Is Moving Worth It?

As many of you know, my rent has gone up $400 in the past two years. That, alone, should be enough to get me out of this $1300 a month studio apartment.

But looking at the apartment rental listings on Craigslist, there really isn't much for anything less. And at least this is utilities included for $1300 a month.

Going from $1050 a month to $1300 a month is definitely going to mess up my budget. I finally was making enough to do some serious saving (so that one day I could buy a house, god forbid) and this price increase basically makes that impossible - unless I manage to get a job that pays even better than my current job, which is probably possible, but I love my current job, and it pays pretty well, and I'm so happy working for this company, and I don't want my rent price to control my career.

It's possible I can find a place cheaper. There are studios occasionally on the market for anywhere from $900 to $1200 in the area. By area I mean anywhere from South San Francisco to Sunnyvale. The "SF Peninsula." Silicon Valley. Where the majority of people who live here are engineers making bank, and the rest of us are, well, half-wishing we were engineers.

Getting a roommate seems like the only logical thing to do right now. I don't do well with roommates. Living alone has taken my depression and thrown it out the window. For the most part.

Lucky for me, my friend volunteered her second bedroom as a place for me to live in July. That's very nice of her. I'll pay her rent, of course, and I'll save some money because I won't be paying $1050 or $1300 - what I would be paying if I stay in my current place. I can't stay there forever, but a month will probably be ok. She has a big dog and I don't get along that well with most dogs. But maybe I'll make friends with the dog in July.

So if I decide to move out, I'll pack up most of my stuff before I leave for my trip, and then put all my furniture into storage when I get back at the end of June. In July I'd do my apartment shopping and, fingers crossed, I'd find something decent that's a good amount less than $1300 a month so the entire moving situation was worth it.

Given, I'm somewhat picky about my living space. I like light in my apartment. I work from home most of the time, so I need a place where I can be comfortable working. A place that isn't too small. I get really claustrophobic in teeny tiny studios. My current studio is nice and large. It would be nice to have a balcony or patio. It would be nice to have a second room to make my office, so I could deduct that portion of the rent on my taxes. I'd probably turn the bedroom of a 1br into an office and keep the living room set up as a "studio." I hope the IRS wouldn't mind that I store my clothes in my office closet.