10/01/2009

Roommates - We Have None!!

So, it would seem that my gut instinct to transfer rent money over from one account to another was a good one.  Jordan and I got home this late this evening and there was a note on the fridge with my name on it. This is what it said:
Dear Jessie,

School has been hectic, I don't usually leave until 10pm on most nights, so my aplogies for my absence. I am writing this letter to inform you that unforutnatly I will not be able to afford living here unless I get a job, which is impossible with my current work load.  My cousin has offered me a place to stay which will be much cheaper and my utilities, transportation and meals would be included.  My apologies to you, because of Lindsay and Nelson's departure from this house.  I know that it's going to be hard on you and Jordan.  I hope you can find someone to mpove in soon.  I will probably move out before thanksgiving, but Iwill give you rent for the month of October, as well as utilities for that month as well with hopes of getting the secuirty deposit back.  Once agian, I am deeply sorry, I would stay if school would allo wme some free time to accumulate some weath. I will be here after school to talk.
My Apologies,
Samantha
I can't say I'm surprised with everything else, things like this tend to happen in bunches (at least that's what they say isn't it?).

Just as I finished writing out the note she left for me, Sam got home.  She gave me $500 for all of October, and will pay Septmeber's utilties when I get all the bills  in next week.  I told her i'll get her damange deposit back to her after she's moved out and after we access a fair portion of October's utilties depending on the date she actually leaves.

I'll have to talk to my brother and Lindsay about splitting the utilities 4 ways rather then 5 ways as well.

Our initial reaction (Jordan and me) is to not hurry into finding a replacement. It would really be nice to have the house to ourselves for November.  We are going to put the feelers out, but not look really hard until December.  I think that it will be fairly challening to find someone b/c no one likes moving in winter, especially around Christmas.  But we shall see how that works out.

The landlord is geting back from her trip in a couple of weeks, and we are still in the middle of re-negotiating the rent.  If she lowers it by a couple hundred, that will make a large difference.

As it stands, Jordan and I will split November's rent of $1,500 two ways, so $750 each.  That extra $100 from my raise at work, just found it's new home - Rent.  Unless of course we can get it lowered by then, but either way we'll be splitting it.  Needless to say this has some serious implications for our budgets.

Utilities will probably be around $200/each or more when it's just the two of us... we'll have to wait and see on that one (I see a post coming realting to that).  So we should both expect to have housing costs of about $1000/month if we are on our own.

For now, there's nothing we can do other then to continue to be frugal. I tell you, I am so so so happy my credit card is paid off. (Jordan asked that I bold that, he's watching me type as we watch TV together).

We'll be able to make this work no matter what happens.  Jordan and I are in this together, and we'll pull through.  Things we'll be tight, and I'll post updates to my budget once I have some solid numbers that I can work with.  For now, I think I will plan for the worst-case and bank the rest so that I have it just in case.

12 comments:

  1. Hello Jessie,

    Looks like you've built a plan to get over this hurdle that has been thrown up in your path. Good luck.

    regards,

    Jason

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well Crap! Just because you can pay that much, doesn't mean you want to. Not rushing in to things (new roomie) is smart because you can vet the new candidate carefully. But moving yourslves may become more attractive again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's all sort of up in the air right now. We really have to wait until we find out what kind of rent the landlord is going to offer for a new lease. Because she's not back until the middle of October, we'll have to do November by ouselves for sure unless we can find a new roommate by then.

    Not having a roommate will effectivly put some other things on hold potentially - but I haven't dug into the numbers yet.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ugh!

    Maybe with just the 2 of you there, the landlords will decrease your rent by quite a bit! ;) *hopefully*

    Your plan sounds smart!! Good luck :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Zoinks!

    Holy good instincts Batman! Sorry to hear it went this way, but I'm happy to see that your credit card is paid off so you'll be able to handle these changes well.

    It's an unfortunate place to have to send your raise, but a roof over the head is essential.

    Congrats on the plan you have in place to see you through!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That is kinda crappy to move out suddenly. Was there any kind of lease? I hope you either find new roomates or get a rent reduction, her problem just became your problem through no fault of your own. I'm so glad I no longer have roomates!

    ReplyDelete
  7. @ Miss M - it's super crappy!! I am the leaseholder, so unfortunatly she is not bound by anything other then to give me 30 days notice - which she is doing, just moving out a few weeks early.

    @ Finding - Me too!! This would be very hard if I still had that credit card debt, I actually just finished running some numbers and I think that it's okay to be okay! We will have to put our 'house fund' on hold for a few months, but I think we'll even be able to re-start that in the new year once we settle in to the new routine.

    @ Frugal - I'm hoping so too. That will make a big difference. When I first moved in three years ago, the rent was $1,275 - So I'm hoping we can settle on a new lease of $1,300/month. It is a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath town house.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm guessing that Sam probably thought that Lindsay and Nelson's departure would cause her portion of the rent/utilities to skyrocket. If they weren't leaving perhaps she would be staying as well??? Just a thought.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Further to my post above, would you be willing to keep her rent/utilities at the same price that they are now (or even slightly decreased because she doesn't use as many utilities if she's not at home much) if that is something that would entice her to stay? Sometimes "ghost" roommates are more valuable than a roommate who is in the house all the time being annoying.
    P.S. I swear I'm just an impartial bystander who does not know either of you (ha ha!) :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. @ Anon - Actually, when Nelson and Lindsay gave me notice I let Sam know straight away. I told her that her rent would stay the same. Utilies may go up because we split those evenly. That said, I also offered to cancel the house phone and change the TV programming so that we could manage the increase in utilities.

    So - to address your second comment. We've already offered/confirmed that her rent would stay the same.

    P.S. Who are you?

    ReplyDelete
  11. It sounds like you have a solid plan, but that sure stinks!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Steph -- (formerly Anon!)1 October 2009 at 20:26

    Jessie - I'm nobody, trust me! (haha). Just someone who reads about 5-6 different PF blogs, that's all. Reading your posts about roommates just reminded me of my days of having roommates (sooooo glad that's over now). I've made some great friends out of roommates, but have also had my share of trials with a few of them too. During my days of shared housing it was always considered a 'bonus' to have a ghost roommate (assuming that their share of money for expenses was present of course!)
    You definitely sound like you're on top of things and I sure hope it works out without too much stress. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete

Hi! Thank you for stopping by and leaving a message.

Links ♥

Followers