Hey ya'll--any ideas for cheap housing? I've been in what could be called Mustachian living situation for several years, I think, but I'm getting weary of it. Been living with a roommate in a nice house and nice neighborhood, but I am really, really getting itchy to have my own place. It would add a lot to my sanity to have more privacy after 6+ years of living in an 1100 sq ft house with an extrovert. Financially, this has always been a great situation; only $450/mo and that covers all the utilities including cable and internet. I was able to pay off my student loans 2 years early last year and I now have about $10,000 in after tax savings I've accumulated just this year (also have about $25K combined in 401K and Roth).
This place feels like a gravy train, but there's not a lot of space and since my roommate owns the house and is rather particular about how everything in it is, I don't have a lot of room to put my own things out or stretch out much. She's kind of a fridge Nazi, always upset if there's too much food in there (I like to cook) and it gets old being a late sleeper and she's an early riser (and not a quiet one, either). It also would certainly be nice to know when I get up in the morning or come home from work, that I could be totally alone and not have obligate small talk to make. I'd like to have room to put my own houseplants out, my own pictures and kitchen tools, etc. I have musical instruments I've not played in years and art supplies I never use, mainly because I'm too private about those things to do them with others around. I just feel like it's hard to be myself with someone else underfoot.
With a salary of just over $40,000 (if you count my part-time gig), do you think it's acceptable to spend up to $800/mo on rent?! I would desperately like to find something closer to $650, but so far it's slim pickings. I'd like to find a place within 5 miles of work so that I could potentially start biking to work. Truthfully, it really costs me about $550 rather than the base $450 per month here now because I've had to rent a storage unit to house my excess stuff I can't fit here. I keep looking on Craiglist for places to live (I live in a major metropolitan area), but everything is close to double what I'm paying now, especially in my area near my work. I'm starting to feel I have a make a choice between improving my housing situation and my 'stache and it's making me blue. :(
Honestly, if I could rent an RV and park it at work, that would be ideal, but I doubt that's going to fly with my boss (we own and manage the medical building I work in).
Any clever housing hacks for single dwellers?