Just Moved Here!/Apartment Rent & Budget Review (San Diego, Santa Ana: apartment complex, leasing)

[yougotfitched]

Hey everyone! I am a 22 year old male that just moved here from NY and will be beginning my career in Irvine. I am currently staying at a former colleague's home in Huntington Beach while I settle into my new home state and find my own place. I am going to be bringing home $31,239.84 AFTER TAXES. Below is my approximate monthly budget:

Rent: 1050 (Read more info on this at the end)
Student Loans: 526
Gas: 125
Utilities: 75-100
Cable - 62.45 (Find Apartment complex with internet)
Cell Phone - 100
Gym - 40
Food - 350

With all that, I am going to have $3,000 left at the end of a year. That would likely go into 401k or health insurance. I knew it was going to be tough but damn, what am I supposed to do to cut costs? Even as a single professional starting out in a new state I think I will find it to be very difficult.

On a sidenote, I am looking for apartment complexes in the Costa Mesa and Irvine areas. I've done some research and plan to get a studio for around 1050. Keep in mind I have an excellent credit score I hope will help me get a rate like this. Are there any areas in OC that I should stay away from? I've heard mixed reviews on Santa Ana, Garden Grove, and Anaheim. Specific complexes you'd recommend? I found Coronado at Newport North and South and they seem nice and within my price range. I'd love to live in one of the properties that the Irvine Company owns, but they are all out of my budget at least to start out. I figure if I can tough it out here for the first year or so, I'll be better off later down the road as time goes on.

[buckeyenative01]

A couple of questions:

1. Where (cross streets) in Irvine are you working?
2. Have you considered Orange, Fullerton or Tustin? Any complexes close to the 5, 55 or 57 freeways might be worth checking out
3. How in the world did you find a job in this economy in that job market? (I lived in OC, moved to Phoenix and have been trying to move back for over a year now without any luck, but I give awful interviews so that's the biggest reason why I haven't been able to move)

You can do OC on about $30k, but you have to be thrifty, or find a second (and maybe third) job to supplement your income.

Or, if you want to cut your living expenses and don't mind roommates, try finding a room for rent on Craigslist. In the locations you listed, you can find rooms for about half of what you're looking to pay on a studio. Or you could sign a lease on a two bedroom apartment and rent out the second room if you put an ad on Craigslist. Chances are you'll get replies fairly quickly.

As for the locations, I don't personally think you'll have any troubles with crime or whatnot. No part of Orange County has even half the crime problems of LA, but there's a couple of rough spots around Downtown Santa Ana and Anaheim (and really, that's only if you're into gangs and drugs). I'm lilly white and lived in a neighborhood in Orange near an apartment complex that was allegedly booming with gang activity (Tustin Avenue and Walnut Street). Never had any problems, and I often walked that area at night. Garden Grove has a worse reputation than it deserves. Tons of Vietnamese and Korean immigrants who aren't exactly loaded with cash (by OC standards at least) in neighborhoods that aren't as well-kept as they probably could be, but without any real "big city problems."

Your internet problem might be solved if you look into what Time Warner (or someone else) offers in your area. Some locations have packaged internet/cable deals but I don't know how expensive they can get.

[missionhome]

Your gym membership is pretty expensive. I pay only $19, but maybe you are at some fancy gym like the Irvine Atheltic Club near the airport. Also, you could consider eliminating that cost altogether and do sit ups, push ups, running, etc... for free at home. Not sure what type of work out routine you are into though, so that is a personal decision of whether the gym is needed.

[yougotfitched]

Originally Posted by buckeyenative01

A couple of questions:

1. Where (cross streets) in Irvine are you working?
2. Have you considered Orange, Fullerton or Tustin? Any complexes close to the 5, 55 or 57 freeways might be worth checking out
3. How in the world did you find a job in this economy in that job market? (I lived in OC, moved to Phoenix and have been trying to move back for over a year now without any luck, but I give awful interviews so that's the biggest reason why I haven't been able to move)

You can do OC on about $30k, but you have to be thrifty, or find a second (and maybe third) job to supplement your income.

Or, if you want to cut your living expenses and don't mind roommates, try finding a room for rent on Craigslist. In the locations you listed, you can find rooms for about half of what you're looking to pay on a studio. Or you could sign a lease on a two bedroom apartment and rent out the second room if you put an ad on Craigslist. Chances are you'll get replies fairly quickly.

