Renter’s Advice and Resources

If you don’t have much to spend on your upcoming move, you’ve probably ruled out the possibility of hiring a moving company. It’s common sense: your move will be much cheaper if you find a cheap rental truck, even when you factor in the cost of gas, tolls, food, and lodging throughout your trip. Your moving truck rental will probably be your most significant cost. If you’re on a tight budget, is it possible to negotiate a better price and score a cheap moving truck? Depending on how flexible you are, the answer is probably yes.

When choosing an apartment, diligent renters pepper landlords and real-estate agents with questions about square footage, amenities and security deposits. However, few renters consider the air quality in potential apartments. Most of us don’t think about the quality of the air we breathe at all — until we begin to suspect that the air in our apartments might be making us sick. As we learn more about how air quality affects common diseases like asthma and with new concerns about “sick building syndrome” in office complexes, more and more people are starting to take air quality seriously.

No matter how good a deal you have on your rent, eventually you’ll hear about someone who has it better. And then just when you start to feel bad for yourself, you’ll meet someone who’s paying an arm and a leg for a place much smaller than yours. When you think about the wide range of rents in your city, you’ll start to wonder –- how do landlords figure out how much to charge?

For most people, it would be unthinkable to buy a car without negotiating at the dealership. Why, then, do so few people bother to negotiate their rent? Perhaps it’s because we think of our apartment rent in the same way we think of dinner out at a restaurant — the price is simply non-negotiable. Except sometimes, rent is negotiable … the trick is negotiating in the right way. But what’s the best way to go about it?

Furnishing an apartment comes with its own set of special challenges. Your rent payment may eat up a huge portion of your paycheck, limiting the range of places you can shop. If you live in a dense city like New York or San Francisco, you may not have a car to haul the furniture to your building. If you live in a walk-up, just getting your new furniture up the stairs may require the help of a few strong friends who owe you some favors. On top of all this, your options are probably limited by the size and shape of your apartment, with its strangely shaped rooms, narrow staircases, tiny bedrooms and low doorways.

Moving to a new apartment can be expensive. After paying for your first month’s rent up front, a security deposit, movers’ fees and any items you need for your new apartment, the total bill may be daunting. The last thing you need is to spend even more money on moving supplies. Fortunately, this is one expense that you can cut down on significantly, by thinking ahead and employing some creativity. You’ll need certain basics no matter what you own or how far you have to travel. These include packing boxes, packing tape and cushioning material to prevent breakage.

We all want to decorate our homes to the best of our abilities, but sometimes those abilities are limited by our pocketbooks! Check out the following decorating-oriented sites for tips on keeping your decorating budget under control. Some sites have helpful do-it-yourself tips; others have affordable furniture and accessories. Read on, then rev up your apartment with these stylish savings!

Maybe you’ve been dreading the summer for months—the high electricity bills due to constant air-conditioning, the expensive road trips in gas-guzzling cars to visit relatives or swim at the beach, the need to buy a new wardrobe that doesn’t suffocate you when the temperature rises above 75 degrees. Fear not: this will be your least expensive summer ever, thanks to the following money-saving tips.

Money may be the root of all evil, but excessive spending is an evil you can avoid. Tired of living paycheck to paycheck or dipping into your meager savings every month? You need to create a budget and stick to it. Read on for top tips on budgeting wisely.