OT Living In An Apartment...affording One...

[ShutItDown]

im done living with either of my parents, i currently live with a family friend. im capable of living on my own, i just dont pay rent or for food.
next summer my friend asked me if i wanted to live with him in an apartment. i really want to but idk what the expenses are or what to expect to pay for.Im 22 and none of my friends know anything about living in apartments so i thought I would ask people here.

does anyone who is older have any experience with living in an apartment with people? whats an affordable price for someone who makes $8 an hour for about 30/hrs a week? what should i expect to pay for besides rent and food?

 

[reaxion07]

Affordable is relative to how you feel/think. I lived in a really expensive college town on minimum wage in CA and it seriously sucks. It's really hard, but doable depending on if you can handle it. Here's an idea of what you can expect to pay: Rent, Electric, Renters insurance, internet/cable. Some apartments cover gas/water/waste, some don't. Other things that may come up - furniture, common room electronics, and some apartments don't have refrigerators or microwaves. Cleaning supplies will be needed and a laundry card (where I live it's ranged from $0.75 - $1.50 to wash, then pay again to dry).

 

[Jessica]

kind of depends on how much your rent is and how many people are splitting it... but ya water, electric, gas, renters insurance (which is cheap) furniture, appliances (toasters coffee makers things like that) maybe a washer and a dryer, maybe a fridge... pretty much all depends on where you are trying to live so you might try to find a few places in the area and see what they have to offer then decide if its affordable or not!

 

[notimeforthat]

It also depends what other expenses you have. Do you have a car? Car Insurance? Cell phone? Those things alone can eat up a paycheck.
When I was about 19 I moved out and when faced with paying the rent or my car insurance I choose the rent. Shortly after my car had an electrical fire and pretty much burned to the ground in front of me. Even though the car was not brand new I had a note due on it for about 8k and my parents had co-signed for it. Due to the lasp in insurance it was not covered and the bank wanted thier money in full. My parents were in the process of getting a morgtage in another state and this whole episode ruined not only my credit but thiers and they were not able to get the mortgage until the loan was settled and it caused a tremendous riff between myself and parents and we did not speak for like a year when I finally grew up and paid them back every cent that I owed.
This is a true story...can't make this stuff up...lol! Thank god I wasn't injured in this escapade cause oh yeah.... no health insurance either! Anyway, point of the story is DONT DO IT unless you have a backup plan and lots of $$ in the bank to back yourself up cause you never know what is going to happen!!! I would start with paying some kind of rent to whoever you live with and see how that goes. Responsibility is hard.

 

[createmagic]

im done living with either of my parents, i currently live with a family friend. im capable of living on my own, i just dont pay rent or for food.
next summer my friend asked me if i wanted to live with him in an apartment. i really want to but idk what the expenses are or what to expect to pay for.Im 22 and none of my friends know anything about living in apartments so i thought I would ask people here.

does anyone who is older have any experience with living in an apartment with people? whats an affordable price for someone who makes $8 an hour for about 30/hrs a week? what should i expect to pay for besides rent and food?

Just to give you an idea, I'll give you my monthly expenses. I like to see real #'s myself when planning things. I live on my own, no roommates, one-bedroom apt. My monthly take home is approx. $2,000.

Rent: $625.00
Electric: $30.00
Gas(heat/hot water): $75.00
Cable/internet: $105.00
Groceries: ~$150.00 (I'm an organic/natural food girl, it's more expensive than average)
Phone (only a cell, no landline): $85.00

So that's about $1,065.00 a month if I did my math right. Then you need to take into account any car payment, insurance, gas, other travel expenses (bus, subway, etc), the cost of any medical care (office visits or medications).

And then consider what "fun" money you expect to need... Eating out, coffee, movies, clothing, in my case, books, etc.

Some of your living expenses will obviously be split, but be aware that if something happened to your roommate and they couldn't pay their part, you would be responsible for it all...they don't just disappear, and the companies aren't sympathetic. My sister dealt with this when her roommate decided to stop going to work. The rental company took them both to court, and she had to pay back the remaining 6 months of the lease, even though they didn't live there anymore.

Research carefully. See if you can find a place that will rent month-to-month instead of signing a year-long lease. Sit down with your roommate and figure out exactly how much you both can comfortably afford, figure out all possibly monthly expenditures (call local utility companies and get quotes) and then set a budget and stick to it.

Good luck!

 

[Mamarazzi]

Amen @tinytumblersmom ! Don't think, for one second, that things won't "happen." They happen!!!

First, you can pretty much count on (bare minimum) of 60% of your paycheck going to household expenses. Not food, not clothing, not car. If you can find a spot, ghetto-free, that you can afford with that, then figure how much you eat in groceries weekly. Over the next year, start saving and purchasing items like a toaster, microwave, etc.
It really depends how much you want to move out of where you are now. Things like microwaves aren't neccessities. It IS possible to cook on a stove. And when you're dead broke on monday, but you don't get paid until friday, PM me and I'll tell you how to make a dollar out of 15 cents.

 

[CoachTamara]

im done living with either of my parents, i currently live with a family friend. im capable of living on my own, i just dont pay rent or for food.
next summer my friend asked me if i wanted to live with him in an apartment. i really want to but idk what the expenses are or what to expect to pay for.Im 22 and none of my friends know anything about living in apartments so i thought I would ask people here.

does anyone who is older have any experience with living in an apartment with people? whats an affordable price for someone who makes $8 an hour for about 30/hrs a week? what should i expect to pay for besides rent and food?

