Author Topic: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone  (Read 5756 times)

deek

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Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« on: October 08, 2018, 07:59:26 PM »
I'm sure there are people out there like me who would much rather have their own place (whether it's renting or owning). At what point is it not worth saving the extra money? I pay 550-575 including rent and utilities and am able to save a pretty decent chunk on my 38,000 salary. I enjoy who I live with - they are a couple soon to be engaged, but I spend most of my time on my own in the room I rent. Sometimes I just wonder if I'm being a bad roommate by not interacting with them a whole lot. Other times, I just need more space and freedom without worrying what others are doing.

At the same time, living alone is more expensive and I would likely pay 7-800 (at the very lowest) a month to do so. But the older I get, the more I just need to do my own thing and it seems like time is running out. Has anyone here bit the bullet and paid more money for a better (for you) living situation? Problem is, I feel like this would really slow down my saving goals.

deek

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2018, 08:07:36 PM »
Has anyone here bit the bullet and paid more money for a better (for you) living situation? Problem is, I feel like this would really slow down my saving goals.

I did. Went from an $800/month rent for half of a two bedroom to $1,025 for a studio for my last year of grad school. Made money extremely tight, but did wonders for my sanity.

I feel like it might do the same for me too. It's just that I'll be 27 in a week and income won't be growing that quickly for me. Unless I try and find some sort of side hustle.

It's weird, several people I talk to about the minor stress of living with people can't understand why I would enjoy living alone. I almost feel like I'm in the minority. So be it I guess. It's crazy how much better I feel when I have MY fridge, MY patio, MY bathroom, MY cupboards...etc etc. Haha.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2018, 08:09:51 PM by deek »

cl_noll

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2018, 08:12:16 PM »
I base my living situation choices on my stash, income, and desired savings rate.  I make about what you do at 34 y/o and pay 600/mo to share a flat with one other person. This falls in line with my desire to save at least 40% of my take home pay.  If I go below that, I won't be comfortable with the progress that I'm making toward FI.

As my earnings go up - either due to compounding interest or a promotion - I will feel comfortable upgrading my living situation to having my own place/apartment. Maybe once I hit 100k net worth?  But money saved now is far more valuable than money saved in the future. Unless your stash is already sizable and you know you can afford it, I'd personally stick to building up savings.


mountain mustache

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2018, 08:20:32 PM »
I am all about living alone. But, I have spent my fair share of time living with people to save money. At one point, when I was 22 I lived with 4 other people! Gah! The house was never clean, or quiet. But rent was $250, which was nice.

I live alone now, except on every other weekend, when my roommates come to town. It's a perfect living situation. I have the place to myself most of the time, get plenty of down time, and then enjoy hanging with my friends for a few days! Just when I get tired of people being around, they go back to their other home!

I think it's worth a few $100 a month extra to live alone. I rest so much better, and feel like a better human being when I have my own space, and don't have to talk to people when I get home. Saving money is important to me, but not as important as my happiness, or health. I'm a pretty introverted person, and have to socialize a lot for work, so I need that down time at the end of the day.

On your salary (which is about $5k more than what I make) I would totally live alone. I'd be comfortable paying $700-$800. I'd cut back in other areas to make it work. It's worth that much to me.


Linea_Norway

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #4 on: October 09, 2018, 06:39:18 AM »
When I was a student and living alone, I had to live on myself, instead of with my parents. But I really couldn't afford anything else than renting a room at someone else's house. Yes, it sucks having to share the kitchen and bathroom with others, but it is doable. Although in one case I rented a room from a chain smoker and he often sat down in the kitchen when I was there to talk with me (old person). And I hate passive smoking...
The only time I was able to afford anything for myself was when I started living together with my SO. Then we could afford a 2 bedroom in an apartment complex from the 50s. It was old, but it felt so good having our own stuff.

