On July 1, 2007, marked the first anniversary of us living in our current apartment. This would be the first time in three years that we have not moved to a different place. We tried to find ways to cut down our expenses that’s why we always look for opportunities to save as much as we can. By far, our biggest expense is the house rent and here is what we did to cope with the rental expense. Being frugal is not being cheap but being able to find an economical way of living. One of the advantages of renting over owning a home is the flexibility of moving from one place to another. I know it’s hard to move but it was necessary in our part especially if the landlord is ridiculously raising the monthly rent like crazy. Here’s the timeline on what we did to try to save money on our apartment rent.

Here is our apartment timeline:

From April 2004 thru May 2005 – Apartment 1. My parents and I owned a house where I used to live and we share with all the household expenses. When I got married in April 2004, it was time for me to get my own place but I have continued helping out with my parent’s household expenses. I’d like to be closer to my friends and families so we had searched for an apartment within a 5 mile radius and we found a nice one-bedroom apartment that cost $915 per month, which was the market rent in our area. The thrash and water were free so we only have to pay for telephone and electricity. Since gas stoves and water heater are run by electric in that apartment, we don’t have to worry about gas utilities. However, this turned out to be a big disadvantage because we would have paid less on our overall utilities had those appliances been run by gas. We were paying an average of $60 per month in our electric bills. The apartment was five miles closer to work than my parent’s house, which is 25 miles away from work.

From May 2005 thru June 2006- Apartment 2. On April 2005, our rent went up to $975 and it was just in time that my other sister was also looking for a place on her own that we decided to rent a two-bedroom in the same complex and share with the expenses. The rent on a two-bedroom apartment was $1,275 and the agreement with my sister was we pay $675 of the rent and the electric and telephone utilities. So pretty much, my wife and I saw a $300 monthly savings. However, around March of 2006, the apartment complex decided to charge for thrash and water and theses utilities cost us an additional $60 per month.

From July 2006 to present – Apartment 3. My sister was about to start her own family and we decided to part ways. I get accustomed to the savings that we were getting that my wife and I decided to move closer to where I work. The apartment is only a mile from work and it is a good 15 minute walk if I choose to do so. The rent is $875 per month but the good news is that water, thrash, and gas are all paid for by the landlord. The rent is only a $100 below from what we were paying from Apartment 1 but if you think about it, we are actually saving more per month.

Below is the comparison between Apartment 1 and Apartment 3 since we are downgrading back to a one-bedroom apartment:

Apartment 1:
Monthly Rent - $1,075 (at this time, the monthly rent went up from $975)
Electricity - $60
Water &Thrash - $60
Gasoline to work $200
Total : $1,395

Apartment 3:
Monthly Rent - $875 (at this time, the monthly rent went up from $975)
Electricity - $15
Water, Thrash & Gas - $0
Gasoline $0
Total : $890

We would have paid around $500 in monthly expenses if we opted to go back to the one-bedroom apartment in the complex that we used to live in. How come I did not thought about this before? Well like I said, I’d like to be closer to my parents and friends. But I realize that I don’t see them during the week anyways because of work so we decided that living closer to work would not have been bad at all. I normally visit them on weekends when there is no traffic. So now, I am getting an extra hour and a half sleep and saving money on gas and car maintenance as well. Moving closer to work may not be feasible for most people but it worked for us.