Student Housing Rental Budget Guide for College Students
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Don’t Rent Student Housing You Can’t Afford
If you’re a college student looking for student housing opportunities, it’s easy to get hypnotized by photos of the upscale, luxury apartments you’ll find in the listings. For most people, college is not the time for high-priced rentals. You don’t get paid to attend your classes and that leaves very little time for you to make money and still enjoy your college experience. That’s why it’s important to set a rental budget for yourself and stick to it when finding your rental housing. If you don’t live within your means, you’ll wind up working all those hours you planned on being in that rooftop pool just to cover the cost of your rent.
How To Set a Rental Budget as a College Student
It’s never too early to learn an important life skill, and setting a rental budget is certainly one of them. As a college student, you will use the same formula as anyone else to determine your rental budget, although you will probably be generating less income than most working professionals. The first thing you need to do is determine your total monthly income. The general rule of thumb is that your monthly rent should not exceed one third of your monthly income. For example, if you have a monthly income of $1800 a month, you should not pay more than $600 in rent.
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Calculate The Cost of Utilities
Before you get too excited, you need to be sure that you calculate the cost of utilities that you’ll pay at your new house or apartment. Landlords should be prepared to answer these questions, so don’t be afraid to ask! While these costs will vary slightly throughout the year, your prospective landlord should be able to give you a ballpark estimate of what your monthly gas, water, and electricity bills will be.
Budget Your Other Expenses
You will need to set aside enough money each month for food, prescription medications, and other necessities. At this stage, you may find yourself redefining “necessities” as monthly subscriptions to streaming services, gym memberships, and other expenses can start to add up.
Plan Your Fun
You don’t have to look far to find fun in college. If you want to budget for your student housing, you need to be deliberate about how much money you spend on social activities every month. Endless happy hours, frequent partying, and other expensive activities can quickly run you dry. Plan your social activities at the start of each month, or each week, so you can keep track of your spending. Your university likely sponsors lots of fun student activities that you can attend at little or no cost.
Find Great Roommates
When it comes to finding good student housing, it’s always best to divide and conquer the cost of your rent. In fact, that apartment with the pool might not be so far out of reach if you can find a few roommates to share it with.
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Learn To Cook
If there’s one thing you can learn now that will save you loads of money during your college years and beyond, it’s how to cook. There are lots of great, free resources on the internet where you can learn basic cooking skills and delicious recipes.