Apartment issue, Advice Needed!

CowgirlK39 · January 2012

I work on a farm part time in addition to my FT job, and yesterday, an apartment on the farm became availible. Our best man used to live there so we know what its like inside and all. For a while my FI said that it would be sweet if we lived there for a number of reasons. But there is one HUGE kicker... its significantly smaller than our current apartment. It also comes fully furnished, bed and all. We have no idea what we would do with all our stuff. Much of it belonged to my family and my mom does NOT want to put it all in storage again. But the money we would save (and possibly make because I could work more) would be at least $400-500 a MONTH. So here's the run down:

Pros: - Less gas burned (wouldn't have to drive to the farm, or laundromat since it has a washer).
- Nicer Landlord

- No problem with lawncare (an issue we argue with out LL about).

- massive Savings! $$$$$

- current neighbor is crazy and dangerous. We would be away from her.

Cons: - FI is a dedicated fireman and would be pretty far from his firehall. Joining a different one is not an option.
- Extremely small, and we have a LOT of stuff that probably will not fit in there and cannot be sold
- fully furnished = us having to find a place to put all our furniture.

There are ways to correct the cons (storage units) but these are things that are rather serious. It is about HALF the size of our current place and would require a lot of downsizing. My mom said thats totally opposite of what we should be doing, but I can't get over how much we would SAVE!

What do you think? Should we do it or is this backward like my mom said?

meagandal · January 2012

I vote Squish and Save now, so later you can have all the space you want in a permanent place! whether you plan to buy a house or just get into a place thats fits long term needs!

We are cramped to hell in our downstairs apartment right now, we own the whole house but have decided to rent out the other apartment (once we finish renovations) rather than convert back to a one family which was a possibility and would have easily been done. WE figure we're not ready or financially set up for our dream house now so, we make the best and save and sacrifice a bit now so we can give our family what we want when that time in life comes.

morenachica110 · January 2012

Calculate how much money you would spend on your FI's gas money and storage each month. If you still some out on top moving, then I say move. It would be worth it if you saved a ton of money, but if the expenses of FI travelling farther and having to store stuff makes you save about $10 a month... it's not really worth it. How does your FI feel about all of this? How does he feel about having to drive farther?

volleygurl0306 · January 2012

I do not think you are doing it backwards because saving now could be a better upgrade in the future than you currently could afford. Upgrading is really the most important when you want to start a family. I personally thinking getting more space ends up with you just owning more "stuff" to fill it. $400-500/ month is a ton of money. If you have nice stuff, could you possibly ask to store what is in the apartment. You have to pay for storage either way but you would have things that are your own. We moved to VA back in June and back down to FL (back to mom and dads) in November. We found out how much stuff we have that we really do not need. Downsizing now and purging stuff may be a blessing. Especially if you have unnecessary stuff from merging your things together (we had 2 irons, 2 microwaves, etc since we had them before me met). We also found it a good time to ditch the cheap college furtinure and we are saving for nice "grown up" stuff and will register for some.

Sarah&Eric2012 · January 2012

I think it depends on what your ultimate goals are. Are you looking to buy a house within the next couple of years? If so, the savings might be nice to help with the down payment. If you're just looking to be renters then I think you should go with the nicer (read larger) apartment that you already have. Like your mom said, you don't want to take a step back if it's not going to help you move forward. If the smaller apartment is actually large enough for you and you are looking towards a house then it might be more of a step forward. Is the landlord flexible on the "fully furnished" concept? Maybe he would be willing to store the furniture that you don't need (his stuff) somewhere while you're living there. That way you can use your furniture and not have to store it away.

The other thing to consider is how many gifts you're registering for. If you're registering for a ton of stuff then you're going to need a place to keep all of it and if this apartment is too small for that then it might not be a good choice.

I know that FI and I couldn't live in a small apartment together. We would kill eachother. That was a big thing when we were house hunting a couple years ago. We REQUIRED 2 toilets (not neccessarily two full baths, just two toilets) and two places to watch TV. That way we can be together when we want to be but I don't have to watch every football game and he doesn't have to watch every episode of Say Yes to the Dress. :-)

That turned into quite a book, sorry.

AshnRobo · January 2012

I think you should consider the cost of extra gas for you FI to get to his Firehall. Then consider the additional cost of storage.

If you still come out ahead, then do it. Your mom is seriously wrong. You should be doing everything you can to save money at this point in your life. Save before you have kids. Before you get married. Save. Save. Save. The more you save the better chance you will have of getting a better home when you are ready to buy and when you're ready to have kids.

I don't think registry items should be a consideration. You already will have a storage unit.

CowgirlK39 · January 2012

Thanks girls. Everyone I talk to here at work is saying the same thing. I just really feel spoiled being in such a BIG place right now. We have 4 crawl spaces for storing stuff, which is a huge plus bc my FI had to bring every single thing he owned with him out of his parents house. He had one brother who never had a bedroom in his whole life, so when FI moved out, his brother went into his old room. So we have tons of crap that is either going to get pitched, sold, or is coming with us.

The firehall thing is not a matter of gas. He is a volunteer FF, so its not like he works there every day. The issue is response time. He takes it very seriously and is an officer and would be very upset if it takes him so long to get to the hall that he misses the truck. Right now we are 5 mins closer to the hall than we would be, and thats not counting the busy intersection he would be stuck waiting at. Its kind of a big deal to him, so it has to be thought about.

One more make-or-break issue.... cats. We have three, but one could be (and really needs to be) rehomed. I would think the landlord would allow cats since she allowed one tenant to have a dog. But ya don't know till ya ask!

The pros are so strong though. The money saved may just be worth being crammed in there. I will have to talk to the landlord about it and see what can be done.

bridezillatobe2009 · January 2012

Do it as long as your FI is comfortable with it, and it would be a great excuse to get rid of extra stuff that you don't really need. You could start an account for the savings and it would be a great way to save for a downpayment or put towards debt.

Apartment issue, Advice Needed!

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