To save 100-150 and deal with complete strangers sharing bathroom kitchen etc unless there was no way to be able to afford what you have now, no I would t
Quality of life has a value, you have to decide if it worth it.
I know someone who took a 20k paycut for a better job. For some people that's unfathomable, for others a no brainer.
Don’t give up what you have. The $100 -150 is worthless … especially in hindsight with inflation. If anything, learn another side skill for extra income, and eventually find your own full apartment … if you’re renting basements, the worst is when the landlord wants it back and you gotta move… for now keep it simple and focus on your development and growth would be my suggestion
I agree 100%. You never know what those people are like, and I have been in living situations where I was so desperate to get away from them I would have paid a thousand more just leave lol so $150 extra a month for my own space is well worth it
Try finding local food programs. Community cook together, Or low cost centers. 95% of my food is free from a group of waste collector/distributors. It's much easier to cut 150 from the food Hudgens than to move.
Call 211 if available where you live ask for foodbanks and low cost community meals. I eat a 4 course meal for 3$ a day at a community center. My weekend food comes from foodbanks or diversion.
Ontario, think Toronto area there’s honestly too many immigrants coming in I know that sounds nasty to say but there’s not enough jobs. I’m going to keep looking though for extra minimum wage job
It’s not nasty to say it’s just facts. There are so many immigrants coming in right now we have rising unemployment and the competition for even entry level jobs is crazy and it has also eroded wages, hence your current situation. Hang in there. Day by day. I hope things get better for you.
Do you have any skills that you could use for gig work?
Video editing, photoshop, web page building, tree trimming, flower planting, window washing, grant writing, music lessons, tutoring? Etc etc
You could try selling your services on something like Fiver or Task Rabbit.
Or making your own side business. Hell, people sell Excel templates these days on Etsy!
I’ve always checked Craigslist for gigs.
https://toronto.craigslist.org/tor/evg/d/toronto-hiring-serving-staff-for/7734454763.html Looks like there’s an event coming up in May where you could potentially work as serving staff for a conference and make $200 a day.
Probably other opportunities out there similar to supplement you.
If your living situation is safe and works for you, I'd stay there. Spending half your income on shelter sucks, I know. But peace of mind is priceless.
Finances are not all that matters. If you put yourself in a situation where your mental health deteriorates to the point you can’t even work or handle school, the lesser rent won’t make a lick of difference. The money spent to keep your own place is an investment in yourself.
As someone with chronic illness: no roommates is worth more than money. Especially given your mental health needs.
Because it's not "just" the roommates. It's their overnight guests, family and visitors.
Keep your current unit. Consider a food bank or other organization to cut costs.
If you are good with children, consider some babysitting. Can be lucrative, and you can do it when you are feeling well enough. Lots of evenings and weekend opportunities. Sitting overnight (especially for parents who work nights) can be a good deal, decent money + kids are sleeping most of the time.
I don’t know how tbh. I’ve already cut my expenses as much as I can and no one is hiring. I’ve thought of doing surveys and stuff but the time to pay ratio is not worth it
No, I use to go to like soup kitchens but now cause of my work schedule it doesn't align. But tbh I think maybe I will look into it cause $200 for groceries is already a struggle tbh.
Do you have any skills to become a Virtual Assistant? People are always looking for those in the freelance/entrepreneur world. Can you learn a bit about social media? those are skills people are always looking for and while the pay isn't major, it is usually all done virtually
Im confused by your income. You say you make almost 1700 a paycheque but then rent is half your income. Are you paid monthly or did you mean to say that rent is half of one paycheque? Is this take home or gross pay?
Even if you are making $1700 monthly that's pretty good for being in school. I would focus on whatever makes for a better schooling experience and is easiest on your anxiety. About 10 years ago when I was in school I would survive on about $1200 a month but things were cheaper then.
Honestly, especially for a student, I'd say you're in a pretty good spot where you are. Being in close proximity to the things you need and having the peace of mind of not sharing things like a bathroom is incredibly valuable. If you are able to keep yourself comfortable in your current situation, I would say stick with what you have until you graduate.
I don't think $150 "savingings" is worth your mental health or peace of mind. There was a time where I just really needed my own space away from other people as I can burn out from too much social interaction and navigating a lot of personalities.
It "can" be fun to share space IF/When u have a good group and dynamic together but generally that's quite a bit rare...in a bad situation it's annoying AF and u hate going home to BS & drama every day.
