I'll be getting a yearly $6800 financial aid stipend for off-campus housing from January 2015 to Dec 2015. Whatever I don't spend of this stipend, I get to keep.
Any ideas for how to use as little of it as possible? (pick-locking a vacant dorm room would be pretty cost efficient hehehe...and illegal...)
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The Plan
I found an apartment about .3 miles away from the center of campus for $400 a month, and $35 for utilities. It's got three rooms, one small (mine, $400), and two big ($500). I'm going to have two apartment mates, and a shared kitchen. Estimating conservatively for utilities:
($400 rent + $50 utilities) x 12 months = $5,400 yearly housing expenditure
$6,800 stipend - 5,400 yearly housing expenditure=$1400 yearly profit from stipend
If I sublet the apartment for $450 during June, July, and August I'll keep an additional $450 monthly rent and utilities x 3 months = $1350 for a grand total of $1400 + $1350 = $2750 yearly profit from the stipend a year
Since many rooms in the area are around $350-$400 a month: http://westernmass.craigslist.org/searc ... maxAsk=400, I was wondering if it'd be acceptable to negotiate my landlord for a slightly lower monthly rent, especially since my room is relatively small (less than 8'x8'). Maybe offering to pay a (reduced) year's rent in a lump sum would sway the landlord? Would $350 a month plus utilities be too low a target?
I could also use conservation and people skills to try my best to encourage my roommates and landlord to install more energy saving appliances, faucets, blinds, shower heads, lights, etc, and also to optimize utility use. This would reduce the utility bill.
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Alternative Living Ideas
I can't really think of any other alternative living situation that would help me spend less than $4050 of the $6800 stipend. Maybe I could try van living, like in Walden on Wheels. Though then I'd have to buy a van, which likely cost more than $4000 the first year and is probably illegal in Amherst, Ma. Tent living is also a thought, though I wouldn't know where to place the tent, since the land around Amherst is likely all private!
Any alternative ideas would be appreciated and entertained.
How to negotiate rent down? Or alternative housing ideas?
Re: How to negotiate rent down? Or alternative housing idea
Don't think you are going to find housing less than $400, unless you are willing to forgo modern convinces like kitchens, privacy, laundry, bathrooms, or legality.
If you are willing to forgo a kitchen and bathroom, you can always rent a small [~200 sqft] office space in a big office building in the $200-300 range. Just look on Craigslist for commercial office space.
Tents are not viable if you are living in the city, you are homeless and you'll have to deal with the problems that you probably never faced before like harassment by police, theft by thugs, unsanitary conditions, the elements, restless nights, to name a few.
Van is definitely feasible, but the biggest issue is going to be paying for insurance [since you're a young male rates are astronomical], understanding basic maintenance, dealing with utilities [where are you going to dump your waste, get and store clean water, cook food, get electricity, ect.] Remember that the number one issue the author of Walden on Wheels faced during his van days at Duke was loneliness.
I knew people that lived in vacant dorms, the biggest risk is that most universities will charge you with trespassing if you're caught. You should get buddy buddy with a Residential aid who is willing to help you out, but be aware that chances are that people will catch on, especially if the RA talks or the university needs the room suddenly [such as quarantining sick students]
If you decide to get a normal room or apartment, you'll always find the best deal by seeing where international PhD students live, they are paid peanuts and really know how to stretch a dollar.
Honestly having a normal apartment with a kitchen, laundry, utilities, and privacy is usually worth the extra cost. There are several reasons: 1. Full kitchens save money because you can cook from scratch, which is hard to do in a van, office, or dorm 2. Apartments/rooms are nice because you can have friends or partners over and you don't have to feel like you have to hide your housing situation 3. Most alternative housing don't provide stable temperatures [even offices shut off heat and air after closing hours], so you have to deal with that headache 4. Apartments in the city mean that you have no real transportation cost, you can bike everywhere, unlike a van which requires gas, maintenance, and insurance
You can live on a ERE budget in an apartment and enjoy the beauty of modern living: $400/month rent, $100/month food, $100/month fun = $7,200/year cost of living. Living on less means that you have to be willing to forgo the modern convinces you enjoyed your entire life.
If you are willing to forgo a kitchen and bathroom, you can always rent a small [~200 sqft] office space in a big office building in the $200-300 range. Just look on Craigslist for commercial office space.
Tents are not viable if you are living in the city, you are homeless and you'll have to deal with the problems that you probably never faced before like harassment by police, theft by thugs, unsanitary conditions, the elements, restless nights, to name a few.
Van is definitely feasible, but the biggest issue is going to be paying for insurance [since you're a young male rates are astronomical], understanding basic maintenance, dealing with utilities [where are you going to dump your waste, get and store clean water, cook food, get electricity, ect.] Remember that the number one issue the author of Walden on Wheels faced during his van days at Duke was loneliness.
