Moving Out: Alone or No ?
Students of my university get the privilege to stay at the on-campus dorm for a maximum time of one year. Afterward, they would have to resubmit an application and get screened to apply for a second year stay, which is somewhat a pain in the ass because there’s this big fat chance that you won’t get accepted. Otherwise, students need to search for an apartment at downtown where you have to pay your own lease, water, electricity and internet.
So here’s the thing. Furnishing a new empty room wouldn’t be something cheap to do if you’re moving in alone. However, things wouldn’t be so bad if you’ve got a friend that moves in with you so that every expense you made for that apartment related things would be cut in half or even a third if you’ve got two other people who will join you. The problem is, not everyone’s got a friend to move in with.
I personally love the concept of living alone because you can do anything you like in your own apartment. It’s just that you have to pay the key money which would cost like ¥80000 or even more depending on your location and room size if you’re alone. That still excludes the lease which would cost you around ¥40000-50000 per month.
Living together with someone eases the financial problems of living alone but in return gives you several limitations of what you could do alone. There’s also this problem when you’re just a loner and nobody really knows you so they don’t even think of inviting you to move out together (in this case, me). Moreover, things could get a little messy if that someone who you share your monthly rent with suddenly decides to move out or have an exchange for a year and leave you alone to search for a new friend to fill in that empty room. Totally not worth the trouble.
I still have a lot of doubts about this a little suggestion about this matter would really help!
3 comments
¥80000 for a year or monthly? Gosh, it’s hard to understand how much money that really is when I convert it to USD, it sounds like way too much money. If it was up to me, I would submit another application to the university to live in the dormitories. And then worry about finding an apartment if you were not accepted. Honestly, living an apartment by yourself is very expensive, and you’ll have to find a job or two to support yourself (I was lucky that I landed a good job that I had worked for a long time, so when I did move out by myself, I was able to afford it with no problems).
I know you’re quite shy, but you might have to be the one to ask around to either move in with someone who is looking for a roommate, or asking someone to get an apartment with you. I can’t really speak for myself about roommates, but my sister has done this. It wasn’t easy for her because her roommate never cleaned up after themselves, so I think it’s important to have a verbal agreement followed by written agreement and rules before moving in together. Personally, I think it’s easier to move in with someone you know, but not someone who you would entirely consider a whole-hearted friend, only because if you move in with a friend, you might find that you don’t like them very much after a few months of living together. And you’re right about a roommate taking off leaving with you expenses, but you also need to think about a roommate who lives with you and doesn’t have a job and says they will get a job eventually. I would find someone who already has a job and isn’t talking about quitting it.
I’m sure there are cheaper apartments out there, but you’ll also want to look into already furnished apartments. You could also look for a small house which sometimes can be cheaper then a 2-3 bedroom apartment. Also, the only alone time you’ll get is your own bedroom, so I would fully think out what size room you’ll eventually have. You’ll have to discuss who gets the bigger room (or master bedroom).
Also the amenities (if the apartments have a pool, club house, gym, etc) can hike up the prices too. So, if it looks nice on the outside, and on the inside it’ll probably be expensive. I wouldn’t worry too much about electric, water, gas, etc. Those are pretty affordable since you and your roommate probably won’t be home that often. Just make sure lights are turned off, and the air conditioner is set at a reasonable temperature. Also, ask about the internet, and how much that would cost. I can have only one internet provider, so it’s a little more expensive, but some apartments will have two or three to choose from.
It’s a lot to think about, but I really recommend staying in the dorms, and not to worry/stress about it being accepted or not. Most likely you will get accepted again since you make your payments on time. I would even suggest rooming with someone at a dorm if the 1 bedroom dorms are all taken. Unless that’s all they offer, then that could be tricky. (My husband had lived in a dorm with 3 other men who happened to be his best friends (which all three of them remain best friends until this day). So, it goes either way, and I know I’m not helping with decision making. If you have any more questions, please let me know! I will monitor this post just in case!
Thank you so much for your advice! It has really helped me brought more things into consideration!
¥80000 is roughly $700 and you only need to pay that once when you move in. The monthly rent would be around ¥40000 (around $350). I do prefer living in the dormitories since it’s really close to the school and you don’t need to worry about waking up late, however since the dormitories are originally designated for first-year students, usually they won’t accept re-appliers unless they have a personal reason or a very good GPA.
I did ask lots of my friends about moving out, but apparently they all have someone to move out with already. 😕 And yeah, I’ll definitely have to get a bigger bedroom because my mom will be coming over in August and stay with me for around a month.
Ahaha, the water and electricity. I’m quite forgetful so I might need to post up reminders to turn off everything everywhere later on. 😆 There are several apartments I know that provide the WiFi service for free, but the location is just so bad I wouldn’t want to move in there unless I really have no other choice.
Once again, thank you for the advice!
Oh! That makes it sound much more affordable. I pay $775 every month just for my apartment, but I do have a two bedroom, two bath apartment. And before my husband moved in my electricity was around $50-$70 a month and water/sewer is included in the rent. I do have to pay for gas which is roughly $25 a month and my internet was $35 a month (until it went up and had to switch over). None of your friends are not willing to get a bigger apartment? The more people living there, the cheaper rent is. Hmm.. I can understand the university for only allowing a year to live there. I’m sure there are a lot of people from abroad trying to go there. Sounds like you have a really tough choice here. I’m sorry I’m not much help, but if I can live on my own and survive, I’m sure you can too!