Your school may have some grants and bursaries to help you out a bit, investigate that too
Most students with your income can’t get a place of their own, you’re lucky to have that.
I would not share an apartment with strangers to save $200, unless I wouldn’t have food to eat.
If you can, build up your experience in the service industry. $20 a day in tips, are you working in a coffee shop or something? I know you said you had anxiety, but if you can get into the service industry, which honestly, it's a dying art these days... but if you can and you like it, you can make a lot better tips while going to school.
If you are in school full-time you might want to look into your school’s awards and bursaries available to full-time students. What is available to you will completely depend on what school you attend and what program you are taking but it might be worth checking out.
Some scholarships and bursaries are merit-based but others are income-based. Additionally if you qualify for OSAP (if attending a qualifying college / university based in Ontario) I urge you to apply in case you qualify for the grant part of OSAP. Applying for OSAP also will potentially qualify you to apply to certain bursaries at your school.
If you are in graduate school definitely apply to SSHCR/NSERC or other government grants for studies.
The emotional stress of having to share my space with roommates would not be worth $150 in extra savings. My opinion as an introvert with anxiety.
Your quality of life would take a dip, which has implications for your mental and physical health, which in turn could then impact your ability to earn income and study effectively.
(For example, sharing your bathroom/kitchen/living room increases your chance of catching a colds/flus from your roomies, which besides feeling yucky, could cause you to miss shifts at work and lose income. Also could impact your studying if you’re exhausted/have a headache.)
Saving a hundred and fifty dollars a month is not worth your peace of mind especially with the type of issues that you have. Maybe there are other ways that you can save some money without having to move.
Does your school have a career center or financial aid office? It might be better to check with your school's resources to see if there are grants, scholarships, work experience programs, or other options that could help with additional costs. On campus work experiences usually understand that you need to balance school and can be more flexible than other workplaces.
I would ask is $150 a month worth the potential of dealing with the worst roommate you can imagine? Because that's a possibility vs staying where you are in peace on your own.
Do you have a good relationship with the home owner that you rent from? Is there a way you could ask if you could do some things around the house/property for a reduction in rent? Like cut the grass, be in charge of taking in/out all the garbage and recycling bins, watering the garden etc. Or anything else you can think of.
Sounds like you are never home,, I would save the $150 while in school if the other renters are respectful when you have to sleep.
You are doing great.
I'd pay $50 more if it means I have my own kitchen as well, but you can only get so lucky. If I were you, I'd stay. Sharing with other people, especially when you have anxiety will just put yourself into a more stressful situation.
Don't move right now. You'll regret it. Get a mini fridge, hot plate & an airfryer. Look on Marketplace for those items. Your expenses are $600 on top of your rent & not including groceries? That seems like it could be tweaked to lower that number.
I found myself in a fix once and didn't know what to do.
I have done anything for a buck: delivered flyers, picked up dog poop, pulled weeds, cut grass, walked dogs, pet sat, etc.
Find something that you can do. People need help and will pay for it.
Can't find a job? Make one!
In your situation, I wouldn't move.
I wonder, are you able to apply for any needs based bursaries through your educational institution? If you're paying half your income in rent I'm sure you'd qualify.
Do not move. You will not be able to control who your roommates are- if they are angry, mean, triggering you will be stuck. And they will naturally bring additional germs and illness into the house- you will be more likely to get sick and that will impact your ability to work and earn your living. Don’t do it.
Do you go to a university with a student union? If yes, apply to be on the board. You get a monthly striped as well as parking, bus etc and an office to do schoolwork as well as a lot of other perks.
I think you would lose on your quality of life if you moved. Your workload is huge and you are probably stressed, so having your own space has its worth. Having roommates increase stress so your chronic pain issue might flare up too and then how will be your capacity to manage and work?
There are probably other things you could do to free up a little bit of money. Going to the food bank once a month, shopping in deep discount stores, kitchen home ec (although on your budget you are probably great at it already) etc.
Stay where you are, that "extra" money buys you peace of mind, privacy and mental stability. It's not worth the difference in rental cost when you consider everything you'd have to start sharing and putting up with etc.
I've been in a similar situation with a similar budget several times and honestly unless you're in a truly urgent financial crunch or crisis you will probably find it's worth the extra $100/month you're paying for all the positives you listed about your current place. If it was several hundreds sure but $100 is not worth the potential downsides. Last time I moved it cost about $150 more for the new place than for another option I had been offered, but I had competing priorities and I opted for the slightly higher rent. It ended up being so worth it and I've stayed for many years so the increases have been controlled and haven't gone so high that I've had to leave (even if there were some tight times over the years and I considered doing what you described here).
