EPTAnd lol emucxg "I WANNA FREEDOM...!!!"
Moving to Your Own Place - Page 4
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micronesia
United States24768 Posts
And lol emucxg "I WANNA FREEDOM...!!!" | ||
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Makhno
Sweden585 Posts
I would like to hear some stories of living in dorms from people with experience. Is it fun, annoying etc? I realize that it depends on the standard of the place and the people you live with but what is the general feeling about it here? | ||
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Mah Buckit!
Finland474 Posts
Don´t have any friends here though, not that I really had them before. | ||
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Fen
Australia1848 Posts
The problem is that as a med student, I dont exactly have a reasonable income and my free time for working is almost non-existant. Whats worse is that I wont have finished my degree until im 27 years old. At the end of the year, im hoping to grab a few friends and move out. However I have no idea how i'm going to manage financially. | ||
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FragKrag
United States11562 Posts
On September 14 2009 18:07 emucxg wrote: damn I wanna move out too, in Finland government support young student to move away from their parents and basically they will pay for your rent... BUT my parents don't allowed me to move =((( maybe because I'm Asian =( I WANNA FREEDOM...!!! come to america | ||
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Eben
United States769 Posts
On September 14 2009 02:37 ProdT wrote: I'm a student right now and I only make about 500-600 dollars a month working part time and going to classes, If someone would like to tell me how to move out of my parents house with just that I would like to see it. I live on my own and go to school making about 600~ ish a month. I pay my own rent which is 400~ a month and have 3 roommats. We all have different leases so if one person misses rent it doesn't effect everyone. We have basic cable, good internet, and a washer and drier in the apartment itself. (I find this last thing to be super important, going to a laundromat would suck) I realize that my rent is a bunch more than 1/3 my income, but it's still not that bad. As for roommate trouble I don't have much really. No one eats anyone's food. We each have our own area of the cabinets and cupboard where you keep your food and stuff. There's some things we all pitch in for like dishwasher soap, paper towels and condiments. I find that living on my own is 100% better than living with my parents and would do almost anything to not go back. Since my rent is pretty high compared to my income, starting this week I am 'donating' plasma for some extra cash (3x a week)! Also, if you wanted to spend less money on rent some of my friends down here are only paying 300~ a month in rent. (With 3 roommates) So basically, grab some good roommates that you can get along with and make sure you all have different leases. | ||
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Excalibur_Z
United States12240 Posts
On September 13 2009 05:02 micronesia wrote: Topic 1: Getting away from your parents: But generally, what are you thoughts on when you should get out of the house? Also, if moving away from 'home' is going to be very difficult... how willing should you be to make sacrifices? If you have a comfortable home life, meaning your family is accommodating of your schedules and habits, then moving out isn't a big priority. When I moved out the first time, it was a few months after I had finished college. The job market in California was tanking, and my best friend who was going to university in Michigan assured me that I'd be able to find work there as a graphic designer since that job market was virtually untapped in that state (hint: it wasn't). I moved out there and he became my roommate (tip: never ever make your best friend your roommate, people even told me not to but I did anyway). There were several things that we agreed upon outright: 1) high-speed internet access, this was a necessity. 2) affordable rent (ours was about 500/month in total) 3) no unnecessary costs -- this meant no landlines among other things. 4) no stealing food. Anyway, that arrangement didn't last long and I moved back to California after about 6 months. All I knew when I moved out was that I didn't want to live by myself, but I also didn't want to live with a random person. Solution: meet a girl on the internet, make her your girlfriend, and have her move in. It's what I did and that's been the case for like 4 years running haha. Topic 2: Options for moving out: What are some more realistic options? Are there any purchasing options that are reasonable, or is it pretty much 100% renting? The renting options I've personally begun to explore are 1 bedroom apartments (many types of course), studio apartments (generally cheaper), and larger apartments shared by multiple people (most cost effective, but risky). Which are the best ones to explore for the area you are looking into? Why? Some