2-My cousin is in a fairly new job which she doesn't necessarily like that much and is not sure how stable it is. I actually felt some pressure to move in with her as when she approached me with all of this she had just been laid off while I had already picked the apartment I wanted to move into alone. I also have some guilt about leaving her knowing her job situation and how much she wanted to save rent--her mom paid to furnish the place we live in for her and was paying half her rent before I moved in (we are both 38 years old). When my cousin called me the other day to let me know the renewal rate (again, I'm out of town on vacation at the moment)...I did ask her if she still wanted to continue to room together considering the increase and her tone indicated she was very upset at the mention of this question to her as she replied "I *thought* we had discussed already that this is what we *would* do [renew together] but if YOU have decided you're going to do something different than what you NEED to do is LET ME KNOW!". I figured I better be damn sure I'm making a decision I can live with. Because I do want to be happier but contrary to what she might be thinking I'm taking the time to figure out what's best because I am also considering her greatly in this decision.
Thank you for your insight/input by the way...
Thank you for clearing up the rent increase issue. I think I may have read your case studies months (years?) ago because I remember you thinking about moving away from Chicago. It sounds like you've come a long way and that you are really putting away the cash now.
Reason #1 does not require your cousin, of course. You do not need to continue living with your cousin to be a badass . . . there are lots of alternatives.
By the way, your #2 reason is just a terrible reason. It sounds like she's not financially stable at all, and that she is immature in several ways. That is the exact opposite of the type of roommate you need. Please don't let her emotional appeal mire you into a living situation that is not the best thing for your own peace and sanity. If she is in a precarious employment situation, she needs to be finding a cheaper place anyway.
Over the years I had several roommates . . . the BEST roommates by far were people I did not know at all prior to rooming together. They were just more considerate than both friends and family, probably because we were making the choice to room together based upon mutual preferences and needs. The worst roommate I had was a good friend prior to us rooming together. She was a slob and used our "friends" status to "borrow" without asking, wrecked a bunch of my stuff (whoops!), and just generally took advantage of the situation.
Could you rent an office space for less than $350 a month? If so, that might be an option.
I had a self employed friend do this years ago and LIVE in the fairly large one room office space he was renting for dirt cheap. He had a small "beer fridge" for his food in the leg space under his desk and slept on a futon that he pulled into "couch" shape during the day. He is the original badass.
Upsides to the arrangement:
1) Cheapest rent possible.
2) Absolute and total quiet and privacy after about 6pm as everyone else vacated the building to go home.
3) Upper floor with very nice view (one entire wall of his office was a window facing the mountains.)
4) Building had a security system, so felt very safe at night. Sometimes he would have a few of us over to play cards at night and he'd have to come down to the lobby to let us in.
5) Common areas/bathroom/kitchen cleaned by a cleaning service paid by the landlord.
Downsides to the arrangement:
1) The bathroom was the shared one down the hall, and there was no shower (he showered at his fitness club.)
2) No kitchen in the room, although there was a small shared kitchenette down the hall.
3) Not a lot of closet space . . . I don't actually recall that he had any. He kept his clothes in a filing cabinet I think. He was a pretty frugal guy all around and did not have a big wardrobe, obviously. He must have also put his bedding in the file cabinet during the day . . . never asked him about that specifically, but he did have a couple of big filing cabinets.
4) I am not sure if what he was doing was allowed by his lease terms or not . . . as far as I know he was never questioned about it, but I'm also not sure that the landlord ever figured it out. As his friend I know he lived there, but he did seem to try to not make it not totally obvious to someone who might just stop by his office.
Since knowing this guy, I've always had this weird daydream about living at work on the sly . . . my work even has a shower on the same floor as my office. Sadly my office is not nearly as big as the one he rented.