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I've got to break free. God knows, God knows I want to break free!*Update page 2*
AlyceInWonderland
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So, I live with my dad currently, and was planning on moving out after I graduated college to save up some funds, but recently I've been getting incredibly anxious. While my dad is awesome, he's a VERY messy person, and I end up cleaning all the damn time, and like a day later it's shitty again. I don't want to have to deal with that any more. That's a very small reason why I want to get my own place though. I just want some semblance of independence again, since dorming. I dormed for about a year in NYC and loved it, but eventually had to move back home due to it being like 13K to dorm. I just didn't have the money at the time.
Now, don't get me wrong, my parents don't smother me. I can come and go as I please, but having a bit more privacy would also be nice. Buying my own food would be nice. Cleaning my apartment, and me (or my boyfriend) being the only one to mess it up would be nice.
I just am not entirely sure how to go about getting my own place. I am currently unemployed due to school related reasons, but in the next couple weeks I plan on getting a job if the economy allows.
How much should I save first? What's a reasonable monthly rent for a college student (is it even possible to find a small apartment for 500-800/month anymore?)
What should I be wary of? I just...I really need to know the basics as I've never done this before and I don't want to screw my self financially (also, just to make my self clear, I'm not going to move out until I'm financially stable.)
So..help?
Now, don't get me wrong, my parents don't smother me. I can come and go as I please, but having a bit more privacy would also be nice. Buying my own food would be nice. Cleaning my apartment, and me (or my boyfriend) being the only one to mess it up would be nice.
I just am not entirely sure how to go about getting my own place. I am currently unemployed due to school related reasons, but in the next couple weeks I plan on getting a job if the economy allows.
How much should I save first? What's a reasonable monthly rent for a college student (is it even possible to find a small apartment for 500-800/month anymore?)
What should I be wary of? I just...I really need to know the basics as I've never done this before and I don't want to screw my self financially (also, just to make my self clear, I'm not going to move out until I'm financially stable.)
So..help?
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If anyone is familiar with the Hudson Valley area, please chime in! :P
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NYC seems important to you, which is understandable. You should look into apartments that are situated in towns that are on the Metro North line, either the Hudson or Harlem lines. It would be so much cheaper than living in NYC but it wouldn't prevent you from visiting the city fairly often.
http://www.mta.info/mnr/html/mnrmap.htm
You can calculate fares as well. Even travelling from as far north as Poughkeepsie is fairly cheap, definitely better than what I have to pay to take a train from Albany!
Edit: also...craigslist.....bad idea?
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Regarding craigslist...it's good for some things and not great for others. I'm not sure if I would look at craigslist for apartments, at least at first. I usually check out apartment aggregators. I don't have a personal preference, I usually just look at whatever reviews and other information I can find wherever I find it. You could also use Google Maps to search for apartments. They'll sometimes have reviews attached but you'll also get some names you can Google.
The apartments you find this way will usually be complexes, if you want to find smaller places rented out by people then I'd suggest the classifieds and maybe craigslist.
I'm not super experienced looking for apartments so maybe there are others who would offer different advice.
I'd say save up something like 3 months of rent plus three months of food, or approximately $2000, whichever is more.
You're going to need some kind of income to get your own place.
I would also um, make sure I lined up a job before I started apartment hunting. The job market for entry level positions is still in the absolute pits, although you could probably get a job bagging groceries in a reasonable amount of time.
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I mean, I pay 600$ a month in rent and utilities. Imagine you had a job and were able to put away 600 a month for the next 2 years. You would have $14400, that could help you relocate for the job you get or a down payment on a house or a nice emergency fund ... or a lotta stuff.
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The market difference between apartments in Iowa and near NYC are pretty vastly different. I wouldn't be surprised if that apartment that was 425 there was 900 or so near NYC and a lot, lot more in the city itself.
I would do what Elin said.
Take what you would put towards rent into a savings account that you promise to yourself to not touch for quite some time.
Which honestly kind of goes without saying, I guess.
My parents separated about a year or so ago, however they're still 'good friends', and my mother stays over here all the fucking time....while still having a boyfriend or...hell, I don't even know if they're still dating. It's just kind of fucking with my mind a little bit, because it's like she lives here, but she actually doesn't...and is dating someone other than my father.
Not to mention my mother treats me like I'm 5 years old still, so when ever she comes over (which is a lot), she wants to spend 'quality time with her CHILD"...and I just...Jesus Christ, I don't have that kind of time!