other things to consider: parking availability (lots of parking ticket threads on tl lol), pets (big issue in many places), smoking (big issue in many places), which ammenities are included (heat, water, electricity, tv, phone, internet, etc). When I moved out the second time, with my girlfriend, neither of us were very picky about any of that. We got a Jr 1-bedroom (about 550 sq.ft., so pretty small, it was 1bdrm/0.5bath + one living room and a tiny kitchen) for $960/mo. She had to look for work in the area and ended up getting a pretty crappy job that stressed her out, while I still had my job in the game industry. Because of my earlier principles for moving, it was already predetermined that we'd be getting a place to ourselves, so it was just a matter of what we could afford. The one stipulation was again high speed internet, but everything beyond that was up in the air. We had to go to the laundry room for laundry (though that's better than going to a laundromat), and no amenities were covered. I would never live in a house or large apartment with multiple roommates, though I know a lot of coworkers who do that and they say it's convenient enough for them. There are privacy concerns, social tensions, relationship woes, fights over resources like the washer or kitchen, just so many potential problems. Talking to this guy about how his girlfriend dumped him, hearing about that guy getting drunk at a party, fighting with this other guy about using the oven. I could never handle that. When we moved into our current place, location was a much bigger factor. It had to be somewhere close to where I work (so no more 30 min commutes), somewhere close to stores and food, and close to potential areas where my girlfriend could get a job (and she found one only a mile away). We were more demanding with amenities as well: this one has a washer/dryer, a dishwasher which we didn't have before, a stove and oven that cook much better, and a much larger fridge/freezer. It's also a lot bigger in general by comparison (900 sq.ft.). They also allow one pet, so we domesticated a stray cat. This place also has private individual garages for each apartment, so I'm never fighting for parking, and that in itself has proven to be pretty excellent. Topic 3: Who to live with: For those of us who don't have a significant other, we are faced with the choice of either moving into a new place alone, or rooming with others (if you have a gf then the two of you will probably both work and have more options available). Lets rule out accomodations where residents don't have their own bedroom (like third roommate crashing on the living room couch). What are your thoughts about the need to have a/several roommate(s) early in your life/career? How nice is it to live alone? How important is it not to be by yourself? Is it usually too hard to move out without a roommate? If you are a very private person who isn't lonely, then maybe living alone is for you. Otherwise I'm quite happy with my situation. Topic 4: Short term vs Long term plans: Is some housing good if you only plan to live somewhere for a short period of time (1 year, 2 years, etc), while other housing is better if there's a good chance you won't want to move for many years? (Obvious example is buying a house, but most of us can't do that). I've also met people who purchase, and then rent rooms out to college students, friends, etc, which I suppose is another option. What are some important long-term plans you should think about before you take any action with moving out? Or, should you do something which works in the short term and worry about the long term later? I'd say get what you can afford in the first couple of years while still being able to save up some money, then upgrade to somewhere you'll be more comfortable. The place I have now is pretty nice, but the woman is already suggesting a house which is completely unaffordable... Topic 5: Rules of thumb: I've heard some rules of thumb... and I also think this might be the place to respond to what could be considered an FAQ. Some items: a) How should you figure out what rent you will be able to afford? One thing I've heard is that your rent plus ammenities should be about 1/3 of your income. Is that fair? What else do you need to consider? In most of the country, yes this is fair. However, in California this is completely unreasonable, especially for young renters/lessees who aren't making $70-80k a year. Fortunately, a lot of apartment offices understand this and don't make it a requirement. Just be smart with your money and save as much as you can in case something dire happens like losing your job or becoming hospitalized. b) How important is it to have a landline? (I'm sure I'll be more interested in this than most of tl since I don't use my cell phone that much) Television? (Internet makes tv much less important for many people) What should you do about internet since you aren't going to be piggy backing on your parents or college internet anymore (this varies a lot by region I'm sure)? I never had a landline in any of my places. It's just not important at all anymore. I pretty much hate cell phones but that's my primary medium of communication. It's cheaper than a landline and quite obviously more mobile. c) How do you research housing in your area? For me, I've so far found the newspaper Newsday has a solid housing classified section every Friday. Craig's List has one as well, however I'm finding it annoying to browse since the towns are not organized in any reasonable way. Other ideas? Craigslist, rent.com, apartments.com, yelp, classifieds, there are lots of options. I think we found this one on Craigslist, and the others I just went driving around looking for renting signs. | ||
