Apartment...

[Ultralight]

I am looking at the apartment I will most likely get today.

$860 a month for a tiny, one bedroom place about a mile from my work.

I have to pay water and I think one other utility. Cable/Internets are included. Dog rent ($30 a month) is already factored in.

The place is a sublease for 4 months with possibility to renew.

I have mixed feelings...

[mschrisgo2]

Ok, I'll bite. Well?

[Ultralight]

Now it is a 15 month lease.

[Tammy]

I love long leases. It's insurance against a rent increase for that whole time. I always go for the longest lease terms available. After owning numerous houses with 30 year mortgages, lease terms are very short.

[ApatheticNoMore]

it depends. if you hope to move for a different job or something like that then it's not good (as you'll be stuck with the commute as you signed the lease), but if you plan to stay put it can be. What are the mixed feelings about? The price? Yea geez rents are high all over if it's so expensive to live in Ohio (oh I know it's expensive here, but rents have simply gone bonkers everywhere I guess). If what you have mixed feelings about is not liking the place then I say don't go with it, expensive can be accepted but a place you hate, not so much so.

[Williamsmith]

Two advantages. You can easily walk the mile to work. Minus the car you save and minimize exposure to costly repairs, and eliminate costly insurance. And your discretionary income will probably decrease which should also decrease your income based student loan monthly payment which could offset any increase in housing costs you incur. And finally, if you do develop a new relationship, you can halve the costs if they move in with you.

[Miss Cellane]

Interesting that cable and internet are included in the rent, but water and other utilities are not. That's the reverse of every apartment I've ever had--I've paid for electricity, and gas, and oil, but never water, and always paid for my own cable and internet.

Why are your feelings mixed?

[jp1]

Interesting that cable and internet are included in the rent, but water and other utilities are not. That's the reverse of every apartment I've ever had--I've paid for electricity, and gas, and oil, but never water, and always paid for my own cable and internet.

I assumed this was a result of it being a sublet and the tenant not wanting to turn off the cable/internets.

Personally I hate looking at apartments. The reality is that almost all look awful when empty. But I've been happy with every place I've ever lived. Each has had its quirks and annoyances, but they've all been an important part of my life with lots of happy memories. As an introvert I need a place where I can go to when I need to get away from the world. None has let me down because really, once I'm moved in it feels like "mine". Our current place is by far the most expensive, but also the nicest. And I hope it's the last that we rent. I actually DID like it when we viewed it. I still like it today, 6 years later, but not really any more than anywhere else I've lived.

[Ultralight]

The cost is like $860 a month.

This is not sustainable.

Last night I was thinking about this. I need to find a life partner -- not just for love, romance, or the companionship but for plain old financial reasons.

This realization has dramatically changed my thoughts about life partnership.

[Williamsmith]

I have always been convinced that many life partnerships are as much about finances as they are about love. The Amish taught me this also.

I observed an Amish logger with two draft horses pulling eight to ten foot logs out of a wooded lot, through a muddy field and onto a landing zone by a dirt roadway. I asked why I always saw pairs of horses being used, and not just a single or triplets. He said two horses can pull three times the weight of one horse. Three horses is just too complicated for harnessing. Best bang for your buck.