# I'm moving out!!!!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-moving-out/235382>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [March 20, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-moving-out/235382 "2004-03-20T13:24:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-moving-out/235382/1 "2004-03-20T13:24:03Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-moving-out/235382/2 "2004-03-20T13:53:04Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\
**Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-moving-out/235382/3 "2004-03-20T15:34:09Z")

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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).