Affording the living while in school.

[Dannie78]

I am looking at possibly moving to the DC area for my RN program at NOVA. The cost of getting an apartment and I'm looking for any suggestions on places to live or how about getting a more reasonable place on a student budget. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[mjohnson8436RN]

Live in virginia it is the cheapest. Try woodbidge. Anywhere within the beltway will cost you more money for less space, and NOVA's RN program is only 10 miles form woodbridge.

[Dannie78]

Thank you for the information.

[babyNP., APRN]

You can scour craigslist everyday...that's how I got my studio apt for $845 in NW D.C.

[Prettyladie]

$845!!! Is that considered cheap in that area?? Thats extremely pricey for a studio.

[babyNP., APRN]

Dunno where you're from, but if you're going to live by yourself, I was told to be prepared to pay $1000 minimum. Now, there are cheaper options: rooming with people in a house, living outside of D.C. and commuting. But I wanted to live in D.C. proper and not in some basement where the sun don't shine.

Trust me, $845 is about as cheap as it gets for something reasonably safe.

I paid $700 in Seattle for a studio in the Capitol Hill area which was also considered pretty cheap.

The other thing to keep in mind is that hospitals are paying you more for the cost-of-living. As a new grad (well, until this August when I finish up my first year!), I'm making $60k. I've heard that can go up to $70k in NYC.

[Prettyladie]

I guess that is normal for your area. I was just curious. I'm in Texas. And the studios are MUCH cheaper, and they are safe and in great neighborhoods.

[babyNP., APRN]

Yeah, I've heard the central U.S. is very cheap. One of our girls is from Colorado and said that she could get the same nice apartment for half the price she's paying.

...

But then you'd have to actually live in Colorado or Texas... I kid, I kid. The Alamo is pretty cool.

[Prettyladie]

Hahaha. I live in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. You can get a verrrry nice loft and condo type apartment with the city view of the downtown buildings for about what your paying. I would assume the cost of living is higher where you're from, like California or New York.

[pfaceliz]

the $845 is a STEAL in nw dc. usually, for an efficiency it is around the 1000 range and does not include parking (another 100-200).

i am sure that there are some others willing to share space to break the cost.

craigslist dc is the most popular source of info.