Living on your own....

[z28dreams]

So,

I made a post a while ago about what people thought about living on your own vs. having roomies.

I think I may give this a try in 2-3 months when my lease expires, but I'm still concerned a little bit about the expense.

Can anyone out there give me a rough idea of what utilities run you for a 1-bedroom place?

(power, water, gas, cable/internet, etc).

FWIW I'm in the DC metro area, so if you have any good recommendations on places to stay I'd be happy to look.

I currently pay only 550 in rent (4bed house) + utils, so probably something like 700ish a month total. It's not that I can't afford an expensive place, but more the fact that I don't want to blow thousands of extra dollars a year for no reason if I don't like it.

Any other thoughts on living by yourself would be appreciated - I've wanted to try this for a while but am not completely set on it yet.

[New001]

I had a 1BR place in Houston for 6 months. Rent was $550, water was about $15, electricity was anywhere from $100-$250 based on my AC usage (big windows + 2nd floor place + bad window placement = sun on my windows all day long. Summer sucked). Cable and internet was another 60 or 70 or so. Maybe more on that, I don't remember.

I was about 30-40 minutes from downtown, maybe 15 minutes from the edge of town. I liked it.

[Bulldog]

[ QUOTE ]
electricity was anywhere from $100-$250 based on my AC usage (big windows + 2nd floor place + bad window placement = sun on my windows all day long. Summer sucked).

[/ QUOTE ]

You should check into this new technology:

[roaaahhh]

wow, i had roomates first 2 years of college yea it was ok, living on your own is 50 billion times better, your gonna need to 80 to 110 a month for cable depending on if you get the hd package plus movies, i steal wifi, my gas is like 30 a month, and electricity is 60, and in the summer its like 160, if you got it do it, i could never go back to having a roommate.

[guids]

how you gonna wake up though?


sattelite + net = 140, gas = 30 in summer, 70 in winter, electricity is 30 in winter, 80 in summer.

[z28dreams]

Beta and Roaahh kinda hit the nail on the head for me - I'm 26 now, and have lived in houses of 4 people for basically the last 6-7 years.

It's definitely more fun, but I'm starting to get sick of it.

cable/internet out here is around $100.
power/gas/water is what will vary the most I assume.

I guess I just have to decide if it's worth coughing up an extra 4-5k a year to live on my own.

[guids]

for you guys that have lived with people, then live by yourself, find a good bar because even if you are out all the time, and interact with a lot of people, there is really too much time by yourself, and sometimes you just need to get the [censored] out of the house.

[RichGangi]

Wow. Massachusetts def. sucks big time. I pay 950 for rent alone! Internet + cable = ~140, electric= ~50, gas= ~30.

Cliff notes: Don't live in MA.

[catalyst]

I'm also in Mass. I am graduating now and not considering living by myself for awhile. Anything near Boston is outragesouly expensive... then include cable/internet, electricty, gas, etc...... $$$$$$$

Oh, and as for OP... i think the worst hike in terms of utilities will be your cable bill. One person paying for a ~$100 cable/internet bill every month can suck balls - whereas the other utils are obv based on usage.

[z28dreams]

Ya - around here 1bedrooms in any kind of desirable area are going for around $1000 (some with utils some without) - either way I'm looking at an addition $4000 expense per year.

Just wondering if it's worth it.