NV Teacher

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #5 on: October 09, 2018, 08:38:57 AM »
I've lived by myself since I began teaching in 1989 and have not regretted it one bit.  My home is my sanctuary.  I spend my days surrounded by needy little people and my sanity would fly out the door without my quiet, calm, peaceful house.

ketchup

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #6 on: October 09, 2018, 09:26:48 AM »
The only roommates I've ever had were great, for the most part, and they were fantastic to live with and pool resources to save money.  We clashed over some stupid stuff once in a while, but for the most part it was gravy.

Shitty roommates would not be worth the headache.

Since about 3.5 years ago, I've lived with only my GF (and we lived together with the aforementioned roommates for about three years before that).  If I were single right now, I'm honestly not sure if I'd live alone or not; I'd be open to either.

(for context, I'm 27 and making 50k/yr in Chicago suburbs)

FamilyGuy

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #7 on: October 09, 2018, 10:39:09 AM »
Having one roommate and if that person is matured enough (in terms of character) that would be great.

In my situation, I own a townhome for my family of 4. Due to family circumstances, the rest of the family except me have to go to my home country and stay there for the next several months. I used this situation and rented out our guest bedroom & bathroom for $500+ utilities. That person is very genuine and knows his boundaries. We don't interact much on the weekdays but a bit much talk on weekends. This has been really good for me.

Yes, it does come with the need to do small adjustments like using AC (I don't like to use at all) and shared cooking (if both agrees) but I feel it is still worth if the money difference is significant.

DS

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #8 on: October 09, 2018, 11:35:57 AM »
Was finding it hard to find sensible roommates. Living alone now. I pay about 350 more per month, but I think I save from actually being able to use the kitchen to cook whenever I want. I would order out before if there was some big cooking session going on and I didn't want to bother (3 roommates previously)

deek

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #9 on: October 09, 2018, 11:41:55 AM »
Our of curiosity, what percentage of your take home pay are you all spending on rent?

ketchup

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #10 on: October 09, 2018, 11:50:37 AM »
Our of curiosity, what percentage of your take home pay are you all spending on rent?
Presently about 14% as a percentage of household income.

FamilyGuy

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #11 on: October 09, 2018, 12:13:04 PM »
Our of curiosity, what percentage of your take home pay are you all spending on rent?

As I own the home, I'm deducting the principal and just counting the interest & taxes.

17% of my take home
If I have a room mate, 10% of my take home.

mountain mustache

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #12 on: October 09, 2018, 01:44:07 PM »
I pay about 22% of my take home in rent. Ugh, that seems bad! I only pay $500 a month, and that includes everything (utilities, internet, etc). If I was living completely alone, in a studio apartment here, I'd be paying at least $1000 a month, plus utilities. Our little town is stuck in the middle of becoming a VHCOL town, with LCOL wages.

diapasoun

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #13 on: October 09, 2018, 02:42:09 PM »
I went from living with roommates to living alone to once again living with roommates.

I enjoy living with people (I work from home and love the stimulation I get from having roommates, I love watching a stupid movie with them, or having a dance party in the kitchen, or yelling about our mutual political frustrations, and so on). I also really loved living alone, and having MY kitchen. I generally prefer living alone, but it's not a strong enough preference to completely rule out living with others.

I find that it's much easier to be frugal when I live with roommates. Not only do I save money on rent + utilities (especially in my current place), but I save money on socializing as well -- it's a lot cheaper to socialize at home with the people you live with than it is to be going out constantly. Right now, when I'm focused heavily on saving, I'm going for the more frugal option that I still enjoy, even if it's not my #1 preference.

(For background, I'm 32, and I currently spend 12% of my net income on rent.)

jeff2017

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #14 on: October 09, 2018, 04:01:38 PM »
Regardless of what you choose, I'll just throw out the idea that everyone should live alone, at least sometime in their life for a decent amount of time (at least 6 months, likely a 1-year lease is best).

It's a different way of life and you have to depend on yourself for everything. You can also do things at your own speed, which is great. I've lived alone and with roommates (never more than 1), both have their pros and cons, but definitely glad I've tried both.

