I decided against dorm life again next year. It’s nice, but I’m sick sick SICK of the food. That said, I will probably arrange to eat breakfast here whenever possible. It’s the other meals I can’t stand.
Anyways, I was talking about this with a friend last night, and it got me wondering, what extra costs should I be worrying about besides rent? This includes internet, power, heat, etc. Things that I don’t have to worry about now because it’s covered in my residence fees, or I’m already paying for.
Hmm…depending on where you choose to live (House vs. Apartment), here are some: Damage deposit, phone, cable, garbage, water/sewer, snow removal/lawn upeep (in apartments, some of these are usually part of rent, I’m just going by what we pay in a house), groceries, laundry (if you don’t own a washer/dryer).
When you are looking for a place, try to avoid anything that has electric heat - it tends to be more expensive than other types of heating. My condo ran about $280 in the dead of winter for heat. It was a large condo, but even small spaces can be expensive to heat with electric. Try to find a place where heat and other utilities are part of the rent. Some rentals will even include basic cable. Some apartment complexes charge extra for parking spots/garages, and make sure there is ample parking if you have frequent guests.
Then try to remember what stuff you will need as far as furniture, appliances (microwave/toaster), stuff like that.
And keep parties to a minimum, landlords can and will boot you out if you make too much noise, expecially if your neighbors are not college students and complain about that kind of stuff. A lesson I learned the hard way.
In addition to what Boscibo described, be prepared for the hook-up fees for electricity, telephone, etc. You might want to check with your utility companies for specific details. Also, when I was in university, sometimes special “deposits” were charged for out of the area students for telephone services (covering the cost of potential default on long distance calls).