About this episode

Michele Remer shares her budgeting strategies and high savings rate as a graduate student.

In this episode, Emily interviews Michele Remer, a 4th-year PhD candidate at Michigan State University and repeat podcast guest. Michele breaks down her budget, detailing her top five largest expenses: rent, groceries, utilities, restaurants and social events, and transportation. During grad school, she has found ways to decrease her spending on some necessary expenses, which has allowed her to intentionally increase her spending in other areas of higher value. Due to her frugality and her National Science Foundation graduate research fellowship award, Michele has maintained a very high savings rate, which she puts toward her Roth IRA, taxable brokerage account, and student loans.

People in this episode

Host: Emily Roberts

Guest: Michele Remer

Topics covered

• frugal lifestyle
• budgeting
• savings rate
• graduate school
• personal finance

Keywords

• frugality
• budget
• savings
• PhD
• expenses
• Roth IRA
• brokerage account
• student loans

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Michigan State University, National Science Foundation

More episodes of Personal Finance for PhDs

• This Grad Student's Social Spending in Boston Pays Dividends · July 13, 2026 · 39 min
• How to Save Money as a Funded Graduate Student · June 15, 2026 · 39 min
• How This PhD Solopreneur Manages Her Time and Money · May 18, 2026 · 43 min

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