Other people mentioned the expenses part of it, but if I could go back to young, college me the one piece of advice I would give myself is to never live with a roommate. Yes, sometimes it's fun but if you live with a friend, I would say that 9 times out of 10 you will not be friends at the end of it. Living with someone is HARD. You cannot count on anyone but yourself, and when it comes to money, it's a very touchy subject. I would rather be responsible for just me than hope the other person is keeping up their end of the deal. I had roommates say they paid for things they never did, and guess who got stuck with not only the bills but the late fees? When I got my own loft, it was a thousand times easier.

Make sure you have a steady income, and money in savings. If something should happen, you need to have a back up plan. Good luck!!

 

[ShutItDown]

OMG thanks so much everyone! i didnt even think about half that stuff! I will def keep that all in mind in making the decision!

 

[ErinS]

im done living with either of my parents, i currently live with a family friend. im capable of living on my own, i just dont pay rent or for food.
next summer my friend asked me if i wanted to live with him in an apartment. i really want to but idk what the expenses are or what to expect to pay for.Im 22 and none of my friends know anything about living in apartments so i thought I would ask people here.

does anyone who is older have any experience with living in an apartment with people? whats an affordable price for someone who makes $8 an hour for about 30/hrs a week? what should i expect to pay for besides rent and food?

Well if you have a roommate everything will be split 50/50 at least.

 

[reaxion07]

My numbers probably won't help, but here you go! I live in Orange County, Cali, about 5 minutes away from OCC.

Rent - $725
Electric - $118 (unrealistic for you, my apt. is crap. I hate it)
Internet - $60.99

Cost of living is really expensive out here, that's why I'm planning on moving soon. Plus, I want some adventure!

 

[cheeeeer93]

I dont have an apartment or have any experience with things like this but don't forget about your startup costs! Furniture, television, decor ect. are quite pricey!

 

[Jessica]

I dont have an apartment or have any experience with things like this but don't forget about your startup costs! Furniture, television, decor ect. are quite pricey!

thats a good point
start up costs... when you get utilities in your name (cable, gas, electric etc) most require an "application" or "startup" fee also depending on your credit some require x amount of months paid in advance!

 

[ikarlyyy]

im done living with either of my parents, i currently live with a family friend. im capable of living on my own, i just dont pay rent or for food.
next summer my friend asked me if i wanted to live with him in an apartment. i really want to but idk what the expenses are or what to expect to pay for.Im 22 and none of my friends know anything about living in apartments so i thought I would ask people here.

does anyone who is older have any experience with living in an apartment with people? whats an affordable price for someone who makes $8 an hour for about 30/hrs a week? what should i expect to pay for besides rent and food?

Are you currently in school? I'm very lucky to live in student apartments.. My rent is about $600 a month - my apartment is fully furnished, water/gas/electric/Internet/cable included, with several amenities (gym, tanning, pool, gated community, etc) but the best thing about it is that I live in a 4 bedroom apartment with individual leases. So even though each roommate has to pay $600 a month, we don't have anything to worry about if another roommate doesn't have their money for whatever reason. I know so many people who have lost friendships over money issues after living together. If you are taking classes anywhere you should see if there is any kind of student properties in your area.

 

[ShutItDown]

Are you currently in school? I'm very lucky to live in student apartments.. My rent is about $600 a month - my apartment is fully furnished, water/gas/electric/Internet/cable included, with several amenities (gym, tanning, pool, gated community, etc) but the best thing about it is that I live in a 4 bedroom apartment with individual leases. So even though each roommate has to pay $600 a month, we don't have anything to worry about if another roommate doesn't have their money for whatever reason. I know so many people who have lost friendships over money issues after living together. If you are taking classes anywhere you should see if there is any kind of student properties in your area.

that would work but its for the summer and all my friends will have graduated college by then, ill have another year left.

 

[kristenthegreat]

It depends on how you live, but I've basically lived apt style for two years, plus an apt a semester abroad, and I'm doing apt hunting now. This is what I can tell you (mostly reiterating what a lot of people have said):

*You need to be familiar with all the rent-based terms: renters agreements, what a broker is/do you need one, inspections, leases, rent control, etc. It'll help you compare and know what you're getting into.
*The general thing I've heard is you should NOT attempt to live in a place that costs more per month than you make in a week. You never know what's going to come up during the month and the last thing you want to do is live paycheck to paycheck because you aimed too high.
*Know what you make assuming your WORST week scheduling and go from there. Once you know what your budget looks like at your lowest, you can always save that 'extra' that might come up for fun money/savings.
*Living with a roommate can be fine and a great way to keep the costs down, but everybody needs to be upfront and many people sign an agreement to keep everything in check..sometimes depending on what you make you'll NEED to have one so somebody doesn't get stuck. Know how much is going for what, do you want cable, are certain things (electric/heat/gas etc) covered in rent etc.
*Know what you have and what you need furniture-wise: tables, seating, bedding, plates, silverware, bowls, cooking, pans, pots, cleaning supplies, laundry supplies, laundry bag, hangers, organizational stuff, dressers, what you have for closet space, decorations.
*CHECK. YOUR. LOCKS. Make sure you've got a deadbolt and use it.
*Look at laundry facilities in your apt (if they have one). If they don't, you'll have to factor in sending your laundry out into your budget.
*Generally speaking- cooking for yourself is MUCH cheaper. Learning to shop efficiently and cost-effectively will help you SERIOUSLY in the long run.
*Make a budget and keep track of your spending. Don't be afraid to use groupon, coupons, living social etc for food/services etc. Being thrifty is trendy! Knowing your budgets/bills and keeping an eye on what you can/can't afford. Best thing I've heard about the economy/money in the last few weeks: Everybody wants a Bentley, but if you can't afford it, you're not meant to be driving it.
*Know what types of things you can/can't salvage from the side of the road and what you might need to do before you bring them home. Bringing home bedding- BAD IDEA. If you're bringing home wood items- do they have termites?