Tryharder
Steer clear of complete naysayers at any event. There are plenty here who live just fine on the package. I'm with ETOPS 100% on this one - when compared to what else is out there, it's a pretty easy choice to make.
Many have quoted living costs here before, but I'll give it another whirl:
- Housing - $15-$18k a month, depending on size/location. It'll be small-ish (700 sqft or so) for this price if you want to live in town, or slightly bigger (900 sqft) if you are OK with living a bit further away
- Food - $3-5k a month depending on if you're single or not
- Utilities - $2-3k a month
- Phone/Internet - $1k a month (max)
- Entertainment - tough one, but count on around $5-6k a month for a few decent nights out
- Education - this is obviously not applicable if you don't have kids, but need to factor it in if you do (although CX pays a decent portion)
That should leave you with some savings and room for manouevre.
I'm curious about the forgiveable loan though - what have they told you about that?