You should try anti-squaters residences; u usually pay around 150 a month, ex heat and water, for 3 to 4 rooms, especially in the larger of our cities...
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There's an English language version of that site as well...
Most of those places have the option of renting it with some basic appliances, cooker, fridge, stuff like that... Food prices are relatively low here, I guess, but then again, my Euro is worth a lot compared to a Dollar these days... LOL For example, I'm a real big eater, I need around 3,800 kcal a day to stay at 155, and I only eat the "good" foods, fresh, rich in protein and stuff, and my grocery bill a week is like 35 euros, so not that bad...
Transportation, erm, for citywide transportation, find a junky or a homeless dude, a bike as good as new will set u back like 15 euros, so... ;) Public transportation sucks, but hell, we're really spoiled, compared to the US or UK, our PT is awesome... I still say it sucks ass tho... ;)
As far as best gyms, I'm not the guy to ask, I know Golden Glory is awesome for MMA, but, for instance, here in The Hague we have BJJ/ Submission Wrestling taught by one of KADU's top students, forgot his name, but he's pretty good... In Leiden there's a good wrestling school, but as far as I know, only for students at Leiden university, even though offering someone a beer on a Friday night might get you in (I got real lucky... LOL)... Also, if you want to learn to fight dirty, in The Hague there's always Gerard Gordeau's dojo... ;) And we have an awesome JJ-guy here as well, well we had, his son has taken over now, in Jaap Hoogendam, I was priviliged (that must be the wrong spelling... LOL) enough to, well, have my ass handed to me when I was in my teens (I taught him weight training, he taught me what pain is)...
Guess that's my two cents, hope it helps...