Figured out how to save big through grad school

[Natesal]

So I am in grad school pulling in $1300 post-taxes per month and have no tuition or fees to pay as it is included in my assistantship.

I found a place for rent that I swiped up quickly that is a 2bed/2bath with washer and dryer in the unit for $600 per month including utilities and internet. I bought an entire bedroom set including nice bed and linens from a friend of mine who was moving for $250. I just placed an ad on craigslist two hours ago for a furnished apartment for $500 per month and have gotten two hits on it.


That puts me at $150 per month in rent (I will cover the cable $50 cable bill) leaving me with a cool $1150 for food. I figure i can do the month for under $300 in food expenses.


I cannot wait to start putting some serious bank roll into my roth and portfolio. Over the past 2 years (same income, higher living expense) I had only been able to save about 8k, but now the accounts will start growing.


I highly suggest this route for anyone in a similar situation.

 

[kumquat]

I found a place for rent that I swiped up quickly that is a 2bed/2bath with washer and dryer in the unit for $600 per month including utilities and internet. ...........I just placed an ad on craigslist two hours ago for a furnished apartment for $500 per month and have gotten two hits on it.

While I realized that it wasn't what you wanted to say, what I hear is "2 Bedroom apartment for 600". You ain't in this picture, much less wanting to be there. Oh, excuse me.

 

[W2R]

Good job, Natesal! Sharing an apartment is a great way to lower expenses.

There is something else to keep in mind for the years after you graduate, that can help you to save a lot of money. That is to continue to live on your student budget for a while, even though you may get a job that pays more. Invest the difference.

 

[Natesal]

While I realized that it wasn't what you wanted to say, what I hear is "2 Bedroom apartment for 600". You ain't in this picture, much less wanting to be there. Oh, excuse me.

It is a 2 bedroom apartment for 600 total. My old one I was in I was sharing for around 550 a person. This one doesn't have the granite counters and the fancy tile, but they put in new carpet and repainted the floors.


So the appliances aren't brand new. I'll live.

 

[freebird5825]

Your post reminded me of my undergraduate living on a shoestring days.
The money saving skills you are developing and using now are going to come in real handy when you FIRE.
For myself, I am finding that the two situations are almost identical, except I am not nearly as "poor" as the old college days. I often wonder how the heck I pulled it off.
What are you studying?

 

[Natesal]

Your post reminded me of my undergraduate living on a shoestring days.
The money saving skills you are developing and using now are going to come in real handy when you FIRE.
For myself, I am finding that the two situations are almost identical, except I am not nearly as "poor" as the old college days. I often wonder how the heck I pulled it off.
What are you studying?

Mechanical Engineering, although all of my research is in the Nuclear field.

 

[FIREd]

Hi Natesal,

your post reminded me of my graduate school days. I was making about $1,100 a month as a teaching assistant and I was saving about half of it. I shared a cheap apartment with a roomate and I had no car. I did not have to pay for tuitions but I had to pay for fees. Books were very expensive too.

Good luck with your studies!

 

[freebird5825]

Mechanical Engineering, although all of my research is in the Nuclear field.

Now how did I know you were an analytical numbers person? Just kidding.
There are a lot of techies here, including myself, if you haven't already discovered that in the various posts.
Study hard!

 

[haha]

So I am in grad school pulling in $1300 post-taxes per month and have no tuition or fees to pay as it is included in my assistantship.

I found a place for rent that I swiped up quickly that is a 2bed/2bath with washer and dryer in the unit for $600 per month including utilities and internet. I bought an entire bedroom set including nice bed and linens from a friend of mine who was moving for $250. I just placed an ad on craigslist two hours ago for a furnished apartment for $500 per month and have gotten two hits on it.


That puts me at $150 per month in rent (I will cover the cable $50 cable bill) leaving me with a cool $1150 for food. I figure i can do the month for under $300 in food expenses.


I cannot wait to start putting some serious bank roll into my roth and portfolio. Over the past 2 years (same income, higher living expense) I had only been able to save about 8k, but now the accounts will start growing.


I highly suggest this route for anyone in a similar situation.

