First Apartment Budget Checklist: Costs to Plan Before You Sign
Rent is only the first number. Plan for these costs before you sign a lease so the first month doesn't empty your savings.
Move-in costs
- Security deposit (often one month's rent)
- First month's rent, sometimes last month's too
- Application and credit-check fees
- Moving truck or help
- Utility deposits or setup fees
Monthly costs
- Rent (a common guideline is about 30% of gross income or less)
- Electricity, gas, water and trash
- Internet and phone
- Renters insurance (usually inexpensive)
- Groceries and household supplies
- Transportation and parking
- Student loan payments
- Savings: pay yourself first
Before you sign
- Read the whole lease, including fees and move-out rules.
- Photograph the apartment before you move in.
- Get every promise in writing.
- Never wire a deposit for a place you haven't seen. Rental listing scams are common.
Keep going
Money: Master of Your Domain after College: Your Ultimate Guide to Financial Freedom in Your 20sabout 1 hr 30 min
Young adult personal finance · about 95 pages · by Oliver Mark
First job, first apartment, first real money decisions. Start strong.
First job, first apartment, first real money decisions.
📚 Read free with Kindle Unlimited (Kindle edition)
Money: Master of Your Own Domain after High Schoolabout 2 hr 15 min
Teen & young adult personal finance · about 136 pages · by Oliver Mark
The guide to college, trade school and first-job life that nobody hands you at graduation.
For 18- and 19-year-olds leaving home.
📚 Read free with Kindle Unlimited (Kindle edition)
For general education only, not personalized financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Numbers are estimates based on what you enter. The Money series is written by Oliver Mark, a former licensed stockbroker (Series 7 and 63).
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