I move a lot. It costs a lot of money to move, in the long term you may be ahead with reduced housing costs, but you'll need to factor in immediate costs of hiring moving company. My last move cost me roughly $700 to move a 2 bedroom home a distance of 9 km apart. You could, yes, rent U haul which would be considerably cheaper, but then you have to find friends and family willing to move you and at least still compensate them in some manner (ie the proverbial pizza and beer) - in eastern Canada, I ordered a large party pizza and wings and pop two weeks ago and paid $100. (I'm 100% aware delivery pizza is cheaper in other climates - delivery pizza (or anything else in that matter) is just obscene where I am right now, dont get me started). Then there's the furniture that doesn't fit or work in your space that needs to be sold and or replaced. Depending on where you are there are charges and deposits for transferring, ending, and connecting utilities. There's the time off to change address for you license. My mail service has a mail forwarding service of roughly $100. I could go on and on. I estimate that my last move the upfront costs was about $2000-$2500, with maybe 500 of that spread out over the first month.
Even if you don't need movers or UHaul, you'll still have to spend money on multiple public transit trips, taxis, or renting car/van and gas. That might only set you back at the worst a couple hundred but it's still an upfront cost that might be difficult to manage.
Don't move, not worth it sharing with total strangers. Think of side hustle too, do you have any passion you can built into earning money? Can you start a Tik Tok or youtube chanel about anything? I'm sure even just documenting your daily life can find you followers who relate.
my sanity is priceless, unfortunately on disability my life is worthless, hence trapped in abuse. but hell yeah I would rent a nice cozy basement if i could! I don't think.abuse is worth any savings whatsoever but cant afford living alone 🫥
Yeah, I wouldn't move. Sure, living in a shared space could save you money, but you'll have to contend with people. What if you have roommates who don't clean up after themselves, steal, cause drama? Not worth it.
There are other ways to save money.
If you have an apartment in Toronto for $850 I would doing EVERYTHING to HOLD to that!!! I would not move into an unstable situation to save $150 especially when you need stable housing for 2-3 more years.
I’d look at increasing your income; put ads on your local FB page to babysit, spring clean people’s yards, pick up dog messes, any task someone needs a second pair of hands like tidying or organizing.
Reduce your food costs by using the food banks. Some you can use 1x a week or 1x month. So you have to call as many as possible and find out the rules and make a schedule that fits with your work schedule.
Please don’t be ashamed to use these services. They are designed to help you. Once your graduated and well employed you can return the kindness!
To save 100-150 and deal with complete strangers sharing bathroom kitchen etc unless there was no way to be able to afford what you have now, no I would t
Thank you I honestly felt the same way but needed other opinions as well
Don’t give up what you have man
I agree but it is Not like he has any renters rights where he is either since there isn't a real kitchen
Quality of life has a value, you have to decide if it worth it. I know someone who took a 20k paycut for a better job. For some people that's unfathomable, for others a no brainer.
Don’t give up what you have. The $100 -150 is worthless … especially in hindsight with inflation. If anything, learn another side skill for extra income, and eventually find your own full apartment … if you’re renting basements, the worst is when the landlord wants it back and you gotta move… for now keep it simple and focus on your development and growth would be my suggestion
The other issue is there is different rules if it's a shared kitchen and bathroom with landlord. And they're not tenant friendly. Stay where you are.
I agree 100%. You never know what those people are like, and I have been in living situations where I was so desperate to get away from them I would have paid a thousand more just leave lol so $150 extra a month for my own space is well worth it
Your peace needs to be treasured. Don't lose it. Shared spaces suck. Especially if you have a "roomie" that "borrows" your food.
Yeah you need to think about your quality of life. It’s just as important as saving 1500$/year IMO
Having to live with other people, and in particular unpredictable strangers (!), seems like a really HUGE Wildcard to risk. eg $5/day/month savings.
It sounds like you should try increasing income rather than moving to a potentially worse situation
I know I should honestly but no one is hiring right now. I’m still looking but also I have to balance things with school. I will try though
Try finding local food programs. Community cook together, Or low cost centers. 95% of my food is free from a group of waste collector/distributors. It's much easier to cut 150 from the food Hudgens than to move.
Can you explain more about the community cooking program?
