When your rent is too high
THE general rule of thumb is that you should spend no more than 30 per cent of your income on rent. However, with the demand for living space, especially in urban areas, landlords ask renters to fork out ridiculous sums to secure apartments. With more renters being forced to cave to landlords’ demands out of need, financial advisor Granville Knight Jr has provided some tips on how to cope when your rent is too high.
Create a budget
When choosing an apartment or house to rent the first thing that you should do is to ask yourself whether or not you can afford the rent. This is why budgeting is so important. When you create a budget you will have an idea of how much your income is, how much you will need to save, and how much your expenditures are. When you have done this then you will know just how much you can afford for rent.
Trim your overall expenses
There may be times when you just don’t have a choice and a high-priced rent is your only option. First, negotiate a price, then you will have to go through all your expenses and trim them. For example, eat out less, use public transport or hop on the work bus, and spend less on things that you don’t need like clothes and shoes, as well as entertainment.
Negotiate on the rent
You may think that you have to pay whatever it is that the landlord posted as the asking price for the rent, but not all landlords are hard and fast.
“While the proposed rent might be $40,000, for example, if you are smart what you will ask is for them to consider taking $35,000 to sweeten the deal if you were able to come up with that $35,000 as well as the security deposit immediately. While there is no guarantee they will accept it, never pass on an opportunity to lower your monthly expenses.
Take a shared space
For many people, having a shared space is not the most ideal situation, while for others it’s just fine. With a shared space you will be able to spend half the amount that you would have spent if you were going to rent a whole house.
Move out of town
The farther out of town you move, the less expensive the rent will be. You should, of course, make sure that your transportation costs remain low if you are going to choose this option. So, for example, use public transport such as JUTC, which of course is one of the cheaper transportation options, or you can get a ride to work. If you are considering this option you should also consider proximity to work and the pressure that everyday transportation could put on your body, and whether or not this could affect your productivity at work.
Budget for expenses that come with the space
Outside of the rent, you have to factor in the expenses that come with the space. For example, if it comes with an air conditioning unit and/or water heater you know that these are likely to increase your electricity bills. If you can avoid using the AC and water heater then do it as much as possible. In terms of cable, just get a Fire Stick and hop on to a friend or family member’s account who doesn’t mind sharing their Netflix, and save the additional monies you would have had to spend otherwise.
