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You have to shop, and buy when you want to, not when you need to. Renting is the same way. Don't wait until you have to move.
We are buying this place with 2,400 square feet and an attached apartment which we rent out at $350.00 including utilities, for under $700.00 a month with taxes and insurance. And that is not your normal small city lot although we are in the city. It's view acreage. You just have to look and shop, and shop.
When we decided to try out living full time in our 5th wheel, all the rental spaces with tiny yards were in the $400 a month plus range. We shopped and got view acreage , In the City of Coos Bay, on a large wooded lot, on a dead end street, right off Bayshore, for $250.00 a month, with water, and sewer, and garbage. Why, because we shopped.
??? What if you literally can't afford to move? As in "you can pay the existing rent, but since you have nothing left over to save, you can't come up with the upfront costs of moving in anywhere"?
From what I am seeing, renting a whole house in Portland is getting more expensive. I am not saying you can't find houses in the price range you mentioned, I am just saying I have seen them going for as much as I said. A 2 bedroom house in North Portland across from my sister-in-law is renting for $1600. Plus in Portland it is one of the tightest rental markets, and combine that with the rents for any new building that is going up now, the rents are much higher than they use to be. Definitely wouldn't be finding a studio apartment for $550 on the edge of downtown these days.
??? If you think renting a whole house in Portland is expensive, try renting a fractional house.
??? What if you literally can't afford to move? As in "you can pay the existing rent, but since you have nothing left over to save, you can't come up with the upfront costs of moving in anywhere"?
Hypothetically speaking, then I'd say you dug your own grave. Why is it anyone else's fault that you rented an apartment that was too expensive to start with?
So let's see, if the rent is too high and your income too low, which of those things do YOU have the ability to change? How about work a few odd jobs and slowly save up the moving costs? Nah....that would take too much effort. Let's just blame other people, it's easier.
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In 3-4 months you can have enough money saved to take certification classes for jobs that make 11 an hour with ample opportunity for overtime. Then you apply for school aid and with your low income you get school at a community college paid for or find a trade school. In some cases advanced certifications in the same area you got your first one exist. Most of those options will get you to a new base in the range of 14 to 20 an hour. At that point you can move to a better place and be a lot less frugal. Repeat this process once more: community college to university placement programs for a degree that gets you a job or a few years hard work in a trade, vocation, or career will boost you into the 20 to 30 range or beyond. Yes this is very doable. I've met people who have done it. I did something similar. I also met people that decided to spend their money unwisely, didn't work hard, called in sick a lot, or didn't try for promotions or advancements. More often than not the people that I have met who are stuck were "victims" of their selves and making bad choices.
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Originally Posted by redguard57
I work at a community college, so this kind of trajectory is definitely possible and I've seen a lot of people do it.
In my experience the biggest barriers are not the individuals trying to better themselves. If you're single and healthy, the process described is relatively simple and achieved fairly easily.
The biggest barriers I see are related to family and health. Either the person's health goes south, a family member's health goes south, or they have some kind of family tragedy or drama that mucks their education up. Kids are usually the single biggest problem. They get sick, they get involved with drugs, etc, etc...
ie: one of my better students this past year disappeared for weeks. I later found out that his wife left him overnight for another man and took his two kids with her, not a word of where they went. So he a couple weeks searching for them. With that level of stress it's hard to focus on school, so he had to drop everything. Now he lost all his money for that term and lost all that time.
I suppose this is a choice problem - since a lot of these people are in their 20s/30s with fairly old kids, meaning they had them in their teens or early 20s before they were ready, usually out of wedlock. Still, what I see are typically not losers who choose not to be successful. Those people are probably not in college.
ATTRIBUTION, please!
What certifications will get you $11 per hour? What if you can't afford community college? What if you're already over 50, who's going to pay you big bucks hen?
Hypothetically speaking, then I'd say you dug your own grave. Why is it anyone else's fault that you rented an apartment that was too expensive to start with?
