How much do I need to save before moving?

April 23, 2007 | By MFA Editors AuthorMy First Apartment

We get asked this question a lot, so here’s a repeat of a post from last year. When you are planning to move out on your own you’ll need be able to cover three types of expenses: 1.) your monthly rent and utilities and 2.) all upfront fees and moving costs and 3.) furnishing your…

Moving and a Shaking( U-haul or I-haul?)

February 7, 2007 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

I’ve been looking up moving companies for a week now and have found all these companies with cute-sy allusions to ‘dancing’. There is nothing ‘cute’ about my dad barking in my ears to ‘BEND YOUR KNEES!” But, admittedly, I have enjoyed scanning craigslist to the likes of “Git-R-Done” local moving company and the “I like…

They say money is the root of all evil…

January 27, 2007 | By jen t. AuthorMy First Apartment

It’s Jen. I feel like I haven’t sat down at a computer without checking Craigslist in the past four days. Jason and I have pretty much decided that the Mission and Noe Valley will be our target neighboorhoods, the main reasons being that they’re pretty conveniently located to the BART and they’re two of the…

Major Cities with Cheapest Rents!

January 26, 2007 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston are without doubt terrific cities; but you’d be right foolish to believe that they’re the only American cities worth living in. With some rents in major metropolitan cities rising upwards of 10% this year, it might be time to consider certain other roads, or zip codes,…

Money Issues Between Roomies

October 4, 2006 | By Alissa AuthorMy First Apartment

While in college it seems everyone is, or everyone acts like they are, broke. Terribly, horribly, mac and cheese, $3 burrito broke. Then, we graduate and some of us get high paying jobs, and some of us get…jobs. However, while this can be a temporary problem when going out to dinner with friends in the…

Keeping cool?

July 23, 2006 | By Kate AuthorMy First Apartment

It’s 98 degrees in the shade. Last night, I dreamt I was Superman, and I kept trying and trying to get to my ice palace, where it had to be cooler, but I couldn’t. I woke up sweating. If you’re lucky, your new apartment will have central air. Mine doesn’t. This means that lately I’ve…

The Budget (a.k.a. All Hail IKEA)

June 5, 2006 | By Jessica AuthorMy First Apartment

Ikea was having a summer sale this weekend, so I spent most of Saturday picking up small items, and testing out couches, beds, and chairs. I’ll be buying the big furniture pieces at a Chicago-area Ikea when I move in, so I went ahead and bought myself some gift cards to save the money for…

Crisis Averted

May 24, 2006 | By Jessica AuthorMy First Apartment

So, the property manager called this morning and said I needed a cosigner. Unfortunately, I don’t have one. I was worried this might happen. The rent is 35% of my income, and my credit score is decent considering my age, so I was hoping I wouldn’t need a cosigner, but apparently, I’m a risk. :)…

Relocating Complicates Everything

May 16, 2006 | By Jessica AuthorMy First Apartment

Hi everyone. Thanks for reading. My apartment hunt officially begins this weekend, though I’ve been planning and researching online for months. I’ll be moving to Chicago on July 1st to begin medical school, but I’m currently living in Maryland (with my parents… joy). I’ve only visited the city twice (once for my interview, once for…

True Story of an Attempted Rip-off

January 23, 2006 | By Jett AuthorMy First Apartment

When my roommate and I began looking for an apartment in college, we really didn’t know where to start or even what neighborhoods to consider. Early on in the search we found a pretty nice place in what appeared to be a good neighborhood (knowing what I know now, it is a great neighborhood and…