As for the locations, I don't personally think you'll have any troubles with crime or whatnot. No part of Orange County has even half the crime problems of LA, but there's a couple of rough spots around Downtown Santa Ana and Anaheim (and really, that's only if you're into gangs and drugs). I'm lilly white and lived in a neighborhood in Orange near an apartment complex that was allegedly booming with gang activity (Tustin Avenue and Walnut Street). Never had any problems, and I often walked that area at night. Garden Grove has a worse reputation than it deserves. Tons of Vietnamese and Korean immigrants who aren't exactly loaded with cash (by OC standards at least) in neighborhoods that aren't as well-kept as they probably could be, but without any real "big city problems."

Your internet problem might be solved if you look into what Time Warner (or someone else) offers in your area. Some locations have packaged internet/cable deals but I don't know how expensive they can get.

Thank you for your feedback! I got very lucky on this position. It took me 6 months of 10 hour day job searching to get the position. I am a Marketing Analyst for a company located off of Jamboree near UCI. I like your idea of leasing a 2br and renting the second bedroom out. I've seen Fullerton and Tustin but haven't given them the fair chance they deserve. I will have to look at complexes more in-depth in that area.

To the poster who mentioned gyms...what gym do you go to? If I only had to pay 19 a month I'd be all over it. Everything I've seen around here is the clubby type place. I'm looking for a facility where people are serious. Mainly with a large freeweight area. None of the fancy glitz like Equinox.

[AKgirlinCA]

To save a lot of expenses, rent a room out of someone's home that has utilities/cable/internet included in the room rent. You could probably find a room for rent in the $650 range with everything included. Plus you'd probably have access to a washer/dryer which you probably wouldn't have by renting a studio. So the laundry will add up as an extra bill too. Fitness19 has memberships for $19 a month. They have a location in Mission Viejo that is very nice. I don't think getting a 2br and renting out the other room is a good idea. I've been trying to rent out a room in my townhouse for quite awhile and have had only one response. Too risky to "hope"someone will rent it.

[missionhome]

Originally Posted by yougotfitched

To the poster who mentioned gyms...what gym do you go to? If I only had to pay 19 a month I'd be all over it. Everything I've seen around here is the clubby type place. I'm looking for a facility where people are serious. Mainly with a large freeweight area. None of the fancy glitz like Equinox.

Sorry, I looked around the UCI and Newport Beach area and there does look to be a ton of those fancy gyms. 24 Hour Fitness and Bally's look like the most affordable places at $30 per month.

I'm at Fitness 19 and got a $19 per month rate. I originally was at 24 hour, but a Fitness 19 opened walking distance to my house and lots of my friends moved to there so I went too. I didn't realize what a good deal I got I guess and I didn't know they only had two OC locations. I guess I just having a screaming deal and $40 is more typical than I thought, sorry

Being young, you won't want to move out here to family land. We will put you to sleep, stick with the beach cities.

[buckeyenative01]

Originally Posted by yougotfitched

Thank you for your feedback! I got very lucky on this position. It took me 6 months of 10 hour day job searching to get the position. I am a Marketing Analyst for a company located off of Jamboree near UCI. I like your idea of leasing a 2br and renting the second bedroom out. I've seen Fullerton and Tustin but haven't given them the fair chance they deserve. I will have to look at complexes more in-depth in that area.

If I ever manage to get my butt back out to Orange County, getting a 2br apartment and renting it out to someone is something I've seriously considered. I had some world class goofballs as roommates in college and post-graduation, and at least in going the renting 2br route, you have some control over who is living with you.

Six months? That's not too bad, especially for someone out of state (I still have a cell phone with the 714 area code which gives me some legitimacy in looking like I'm trying to move back, but still). Best of luck to you.

Also if you're a football fan, USC and the San Diego Chargers reign supreme (used to be the Raiders until they began sucking on a consistent basis). You've been warned

[yougotfitched]

Haha, you guys (and girls!) are great. I knew I came out here for a reason...lol.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by yougotfitched

That would likely go into 401k or health insurance.

Based on this statement (and the word "or"), I don't think you can afford it. Your leftover money should be for 401(k) AND health insurance and $3000 isn't enough for both. (By the way, 401(k) is pretty much pretax.) If your after tax is around $31K I'll guess your gross is around $40K to $45K. Using the City-Data gold standard "1/3 of your gross for housing" rule, then $15K/12 is about $1250/month; and you have that gnarly $526/month for student loans.

If you're making $45K and you kick in 10% for the 401(k) that's $4500 pretax. You haven't even funded your Roth ($5K/year) yet or your pre-tax medical HMO or PPO contribution (if the man provides for it).

It's going to suck when it's time to ask Ms. Right out on a date.

[EscapeCalifornia]

I think you'll be spending more than $125/mo on gas. What about car insurance? What about all the other crap that adds up in real life but never finds its way onto a budget spreadsheet?