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Roommates or my own apartment?
Pure Din
Boston-areaRegistered User regular
Boston-areaRegistered User regular
I need to decide whether I want to stay in my current apartment for next year (where I will need 3 roommates) or whether I want to go find my own place to live. I have a lot of furniture, and I really like my current apartment, so moving into someone else's apartment is not something I am interested in. The problem is that all of my roommates are moving out, so I would need to find three people to move into this apartment with me. I did it last year, and it was a lot of work, but probably not as much work as finding a new apartment and moving all my stuff.
Oh, and last year, all my roommates left because they were leaving the city. This year one of them is leaving the city, and the other two were new to the city and now want to live with people they're actually friends with. In case anyone was wondering why everyone keeps moving out on me. I'm not a bad roommate, but I don't tend to be best friends or even good friends with the people who I live with.
I'm 23, no school loans, have about $20k saved in my bank account. I'm a PhD student, and my stipend is about $2000 a month after taxes and stuff, while in the summer I make about $3000 a month. This is a position I will be in for the next 3-4 years, until I get my PhD. My current place costs $550 a month + utilities, but things like the internet I pay a lot less for than if I lived by myself. If I try to find my own place, I would likely end up spending as much as half of what I make on rent, utilities, and internet. My spending for everything non-housing tends to be about 500-600 a month.
I read somewhere that it is bad to spend more than 30-40% of what you make on housing? Is that rule always true? I don't want want to screw up my savings, but I'm studying Computer Science, not humanities, so I shouldn't be too worried about making a living once I finish? What do other people think about this?
Oh, and last year, all my roommates left because they were leaving the city. This year one of them is leaving the city, and the other two were new to the city and now want to live with people they're actually friends with. In case anyone was wondering why everyone keeps moving out on me. I'm not a bad roommate, but I don't tend to be best friends or even good friends with the people who I live with.
I'm 23, no school loans, have about $20k saved in my bank account. I'm a PhD student, and my stipend is about $2000 a month after taxes and stuff, while in the summer I make about $3000 a month. This is a position I will be in for the next 3-4 years, until I get my PhD. My current place costs $550 a month + utilities, but things like the internet I pay a lot less for than if I lived by myself. If I try to find my own place, I would likely end up spending as much as half of what I make on rent, utilities, and internet. My spending for everything non-housing tends to be about 500-600 a month.
I read somewhere that it is bad to spend more than 30-40% of what you make on housing? Is that rule always true? I don't want want to screw up my savings, but I'm studying Computer Science, not humanities, so I shouldn't be too worried about making a living once I finish? What do other people think about this?
Pure Din on
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Anyways, I would make a pro and con list of living alone and living with others. Generally, I personally would always rather live alone. In my eyes, even if I had roommates in a big house I would only really have one room to call my own. I rather just spend the equivalent amount on a studio or a small 1 bd room apartment.
I currently pay just about 50% of my income for an apartment of my own. I cover the rest of my bills and manage to save a few hundred every month with the remaining 50%. On months where I see overtime, I put a little more away - but all in the hopes of getting a savings account closer to where you've got it. I'm comfortable, happy, and I don't have to deal with room-mates all the time, and to be honest? I'd pay a lot for just that.
I'd say if you work out your costs and find that you won't be losing money and you even have a small amount to cover emergencies (100-200 a month), why not? You've got a lot in savings and a (presumably) profitable career to come, so why not live a little comfortably for the next few years in a town where rent isn't absolutely crazy.
You can likely find an appartment that has everything included except electric and cable/internet. And if you have 1 roomate then you can go halfsies on those. Overall, that shouldn't be too large of a rent increase.
Even if you do end up spending half your money on rent and other stuff, or 3/4 of your money, you have 20 g's in the bank. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Gotta do what you gotta do until you graduate and get a job.
but they're listening to every word I say
The problem is, I feel like a studio apartment would be worse than I have now. My boyfriend stays with me most weekends (he has no friends where he currently lives, and I have to work most weekends). So my personal space needs to fit two people for 3 nights a week, and combined with my long work hours during the week, I feel like I'm starting to unravel a bit because I can't ever just spend time by myself.
At least in my current place, I can go to the living room and there's a chance no one else will be there. With a studio I wouldn't even have that. So I've have to rule out any studio or "open" type apartments, which is the reason I'm not sure I could afford to live by myself.
Geez, this makes it sound like I should have started a relationship thread instead.
That said, it sounds like it would be worth your while to go and look for a 1-bedroom apartment you can afford. It may require a bit of legwork, but you seem to want it more than enough. At $2K/month, it should be doable (depending on where you live - Providence?). Don't get hung up on percentages. Work out the absolute cost of living and decide whether you're willing to cough that up.
Commute - how far are you willing to travel to get to and from your job? Don't forget to add in traffic times.
Space - How much space do you need for privacy? Is a bedroom enough, do you need multiple rooms?
People - Are you okay with being alone in the house alone for long periods of time? It may seem like an odd question, but I've got a friend who can't stand to be in a big house alone. She says all the empty makes it super lonely.
Financial - 30% is a rule of thumb when it comes to housing expenses..but there are more formulas that are becoming more popular to reflect some realities of modern living. For example - You take your Monthly income, subtract out your monthly bills (car payments, student loans, credit cards, etc) and then take 30% of that number. The end number should be the monthly rental amount. This realistically factors in your overall debt load and makes sure you avoid being house poor or neglecting your other bills.
I think the idea that makes the most sense so far is downsizing to a 2BR apartment. Cuts all your bills in half, but also makes it managable to replace your room-mate OR have your boy move in without too much affect on the house in the future. Again, for someone still in school you're doing fantastic with a savings like that, and in my opinion takes a lot of the pressure off your budget. As long as you're not losing money, I'd personally make some luxuries for myself.
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