Rental Housing
I am planning to rent a house instead of an apartment, something that is virtually impossible to do without several roommates in Washington. I will traveling there this weekend in order to view some properties and hopefully -- put a deposit down on one.
We are currently paying $900 per month for a simple one bedroom in DC. We are looking only at 2-3 bedroom homes (and one townhouse) in SC. They run between $510 and $895. I doubt we are going to go with the $895 one because we are interested in taking advantage of the lower cost of living and that would save us anything.
The catch is that we have to have a 2 bedroom house because my partner will be setting up a home office in SC. We are hoping to get a second bathroom so that he can set up a darkroom as well for his photography.
If we can secure one of the 4 or so that are in the $600-700 range that would be great! I hope the ones we have scheduled a visit with are adequate. That would save each of us between $100 and $150 per month. That month can be siphoned off into debt reduction and savings. Mine will probably help to offset the cost of my new vehicle, but my extra income will still leave plenty of room for paying mass quantities on my credit cards.
I will post a complete description of the place we choose as well as a breakdown of the cost and impact on my budget after this weekend.
The best thing is that -- though the housing reduction is the largest savings of SC -- there are other budgetary areas that will experience relief by moving down South. Groceries are cheaper (much cheaper) and there are more discount and salvage stores (where you can find great deals on items to furnish your home and sometimes - though less often - on clothing).
We are currently paying $900 per month for a simple one bedroom in DC. We are looking only at 2-3 bedroom homes (and one townhouse) in SC. They run between $510 and $895. I doubt we are going to go with the $895 one because we are interested in taking advantage of the lower cost of living and that would save us anything.
The catch is that we have to have a 2 bedroom house because my partner will be setting up a home office in SC. We are hoping to get a second bathroom so that he can set up a darkroom as well for his photography.
If we can secure one of the 4 or so that are in the $600-700 range that would be great! I hope the ones we have scheduled a visit with are adequate. That would save each of us between $100 and $150 per month. That month can be siphoned off into debt reduction and savings. Mine will probably help to offset the cost of my new vehicle, but my extra income will still leave plenty of room for paying mass quantities on my credit cards.
I will post a complete description of the place we choose as well as a breakdown of the cost and impact on my budget after this weekend.
The best thing is that -- though the housing reduction is the largest savings of SC -- there are other budgetary areas that will experience relief by moving down South. Groceries are cheaper (much cheaper) and there are more discount and salvage stores (where you can find great deals on items to furnish your home and sometimes - though less often - on clothing).
posted by April | 1:51 PM
5 Comments:
Ouch. I love getting these reminders that what I pay for a 240 sq ft studio in Brooklyn can get you a 2-3 bedroom house elsewhere!
Good luck with your move!
Sounds like everythings going well. When everything settles down, you just may be a millionaire in no time.
Yeah, I moved from Mississippi where I was paying $425 a month for 825 sq ft. one bedroom. (I only paid half of that $425!) Then I moved to DC (Northern Virginia) and starting paying $1275 for a one bedroom with den. Then I moved to be close a metro for $1620 -- and that was a deal!!! Now I live in a place without central AC and in a much older building and it is smaller but I only pay $900 and I can still walk to the metro. The South does sound better and better every day. Also, it is actually possible to purchase a home there. Places like I am going to look at renting run between $89,000 and $125,000 only!
Henry:
Once I get rolling and start paying down that debt -- I will hopefully get on the ball with saving and investing. Youth is on my side on this one! If I am out of debt by age 26 (I am 24 now), I have a great shot at the millionaire thing.
Hey April. Found you on blogexplosion. Your financial journal is interesting. We are trying to get out of debt also. I find that necessary things keep popping up, such as needing a new air conditioner, having to fix the car, and so on. Fortunately, we are still progressing towards our goals.
Good luck to you!
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