Living Paycheck to Paycheck

I hung out with my potential roommate last night and I’m thinking that it can work out.  Even though she would leave fairly soon after me in the morning, she wouldn’t be home until at least a couple hours later than me in the evenings, so I’ll get some alone time.  She’s also studying for her GRE, so many of her evenings she will be holed up in her room while I watch TV or something.  She likes my boyfriend and doesn’t care if he’s over a lot on the weekends which is pretty important.  B and I can switch back and forth between out places, but his house kind of sucks and at least one of his roommates is always trying to get us to go out places with him (so he can mack on chicks even though he sort of has a girlfriend–he’s only “dating” her for the sex, I believe, and wants to trade her in for a hotter, less slutty model–drama, drama, drama!) and tries to make us feel bad if we don’t want to go spend money or we just want to be by ourselves.  Also, I won’t cook for B at his place and he does like his free food.

So J and I might make good roommates.  My concern is her salary and how much she can afford for rent; right now she makes slightly less than $30K/year, though she’s due for a salary increase in August.  Right now about 38-40% of my take home pay goes to rent and I know that it should be between 25-35%.  With a roommate, I can definitely get it within that range without a problem, but I’m concerned that J won’t be able to pay enough rent to get a reasonable place.  She’s pretty well fine with living at my complex in Loudoun because she likes the slightly country atmosphere, and my complex does have some awesome apartments for less than one would find closer into the city.  J plans to take a Loudoun Connector Bus, either all the way to D.C. or to a Metro, which will cost a fair amount.  I’ve also offered to take the bigger bedroom/adjoining bathroom and pay extra per month, but I’m not sure how much that should be.  I was thinking adding $50 to my rent and subtracting the same from hers for a $100 difference, but I’ll ask B what he thinks–he had this same problem with his roommates, but he’s the one getting screwed by the guy with the biggest room (also, the same guy who’s trying to trade in his girlfriend.  Hmm).

So those are some new concerns, but I still think that it can work.  Luckily, I still have time to consider things.

When I was apartment searching last summer, there were some things that I swore I would not compromise on; I would not live in a first floor apartment, or in low-income housing, or anywhere that I didn’t feel safe.  I didn’t need lots of amenities or even a lot of space.  I did want a one-bedroom instead of a studio because I’m quite messy and needed a place to keep my mess.

I was trying to keep rent to about $1000/month.  So I started searching.  I started with a free Apartment Guide from the grocery store and marked everything in my price range.  Then I went online and looked up information.  By the time that I had crossed off all the low-income housing, I was freaking out; I had only a handful of options.  Even after expanding my search to apartments.com, rent.com, and Craig’s List, I was still down to almost nothing.  I also was running out of time to get a place before my current lease ended. 

After visiting a few places, I finally found something.  It seems like it’s 30 miles from everything in the world.  It’s definitely that far from my job.  I live in Loudoun County, in a third floor, 867 sq. ft. unit that I love.  Even though it is the largest one bedroom they have, it was the cheapest one available at that time.  The base rent is $930/month, but there are mandatory add-ons.  For $30/month I get valet trash pick up, and for $49/month I get cable, neither of which I need.  Last year I used an antenna for service and while it was touch and go, it got my roommate and me through.  So I’m paying about $1019/month when monthly fees are added in. 

I love living there because the town still has a slight small town feel to it, even though it’s expanding like crazy.  Nothing’s perfect, though; I have to take the Dulles Toll Road to work and home which costs me $2.50/day.  If I’m running late for work, I take the Dulles Greenway which costs $3.00 extra, so once every week or two, I waste $3.00 taking it to the Toll Road.  Now that gas has risen so high, I’m averaging more than $350/month in gas alone and when you add the tolls, it’s more than $400/month just for driving. 

My lease is ending in September and I’ll have to decide (in about June or July) whether it’s worth it to move closer to work and pay higher rent and moving fees, but less in travelling expenses?  Will it be any less, anyway, if the gas prices go higher?