/Privati/Tariffe-e-Prodotti/Tariffe/Tariffe-per-smartphone/Vodafone-Under-30

Supermarket

The less expensive, with quality food as well, is LIDL.
Esselunga, Sma Simply and Pam are less cheap, but you can find also fresh fish.
It’s not true in outdoor local markets the food and clothes are always cheaper!
A trolley can be very useful to bring the begs after shopping.
Complete variety of food for 1 person, can be € 40/week

To avoid: to buy everything from the most expensive supermarkets. Even if you need to go to 2 different shops, it’ better to go first to LIDL and then to buy in Esselunga only what you didn’t find in LIDL 😉

Fitness

There are a few parks in Milan for running. It’s quite popular, so you could make some new friends as well!
In Navigli/Bocconi: parco Ravizza (via Sarfatti), parco della Resistenza (via Balilla), parco Baden-Powell (via Argelati).
The less expensive gyms are “20 Hours clubs”, now it’s € 19 for 2 months.
No English website http://www.20hours.it/index.php/sedi.html
In Navigli/Bocconi they are located in via Brioschi, Darsena (via Panzeri), viale Liguria (Romolo M2)

To avoid: not cheap can be http://www.downtownpalestre.it

Swimming

The best swimming pools are in this network http://www.milanosport.it/sport/40/nuoto/3/#
For free swimming, without a course, it’s about € 5 each time.
In Bocconi/Navigli: they are located in Solari and Abbiategrasso (with an outdoor swimming pool 50 meters long too!).

To avoid: to go after h 17, because everybody is going after work.

Public transports /bike and discounts

ATM (public transports in Milan), the card for an unlimited access is € 22/month
http://www.atm.it/en/ViaggiaConNoi/Abbonamenti/Pages/TesseraElettronicaStudenti.aspx

Ask to your university how to get the ATM card with the special discount for students.
For Bocconi, check it out:

https://www.unibocconi.eu/wps/wcm/connect/Bocconi/SitoPubblico_EN/Navigation+Tree/Home/Campus+and+Services/Campus+Life/Cultural+Activities/Agreements+and+Discounts/

If you are not a student or you don’t use the public transports every day, the “Carnet” (10 trips) can be a good solution, it’s € 13,80 (without the carnet it’s € 1,50/1 trip).

Renting a bike https://www.bikemi.com/en/homepage.aspx

To avoid: buying a ticket every day, it’s € 1,5 for 90 minutes.
Beware of the taxis, mainly at night! Check-out the night service from the public transportation http://www.atm.it/en/ViaggiaConNoi/Pages/NightService.aspx

Learn Italian

Free courses for foreign people
Very close to Bocconi: F.I.L.E.F. Lombardia @ Arci Bellezza – Scuola d’Italiano Carlo Cuomo – Tel: +39 347 7893801
Via Giovanni Bellezza, 16 – 20136 Milano
You can also just use www.meetup.com to find groups who study Italian in Milano probably with weekly meetups.
Some examples: Milano Italian Language Meetup, Milan Italian English Language Exchange, I do not speak Italian 😉

To avoid: “British school” and “Wall street” can be not cheap.

Conclusion: probable “frequency” of the expenses and monthly minimum budget

€ 100 for clothes, every 2 months, so it’s € 50/month
restaurant once a month € 30
bar/aperitivo once a week € 8-12 = € 36/month
club once a month € 20
cell phone € 12/month
food from supermarket, € 40 a week = € 160/month
gym € 10/month
public transports every day € 22/month

TOTAL monthly expenses € 340

BUT, if you don’t buy clothes every 2 months, you don’t go to a restaurant nor to a club every month, not aperitivo every week, you prefer running in a park instead of going to a gym and you don’t need the public transports every day… it can be € 172!!!
(It’s considering just the food from the supermarket and the cell phone)

NB! Interesting fact:
Milan is an expensive city, but for example, the cost of living in Milan Italy compared to London is 43% less.
Sources, cost of living index: https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/milan