living in an apartment

[Bob]

starting in september, i'll be moving out more or less on my own for pretty much the first time in my life. i'm going to northeastern for law school, which is in boston, so i'll be living in boston. i've never lived in a city before, so that will be interesting.

i've never had to live in an apartment before either, so i'm coming to you guys for advice. i'll be getting roommates obviously because boston is fucking expensive and i'm not a billionaire. rent for a room seems to average around $750 a month. my student loans give me a $15,000/year living allowance. so assuming i pay $750 a month in rent, that leaves me around $500 a month for other living expenses (utilities and food and whatever else), plus whatever i've got in my bank account by the end of the summer (maybe $5,000, tops)

so you people who've done this before, help me out. i'm trying to work out a budget here (as much as i can ahead of time, anyway), but i'm really kind of clueless about a few things.

how much do you pay in utilities? i have zero idea of how much that would cost.

how much do you usually spend on food in a month?

what about parking? parking in a city is expensive, i've been told, but i haven't been told just how expensive. i suppose i don't actually NEED my car up there, plus driving in boston is about as painful as being raped by a gorilla, i'd only really use it to drive home now and then (about 2 hours away). but how do you handle grocery shopping without a car? do you just buy very small amounts of food?

i've lived in suburbs with my parents helping me out all my life, this is all very new to me. any advice would be much appreciated, you guys have always been there.

[abcdefz]

Get a place that's fairly near everything you need -- school, library, groceries, your preferred shooping spots (clothes, music, books, whatever), and any other services you use (haircuts, dry cleaners, cinemas, bars, whatever). Ditch the car. Seriously. That might seem like a big sacrifice, but you'll save a ton of money in gas, insurance, upkeep.

Make friends with your public transit system, and get a bicycle.

For instance: my commute costs me a flat $125 a month. That's it. I don't worry about blown tires, gas prices, wrecks, getting my car keyed, mechanics, etc.

Other than that -- food is pretty much what you make of it. You can get by on $50 a week, probably, including one meal out per week. Make your own coffee instead of hitting Starbucks; pack sandwiches for a long day at school.

It sounds like you'll be in pretty good shape, actually. If you can afford the time, you might consider a work study job -- they're usually pretty cushy and bring in a good chunk of change. (y)

Good luck!

[abcdefz]

Utilities can be anything, depending on what you want. Make sure you and your roommates all agree, because if you're trying to keep costs down but find that one of you three or four keeps boosting the heat up to 80 degrees in the wintertime, that'll cause problems.

Also: phone bills. Keep track of long distance stuff or, God forbid, those 1-900 calls.

[Bob]

a nice thing about northeastern is that it has a co-op program. you go to school year-round, the first year is all classes, but for the next two, you alternate every three months between going to classes and working at an internship full time. the internships are paid, too, which is nice. they say the income ranges from "minimally funded" (whatever that means) public interest programs to $2500/week for some firms. i'm obviously not expecting to make $2500/week, but hell, just having income from a full time job every 3 months is going to be huge, i think. unless i go public interest, but honestly, who does that.

[enree erzweglle]

Given energy costs, I'd definitely inquire about how the house is heated and whether you're responsible for paying for that part of the utilities.

In my city, if it's an apartment and not a subdivided house, usually the heat is included in the rent, so you pay rent +electric. In subdivided rental houses, though, usually the heat is NOT included in the rent, so you pay rent + everything else: water, sewage, gas, electric.

If you do have to pay for heat, I'd ask these questions: Is the house old? Does it have newer/double-insulated windows? Is it forced-air heating or steam? Is the heat gas or electric? If the heat is gas, does the warm air actually reach the upper floors? Can you use space heaters in colder rooms?

I'd also inquire about what temperature your roomates will want to keep the thermostat. I know some people who keep their heat at 65 in the winter and, in the house they share, they have to split a $1200/month gas bill.

One more thing that I don't think anyone has mentioned and this is mostly relevant if you're renting a subdivided house: find out who is responsible for snow/ice removal in the winter, lawn care in the summer, and leaf collecting in the fall. Some people that I know rent houses or subdivided units in houses and they have to do these things themselves.

[Sarky Devotchka]

dude, you shouldn't be paying $750 a month if you have roommates. that's just silly. I live in Chicago and I pay $416 a month for a huge apartment with two roommates. granted, it's not in the most perfect location. But even when I lived in "hot" neighborhoods, I paid no more than $550. I have a hard time believing that boston would be more expensive than chicago.

don't be a chump.

my friend's brother lives in boston, I could ask him about neighborhoods and shit. if you want. or you could probably just find stuff on the internet.

[abcdefz]

You know what else, Bob? Seriously think about renter's insurance. In many cases, it doesn't cost that much, and then if something horrible happens -- theft, if there's a fire (that spreads to a neighbor's property), if you're having a party and somebody gets hurt trying to navigate the roof, if someone leaves the bathtub running which then ruins your downstairs neighbor's ceiling and carpet and stuff -- you're covered. Otherwise, you're screwed.

If all of your roommates pitch in, it might be less than $25 a head per month. Something like that. Worth it.

[Randetica]

good luck

i never lived in a house but always wanted to

[beastiegirrl101]

Boston is the most expensive city to live in...

Boston
NY
San Fran

[jabumbo]

co-op job is allowing me to sit on my ass for the past month and still have money to pay for school next year (y)



although i could easily blow all that money on quite a few things...

