San Diego here. We rent a two-bedroom condo from a private owner. When we first rented the apartment, I negotiated a $20 discount per month on the rent, resulting in a $1430/month rent payment. The landlord had booted his previous tenant at the end of his lease because he was constantly paying the rent late. So I asked if I arranged for direct deposit if he would give us $20 off, and he said yes. He has not raised the rent in three years. We take excellent care of the place and perform maintenance (with his knowledge). We let him know when there are problems (upstairs neighbor's leaking water heater damaging our walls) and actively work to help him get those things resolved. Basically we pay rent on time, are helpful to him, cost-share some issues (replacement of a microwave/vent unit - we split the cost) because our rent is pretty far under market, and generally take pride in the place, so he likes having us in here. We plan to stay another three or four years, based on our timeline for getting out of debt and saving a down payment for a house.
How we keep costs down:
- plan ahead and budget for activities that cost money, like beerfests and such, say no to things you didn't budget for
- do free stuff. Balboa park museums have a couple different ones that are free every Tuesday. Beaches, walking around and looking at boats downtown.
- don't eat out. Really jacks up the expenses. It's a favorite pasttime of mine, so we budget a little bit for it each month.
- when we want to go out for a beer, we go to a local brewery tasting room that has $1 4oz tasters across the board. The beers are high ABV, so $5 each and you've had your night out.
- don't use the AC. Even if we only use it for a couple of hours on the hottest days, it jacks our utilities bill up, usually doubling it (~$60 or less, then with AC up to ~$120). Heat is just not necessary in winter. Cooking a meal heats the main rooms, and then put on socks, sweaters, blankets, snuggle with dogs. Turn lights off, use efficient light bulbs, etc.
- rent as close to work as possible, even if it's not the hippest neighborhood. Our neighborhood is anything but hip. It's not dangerous, it's just not cool. But I live the closest to work of anyone I know. The only reason I don't live in the same neighborhood as my work is that it is the richie-rich, expensive area. I live close enough that I don't have to take the freeway to work, so this saves me on car insurance. (I didn't know this before I moved here, I also didn't move as close to work as possible to be frugal, that was before I found mustachianism. I just hate commuting and being in traffic.) I work early hours to have a short commute without traffic (save gas).