Evolving Personal Finance » housing
Would You Live in Company Housing?
I saw an article this week that piqued my interest – Facebook is building an apartment complex close to its Menlo Park campus for its employees. The article and comments are highly critical of the idea, recalling the company towns of the nineteenth century. The author sarcastically asks, “Who isn’t sick of their healthy work/life balance?” Many of the commenters voiced that by living in a Facebook apartment, Facebook employees will be constantly monitored by … Read entire article »
Filed under: housing
Unexpected Expenses Ate Up Our Rent Savings
When we moved in August 2012, we were very excited because it took us less than three months to pay back our moving expenses from the amount of our rent reduction ($287.27 in net expenses, rent reduction of $110/month). This time around we were not so fortunate due to a few unexpected expenses and changes. It looks like we won’t pay back our moving expenses over the course of the next year, which is about … Read entire article »
Filed under: housing
Making the Non-Frugal Choice: Renting a Washer and Dryer
Confession time: Kyle and I recently made a decision that is antithetical to our usual frugal lifestyle. We are moving next week to another townhouse that has a washer and dryer hookup and the rental company gives us the option to rent a washer and dryer from them or provide our own (or go without, I guess). For an extra $20/month, we decided to rent the washer and dryer. There is, naturally, a backstory – as … Read entire article »
Putting Rent on a Credit Card: An Opportunity to Churn
Our new townhouse allows us to pay rent on a credit card!! None of the places we’ve lived so far has made that option available to us, and at our current place we actually have to mail paper checks, if you can believe it. But after we move in two weeks we’ll have the opportunity to charge an extra $870 per month! Why are we excited about this? Putting rent on a credit card seems like … Read entire article »
Filed under: credit cards, housing
Financially Surviving Your First Month as a PhD Student
First month’s rent up front plus a security deposit. A parking permit. Textbooks. Furnishing your new place. In the first few weeks of grad school you’re hit by one expense after another. On top of that, your department expects you to start orientation (followed by classes and research) five to six weeks before getting your first paycheck! How are you supposed to swing this? The best position to be in at the time you enter grad … Read entire article »
Filed under: budgeting, credit cards, food, frugality, grad school, housing, income, spending, taxes
Inexpensive House, Expensive Car
I’ve been taking frequent walks around our townhouse complex recently and I’ve noticed that there are a lot of pretty nice cars parked in the lots – sports cars, muscle cars, and some luxury brands. Two people just across the parking lot from us own an Audi and a sporty convertible. Beyond just the expensive models, many cars look close to brand new. Another thing I’ve noticed on my walks throughout this year are townhouses up … Read entire article »
Choosing a Home Size
This post is a total brain dump so be prepared for more obsessing than I usually let through on here! Also please excuse any incoherence – it’s been a busy few days. The News While eating breakfast on Wednesday morning, I received an email from our landlord informing us that she and her husband are moving back to the area and asking if we planned to move out by the end of our lease on August 25. … Read entire article »
Filed under: housing
Money Updates from the EPF Household
Today’s post is a collection of odds and ends – thoughts and observations about our life as it intersects with our finances. None of these topics are enough for a full blog post at this point so this is a clearinghouse for our thoughts at this moment. Townhouse Water Damage We had a bit of a scare a couple weeks ago with the townhouse we rent. A leak developed in the ceiling of the lower floor, directly … Read entire article »
Filed under: budgeting, cars, housing, marriage, personal, savings, targeted savings, transitions, travel
Married with Roommates?
Here are the parameters we’re working with: 1) Kyle will graduate as early as June or as late as September, but we’re not sure where he’ll be doing his postdoc or when he’ll start. 2) I’ll need a roommate for after Kyle moves out. 3) If Kyle has a significant period of non-employment in between graduating and starting his postdoc, my pay isn’t quite enough to cover our expenses and basic percentage-based budgeting. Since roommates are easiest to find … Read entire article »
How to Price a Room for Rent
Next year when Kyle is living Elsewhere (TBD), we plan to both have roommates to keep our cost of living low, just like before we were married. That means that we will rent out one of the bedrooms in our current townhouse to another woman. We haven’t quite decided which room to keep since they are quite different in size – the larger one would be better if Kyle is spending a good amount of … Read entire article »
Filed under: housing
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