Wandering Idiot
INTL Premium Member
Surely something dumber has come up since my apparent forgetfulness for STDs and doctor visits.
Ballkicks: (+257 / -16)
Posts: 2130 (0.344)
Reg. Date: Jul 2003
Location: Arms' reach of my wifes' bitchslap
Gender: Male |
Reply 3 of 39 (Originally posted on: 06-07-06 05:15:08 PM)
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1. Furniture, especially in college (or fresh out), must be cheap. Don't go wasting money on a couple thousand dollar set of furniture. Look in the newspaper, preferably in the free section for your wood furniture (nightstands, entertainment center, coffee table, etc). Check Craigslist, as it's a treasure trove of good ads for used furniture.
As far as a mattress and box spring set, just hit one of the cheap furniture stores in the city somewhere. Never buy a used mattress. I don't know that from experience, just from general assumptions. Take what you can down with you (TV, stereo, computer, whatever), but don't go taking a whole U-haul, just cram your car full and mail some packages to yourself (majority of clothes and anything non-essential to the first week or so of living).
2. Budgeting is a bitch, especially on student loans. If you can get a job lined up, obviously all the extra income helps. Split bills with your roommate. If you both have cell phones, there's no point in having a house phone, so don't bother. When you get internet, just get it with your cable and split the bill on that. As far as other utilities, same deal, split them. Either that or you pay water and gas one month while she pays electricity and waste disposal, and switch up every month. Another suggestion is that if you are renting an apartment with a master bedroom with connection to a bathroom, try to balance out the rent so whoever lives in that room pays a slight bit more, as it's a convenience to have that kind of set up.
3. Living with people you don't know is more like spending a week getting to know each other, and then determining how much you'll detest that person for the rest of the time you'll live together. Just spend the first few days trying to get to know each other, as the other person likely won't show their negative aspects until a month or so down the road. You don't need to get all friendly with a roommate, just make sure you get along well enough to withstand a year with them. Chores should be split up. If you vacuum one week, she should mop the kitchen that week, and switch up all the time. It's usually easier to pick a designated cleaning day and just spend about two hours going nuts once a week on the place. Dishes should be done by whoever covers them in filth. Other than all that, you'll get used to your roommate(s) pretty quick, and grow to either like them or despise them.
4. There's really no saying goodbye. You'll probably go home once a month (you're from Florida, right?) or so, and most likely be too busy the first few months to get homesick. Just keep yourself occupied by being young and irresponsible and you'll rarely think of home.
My best suggestion is finding a student housing complex (not a dorm). Usually these places charge anywhere from $350-500 a month, you'll be stuck with 2 or 3 roommates, be able to lock your own bedroom door, electricity is usually provided, as is internet and occasionally basic cable. Basically you only pay rent and everything is covered in that. They're usually good apartments, you sign a lease for your room/bathroom only, meaning that if a roommate gets behind on rent, they get evicted and you don't get caught up paying their share of the bill.
If you go that route, it's a good idea to have a mini-fridge and store some of your food in your own room. You'll likely have a bad roommate out of the ones you'd get stuck with, but it's easy to avoid those people, and when everyone else in the apartment is against that one bad roommate, it's easier to pressure them into doing their share of chores and getting their own groceries.
Best of luck moving out. Just remember, it's the next step in your life and though it's uncomfortable, it's also rather relaxing, knowing that you're on your own and can do as you please, especially if you're the one paying your own bills.
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