This is why I feel the overwhelming need to get the hell out of this place. Like I said, it's not so bad, and plenty of other people have it a lot worse than I do. I would just really like to be on my own for a while.
Sorry for the rant.
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other than that, getting a job is the real key and it'll be a few weeks at least to settle into it and understand how it's going to work out and whether it's tenable before you can rely on it enough to get a new place. and the job you get will probably have a huge bearing on where you want to live as well - so do that before anything else. and get excited about it!
Oh, I completely understand and I'm not saying it's a bad decision on your part. I was just giving some hindsight advice that I've acquired. I don't know anything about the NYC area, so I just wish you the lucks.
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There's always deals to be found though, whether its old people, buildings with flaws you don't mind (next door to an elevated train perhaps), etc. I found my place by choosing a neighborhood and walking around it until I found someplace nice and reasonably affordable. If you're super lucky you might be able to find someone moving out of a rent controlled place and willing to sublet to you.
You could also live in Jersey near the city or on the commuter lines. I'm less familiar with rent in those places, but I would guess its cheaper than the city itself... hopefully.
Another thing you should consider is food, depending on how much and what you consume and how often you go eat out/drink, I'd allocate $150~250/month. Well, at least that's what I think I spend monthly. If you like eating out a lot (which I do but can't since I'm a piss poor college student) that's even more money. I think I spend about $35~$40 per dinner outside. I'm not talking like chinese take outs or a diner.
Have you checked out listings in potential areas? Just take a look at them to get a good estimate. As a fellow college student, I understand wanting to gtfo (because I do too!) but NYC really is an expensive place.
$800 (rent)
$100 (utilities)
$200 (food)
$100 (misc)
= loads of money.
Don't forget MTA now charges $2.50
As for how much money you should save before moving . . . AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. Not only is there rent/deposits/utilities and other monthly expenses, but oh crap, you don't have a toaster! Or a cheese grater. Or a bathmat. You go out and buy one . . . Oh crap, you don't have another household necessity! And another and another. That stuff adds up fast.
Add this to the fact that NYC is one of the most expensive places to rent in the US.
But while I would love to live in the city, I don't HAVE to. I understand that it's insanely expensive, so that's why I said I was looking in the Hudson Valley area as well (around where I currently am). I have no problem commuting back and forth like I've been doing for the past 2 years.
So yeah, NYC looks like it's going to be out for now.
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Don't rule it out completely... just file it under the "probably not likely".
Either way, what you can get will depend entirely on the job you have. You obviously will not be moving anywhere with no job.
Once you have a position, work out what you will be paying out monthly vs your after taxes income. Then you can start playing with those numbers to see just what you can afford.
I live in an expensive area... I shell out ~1400/month for a single bedroom apartment, no utilities or anything included in that... and it's cheap for the area I'm in. I trade that off for the convenience of being close to work. You will need to do similar. Will distance to school/work be worth a bit more money, or will cheaper for more be what you go for?
Craigslist is, as others have stated, hit or miss. Keep tabs on it for awhile. I know in my area there are a few specific posters that put up condo's, apartments, and rooms for rent fairly often. They just own a lot of property.
It makes it easy if I am looking to price out new places here because I can search for some of the terms they always use. Likewise, if you contact the person once, you will have their direct e-mail/phone information. Then you can just contact them directly, or even tell them to e-mail you when they have new rooms/apartments available (if they are willing to do that).
That being said, once you sign a lease and sign up for utilities and start eating food. you will have to work to support the habit. Now, school work plus a full time job at a low wage to support your new bills will leave you precious little free time to participate in any internships, which usually pay you in experience. Experience will not pay your rent, well.. not right now anyway. :P
However, living at home and suffering through the weirdness for just a little while longer may allow you to explore unpaid internships, where you will make contacts and develop a resume that will get you a job that will pay for your rent, food and other bills including student loans.
If living at home is tolerable. consider what you will be giving up to get a little perceived peace. (no guarantee that your apartment will be any more peaceful.. especially if it is cheap!)
If you really want to do this, sit down and plan out a detailed budget for everything you will need. Walk through your dad's place and consider all the stuff you might have to buy, and how much of that stuff will need to be replaced on a monthly basis. Then if you do get your own place, stick to that budget.
Consider getting food stamps. You are a poor student, you could use the things.