FLBiker

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #15 on: October 11, 2018, 02:29:24 PM »
Personally, post-college, I always lived alone (or with SOs).  The first five years were in Taiwan, so rent was cheap (but still more expensive than if I'd shared).  I also lived alone for 2.5 years in Honolulu (hard to find cheap 1 bedrooms there, but I did OK).  I could have saved more money if I shared, but to be honest I never even considered it.  I don't mind people, but I find it very hard to not have my own space to recharge.  For much the same reason, when I travel, I don't really like staying with people at their house (although I've certainly done it).

PoutineLover

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #16 on: October 11, 2018, 02:49:58 PM »
After my ex roommate decided to move in with her bf, I had to decide if I wanted to find someone new or live on my own for the first time. I chose alone, it cost me about 300 more per month when all was said and done, but it was so worth it. I loved having my own space, living according to my own standards and schedule, and feeling free to do whatever I felt like without worrying about imposing on someone else. That lasted 2 years, and then I moved in with my partner, which is better than living with a roommate or alone. I think if you can afford it and want to live alone, you should. Money isn't everything. As long as you aren't in debt and can still save according to your personal goals, it's a reasonable adult step to take that will probably make you happier.

deek

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #17 on: October 11, 2018, 05:09:24 PM »
After my ex roommate decided to move in with her bf, I had to decide if I wanted to find someone new or live on my own for the first time. I chose alone, it cost me about 300 more per month when all was said and done, but it was so worth it. I loved having my own space, living according to my own standards and schedule, and feeling free to do whatever I felt like without worrying about imposing on someone else. That lasted 2 years, and then I moved in with my partner, which is better than living with a roommate or alone. I think if you can afford it and want to live alone, you should. Money isn't everything. As long as you aren't in debt and can still save according to your personal goals, it's a reasonable adult step to take that will probably make you happier.

I am in debt, but I still think as long as I can make regular payments towards my car and my student loans I should be alright. Car will be paid off in less than 2 years so that will be nice. I'm just getting more and more annoyed living with other people and not having enough of my own space, so I think it's about that time.

ixtap

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #18 on: October 11, 2018, 05:28:34 PM »
After my ex roommate decided to move in with her bf, I had to decide if I wanted to find someone new or live on my own for the first time. I chose alone, it cost me about 300 more per month when all was said and done, but it was so worth it. I loved having my own space, living according to my own standards and schedule, and feeling free to do whatever I felt like without worrying about imposing on someone else. That lasted 2 years, and then I moved in with my partner, which is better than living with a roommate or alone. I think if you can afford it and want to live alone, you should. Money isn't everything. As long as you aren't in debt and can still save according to your personal goals, it's a reasonable adult step to take that will probably make you happier.

I am in debt, but I still think as long as I can make regular payments towards my car and my student loans I should be alright. Car will be paid off in less than 2 years so that will be nice. I'm just getting more and more annoyed living with other people and not having enough of my own space, so I think it's about that time.

Put the extra $250 towards the car payments, then move out when that is paid off. It will give you a good idea of how the additional rent fits in your budget, and yet free up cash flow when you do move out.

deek

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #19 on: October 11, 2018, 05:52:13 PM »
 don’t disagree with you at all. But you know what they say, mental health first. I think my biggest issue is that our eating habits are different and I have virtually no space to keep the food i’d like to prepare. I end up eating out too much, although I still try to keep it cheap but then you sacrifice a lot of quality.

MrThatsDifferent

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #20 on: October 13, 2018, 01:42:17 AM »
Everything should start with a plan. What is it that you want to achieve? Do you want FI or just save money or what? If FI, when do you want it by? Work out what you want and then tailor your life, to achieve what you want with sacrificing as little happiness as possible or as tolerable.

For me, I could save more money if I had a roommate. But, I did the calculations, it might accelerate FIRE (my goal) by 6 months. For the peace of mind and freedom, I’m willing to work the extra 6 months.

