From personal experience, living in the dorms isn’t always the most pleasant experience, and many students choose to move out of the dorms after their freshman year. There are a lot of benefits to getting an apartment, including more privacy and your own room and kitchen, among other things. In addition, apartment living can give you more independence and freedom, since you can have friends over and do what you want without having to deal with the often overzealous campus security officers.
To that end, I’ve put together a short list of resources and tips if you are thinking about living off campus that will definitely help you save money and live more comfortably during your new adventure.
Finding an apartment. Thankfully, many schools have an office set up expressly for the purpose of linking students up to find apartments or as sort of a roommate matchmaking service. At Suffolk University, my alma mater, it was called the Off Campus Housing Office (OCHO)… your school probably has a similar name, and if you look on their website it should be relatively easy to find. In addition, there are a ton of websites online devoted to matching people together for roommate situations and apartment searching, including Rent.com and Roommates.com. Craigslist.org can be a great resource for apartment searching too, though I advise a cautious attitude when looking at apartments to make sure everything is working properly and to always bring a buddy – they often will notice things that you may not at first, and the buddy system is always smart when going somewhere you aren’t familiar with.
One point I’d like to make in favor of apartments is you often can save a lot of money by living in one. In 2009, the average cost of Room & Board at a private 4-year university came to $9,363 nationally. If you have one or two roommates and are somewhat frugal, you can save close to 30% on that cost (and potentially more) depending on where you live. Note: This is not applicable to all schools, since the city is usually more expensive, and for a suburban or rural school, a dorm may end up just being a better option and much more convenient for the average student.
Renter’s insurance. Renter’s insurance is the best friend of any student and apartment dweller, because it is inexpensive and protects all your valuables. Although the price varies from state to state, it usually costs around $200 a year to insure up to $20,000 worth of clothing, electronics etc. in case of burglary, fire, and other mishaps and/or forces of nature. One thing I recommend checking on is if your insurance package covers flood, because if the sprinklers go off in a fire suppression system, they WILL ruin your electronics and most dorms and landlords make sure they aren’t legally obligated to replace that type of stuff.
Gift cards instead of cash. This may sound kind of weird at first, but there’s a really good reason why gift cards (especially for supermarkets, etc.) are way better than cash: you can’t blow a grocery gift card on clothes or something else. During my time at school, I found that the more you have paper money, the more it burns a hole in your pocket and you’re tempted to spend it on something you don’t necessarily need. A gift card just ensures that you are using it for the intended purpose.
A backup credit card. Yes, student credit cards are very controversial. I’ve seen countless comments on these blogs that make excellent points why they can be a bad idea in the wrong hands, but here’s my argument for why you should have one: if you get into trouble, it can be a lifesaver.
My personal example for why a credit card is important comes from my sophomore year at school, when I was working part time to pay for my food costs (I was living off campus) and utilities. Basically, I had been laid off my job because of downsizing efforts, and I went through a three month period of being underemployed before I eventually found a replacement job. Without a credit card to finance basic needs like food, it would not have been a pretty situation.
This is just something to think about… because in our current economy, you always need to have a backup plan. A student credit card can be a blessing and a curse, but in my experience, it was a valuable tool that tided me over during a hard time and I am very thankful that I had it in the first place.
ScholarshipPoints code: OFFCAMPUSLIFE
Image Credit to IFGD (Flickr)
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