I knew people that lived in vacant dorms, the biggest risk is that most universities will charge you with trespassing if you're caught. You should get buddy buddy with a Residential aid who is willing to help you out, but be aware that chances are that people will catch on, especially if the RA talks or the university needs the room suddenly [such as quarantining sick students]
If you decide to get a normal room or apartment, you'll always find the best deal by seeing where international PhD students live, they are paid peanuts and really know how to stretch a dollar.
Honestly having a normal apartment with a kitchen, laundry, utilities, and privacy is usually worth the extra cost. There are several reasons: 1. Full kitchens save money because you can cook from scratch, which is hard to do in a van, office, or dorm 2. Apartments/rooms are nice because you can have friends or partners over and you don't have to feel like you have to hide your housing situation 3. Most alternative housing don't provide stable temperatures [even offices shut off heat and air after closing hours], so you have to deal with that headache 4. Apartments in the city mean that you have no real transportation cost, you can bike everywhere, unlike a van which requires gas, maintenance, and insurance
You can live on a ERE budget in an apartment and enjoy the beauty of modern living: $400/month rent, $100/month food, $100/month fun = $7,200/year cost of living. Living on less means that you have to be willing to forgo the modern convinces you enjoyed your entire life.
Re: How to negotiate rent down? Or alternative housing idea
Thanks for the thorough response.
I like the office space idea. For issues with cold, I've been practicing Wim Hof cold training (cold showers, breathing exercises, cold runs, meditating in the cold, barefoot exposure, etc.) and usually leave my dorm room's windows open in 40 degree Fahrenheit weather (below that I keep the windows shut for now, but use no utility heat; it's really quite cozy once the body adapts--warm sheets also help!).
For issues with cooking space, as long as there's an outlet and a place to put one hot plate, two book shelves, and a mini-friedge, I'm set. That's the set up I've been using in my dorm room for the past 3 months; it's worked out just fine so far. I get water from the bathroom sink and store it in mason jars and stainless steel water bottles, and otherwise have a good time cooking large batches of food in a giant pot and then refrigerating, re-heating, and eating the leftovers until I have to make a new batch of food. I also have a bread-maker for homemade whole-grain bread. (: Food scraps are composted in a compostable bag that I dump in a composting dumpster my college thankfully has. Dishes are washed via bathroom sink & castille soap.
I still haven't looked into using a dishpan, but it's something I'd like to look into in another thread. It'd save me a trip to the bathroom and teach me how to live without running water for longer periods, which would be useful if I ever find myself in that situation.
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Looks like there aren't any office spaces near Amherst anywhere near $400 a month.
I like the office space idea. For issues with cold, I've been practicing Wim Hof cold training (cold showers, breathing exercises, cold runs, meditating in the cold, barefoot exposure, etc.) and usually leave my dorm room's windows open in 40 degree Fahrenheit weather (below that I keep the windows shut for now, but use no utility heat; it's really quite cozy once the body adapts--warm sheets also help!).
For issues with cooking space, as long as there's an outlet and a place to put one hot plate, two book shelves, and a mini-friedge, I'm set. That's the set up I've been using in my dorm room for the past 3 months; it's worked out just fine so far. I get water from the bathroom sink and store it in mason jars and stainless steel water bottles, and otherwise have a good time cooking large batches of food in a giant pot and then refrigerating, re-heating, and eating the leftovers until I have to make a new batch of food. I also have a bread-maker for homemade whole-grain bread. (: Food scraps are composted in a compostable bag that I dump in a composting dumpster my college thankfully has. Dishes are washed via bathroom sink & castille soap.
I still haven't looked into using a dishpan, but it's something I'd like to look into in another thread. It'd save me a trip to the bathroom and teach me how to live without running water for longer periods, which would be useful if I ever find myself in that situation.
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Looks like there aren't any office spaces near Amherst anywhere near $400 a month.
Last edited by TopHatFox on Fri Nov 14, 2014 1:55 am, edited 5 times in total.
Re: How to negotiate rent down? Or alternative housing idea
Regarding van living: It'd likely cost a lot less than $4,000 to get yourself set up in the van if you're smart about it. The type of van Ken used, or vans like it, are available in good quality at prices around $750-1500. Then it 'd probably take a few hundred to set it up for living.
Check out the stealth camper thread on here. Ford econoline and/or Chevy Astros are a couple of vans to check out.
From a brief look at a map it doesn't seem like you have many options for a tent unless you are willing to do it stealthily/illegally. Any friends that'd let you live in their backyard?
Check out the stealth camper thread on here. Ford econoline and/or Chevy Astros are a couple of vans to check out.
From a brief look at a map it doesn't seem like you have many options for a tent unless you are willing to do it stealthily/illegally. Any friends that'd let you live in their backyard?
Re: How to negotiate rent down? Or alternative housing idea
I found stealth camping in cities the biggest pain. If you had a little (dare I say it) routine in your camping then you could relax a little but I found it irritating driving around looking for somewhere that looked safe and discreet, then was a little on edge when trying to sleep as you are when you expect someone to come-a-knocking.