I don't understand how your lease allows you to sub-let. The landlord must be a bit slow.

Ha

 

[LOL!]

The grad students would eat for free as well. We always had bagels and fruit in the lab every morning. Students would surfeit away some for their lunch and dinner kinda like chipmunks and squirrels storing away nuts.

If I was your roommate and found out you were paying $150 and I was paying $500, I would be pissed and move out.

 

[novaman]

yeah- I second the advice to live like a student for as long as possible, because once you start adding those luxuries into your life it will be tough to go back. My wife and I lived like college students all the way into our early thirties out of necessity. I had to pay off a ton of debt from dental school and the financing of the purchase of a practice. But we did it and then kept putting away the money once the loans were paid off. Even now that we are in our mid forties we continue to Live well beneath our means, which has allowed our nest egg to grow nicely.

I'm sure this approach is the path that has been taken by most on this board

 

[Natesal]

If I was your roommate and found out you were paying $150 and I was paying $500, I would be pissed and move out.

Ya this is true however with the furnishings, this place is still well below what one would pay for a furnished place here (about 200 more per month.)

 

[Kroeran]

a lot of these situations remind me of my dad - he could never get his head around the idea of renting.

He lived in (RCMP) barracks until he married, and then he bought a used trailer cash which he put in the back of a collegue's house for $8 per month in the 50s.

After a year of that (and a few months of little me running around the trailer) he had a full downpayment for the house - which then got paid off obsessively.

for me growing up, dessert and cable TV was something you had a grama's.

 

[JOHNNIE36]

I don't understand how your lease allows you to sub-let. The landlord must be a bit slow.

Ha

I don't see it that way. I may not be up to date on terminology but to me sub-letting would be leaving the apartment and renting it to someone else without the owners knowledge. In this case, he is just adding a roommate. Lease would have to state that the tenant can be the only person allowed to reside in the apartment.

 

[Urchina]

Nice work. I'm envious of the $1000k+/month assistantship. Mine was a lousy $500/month for teaching a class a term (and I mean teaching -- lectures, labs, exams -- I was it! It was great!). I still managed to pull through without debt. Side benefits include a deep appreciation for handmade tortillas and homemade beans (since I made my own of both to save money).

 

[haha]

I don't see it that way. I may not be up to date on terminology but to me sub-letting would be leaving the apartment and renting it to someone else without the owners knowledge. In this case, he is just adding a roommate. Lease would have to state that the tenant can be the only person allowed to reside in the apartment.

Around here anyway, everyone living in the apartment must qualify and be on the lease.

If I were a landlord, I wouldn't want to create sub-landlords. You are getting more cars, more noise, more wear, you should also get more rent.

Ha

 

[Natesal]

So I found my roommate for the fall. I put him on the lease, the landlord did the background check, and he is paying the 500/month. The way I see it is this; the guy is renting just for 4 months. If we split it 50-50 he would be paying 300/month. I am providing him a practically brand new queen size serta, nice sheets/towels/bathroom rugs, dishes, utensils, desk, chair, use of all the living room furniture, etc etc. Everything you need for an apartment besides your own clothes. I even have an extra computer I could provide him but he has his own.


He is paying 300 to the landlord, and paying the extra 200/month for use of the other amenities that for a short term renter it becomes difficult to justify buying.

In the spring I will likely do the same thing again. This guy isn't an international, he is just a senior graduating in december. I don't think I will have a problem finding another person in the same situation come springtime. One could get used to this.


On another note, I just hit 10k stashed into my Roth and longterm stocks in under a year!

 

[freebird5825]

Your explanation of the value-added package you are offering makes more sense now. This sounds like a good deal for a temporary rental situation of less than a semester of full year. Your premium ($200) is essentially freeing the new roommate from the hassle of finding an apartment, entering into a lease, filling it with the required number of roommates to cover the full rent, paying a security deposit, establishihg utilities accounts, having to sublet after he graduates, buying furnishings, etc.
I do understand your thought process. I had briefly considered renting out the lower floor of my house when I found myself on my own a few years back. I was looking for such a temporary boarder situation - a professional on a short term contract on-site or a visiting professor.