Bill307
Canada9103 Posts
On September 14 2009 21:40 Makhno wrote: Omg, Bill307, much repect to you for dealing with all that crap. I would like to hear some stories of living in dorms from people with experience. Is it fun, annoying etc? I realize that it depends on the standard of the place and the people you live with but what is the general feeling about it here? Meh, I had it easy.  One of my friends told me a story from when he shared an apartment with a few random students. One night his suitemates decided to host a party while he was out. However, they needed to make more room. My friend came home at 4 am, ready to fall asleep, only to discover his bedroom door torn off and ALL of the furniture and other stuff in the apartment tossed on his bed.Dorms are hit-and-miss, in my experience. For my freshman year, I was in a dorm with about 20 other guys and girls. It was a great and memorable experience.  Everyone was friendly and we'd often play console games, watch movies, or have mini-parties in our shared lounge. A couple of the guys were taking the same classes as me, so we'd help each other out with our difficult homework, as well. The only downside was this one trouble-making girl on the top floor, and that was it.It was so great that in my 2nd year, I decided to reapply for a dorm room. I ended up sharing the dorm with 1 friend and ~20 random upper-year students. That group of students was the complete opposite of the first years I'd lived with before. In general, no one in the dorm talked to anyone else. The common lounge was always empty. Aside from my friend, I think I talked to just 1-2 other good people. My friend, who lived on the 1st floor, definitely had a worse experience than me. In addition to living below a couple of students who would party every night (more on them later), he lived beside a guy who would often forget to turn off his alarm before leaving in the morning. So my friend, who had his first class around 11 am, would be forced to wake up around 8 am by this guy's alarm. It would ring non-stop for the next 2 hours, precluding any chance of going back to sleep. After a couple of weeks he finally caught up with the guy and asked him to please stop leaving his alarm on. Instead, the guy started leaving his alarm on almost every day. As for myself, I lived on the 2nd floor. My neighbours were fine, but the aforementioned party-ers were a problem. Every day they would get drunk and smoke pot in their dormroom (which was forbidden). They would also puke in or on the toilets and leave without flushing or cleaning them, respectively. The air flow in the building ran from inside the dormrooms, into the halls, and into some intake vents in the bathroom. This meant that all the odours from their room would spread throughout the halls. At some hours, the smell was so bad you literally couldn't inhale it without puking yourself. Finally, after receiving numerous complaints, some residence dons went to check on them. They entered their room, but the guys weren't home. It looked like a disaster. They described the smell inside the room as "urine mixed with vomit". But it was the end of the term already, so those guys never got kicked out. Needless to say, I haven't lived in a dorm since. | ||
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Bill307
Canada9103 Posts
long term, serious girlfriend > alone > random grad students (personally, my best experiences were living with grad students, but it only works out if you're not planning on hosting parties or coming home drunk, etc.) > friends > random undergrad students > short term girlfriend (never move in with this) (This isn't based on much, though, so don't take it too seriously.  )Personally, I think living with your friends can be one of your best options, as long as they are friends you met in college/university and know well. This is because, like girlfriends, when you enter college or university, your friend options become 10x better. Not to mention, many people change after they leave high school. Even if you have a bad experience with your friends -- which is still pretty likely -- at least you can ensure you won't be living with people who flat-out don't respect you or are idiots. Another option is a 2-person apartment, where one tenant owns the apartment and rents the other room out to you. However, I've heard only bad stories from my friends who've lived in this kind of arrangement. (Actually, the owner was always a woman in these stories...) One woman gave my friend a 10:00 pm curfew for coming home, since she went to bed early and didn't want to be woken up by someone coming home. One woman kicked my friend out (forcing him to live for 2 weeks in a US hotel) because her cat kept pissing him off and one day he shouted at it once. One woman, a student, wouldn't allow my friend to have ANYONE come over. (As my friend put it: "Just because she doesn't have any friends, I'm not allowed to have any over?") | ||