I saw a special on TV about people who lived in extremely small apartments in NYC (we're talking <100 sq. ft.) because they wanted to live in certain areas and couldn't afford it otherwise. They were very happy, but 2 people in their apartment would have trouble moving around.
You have options; you can make this work, you just have to make sacrifices and be very strict with yourself. I know a lot of people in this thread are all "wtf take the free housing?!" but I totally understand where you're coming from, Alyce. When I was 18, I moved out the first chance I got and refused to take any sort of handout from my parents. I knew I would rather go into debt and work my ass off later to pay it off, than give up my newfound independence. So kudos to you for this
Have you thought about a roomie? That's going to be the most affordable way to do it. Something like this. Everyone I know in NY is living with other people in a 2-3 bedroom place. If you want it to be just you it will cost more, it will likely be a studio and it will likely be small.
Also, look for a job and see what you can find in the mean time. Don't assume you'll be making minimum wage until you know that's all you can get.
A minor point, but would your personality/standards allow you to clean less often? If you can find a reasonable way to move out then definitely do that, but in the meantime see if you can make living at home easier - set some groundrules so your parents don't suck up all of your free time. Being in school is a great excuse - "I can't, sorry, I have a test tomorrow/next week/eventually"
I agree with this. If you really want to live in the city, I think as you're starting out its roomies or bust. In my experience if you're able to find a place where you have your own room with a door, that provides plenty of privacy and allows for you to keep your own corner of the apartment as tidy as you like it. Also, as you can see in the ad posted above. when looking for roomies be sure to state, or look for people that share, your hygiene habits. Who knows, you may get lucky and find a great set of friends in your new roomies. And if not, once on your feet job-wise you can always move out and find your own place.
Be wary of anything rent-to-own. A lot of rent-to-own contracts are all slanted in favor of the seller, and if you decide you don't want to own, you can get a lot of surprises/interest charges.
And, resist the urge to charge a bunch of shit on your credit card, figuring you'll pay for it later when you get a job. This will kill you to death in interest and screw with your credit.
Though, don't buy your bed second hand. Cause that's gross. And bad for your back.
Note: A spartan furniture layout is fine while you get adjusted. You don't need more than a few chairs, a table, and a bed to start out with. Don't bother with couches, TV stands, etc for awhile. You can "build" shelves out of plastic containers and shit for your clothes and sit the TV on the floor. Yeah, it seems ghetto, but it ain't the Sims. You don't need to spend money on a fully stocked place.
Shit, when I got out of the service, I built all my shit from Walmart and Target, and then graduated to IKEA. I had money put away, but that went to school.
800+ bucks a month is a lot of money to pay for some privacy and "independence".
And it'll get me/us out faster with the combined incomes, which will be nice.
If I clean less often, this place would be more of a hole than it already is. I had a talk with my dad about it today though, and we're going to both try and keep this place tidy.
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My boyfriend and I had another talk about moving in with eachother today. He wants to transfer to a university in NYC, and I already attend uni in the city, so we decided that it might be better if we got a small apartment in the city. The GI bill will cover most of his schooling, and land him an extra $1600 for housing and things of that nature a month, also combined with both of us having a part time job that will land us about another 1200 a month combined. That's about 2700 a month to use towards rent, food, and school shit.
Assuming we can get a very small place (we've talked about space, and we don't mind being stuck in a studio, as it's just two people. So long as we have a kitchen and bathroom) for about 1000-1200, that leaves us with about 1500 for food and utilities, and subway fare/etc, which...doesn't seem too bad, really.
Now, I thought about what it would be like if we got an apartment outside of the city (cause an apartment around where I am now would be less expensive), and I'm going to assume it would be for around 700-1000 each month. Lets say it's 900 to be on the safe side. Add in gas money (over 200 a month combined), train fare to get to the city to go to school (720 combined), food (150-ish, MAYBE), and also subway fare (60 a month combined, maybe more) and it's WELL over what we'd be spending if we were to live in the city with out a car, and with out having to commute from here.
Now, after that wall of text, here comes my questions. Is my logic correct above? Where are the nice places in the city (we want to live in manhattan. Not the bronx, brooklyn, queens, harlem, etc. I have nothing against those Burroughs, this is mainly for the sake of convenience, and lets keep it at that.), and where are the parts of manhattan we should just...steer clear of?
Thanks guys. I appreciate it!