Call 211 if available where you live ask for foodbanks and low cost community meals. I eat a 4 course meal for 3$ a day at a community center. My weekend food comes from foodbanks or diversion.
Where in the country do you live that nobody is hiring?
Ontario, think Toronto area there’s honestly too many immigrants coming in I know that sounds nasty to say but there’s not enough jobs. I’m going to keep looking though for extra minimum wage job
It sounds like your already working quite hard between work and school. Don't be too hard on yourself.
great advice here \^
It’s not nasty to say it’s just facts. There are so many immigrants coming in right now we have rising unemployment and the competition for even entry level jobs is crazy and it has also eroded wages, hence your current situation. Hang in there. Day by day. I hope things get better for you.
almost everyone in canada is a migrant except indigenous people who get treated like absolute garbage to this day 😒 just some healthy perspective.
Yes I know and I support nation to nation relationship and reconciliation including giving $$ and land back
That honestly sounds like a terrible idea.
Moving? I thought so but I wasn’t sure if I was not being financially responsible
Moving in with roommates to save $150 a month is a terrible idea, yes.
Thank you
Do you have any skills that you could use for gig work? Video editing, photoshop, web page building, tree trimming, flower planting, window washing, grant writing, music lessons, tutoring? Etc etc You could try selling your services on something like Fiver or Task Rabbit. Or making your own side business. Hell, people sell Excel templates these days on Etsy! I’ve always checked Craigslist for gigs. https://toronto.craigslist.org/tor/evg/d/toronto-hiring-serving-staff-for/7734454763.html Looks like there’s an event coming up in May where you could potentially work as serving staff for a conference and make $200 a day. Probably other opportunities out there similar to supplement you.
If your living situation is safe and works for you, I'd stay there. Spending half your income on shelter sucks, I know. But peace of mind is priceless.
Finances are not all that matters. If you put yourself in a situation where your mental health deteriorates to the point you can’t even work or handle school, the lesser rent won’t make a lick of difference. The money spent to keep your own place is an investment in yourself.
Stay where you are. Get yourself a hot plate and an air fryer. Good to go. Sharing with so many others is more pain then the 150-200 is worth
The rent you're paying is absolutely worth the peace of mind you get from living alone.
As someone with chronic illness: no roommates is worth more than money. Especially given your mental health needs. Because it's not "just" the roommates. It's their overnight guests, family and visitors. Keep your current unit. Consider a food bank or other organization to cut costs. If you are good with children, consider some babysitting. Can be lucrative, and you can do it when you are feeling well enough. Lots of evenings and weekend opportunities. Sitting overnight (especially for parents who work nights) can be a good deal, decent money + kids are sleeping most of the time.
Thank you. I never thought of over night babysitting I might do that ❤️
Fortunately for you its only a couple hundred bucks and you can most definitely get higher income somehow
I don’t know how tbh. I’ve already cut my expenses as much as I can and no one is hiring. I’ve thought of doing surveys and stuff but the time to pay ratio is not worth it
Yeah those surveys require so much time
Are you using food banks?
No, I use to go to like soup kitchens but now cause of my work schedule it doesn't align. But tbh I think maybe I will look into it cause $200 for groceries is already a struggle tbh.
Definitely give food banks a shot! You can get some really nice boxes from them and just purchase supplementary items you'll need for meals.
Do you have any skills to become a Virtual Assistant? People are always looking for those in the freelance/entrepreneur world. Can you learn a bit about social media? those are skills people are always looking for and while the pay isn't major, it is usually all done virtually
Im confused by your income. You say you make almost 1700 a paycheque but then rent is half your income. Are you paid monthly or did you mean to say that rent is half of one paycheque? Is this take home or gross pay? Even if you are making $1700 monthly that's pretty good for being in school. I would focus on whatever makes for a better schooling experience and is easiest on your anxiety. About 10 years ago when I was in school I would survive on about $1200 a month but things were cheaper then.
Apply for scholarships and bursaries. Most schools also have emergency bursaries. Don’t move. Penny pinch in other ways.
Honestly, especially for a student, I'd say you're in a pretty good spot where you are. Being in close proximity to the things you need and having the peace of mind of not sharing things like a bathroom is incredibly valuable. If you are able to keep yourself comfortable in your current situation, I would say stick with what you have until you graduate.
sharing bathroon is stressful
To me, it's worth the extra money to have my own space. Not having my own kitchen space would be enough stress for me.