So, work out a plan and run the numbers and different scenarios. Make your decision based on data and your own self-knowledge about your needs.

heybro

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #21 on: October 13, 2018, 02:58:31 AM »
At age 16, how much would you need to sock away in order to have a million at age 65?  Probably not that much.  I often wonder why we don't all just live with our parents for 10 years and then all FIRE at age 30.

I'd do something like: Live Alone in 5 years.  That way you can sock things away right now and then enjoy the fruits of your labor once you absolutely can't stand living with someone anymore.

Hirondelle

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #22 on: October 13, 2018, 04:41:53 AM »
So I've lived in several roommate situations and to me the main thing is not roommates vs living alone; the roommates and the extent to which you share stuff makes all the difference!

In my first situation I rented a room in an elderly couple's house and this didn't work for me because everything was THEIRS and I was just a guest. It was fine for my 5 month exchange, but not sustainable long term.

Second housing situation was a large flat where I had a toilet and small kitchen for myself and shared the shower and the large communal kitchen. Only downside? My room was far away from the showers. Could've probably lived there forever.

Next I lived in a place where I had kitchen issues. My roommate was the girlfriend of the landlord and therefore had more 'power' than me. She didn't like me cooking if she was cooking (no clue why), resulting in similar problems to the one you describe. I had to try to work around her cooking schedule which wasn't always easy. I did have my own bathroom in this place though. The fact that they were a couple also didn't help as I didn't feel very welcome to let's say join them on the couch watching a movie.

Right now I have two flatmates with whom I share kitchen and bathroom, but we all have our own stuff. Having my own pans and fridge does help reduce the annoyed feeling when someone leaves dishes in the sink compared to when I'd like to use the same pans. I also have my own fridge so no storage issues.

What I'm trying to portray is that roommate situations can be very different depending on both the people and the layout of the house. So if you feel your current flatmate situation is unsustainable, it doesn't have to be a flatmate vs living alone dilemma. You say one of your main problems is not being able to store the type of food you'd like to cook. This sounds like a matter of buying your own fridge/freezer or whatever you need to store it in, not a roommate problem. Could you find a living situation with another flatmate that might align with your eating habits more? Or just a slightly bigger space to allow you to store whatever you need? If you've tried that and it still doesn't work well, you can always move again in a few years to your own place.

FamilyGuy

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #23 on: October 13, 2018, 08:56:33 AM »
After my ex roommate decided to move in with her bf, I had to decide if I wanted to find someone new or live on my own for the first time. I chose alone, it cost me about 300 more per month when all was said and done, but it was so worth it. I loved having my own space, living according to my own standards and schedule, and feeling free to do whatever I felt like without worrying about imposing on someone else. That lasted 2 years, and then I moved in with my partner, which is better than living with a roommate or alone. I think if you can afford it and want to live alone, you should. Money isn't everything. As long as you aren't in debt and can still save according to your personal goals, it's a reasonable adult step to take that will probably make you happier.

I am in debt, but I still think as long as I can make regular payments towards my car and my student loans I should be alright. Car will be paid off in less than 2 years so that will be nice. I'm just getting more and more annoyed living with other people and not having enough of my own space, so I think it's about that time.

Put the extra $250 towards the car payments, then move out when that is paid off. It will give you a good idea of how the additional rent fits in your budget, and yet free up cash flow when you do move out.
+1

10dollarsatatime

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #24 on: October 13, 2018, 09:23:56 AM »
I prioritized living alone, even when money was tight.  I did always manage to find apartments way below market rate though.  They were rundown, quirky, and/or questionable in code compliance.  It was worth it to me to have my own space though.  I'm an introvert.  I hate small talk.  And sometimes I just want to be alone!

My boyfriend is moving into my home in a couple of months and I'm a bit stressed about that.  I've been on my own for more than 10 years.  Do I know how to live with another person?  I mean, I guess I'll learn. :)

maizefolk

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #25 on: October 13, 2018, 10:07:59 AM »
Our of curiosity, what percentage of your take home pay are you all spending on rent?