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Makhno
Sweden585 Posts
If we dont get that I'm probably going to get a dorm room. What you wrote about parties and stuff seem very random depending on the other people living there so I'll guess I'm going to do some research about what people live there first (like what year they're at, what they're studying, stuff like that). Feels like it's a big difference between living with med-students and people who study more random stuff. Thing is I'm not really sure if I want to live with people who party or study (to take it to extremes), I haven't really figured out how demanding my own program is Btw your stories are crazy, haha. The dorm of doom! | ||
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micronesia
United States24768 Posts
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anmaray
United States7 Posts
On September 13 2009 05:02 micronesia wrote: Topic 1: Getting away from your parents: Depends on you. I personally can't imagine still living with my parents for more than a year or two after I graduate college. Partially because my old room is now my little brother's room and I'm kicking him out every time I visit home. Topic 2: Options for moving out: Don't buy a home right out of college. Even if you can afford it, all it'll do is tie you down to where you bought it. Probably high on the list of bad ideas. As for the apartments themselves, you'll get a feel of what's important to you as you move around. Just go around and visit places that sound promising. Topic 3: Who to live with: For those of us who don't have a significant other, we are faced with the choice of either moving into a new place alone, or rooming with others (if you have a gf then the two of you will probably both work and have more options available). Lets rule out accomodations where residents don't have their own bedroom (like third roommate crashing on the living room couch). What are your thoughts about the need to have a/several roommate(s) early in your life/career? How nice is it to live alone? How important is it not to be by yourself? Is it usually too hard to move out without a roommate? Having roommates makes life much easier. Exactly who to room with is a question for you to answer yourself, since everyone's different. I've never had problems living with my friends. After living in doubles all my college life I'm pretty sure I'll be looking for a single if the money allows it - gotta love not worrying about getting sexiled or staying up late or a sick roommate that you can't get away from. Topic 4: Short term vs Long term plans: You're young, you can worry about long term plans after you get married. If I were you I'd find a place with nice sound isolation and get plastered every night. Or just play starcraft on max volume. Honestly I don't know where i'll be in five years either, so I just choose not to lock myself into a decision I might later regret. Topic 5: Rules of thumb: I've heard some rules of thumb... and I also think this might be the place to respond to what could be considered an FAQ. Some items: a) How should you figure out what rent you will be able to afford? One thing I've heard is that your rent plus ammenities should be about 1/3 of your income. Is that fair? What else do you need to consider? b) How important is it to have a landline? (I'm sure I'll be more interested in this than most of tl since I don't use my cell phone that much) Television? (Internet makes tv much less important for many people) What should you do about internet since you aren't going to be piggy backing on your parents or college internet anymore (this varies a lot by region I'm sure)? c) How do you research housing in your area? For me, I've so far found the newspaper Newsday has a solid housing classified section every Friday. Craig's List has one as well, however I'm finding it annoying to browse since the towns are not organized in any reasonable way. Other ideas? a. Sounds about right. b. I don't have a landline. comcast and att are everywhere. c. craigslist, classifieds, all good. If you have friends in the area you want to move to it'd help to ask them too. | ||
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CharlieMurphy
United States22895 Posts
