On July 16th (bound to be the hottest day of the year) I'm moving into an apartment with my best friend. I'm 18, she's 19. We've known each other for years, and I'm excited. I have begun to clean and get rid of things in my room at my parents house already, but because you are much wiser than me (and have moved before). I would like some tips on moving, and leaving home! (We're living in an apartment.. so any tips for that would be good too.)
Well, if you're reading thriftyfun.com you must have a level head of your shoulders!! Here are some tips from a senior citizen who has made almost every mistake I caution you about so I hope you will take them to heart and act wisely. Good luck and have a nice life!!!
1. MAKE A WRITTEN AGREEMENT!!! Apartments are usually rented to ONE person i.e. only one person's signature will appear on the rental or lease agreement and THAT PERSON IS LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL DAMAGE TO THE PREMISES. So get everything spelled out on paper, especially the FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS. Also cover living arrangements, cleaning of each one's messes, division of duties, care of common areas, guests staying overnight. taking care of damages to the premises, anything else that might cause friction. More friendships break up over friends living together than anything else and not infrequently, the former friends end up in small claims court trying to settle disputes.
Great tips Seagrape!
The only thing I would add is this: My daughter right after leaving home had all of her laundry stolen from the laundry at her apartment building. She started the wash late at night being tired from moving, and didn't wait for them to dry. She got up early to get her clothes and they were all gone. She lost everything in the laundry, new towels, new clothes, favorite clothes.
After you leave home, don't expect that the people around you are trustworthy until they prove themselves so. They are not your family or friends.
Just be cautious and you will be fine. Best wishes on your move.
Susan from ThriftyFun
This is so exciting! You'll remember this time forever. All the advice so far is great, especially the part about setting rules and putting them in writing.
Here are my words of wisdom.
1. Don't expect to have new stuff. Ask your friends if they have towels, sheets, furniture, pots and pans, artwork, cookbooks -- anything! Remember that EVERYTHING is used the moment you bring it home.
2. Ask your mom for the recipes for all your favorite dishes.
3. Keep your morals and ethics high. Years from now, you'll still be healthy and happy because of the wise choices you make now.
4. Force yourself to unpack everything as soon as you possibly can.
5. Make sure you and your friend each have some personal, private space and time. Everyone needs privacy and autonomy.
I wish you all kinds of success and happiness! Keep us posted on how you're doing.
zballoongirl
As you pack, have one box with all the things you will need in the first day or two- a plate, cup, silverware, bath products, a towel, comb, cosmetics, etc. Then mark the box with something like "Open me first".
Be realistic and keep your eyes open. I had a friend who took my clothes and wore new stuff with tags still on! Have RULES on having guests over, what are your limits? Nothing like going to make morning coffee in undies and T-shirt only to find roomie has boyfriend sleeping over. If he is staying too much he
should kick in rent/utls. etc. sounds harsh, but if you talk about these things first you will avoid issues like this and remain friends.
It is an exciting time, COMMUNICATE maybe your decor tastes are different if so you learn to adjust. Decide about food, it really can be a pain. I had one roomie who cleaned and did dishes if I cooked and shared buying food. Oh make extras for leftovers.
Good luck.
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I have been thinking about moving out of my parents house and moving in with my friends after I graduate high school (in 2014). I'm wanting to move in with 4 of my friends (all together it would be 5), 1 is a year older than me, 1 is the same age as me and the other 2 are a year younger than me. Now I want some help, I'm not sure how to ask them if they want to move in together.
I also want to know if it would be better to rent or buy a house together, then after one moves out we rent out his room and so on, till all are moved out (I'm not sure if it's a good idea to say that, not one of us can stay in the house when we all get married). We all rent the house as a whole.Also would it be better to make a bank account for our place so that all the bills would be taken care of, the money would come from us of course, but we would each month put in more than we need so we could pay the bills.
I'm not sure on any of this so I want some help, someone please help.
By aehoover95
What would all of you kids be using for money for all of these big ideas that you have? Rent for a half way decent three bedroom house where I live runs about $800.00 a month, then there is heat, electricity, water, sewer, garbage, cable, and internet. There would also be food, and for each one of you, respectively, there would clothing, entertainment, car expenses if you have cars.
If you rent, you should have renter's insurance, to cover damage to the residence in case of a fire that was one of the tenent's fault, no insurance - you get sued for damages. Damage could also be caused by one of you overflowing the bath tub. If you buy you would need homeowner's insurance which is a lot more expensive than renter's insurance. Also if you buy there will be yearly property taxes. An apartment is a lot cheaper, but still real expensive for kids right out of high school.
Definitely get renter's insurance, it is usually not very expensive and can be added with your car insurance. I would also recommend getting a separate bank account for the bills and make the costs clear to everyone. Also set up a plan for chores and talk about what happens when one person wants to move out, or wants to move her boyfriend in.
When I rented a house in college with 3 other friends. it was $1100 (in 1995 or so) so $275 each. The electricity, phone and cable was our responsibility.
Good luck.