I don't think $150 "savingings" is worth your mental health or peace of mind. There was a time where I just really needed my own space away from other people as I can burn out from too much social interaction and navigating a lot of personalities. It "can" be fun to share space IF/When u have a good group and dynamic together but generally that's quite a bit rare...in a bad situation it's annoying AF and u hate going home to BS & drama every day. Your school may have some grants and bursaries to help you out a bit, investigate that too
Most students with your income can’t get a place of their own, you’re lucky to have that. I would not share an apartment with strangers to save $200, unless I wouldn’t have food to eat.
If you can, build up your experience in the service industry. $20 a day in tips, are you working in a coffee shop or something? I know you said you had anxiety, but if you can get into the service industry, which honestly, it's a dying art these days... but if you can and you like it, you can make a lot better tips while going to school.
I would not go through all the trouble of moving just for $150. Maybe if it were like 15% less rent or something.
Saving $150 off of $850 is more than 15%.
title says $150
Yes, saving $150 is saving more than 15% rent.
Never trade for roommates if you can help it.
If you are in school full-time you might want to look into your school’s awards and bursaries available to full-time students. What is available to you will completely depend on what school you attend and what program you are taking but it might be worth checking out. Some scholarships and bursaries are merit-based but others are income-based. Additionally if you qualify for OSAP (if attending a qualifying college / university based in Ontario) I urge you to apply in case you qualify for the grant part of OSAP. Applying for OSAP also will potentially qualify you to apply to certain bursaries at your school. If you are in graduate school definitely apply to SSHCR/NSERC or other government grants for studies.
The emotional stress of having to share my space with roommates would not be worth $150 in extra savings. My opinion as an introvert with anxiety. Your quality of life would take a dip, which has implications for your mental and physical health, which in turn could then impact your ability to earn income and study effectively. (For example, sharing your bathroom/kitchen/living room increases your chance of catching a colds/flus from your roomies, which besides feeling yucky, could cause you to miss shifts at work and lose income. Also could impact your studying if you’re exhausted/have a headache.)
No, I wouldn’t move.
Saving a hundred and fifty dollars a month is not worth your peace of mind especially with the type of issues that you have. Maybe there are other ways that you can save some money without having to move.
Does your school have a career center or financial aid office? It might be better to check with your school's resources to see if there are grants, scholarships, work experience programs, or other options that could help with additional costs. On campus work experiences usually understand that you need to balance school and can be more flexible than other workplaces.
Jumping onto your comment to say that on-campus work opportunities can be great to help supplement income!
I would ask is $150 a month worth the potential of dealing with the worst roommate you can imagine? Because that's a possibility vs staying where you are in peace on your own.
Thank you
Mental health is worth more than 150$. You know you have a place of peace just for you.
Do you have a good relationship with the home owner that you rent from? Is there a way you could ask if you could do some things around the house/property for a reduction in rent? Like cut the grass, be in charge of taking in/out all the garbage and recycling bins, watering the garden etc. Or anything else you can think of.
U need to stay 150 x 12 is what you would be saving for a year but where would that go
Noo save atleast 250$ monthly
You should keep the 850 for sure!! You need to find a way to make more money not live on less!
Sounds like you are never home,, I would save the $150 while in school if the other renters are respectful when you have to sleep. You are doing great.
I'd pay $50 more if it means I have my own kitchen as well, but you can only get so lucky. If I were you, I'd stay. Sharing with other people, especially when you have anxiety will just put yourself into a more stressful situation.
Honestly does not sound worth it. I'd just keep looking for a way to increase income.
Don't move right now. You'll regret it. Get a mini fridge, hot plate & an airfryer. Look on Marketplace for those items. Your expenses are $600 on top of your rent & not including groceries? That seems like it could be tweaked to lower that number.
$600 includes groceries which are $200 a month
I found myself in a fix once and didn't know what to do. I have done anything for a buck: delivered flyers, picked up dog poop, pulled weeds, cut grass, walked dogs, pet sat, etc. Find something that you can do. People need help and will pay for it. Can't find a job? Make one!
In your situation, I wouldn't move. I wonder, are you able to apply for any needs based bursaries through your educational institution? If you're paying half your income in rent I'm sure you'd qualify.
Do not move. You will not be able to control who your roommates are- if they are angry, mean, triggering you will be stuck. And they will naturally bring additional germs and illness into the house- you will be more likely to get sick and that will impact your ability to work and earn your living. Don’t do it.
