Shop After Christmas Sales for Great Apartment Bargains!

December 29, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

Happy holidays! Hopefully, you’ve gotten to catch up with both family and friends. Maybe, you even got an awesome apartment-themed gift for your pad. If not, have no fear – the After Christmas Sales are here! Urban Outfitters always has really neat décor items for fairly affordable prices and now some of them have been…

How Much Should You Be Tipping This Holiday Season?

December 15, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

2009 was a toughie, no? Even though I’m thankful that I now have gainful employment, I’d be dreaming to say that my bank account has fully recovered from the mess that was being laid-off. But, while I’m still trying to get my savings back up to less-anxiety filled levels of green, I definitely understand that…

How Much of Your Paycheck Should Go Towards Rent?

November 30, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

My sister is moving into her first apartment next month in Chicago and was planning her budget over the long Thanksgiving weekend while I sat next to her reading the paper. “So, Ms. First Apartment Expert,” she smirked at me, “how much should I be spending on rent?” “A quarter,” I said without looking up…

Stop that Check!

September 21, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

It’s been a bit of a crazy apartment week. When I last wrote, I had realized that my future management company was full of scammers based on an almost too late Google search. As such, I didn’t want anything to do with them. But, I’d already given them a $700 which I know wanted back…

What Kind of Credit Score do you Need to Rent an Apartment?

August 19, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

One of the most common questions MyFirstApartment has received has been about credit scores — how high do scores need to be and how can you get a higher score? As you may or may not know, there are three online sites that required by law to give you a free credit report once…

Save Money during Summer Heatwaves!

August 13, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

This is My First Apartment‘s 200th post! Hurray! Yep, it’s August and while summer has played (somewhat) nice so far, it is not sparing us from feeling like we’re cavorting in a sauna the size of NYC this week. Well, today IS a bit better, but there’s not telling when we’ll be back to 90+…

Moving to Manhattan!

May 18, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

I can’t believe I’m typing this but . . . it looks like that Manhattan dream ain’t so far out of reach after all. Plenty of people prefer Brooklyn(myself included), but many of my neighbors are only here because the real estate across the river is too hot to handle. Not anymore! The trouble with…

I got my rent lowered by $300 per month!

May 10, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

You know what I did this week? Got laid off! Want to know what else I did? Took my own rent negotiation advice! Oh, dear, it’s been a tough one. The non-profit I worked for, which served as my primary income, lost a key account along the lines of $200,000 and they had to cut…

Cheaper rent is not worth your sanity!

April 22, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

Gosh, that sounds like a hysterical blog post title. But, the thing is. . .it’s surprisingly easy to make a decision to will totally screw you in order to get a cheaper rent. I mean, take it from me. . .I almost did it this weekend. My boyfriend’s friend had a two-bedroom opening up in…

Get the Most out of Graduation Gifts in these Lean Times?

April 3, 2009 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

Graduating seniors, please accept my most heartfelt condolences. You did not fare well in the economic lottery. But plan ahead and you’ll be better off in the long run. Your graduation money, if you are lucky to get any this year, should probably be spent. . .getting stuff you’ll need for your first apartment. Ditto…