Where to live and how much to spend . . .PLEASE HELP !

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:heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeatWasn't sure where to post this. . .but I am having a heck of a time trying to decide where to live. It seems like anywhere I look a nice apt that I would want to live in cost between 1000 and 2000/month. I'm hoping to get some input on who much I should look to earn to be able to afford these places. I have a lot of student loans. . I don't know what my payments will be but I'm guessing around 500 payment/month. Really, I don't have any other bills .

Maybe what I'm looking for is a percentage of my salary that would be acceptable to spend on housing considering my student loan payments, utilities, gas, and groceries.

I'm hoping to get some advice. . as I don't have any experience really living on my own. . .except in college. . .but that doesn't really count:chuckle Any help will be very much appreciated:heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeat

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Kinda would help to know where you live? Such as city and state. There is a site called Apartments.com. I suggest you look there too.

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I have been told that 35-40% of your take home pay should be budgeted for housing incluing utilities. Now some things would affect that, such as your possibly higher than average student loan payments and cost of living in the area you choose. It's not hard and fast, but from experiance I would warn you that unless you are buying and earning equity, you may end up resenting the nice apartment if you can't afford entertainment or travel.

I would suggest going to the library and checking a beginner budget book. We've used Crown Financial but I'm sure there are plenty of good options. I also bet you could find some good, free budget software online if you searched or ask around.

Good luck!

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Specializes in A little of this & a little of that.

Also, some hospitals will provide help paying off student loans for new grads. Look for that when job-hunting as your payments for that are quite high. Wherever you live, try to find the cheapest safe neighborhood to live until those are paid off. I've also heard no more than 40% of your income for housing as a rule of thumb. Try Suze Orman's "The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous and Broke". It provides lots of good advice for people just out of college. I bought it for my daughter. Very down to earth and readable financial advice.

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Specializes in public health, heme/onc, research.

Hi,

One of the first things you need to do is set a budget. How much do you make, how much do you spend, invest, etc.? The general rule of thumb is you want to spend no more than 30% of you income on rent/mortgage. You can use this Personal Finance Calculator to help gauge how much you can afford. And remember just because you can afford it, doesn't mean you have to spend that much money. PM me if you have any more questions. I love budgeting and figuring out how to make my money work for me :-)

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/budget101/budget_101.jsp

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/MoneyInYour20s/HowToBuildYourFirstBudget.aspx

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

Try to find an apartment complex that offers deals like they pay for water and you pay for electricity.

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clhRN2b2010 & Thornbird :heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeat Thank you so much for you posts. . .they helped a lot. . . I definitly am going to get a budgeting book. . . because right now I don't even know where to begin starting a budget. I've been soooo stressed out about findng a good job, in a good neighboorhood, that pays well enough so that I can pay my bills, live in a nice apt and not be completly broke in the end:no:. . . I'm thinking this search could take awhile. . but your advice has def helped. . .THANKS AGAIN:heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeat

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pshs2000 ~

:heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeat You too gave me GREAT advice. . .I wish I had your sense of money/budgeting. I have been freaking out. . .b/c I'm trying to figure out where I want to live/work and I'm doing this my trying to figure out salaries and looking at apartments in the area where I would have to move to.

Maybe I'm just causing myself too much stress and should just focus on finding a job and then look for an apt. . . but I want to make sure that I have a nice place in a good area. AHHH. . it makes me want to pull out my hair. . . :chuckle But I won't cuz I don't want to add balding to my list of problems:chuckle I guess the search will just have to continue. . . your advice has def helped a lot. THANKS AGAIN :heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeat

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Specializes in Ortho, Neuro, Detox, Tele.

again, let us know where you live/looking at....sometimes you may not need the "nicest" apartment. If it has a kitchen, bath, bedroom, and laundry facilities...that's all you need. I've rented houses for around 700.00 a month, and my current apartment costs 525.00/month...in a basement, and not the best place, and the "downtown" area of my city. But, I've had no problems, the area is near a VERY nice river walkway, I'm within biking distance of the farmer's market every weekend, and lots of people live near me....So, it depends on what you NEED. For a first place, you probably won't get what you WANT.

40% is a good benchmark for budgeting housing....try reading "the automatic millionaire" Good book for understanding financial concepts....

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Anything written by Andrew Tobias will help.

51WAM1G4K2L._SL160_PIsitb-dp-arrow,TopRight,21,-23_SH30_OU01_AA115_.jpg

Put your finances in a personal finance computer program. (Money, Quicken or ?)

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I am not sure what loans you have but you may be able to have them 100% cancelled or deferred after working full time for one year.

Here's a link for more information....look under Chapter six-Cancellations.

http://ifap.ed.gov/sfahandbooks/0304FSAHbkVol5.html

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