So let's see, if the rent is too high and your income too low, which of those things do YOU have the ability to change? How about work a few odd jobs and slowly save up the moving costs? Nah....that would take too much effort. Let's just blame other people, it's easier.
??? WhereTF did you get the idea I rented an apartment that was too expensive to start with? I've rented a room in a house for over 5 years - subletting from an unemployed drunk who rents the house and then makes a big profit renting out the extra rooms. (He doesn't work and his unemployment ran out, so he needs to get money for booze and picking up women at bars somehow.) It was very affordable when I moved in; the drunk's addiction and anger and dysfunction and DUI expenses have led him down a road of jacking up the rent. Work a few odd jobs? Like what? it's not like I have marketable skills or anything.
??? WhereTF did you get the idea I rented an apartment that was too expensive to start with? I've rented a room in a house for over 5 years - subletting from an unemployed drunk who rents the house and then makes a big profit renting out the extra rooms. (He doesn't work and his unemployment ran out, so he needs to get money for booze and picking up women at bars somehow.) It was very affordable when I moved in; the drunk's addiction and anger and dysfunction and DUI expenses have led him down a road of jacking up the rent. Work a few odd jobs? Like what? it's not like I have marketable skills or anything.
First off, what the landlord does or who he is, is irrelevant. It's just fluff to avoid my overall point. As soon as he told you the rent was going up to a point where it was taking all of your income, you should have moved. Instead you stuck around in a place that was too expensive for your income. I doubt he forced you to stay. I'm sure you'll come up with another excuse on why the situation you are in is not your own doing.
Be a little creative and you can find many things to do for extra cash. Here's an example: I'm moving. I have been busy and haven't had as much time to pack as I had planned. I figured I'd look on Craigslist for people to come help pack boxes. Almost every ad I found for people offering to help pack (not move, just pack) wanted between $20 - $25 an hour. Sorry, but those rates are ridiculous. If someone had put an ad up for $15 an hour (over 60% more than minimum wage) I would have hired them and they could have made about $200 with a few evenings worth of work.
There's also a website called TaskRabbit.com. It's where people can post small odd jobs that need to be done. You can also post your profile and what odd jobs you're willing to do.
So clearly, there are no possible ways to make extra money on the side.
Hmmm... in 1950 a landlord would be nervous about renting to someone who didn't earn at least 4X the monthly rent. Now 3x is common and some will allow 2.5x. If they didn't they wouldn't get anyone into their "palacial' appointments. Wages have maybe doubled since 1950 but rents have quintupled in that same amount of time. Knowing this (as you must) do you really think: wages shouldn't be higher OR rents shouldn't be lower? It must be one or the other or you have a situation that only someone without a conscience could condone.
H
I will gladly rent you a place at 1950 prices if you will accept a 1950 standard of living. I have a 600sf workshop I can slap some plywood interior walls on and wallpaper with newspaper. The floors are in pretty good shape, no holes or gaps between the slats. It doesnt have air conditioning, but it does have a white gas cooktop and you can install a woodstove if you have one. It is very high end as it has both electric light bulbs in every room AND an plug outlet in both the bedroom and kitchen. There is plenty of room in the kitchen for the bathtub and a convenient waterfaucet on the back porch. I will throw in a burn barrel and once a month haul off two cans of garbage that is not burnable. Heck, I will be nice and not even charge you for that service. I cannot do anything to help on the utilities prices, they are not in my control, but the limited water and electric you will be consuming will still make this cheaper than any other place you can rent.
Be a little creative and you can find many things to do for extra cash. Here's an example: I'm moving. I have been busy and haven't had as much time to pack as I had planned. I figured I'd look on Craigslist for people to come help pack boxes. Almost every ad I found for people offering to help pack (not move, just pack) wanted between $20 - $25 an hour. Sorry, but those rates are ridiculous. If someone had put an ad up for $15 an hour (over 60% more than minimum wage) I would have hired them and they could have made about $200 with a few evenings worth of work.
There's also a website called TaskRabbit.com. It's where people can post small odd jobs that need to be done. You can also post your profile and what odd jobs you're willing to do.