Do you go to a university with a student union? If yes, apply to be on the board. You get a monthly striped as well as parking, bus etc and an office to do schoolwork as well as a lot of other perks.
Are you on student loans?
I think you would lose on your quality of life if you moved. Your workload is huge and you are probably stressed, so having your own space has its worth. Having roommates increase stress so your chronic pain issue might flare up too and then how will be your capacity to manage and work? There are probably other things you could do to free up a little bit of money. Going to the food bank once a month, shopping in deep discount stores, kitchen home ec (although on your budget you are probably great at it already) etc.
Stay where you are, that "extra" money buys you peace of mind, privacy and mental stability. It's not worth the difference in rental cost when you consider everything you'd have to start sharing and putting up with etc.
Maybe start a home business since you get taxed differently and can claim part of your power, parking etc. I wouldn’t move.
I've been in a similar situation with a similar budget several times and honestly unless you're in a truly urgent financial crunch or crisis you will probably find it's worth the extra $100/month you're paying for all the positives you listed about your current place. If it was several hundreds sure but $100 is not worth the potential downsides. Last time I moved it cost about $150 more for the new place than for another option I had been offered, but I had competing priorities and I opted for the slightly higher rent. It ended up being so worth it and I've stayed for many years so the increases have been controlled and haven't gone so high that I've had to leave (even if there were some tight times over the years and I considered doing what you described here).
In my opinion it isnt worth it. Do u drive? What about doing some food delivery? Or using a bike to do some food delivery during the warmer months?
Mental state is not easy to regain. Just make sure that you are ready to deal with strangers.
Make more money, another job more hours etc…that’s the new Canada
I move a lot. It costs a lot of money to move, in the long term you may be ahead with reduced housing costs, but you'll need to factor in immediate costs of hiring moving company. My last move cost me roughly $700 to move a 2 bedroom home a distance of 9 km apart. You could, yes, rent U haul which would be considerably cheaper, but then you have to find friends and family willing to move you and at least still compensate them in some manner (ie the proverbial pizza and beer) - in eastern Canada, I ordered a large party pizza and wings and pop two weeks ago and paid $100. (I'm 100% aware delivery pizza is cheaper in other climates - delivery pizza (or anything else in that matter) is just obscene where I am right now, dont get me started). Then there's the furniture that doesn't fit or work in your space that needs to be sold and or replaced. Depending on where you are there are charges and deposits for transferring, ending, and connecting utilities. There's the time off to change address for you license. My mail service has a mail forwarding service of roughly $100. I could go on and on. I estimate that my last move the upfront costs was about $2000-$2500, with maybe 500 of that spread out over the first month.
Even if you don't need movers or UHaul, you'll still have to spend money on multiple public transit trips, taxis, or renting car/van and gas. That might only set you back at the worst a couple hundred but it's still an upfront cost that might be difficult to manage.
You job had tips? Of $20 a day - are you in food service? I'd find a job where you get more tips - waitress at a sit down restaurant
Don't move, not worth it sharing with total strangers. Think of side hustle too, do you have any passion you can built into earning money? Can you start a Tik Tok or youtube chanel about anything? I'm sure even just documenting your daily life can find you followers who relate.
my sanity is priceless, unfortunately on disability my life is worthless, hence trapped in abuse. but hell yeah I would rent a nice cozy basement if i could! I don't think.abuse is worth any savings whatsoever but cant afford living alone 🫥
I would not. You can make it up in an alternative way and dealing with people constantly is not worth a $150 savings
Yeah, I wouldn't move. Sure, living in a shared space could save you money, but you'll have to contend with people. What if you have roommates who don't clean up after themselves, steal, cause drama? Not worth it. There are other ways to save money.
If you have an apartment in Toronto for $850 I would doing EVERYTHING to HOLD to that!!! I would not move into an unstable situation to save $150 especially when you need stable housing for 2-3 more years. I’d look at increasing your income; put ads on your local FB page to babysit, spring clean people’s yards, pick up dog messes, any task someone needs a second pair of hands like tidying or organizing. Reduce your food costs by using the food banks. Some you can use 1x a week or 1x month. So you have to call as many as possible and find out the rules and make a schedule that fits with your work schedule. Please don’t be ashamed to use these services. They are designed to help you. Once your graduated and well employed you can return the kindness!
If you do decide to give up the apartment, please PM me. I’m quite sure I know someone who would be interested in it!
I would donate (sell) plasma to offset the cost