At the time of the example I posted, I was spending ~40% of my take home on rent with a roommate. I took the absolute lowest cost option I could find for living alone, and it bumped up the percent of my take up going to rent to 50%.

Long term that wasn't sustainable. But I knew I wasn't going to be in grad school forever, and I wasn't going to be able to afford to stay in the extremely high cost of living city I went to school in after I graduated regardless of whether I lived alone or with roommates.

Cwadda

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #26 on: October 13, 2018, 11:39:32 AM »
You can have a very good roommate situation with people without necessarily being good friends.

I’ve had most success with just being up front about conflicts that come up. I used to be passive aggressive, idk why I ever approached things that way. It was immature.

It’s much easier to say “dude clean your hair out of the sink, we have people coming over and I don’t want the bathroom looking dirty”


I’m sympathetic to wanting to live alone for other reasons though. Sometimes roommates make unexpected changes and kinda leave you in the dust. Like, “btw I’m going to live with my gf in 1 month, I’m not going to pay for utilities at all anymore”
« Last Edit: October 13, 2018, 11:41:21 AM by Cwadda »

deek

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #27 on: October 15, 2018, 05:59:41 AM »
I would like to retire early, but I don't even know where to start to calculate that. For right now, I'm just trying to pay off my student loans a little quicker and put the rest in an E-fund until I get that to somewhere around 5-7k..then I want to start putting more towards a Roth.

mountain mustache

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #28 on: October 15, 2018, 07:09:04 AM »

I’m sympathetic to wanting to live alone for other reasons though. Sometimes roommates make unexpected changes and kinda leave you in the dust. Like, “btw I’m going to live with my gf in 1 month, I’m not going to pay for utilities at all anymore”

This. I had literally every roommate situation I was in dissolve in my adult life because my roommate (or roommates) decided to bail on our lease, and left me hanging with all of the rent. I remember one situation where there were 5 of us living in a 5 bedroom house, and 3 people left before the lease was over! Literally no regard for the financial situation it would put the rest of us in. I had it happen 2 other times when I was living with just one other person. I think people just don't think their situations through before committing to something like a lease...and then they have no qualms about bailing halfway through a year. So now, I just live in places I know I can afford alone, because it's way better than being surprised midway through the year that my $500 a month rent just doubled to $1000 a month because a roommate wants to live somewhere "with more windows"

Linea_Norway

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #29 on: October 15, 2018, 07:27:26 AM »

I’m sympathetic to wanting to live alone for other reasons though. Sometimes roommates make unexpected changes and kinda leave you in the dust. Like, “btw I’m going to live with my gf in 1 month, I’m not going to pay for utilities at all anymore”

This. I had literally every roommate situation I was in dissolve in my adult life because my roommate (or roommates) decided to bail on our lease, and left me hanging with all of the rent. I remember one situation where there were 5 of us living in a 5 bedroom house, and 3 people left before the lease was over! Literally no regard for the financial situation it would put the rest of us in. I had it happen 2 other times when I was living with just one other person. I think people just don't think their situations through before committing to something like a lease...and then they have no qualms about bailing halfway through a year. So now, I just live in places I know I can afford alone, because it's way better than being surprised midway through the year that my $500 a month rent just doubled to $1000 a month because a roommate wants to live somewhere "with more windows"

I think in such a case it would be a good idea if every roommate would have to pay some months with rent in advance. In Norway this is the case with renting of apartments. The tenant pays 3-6 months rent as a security sum to the owner and gets it back when moving out. The same should perhaps be done with roommates on who you depend for paying your own rent. But it is a high sum to pay in advance.

nereo

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #30 on: October 15, 2018, 07:48:00 AM »
This boils down to the question of whether more money spent equals an improved quality of life equal to the savings lost.  In other words, does spending more make you sufficiently happier?