Lived with immediate family in Oregon in a small house in Bend for first 3 years of my life In Redding CA for a short time with relatives i believe for a year or less larger house in Medford / for about 5 years. some parents' friends lived with us for a short time Parents separated and lived with mom and sisters in small duplex in Medford (dad moved to seattle for a year or something) for 2 years parents back together in a large house in Medford for a year or less Large house in Grants Pass OR for a year or less parents separated again and moved to so cal with relatives in a townhouse/condo Huntington Beach CA for a half a year moved into a larger house with them in Cypress CA for a year Parents back together again in the old townhouse neighborhood in HB CA lived here for 6 years parents split final time and moved to big grandparents house nearby, elder sister moved out on her own with random college peoples for 1-2 years stayed with aunt/uncle for about a month in Sunset Beach CA in apt Next moved up to Sacramento CA (north highlands area) in apt with my dad and lil sis, she was homesick and moved back after a while. a year maybe? Moved with dad to small back/side house in Rocklin CA (where he worked) for a year or two Came back to grandparents house with mom and sis for a year I think Moved in with friends to small apt Westminster/Santa Ana CA in very dangerous mexican neighborhood. about a year here got lost on foot one day and ended up at my sister's and dad's condo in Costa Mesa CA, ended up staying there. 6 months i think Later we moved to a larger condo in the same complex. 2 years maybe? older sister moved out again and dad moved to Lake Forest CA I stayed with friend again who moved into nice condo this time. back and forth a bit from there and g-parents house. Then now I live in Long Beach CA with a friend. I've probably got enough stories already to fill a book, which zulu suggested that I write on IRC once. lol So I'll just start with some advice. Keep your shit organized, don't fucking eat other people's food, don't fuck with people's things (this includes borrowing scissors or pens or whatever), always let your roomates know that people are coming over to play poker/drink or whatever in advance, never expect other people to clean anything (I think its been proven that publicly owned things tend to get trashed and not taken care of as opposed to privately owned), pay your dues on time/make sure others do as well. And lastly there will be disagreements and conflicts no matter what. Even with friends they will have habits that piss you off and vise versa, I think the key is to just be amiable about it. Don't waste your time beating around the bush or having huge arguments about leaving shavings on the sink, or dirty dishes that mold over. Just handle the problem yourself and let the person know they should put in some work every once in a while. My current roomie is a lazy slob and has taken the trash out maybe 5 times and done the dishes maybe twice for the almost year that i've lived with him. He's even hired maids a few times and payed my gf to clean his room LOL. He told me that he does laundry like once every 2 months. You can't really change people so don't bother. | ||
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rugmonkey
United Kingdom126 Posts
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micronesia
United States24768 Posts
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CharlieMurphy
United States22895 Posts
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The Storyteller
Singapore2486 Posts
On September 14 2009 18:07 emucxg wrote: damn I wanna move out too, in Finland government support young student to move away from their parents and basically they will pay for your rent... BUT my parents don't allowed me to move =((( maybe because I'm Asian =( I WANNA FREEDOM...!!! Come to Singapore. When you turn 18 you move out of your parents' house and move in with 10 other guys 5 days a week for 2 years. At the end of that time, either you'll be desperate to move back with your parents or your parents will be desperate to get rid of you. | ||
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Too_MuchZerg
Finland2818 Posts
On September 14 2009 18:07 emucxg wrote: damn I wanna move out too, in Finland government support young student to move away from their parents and basically they will pay for your rent... BUT my parents don't allowed me to move =((( maybe because I'm Asian =( I WANNA FREEDOM...!!! if you are doing University of Applied Sciences or just University studies your parents can't deny moving (because you are close to 20 years). Support from government is good. But if you are below 18 (lukio or amis student) most parents wont let you move out because government support is bad. Don't whine just wait and after school go to army. | ||
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Polar_Nada
United States1548 Posts
On September 18 2009 10:07 rugmonkey wrote: Moving out to uni tomorrow althougth I don't think that this technically qualifies as moving into my own place. same here same here. haahhhh FREEDOM ALAS! | ||
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rugmonkey
United Kingdom126 Posts
On September 18 2009 17:54 Polar_Nada wrote: same here same here. haahhhh FREEDOM ALAS! Cool where you going? Going to london so is well daunting but freshers weeks should be immense. | ||
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