Budget 101 with Will
Today we went looking for a place for William to live while he attends Western Michigan University in the fall. Last year he lived in the dorms and did not like it! He felt like he could never get away from school. This year he expressed the desire to live off campus.
He set up a couple of places for us to tour and then several to drive past. Luckily his job is pizza delivery, so he knows the neighborhoods very well.
One was an apartment which had misrepresented itself online by saying it was $410/month and a two bedroom apartment. Turns out you pay $410 for one bedroom and $410 for the second bedroom which of course is $820 a month. We walked out on that one.
We drove by many more nondescript apartments in the price range we wanted. We finally went to the second tour which was actually 15-20 minutes outside of Kalamazoo in Galesburg. It was a one bedroom house.....with lots of land......and a river running across the back of the property!
This is taken while standing on the river bank facing the house. Now THAT is a backyard!!
River, picnic table and fire pit area
The house was ok, landlord seemed good and promised to repair a few things but oh that land and river!! We discussed how it felt so much like our former cottage in Canada. We discussed how we must be nuts to consider this for a college student. Then we took out pen, paper and calculator and went to work. I helped Will make a budget. I told him that I had learned to always assume worst case scenarios when plugging in cost. Take the electric/gas estimate from the winter months for example. Don't short change yourself when it comes to groceries and eating out. We made a pro/con list. In the end we decided he could afford it, it was cheaper than the dorms, it was an unusual choice but Will has been making some unusual choices (remember Laos and Madagascar) and they have worked out well. The biggest pro....his dog could now live with him!
We texted the owner and told him Will would like to rent the cottage on the river. The owner texted back saying that he had a couple more appoints to show the place and would call Will back beginning of the week. Now we WAIT!
He set up a couple of places for us to tour and then several to drive past. Luckily his job is pizza delivery, so he knows the neighborhoods very well.
One was an apartment which had misrepresented itself online by saying it was $410/month and a two bedroom apartment. Turns out you pay $410 for one bedroom and $410 for the second bedroom which of course is $820 a month. We walked out on that one.
We drove by many more nondescript apartments in the price range we wanted. We finally went to the second tour which was actually 15-20 minutes outside of Kalamazoo in Galesburg. It was a one bedroom house.....with lots of land......and a river running across the back of the property!
This is taken while standing on the river bank facing the house. Now THAT is a backyard!!
The house was ok, landlord seemed good and promised to repair a few things but oh that land and river!! We discussed how it felt so much like our former cottage in Canada. We discussed how we must be nuts to consider this for a college student. Then we took out pen, paper and calculator and went to work. I helped Will make a budget. I told him that I had learned to always assume worst case scenarios when plugging in cost. Take the electric/gas estimate from the winter months for example. Don't short change yourself when it comes to groceries and eating out. We made a pro/con list. In the end we decided he could afford it, it was cheaper than the dorms, it was an unusual choice but Will has been making some unusual choices (remember Laos and Madagascar) and they have worked out well. The biggest pro....his dog could now live with him!
We texted the owner and told him Will would like to rent the cottage on the river. The owner texted back saying that he had a couple more appoints to show the place and would call Will back beginning of the week. Now we WAIT!
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