One thing I haven't seen in the discussion thus-far is much discussion on where you are in your personal financial journey.  From your comments ("I still have debt") it sounds like you are very early on in the accumulation phase.  It might help to consider where you are "on the financial wave". If you're not familiar with this concept, in the beginning you need to put a lot of energy (savings) before you start making headway.  As you build up your stash, the wave (dividends & market gains) start pushing you along.  Eventually you reach a point (FI) when your stash is big enough that the wave can push you along without any further input of energy from you.  That's when you are FI.

The reason I bring this up is because right now when you are just starting out at ~$0 net worth every extra bit you save has a much greater impact on your long-term financial health. An extra $200 saved (or put towards debt) makes a BIGGER difference to you now than it will in a few years when you have tens-of-thousands in investments, and it will make almost no difference at all once the wave really starts pushing you along with a healthy 6-figures in your stash.

So does this mean I'm absolutely recommending you stick with roommates?  Not necessarily. The whole point is to increase your long-term happiness, so you have to weigh what impact having roommates for another couple of years has on your mental health.  If its truly toxic for you, by all means spend the extra money and get a studio apartment. If its just inconvenient I'd stick it out until you are on better financial footing.
On that matter, I would strongly encourage you to look at savings over the course of a year, not per-month.  Monthly numbers can seem pitifully small ("...i'd save an extra $200-250") but can seem substantial when you look at the total for a single year ($2,400 to $3,000).  How does that amount compare to your exisiting auto-loan?  Would it allow you to fund your IRA?  Stretch the savings out for 3 or even 5 years and suddenly you're dealing with a savings of around $10k; is that amount worth stress of having roommates?  Ultimately that's a question only you can answer.

deek

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #31 on: October 15, 2018, 09:47:24 AM »
This boils down to the question of whether more money spent equals an improved quality of life equal to the savings lost.  In other words, does spending more make you sufficiently happier?

One thing I haven't seen in the discussion thus-far is much discussion on where you are in your personal financial journey.  From your comments ("I still have debt") it sounds like you are very early on in the accumulation phase.  It might help to consider where you are "on the financial wave". If you're not familiar with this concept, in the beginning you need to put a lot of energy (savings) before you start making headway.  As you build up your stash, the wave (dividends & market gains) start pushing you along.  Eventually you reach a point (FI) when your stash is big enough that the wave can push you along without any further input of energy from you.  That's when you are FI.

The reason I bring this up is because right now when you are just starting out at ~$0 net worth every extra bit you save has a much greater impact on your long-term financial health. An extra $200 saved (or put towards debt) makes a BIGGER difference to you now than it will in a few years when you have tens-of-thousands in investments, and it will make almost no difference at all once the wave really starts pushing you along with a healthy 6-figures in your stash.

So does this mean I'm absolutely recommending you stick with roommates?  Not necessarily. The whole point is to increase your long-term happiness, so you have to weigh what impact having roommates for another couple of years has on your mental health.  If its truly toxic for you, by all means spend the extra money and get a studio apartment. If its just inconvenient I'd stick it out until you are on better financial footing.
On that matter, I would strongly encourage you to look at savings over the course of a year, not per-month.  Monthly numbers can seem pitifully small ("...i'd save an extra $200-250") but can seem substantial when you look at the total for a single year ($2,400 to $3,000).  How does that amount compare to your exisiting auto-loan?  Would it allow you to fund your IRA?  Stretch the savings out for 3 or even 5 years and suddenly you're dealing with a savings of around $10k; is that amount worth stress of having roommates?  Ultimately that's a question only you can answer.

This helps alot. I'm going to look at my last couple months of statements to see what I can improve and what amount of extra spending still fits in with my goals - then apply the approximate price of my own place to see if I can make it happen. I'm confident that I would be quite a bit happier with my own place.. and it would allow me to learn to do more every day things independently. If it takes a little more sacrificing on the financial end I think that will be okay.

nereo

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #32 on: October 15, 2018, 10:11:50 AM »
... when doing your calculations just be aware that single-living often has increased costs.  You can't split the heating bill, or the internet, or share kitchen appliances. When I went from having roomates to having my own place my non-rent monthly expenses went up by roughly $100 (or $1,200/year), and I wound up making a one-time trip to Target to replace the various things my roommates had provided (a microwave, some furniture, etc). 