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Also, like others have said, make sure you have at least a couple months' worth of rent saved up before you take the plunge.
Also t your bf: Have him look into the Yellow Ribbon Program that should cover anything that the post 9-11 GI Bill doesn't
Edit: In that same vein, there is a lot (a lot) of options for grants and stuff like that for veterans who're going to college, that should help alleviate some of the burden
Yeah, you can only transfer out your first and second year, if I'm not mistaken.
I was actually going to ask you about the GI bill, Rent. Spawnbroker is looking to maybe go to NYU, or Columbia, etc. Those are hella expensive schools, I'm talking like..40K tuition/year. The Yellow Ribbon Program would cover the rest that the GI bill wouldn't?? The sites I'm looking at don't state how much past the highest in-state public school tuition they go.
Does the GI bill even pay for Ivy league/private schools? Or is it just state?
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There's not really any areas you need to avoid. Keep in mind that harlem is in manhattan, but i'm going to assume that you want to avoid harlem or anyhing north of there.
The problem is your rent budget might be a little low. $1400-$1500 might be a little more realistic for a studio in Manhattan.
Keep in mind you'll also have to put down a security deposit of 1x - 2x monthly rent.
Also worth noting, moving in together with a significant other in a situation where you're financially dependent on each other puts a lot of strain on the relationship. It's a lot easier when neither of you needs to live with the other in order to make the rent/finances work out.
Yeah, I was just browsing apartments online out of curiosity, and I found some nice ones for around 1200-1500...usually 1500 being standard. That's not too bad, really, given that all the ones I looked at were actually really close to Central Park and various museums.
I also plan on saving as much money as I possibly can before moving. It's something that NEEDS to be done.
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I'm going to NYU Stern right now and I'm paying about ~60,000 a year. Do you know what school he wants to transfer into? Housing by Columbia is a LOT cheaper but it's also Spanish Harlem so ya...Last time I was up there I saw the aftermath of a shooting but then again there was a shooting down near me last year too. Subway monthly pass is 90 and its worth it if you ride the subway more than 4 times a week, which I don't. Right now, I live on $400 a month but I'm a poor ass college student however I do eat pretty well. Go to Asian/Spanish markets, everything is cheaper. Fuck Gristedes, fuck whole foods, and fuck D'Angelos. 3 dollars for refried beans? Hellllll nah. I'm not sure about the general market but my parents have a place up in Jersey City for 1700 a month for a 3 bedroom, so it should be significantly cheaper outside of the city. Neighborhoods you want to look at in Manhattan are: Greenwich, Soho, Tribeca, Financial district, East Village, West Village, Union Square, Chinatown/Lit italy (I live in Chinatown now and it's great here), Lowere East Side. I'm guessing you're going to Baruch/New School/Fordham? Also: I can't stress this enough, but get a job before coming. Edit: I don't know about transferring to Columbia but transferring to NYU depends on which school he's trying to get into CAS, Stern, Gallatin, Tisch, Steinhardt, etc. I don't know about the rest but Stern's acceptance rate is somewhere around 9. Also, living by Central Park sounds fun and all but if you go to any school besides Fordham it's kind of a shitty commute. I got a few friends that live up near 63rd and need to come down every day for class. They say they have to get ready ~1-2 hours before class.
www.newgibill.org is a great resource for figuring out exactly what he can expect. Just remember, you're limited to highest cost per state school of your home of residence (if he lists his home of residence as New York then he will be good to go with highest credit hour cost of any state school, not private/Ivy). Definitely look into the Yellow Ribbon program though, most schools offer to cover the difference or heavily offset the fees you'll be incurring.
Also, your housing allowance is based on the schools zipcode... not your own. If he's getting 100% benefits from GI bill, then going to school in the New York City area should net him ~$2700 a month in housing alone. You pull a percentage of benefits based on cumulative service though (36+ mnths being 100%, 30 being 90%, 24 being 80%, etc etc down to 6 months being 50% and 90 days being 40%).
All in all, check that site and have him plug his info into the calculator so he knows exactly how much he can expect in tuition/fees/housing.
Taretch-Thanks for that link! I looked up to see if West point cadets are on active duty, and they are, which means that since my boyfriend was prior service, and his contract is almost up, he should be getting 100% benefits...which means 2700 in housing. That's AMAZING. 2700/mo would get us a pretty damn decent place in the city.
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