How do you survive on a cook's salary?

I believe you've hit the nail on the head of the plight of a large percentage of Americans and Canadians (not just people working in the kitchens). When you live in countries with such a large income gap this is what inevitably happens and why so many people are in backbreaking debt.

However, you have to understand that with a bit of fancy arithmetic you will find that you have more money than you actually have. At the end of the tax year you should find that you are getting a portion of that money back in the form of a tax refund for being in the low income bracket (at least we get some money back in Canada). Secondly, if you're spending 500 dollars on food a month and working in a restaurant then you are spending too extravagantly... I would budget 200, which combined with staff meals will keep you well fed (no, you will not be eating at Per Se or scarfing down foie gras... and you will cook a lot at home but it will rustic). Thirdly, I think you can find places for rent that is lower than 700... the key is to think "living with roommates" and "choose very cheap neighbourhoods in the boroughs". Student housing here in Ottawa averages 400-425 per person... it may feel like living in a slum (you're probably living with 4 other people sharing two bathrooms and your basement palace may flood after a good storm) after being used to a life of comfort, but c'est la vie.

Assuming you can reduce your rent by another 100 or more dollars and your food bills by up to 300, you suddenly have another 13 dollars of disposible income a day, which combined with your tax return should allow you to save maybe a couple thousand dollars a year.

I think Blueicus is on point in regards to food and room mates.
Whether it's a life partner or just friends/aquaintances, two or more people can live together far cheaper than they could each live alone.
I never had food at home when I was a young cook.
I ate when I got to work, ate midway through, and then either ate after work or took something home.
No, never had food at home.
Oh, I had some stuff to put ON food in case some magically appeared.

Your situation is why many go through the school of hard knocks, if not completely then at least initially.
Paying for school is hard to recoup.
After a good amount of experience is amassed, then a culinary degree coupled with experience should get you more than 25k a year.

cheech, that's precisely why younger people are better adjusted to the industry... because they can cope with the dirt poor conditions that being a line cook entails, the benefit being that after a few years of work you will eventually earn more (though chances are you will never reach the 100K you were used to).

As for food, I generally eat one meal a day at home (except on days off) which typically consists of a grilled cheese (or two) with a couple of over easy eggs... total cost of the meal is about a buck fifty, surely if you have a hot plate and a frying pan you can make that sort of meal as well. On off days I'll splurge, maybe spend 60 dollars cooking (I'll have enough food usually for the next three or four days) for my roommate and myself or go out for a night on the town. I spend maybe 25 dollars a week on average on alcohol and the biggest drain on my income comes in the form of books. What can I say? I guess I'm a pretty low maintenance guy. Perhaps I hang out with the wrong chefly crowd... but I haven't had a tasting menu in a few years (barring that one time I was treated on the house by the place I stage at) and I spend more than $50 on a single meal maybe once a month.

In the end you have to set your priorities and determine what is good for you, the road to culinary dominance isn't cheap and maybe just throwing a lot of extravagant parties is the way to go for you

In your present position, wanting to go to college? It won't work.
If you continue working and volunteer in a kitchen? It can.
Really, you don't need to attend college. Personally, I think it's a waste of time but can understand why it has revered status in the US. Confounds me why that is but I understand.

It's just about prioritising.

Oh, and it's okay to be angry. I look at the conditions in the US in terms of starting out and I cringe. You guys really do have it very tough.

Its easy

Actually its not so hard ...

I believe that NY Times recently had an article about New York salaries and the average chef was making near $50k, are you sure that $25 is accurate?

I like this statement a lot. Im 23, never went to culinary school. You can (like Any other trade) learn what you really want/need to know just as well if not better in the work place. The down side.. There are some jobs and chef positions that I would never be able to even get a chance at because i dont have that piece of paper saying I attended culinary school. It wouldnt be a bad Idea to go check out a local restaurant and work a couple saturdays just to test the waters.

Read that it says chef, not cook. Barring a lot of luck and a lot of naivety from the manager's part one does not become a chef coming out of school. You will spend at least several years working up, down and around the ladder earning the more "realistic" amounts of money we've already mentioned.

I'm currently about to make the plunge and start going to culinary school. I had no idea how much a professional makes, nor did I even consider it. I currently have a degree in civil engineering, and make a very good salary. I just wasn't happy with what I was doing. Thank you OP, as this answered several questions that I have had.

Wow.
i'm 18 years old, about to graduate from high school and i already started my path towards a culinary education. I'm currently doing ProStart and i'm so happy that i'm finally cooking. Ever since i was 15 i just knew this is what i wanted to do, but lately i've been having doubts and it's mainly because of the money issue.


I agree with you...passion and emotion will not pay bills.
i worry about that. i worry that i'll have to pay alot of money just to go to college and after that be broke.

I wanna be able to live comfortably by myself, but i wonder if that will ever be possible... :cool:

This is..... a good reality check and a critical information for me. I'm also up in the airs concerning salaries and living cost.

It does look hard. And due to the working hours, part-time jobs or any additional income seems to be out of question too :| However, I see it's mostly focused on NYC. Would it be OOT if I asked in other big cities on US / Canada? Are the cost and the salary mostly similar?

Couple of places that i have interned at, i understand that some cooks probably take home about 2-2.5 after taxes etc but i will double check on this.

Staying in the city is not an option on this salary.

I've always thought that this is very ironic. We satisfy the public's hunger in a very literal way, sometimes with a great deal of flourish and spectacle and then return home only to eat a triple decker bologna sandwich or some dried pasta with olive oil and maybe some sriracha if youre lucky. It's tough, that's a for sure.

I was living in Toronto and got a job with one of the more well known chefs. If I was to live downtown the situation would have been very similar coolcheech's. A friend of mine applied to a place in the city and the chef started his cooks at $400/week before taxes. The situation is pretty similar here. I ended up returning home then moving around a bit. There are great chefs and plenty of opportunity to build your resume outside of the big cities. Granted there is the highest concentration of great restaurants in the larger cities.

I think I'm in a similar boat except I got a diploma coming up this year and plan on working for a whole year to save up for culinary school and at the same time work part time in the kitchen before going to culinary school and living on my own. I plan to save 20-30k ( I live with my parents so a lot of expenses are cut)
then I plan moving to Toronto to attend George Brown College in Toronto. When in Toronto I'll have the money saved up for (tuition/school stuff) and emergency money. work 30 hrs(10$/hr) a week to pay the rent and food. Does this sound realistic? ( assuming I actually got the money saved up)

Please let me know if I'm underestimating the situation. Does culinary school require a lot a lot of time to study?

Welcome to my world! I'm unemployed, eating at the soup kitchens, and rescue missions!
Yes, I have had my share of balogna, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, Ramen noodles, macaroni & cheese, etc.
That is precisely why I repeatedly advise people to forget and forego expensive, private cookery schools, which only cost you for many years to come. It is better to do an apprenticeship, or attend a community college, or enlist in the military, and have them pay for your AIT, Advanced Individual Training, to become a FSS, Food Service Specialist.
I have become a regular face at the Work Force Center, and check Craig's List weekly, as well. I have been on numerous interviews, and have only had rejection. Welcome to my world, people! Do not always believe what you see on the television, nor any other cooking shows. For every celebrity chef, earning million$, there are millions of us, peasants-cooks, struggling to survive. That is why, historically, cooks were slaves, as no free man would toil away at such menial work for such a measly pittance, as a cook's wage. Often, I have worked gratis, as my previous employers refused to pay me. Do not ever stage either. I won't ever stage again, nor work for employers who refuse to pay me. Welcome to the cooking trade.

Edited by TheUnknownCook - 12/16/10 at 2:27pm