YMMV.

deek

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #33 on: October 15, 2018, 10:39:55 AM »
... when doing your calculations just be aware that single-living often has increased costs.  You can't split the heating bill, or the internet, or share kitchen appliances. When I went from having roomates to having my own place my non-rent monthly expenses went up by roughly $100 (or $1,200/year), and I wound up making a one-time trip to Target to replace the various things my roommates had provided (a microwave, some furniture, etc). 

YMMV.

I have taken this into account. Renting by myself would include another $100 ish in utilities and another 50-60 for internet. Definitely has a big impact.

deek

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #34 on: October 17, 2018, 05:53:29 PM »
Update:
I think I'm going to compromise with myself and rent a place with 1 roommate. The guy is pretty cool, works in corrections and is recently (over a year) divorced with kids. $635 a month (semi HCOL area) for everything including internet, my own bath and deck and a small living room/TV area. Essentially, the lower level of his townhome. I will get the space I need, personally and in the kitchen, and super close to my grocery store and gym. I think this is for the best.

diapasoun

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #35 on: October 17, 2018, 06:15:04 PM »
That sounds like a very good compromise, deek. It's amazing what just having your own bathroom can do for you!

FamilyGuy

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #36 on: October 17, 2018, 08:05:53 PM »
Update:
I think I'm going to compromise with myself and rent a place with 1 roommate. The guy is pretty cool, works in corrections and is recently (over a year) divorced with kids. $635 a month (semi HCOL area) for everything including internet, my own bath and deck and a small living room/TV area. Essentially, the lower level of his townhome. I will get the space I need, personally and in the kitchen, and super close to my grocery store and gym. I think this is for the best.
This is great!!

deek

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #37 on: October 17, 2018, 08:52:13 PM »
Rent will be about 29% of my take home pay after taxes so I can't complain about that. Not ideal, but I have years and years to make more $. The move will allow me to cut back in other areas and I'm looking forward to that. It'll be a month or two of a pretty tight bank account (I have to give him first and last months rent) but after that it should be smooth sailing.

nereo

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #38 on: October 18, 2018, 05:23:33 AM »
Rent will be about 29% of my take home pay after taxes so I can't complain about that. Not ideal, but I have years and years to make more $. The move will allow me to cut back in other areas and I'm looking forward to that. It'll be a month or two of a pretty tight bank account (I have to give him first and last months rent) but after that it should be smooth sailing.
Don't get too caught up in what percentage of your take-home pay goes towards rent - instead do what you have and try to find the most reasonable expenses that meet your needs.  Following these % guidelines can be a bit silly because it depends so much on how much you make and how expensive rent is in your area.  For a time I was paying 60% (!) of my take-home pay in rent when I was living in a VHCOL area and had just taken a low paying job which had a lot of upward mobility. 

Hirondelle

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #39 on: October 18, 2018, 05:58:11 AM »
Great update Deek! Glad to hear you made a compromise with yourself to upgrade a little bit without going all out on a place for yourself. If this doesn't work out at least you've saved yourself $150-200/month for as long as you manage to stick with it.

undercover

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Re: Saving money on rent vs. wanting to live alone
« Reply #40 on: October 18, 2018, 08:29:35 AM »
28. Never lived alone. I would much prefer great respectful people to live with than to live alone personally. With the right people, it's safer and nice to always have a point of contact.

But I totally get why anyone would want to live alone since there's been plenty of times that I almost lost it. Being more in control of your social time makes total sense.

I wouldn't necessarily let money hold me back from living alone, but I'd make sure I tried my best to find the best roommates possible before doing so.