[abcdefz]

Actually, jabumbo, that's a good point. Though, if Bob has $5k in the bank, he probably has some willpower, but...

The student loan checks can seem like windfalls. I wound up buying an 8-track reel-to-reel, a mixing board, a keybaord, and some effects gear. Oops! That was for school! :o

-- which meant I wound up having to take a job to make rent, when I could've concentrated more on studies.

[Bob]

Actually, jabumbo, that's a good point. Though, if Bob has $5k in the bank, he probably has some willpower, but...

The student loan checks can seem like windfalls. I wound up buying an 8-track reel-to-reel, a mixing board, a keybaord, and some effects gear. Oops! That was for school! :o

-- which meant I wound up having to take a job to make rent, when I could've concentrated more on studies.

yeah, i'm trying to be very careful. student loans are going to absolutely murder me. the estimated cost of education per year is $53,000 (this includes tuition, books/supplies, living expenses, etc.). i'm getting $8,500 a year in scholarships, and another $22,000 in federal loans (meaning i'm going to have to get a supplemental loan to cover the rest). basically i'm going to need to graduate and be an expensive lawyer if i hope to ever pay them back. i guess i could consider it an incentive. co-op should considerably lessen the blow, though. i hope.

$750 is i guess the high-end of average. i'm seeing apts for around 550-650, too...i don't wanna go TOO cheap though, i do have to live there, after all. who knows where i'd end up (though obviously i'll see the place before i move in). i'm planning my budget around $750, just for safety's sake.

northeastern has a nice service, it's an online housing registry where people can list apartments/houses that they're willing to rent. it's like craigslist exclusively for NEU students. not necessarily law students, though. i'm not thrilled about living with a bunch of crazy undergrads.

i'm even seeing some listings that are free in exchange for certain services. one is free in exchange for care of a "71-year old gentleman with multiple sclerosis", one is free in exchange for babysitting. i hate kids and old people though, quite frankly i'd rather be broke.

thanks for all the advice guys, it helps alot. i'm still scared though.

[Randetica]

aww you sweet poopsie you

[abcdefz]

yeah, i'm trying to be very careful. student loans are going to absolutely murder me. the estimated cost of education per year is $53,000 (this includes tuition, books/supplies, living expenses, etc.). i'm getting $8,500 a year in scholarships, and another $22,000 in federal loans (meaning i'm going to have to get a supplemental loan to cover the rest). basically i'm going to need to graduate and be an expensive lawyer if i hope to ever pay them back. i guess i could consider it an incentive. co-op should considerably lessen the blow, though. i hope.

$750 is i guess the high-end of average. i'm seeing apts for around 550-650, too...i don't wanna go TOO cheap though, i do have to live there, after all. who knows where i'd end up (though obviously i'll see the place before i move in). i'm planning my budget around $750, just for safety's sake.

northeastern has a nice service, it's an online housing registry where people can list apartments/houses that they're willing to rent. it's like craigslist exclusively for NEU students. not necessarily law students, though. i'm not thrilled about living with a bunch of crazy undergrads.

i'm even seeing some listings that are free in exchange for certain services. one is free in exchange for care of a "71-year old gentleman with multiple sclerosis", one is free in exchange for babysitting. i hate kids and old people though, quite frankly i'd rather be broke.

thanks for all the advice guys, it helps alot. i'm still scared though.



You know, dude -- paying that extra $100-$200 in rent to make sure you're in a quite building with good roommates is going to be a good value, unless you want to spend your life in the library.

Hope you find some folks with similar values who are very agreeable. (y)

[Documad]

Just because you QUALIFY for all the student loan money doesn't mean you have to SPEND it. Most of my friends made that mistake and some of them will have paid off their home mortgage before their student loans. It's silly to have more disposable income during law school than you will have during the ten years after law school. Pretend you're more broke than you are and take out less in loans.

Try to find some friends who know how to socialize without drinking and eating in restaurants. I know you're going to have fun, but don't do it every single night. Most of your fellow students are going to be asses and I know it's easier to hang with them when you're impaired, but try to find a few you can tolerate sober.

[beastieangel01]

how much do you pay in utilities?
when I lived in DC, my share was 70 bucks. That was in a house with 2 others.

how much do you usually spend on food in a month?
I buy healthy stuff now for various reasons which can run a bit high. I spend $200-250 a month (lots of fresh veggies, fruits, specialty items, etc). But hey, I haven't gotten sick in over 6 months. I sacrifice other things to budget for this. Also, I always pack lunches and food so I never eat out. It adds up quick if you eat out too much.

how do you handle grocery shopping without a car?
I would always bring a large backpack with me and only buy what I can carry, then went back when I need more. It meant maybe two more trips a month but it's not a big deal :)

If it doesn't hike the cost up, having a place with a dishwasher and laundry in the unit is nice. If not, it's not THAT big of a deal, I get by okay since we have a laundry room in the complex.

good luck :)

[NON]

Just keep your Bananarama album and singles purchasing to a limit while prostituting yourself out and all will work itself out.

[jabumbo]

don't talk to melissa (n)

[Bob]

ok, i'm looking for places now...how many places should i inquire into? i don't want to do too few, lest i not find any i like (or any that like me), but i don't want to do too many either, since it would probably be a little overwhelming. i don't know how many tours i can fit into a day. what's a good number?

[jabumbo]

i think all in all, i looked at about 5 or 6 places before i found the one i liked


basically i would keep going and after each new one, pick which one i liked best and compared it to the new one that i was seeing