So clearly, there are no possible ways to make extra money on the side.
You've heard of something called "the going rate"? No matter what it is, there will be people who find it too high and therefore unacceptable, too low and therefore suspicious, and some will find it juuust right. I don't know... if I was at risk of accidentally coming across someones sex toys or their porn DVD collection I might want $25/hr for the PTSD counseling on the side. Therapists must run, what... $75/hr.? Piano teachers around $40/hr. Contractors $40 - ??. A professional packer is providing a service that I think we can all agree is a luxury. There are no coincidences, remember, the going rate of ~$22/hr is where it is for a reason. So you'd hire the $15/hr scab who is undercutting the competition... ... who knows, you might luck out, or you might have to spend a lot more to get your DVD's back. FWIW.
Quote:
In 3-4 months you can have enough money saved to take certification classes for jobs that make 11 an hour with ample opportunity for overtime. Then you apply for school aid and with your low income you get school at a community college paid for or find a trade school. In some cases advanced certifications in the same area you got your first one exist. Most of those options will get you to a new base in the range of 14 to 20 an hour. At that point you can move to a better place and be a lot less frugal. Repeat this process once more: community college to university placement programs for a degree that gets you a job or a few years hard work in a trade, vocation, or career will boost you into the 20 to 30 range or beyond. Yes this is very doable. I've met people who have done it. I did something similar. I also met people that decided to spend their money unwisely, didn't work hard, called in sick a lot, or didn't try for promotions or advancements. More often than not the people that I have met who are stuck were "victims" of their selves and making bad choices.
ATTRIBUTION, please!
What certifications will get you $11 per hour? What if you can't afford community college? What if you're already over 50, who's going to pay you big bucks hen?
My son got his Cisco certifications (high school degree only) and is earning $42.50 plus overtime. It is very possible.
I will gladly rent you a place at 1950 prices if you will accept a 1950 standard of living. I have a 600sf workshop I can slap some plywood interior walls on and wallpaper with newspaper. The floors are in pretty good shape, no holes or gaps between the slats. It doesnt have air conditioning, but it does have a white gas cooktop and you can install a woodstove if you have one. It is very high end as it has both electric light bulbs in every room AND an plug outlet in both the bedroom and kitchen. There is plenty of room in the kitchen for the bathtub and a convenient waterfaucet on the back porch. I will throw in a burn barrel and once a month haul off two cans of garbage that is not burnable. Heck, I will be nice and not even charge you for that service. I cannot do anything to help on the utilities prices, they are not in my control, but the limited water and electric you will be consuming will still make this cheaper than any other place you can rent.
Let me know when you want to move.
What a ridiculous and pointless argument. I am sending this back for a total re-write. I said nothing about wanting rents today to return to 1950's levels. And what makes you believe that comfort... luxury even, are recent inventions?! I was talking about the ratio of income to rent that landlords accept. What in your argument speaks to that? Nothing, so why quote my post as the basis for your rant? But you at least give me an opportunity to correct an earlier error I made. I said that rents have quintupled since 1950... actually... well I was born in 59. Minimum wage in 1959 was $1.00/hr. That's like $5.00+/hr in today's money. Two working adults on minimum wage could have rented the apartment my parents owned. A door to door salesman or tradesman could EASILY make the $40/mo. necessary to rent my parents rental. The house I grew up in in Brooklyn had a 3 bedroom rental upstairs. Over the decades rents rose in the neighborhood, but my parents always rented well below market rate. When they sold the house in 1985 they were charging $600/mo. Other similar apts. were in the $1000/mo. range. Today, that apartment is renting for $2500/mo. It is in a Brooklyn slum that is in the throes of gentrification. Three young Manhattan professionals pulling down 30K or more apiece are now necessary to rent a space that was meant for a medium size family with a single wage earner heading it up. That is my argument. What is yours? Portland can go you one better, in fact, and allow me to CAMP in Dignity Village for free. Thanks for nothing.
H
Last edited by Leisesturm; 06-18-2014 at 10:51 AM..
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