Cost of Moving to First Apartment

[inky]

Just curious how much did it cost some of you guys to move out to your first apartment? Currently living with my family (mother, uncle, cousin - and soon, sister and grandmother) and I'm planning to move out around Feb. The thing is, I'm looking online for the total cost of moving out and I see numbers like $1,500, $2,000, or at best, $3,000 --- and from what I calculated, I call bullshit. The monthly rent for a good studio apartment (already have my eye on a specific one) is $1,100-$1,500/mo so upon moving in, you need the current rent, security deposit, 1-2 months advance, and last month's rent (3rd month adv) which totals to about $4,400 alone. Then comes the appliances, furniture, and whatever else you want to stuff into your new place. For that I went looking at online catalogs from Ikea, Macys, Amazon, Target, Best Buy, and a few others. I made my list, added everything up, applied NYC taxes and in the end it came up to approximately another $4,000! Holy shit. To top that off, I intend to purchase a few canvas prints and frame some artwork I bought which would probably drive home to around $500 to $600.

So...in the end, total cost of moving out would be approximately:
$4,400 + $4,000 + $600 =$9,000
Throw in some groceries = $9,200.

And in the spirit of not being a numbskull, I intend to move out with some extra cash at hand so let's hit it up to about $10,000

Of course, I can always buy things one at a time and that would knock down the furniture, appliances to a few necessities which only cost about $1,000-$1,500. But then, I'd be annoyed every time I look at the empty spaces in the apartment.

So...my question is, how much did it cost you guys to move out to your first apartment?

[ltsune]

<-- Interestingly stalking this thread.

On a serious matter, this is very much relevant to me. I'm moving out this summer myself as well. I have not yet calculated the costs, but the calculations you've done seem somewhat correct.
It's a bit scary though. I don't have $10,000 to throw on an apartment right now.

So yeah, would love to see some replies from people who have recently moved out themselves as well

[Azilius]

Then comes the appliances, furniture, and whatever else you want to stuff into your new place. For that I went looking at online catalogs from Ikea, Macys, Amazon, Target, Best Buy, and a few others. I made my list, added everything up, applied NYC taxes and in the end it came up to approximately another $4,000! Holy shit. To top that off, I intend to purchase a few canvas prints and frame some artwork I bought which would probably drive home to around $500 to $600.

Having yet to to move out I can't offer a number for you, but what I can say is you really shouldn't be surprised at the high cost if you're planning on splurging on furniture/paintings.. Doing those things incrementally is a much better idea and saves you from any debt issues. The cost of living varies incredibly depending on location so asking a forum that hosts users on the global scale might not give you any information at all really.

Most people I go to university with that have their own apartment live with a roommate or multiple roommates to help with payment, which in turn helps with furniture and everything else.

[inky]

Lol I'm somewhat close to my target. I would've been over it if I went penny pinching the past 2 months. I've had my old part-time office job for years while in college but I had little to no savings from that since I used it all to pay for college, vacation trips, and "stuff". I started working at my new job around October and recently started being allowed double-shifts, extra days -- so that brings in an extra $300-$600 (before taxes) weekly on top of the regular paycheck. In the end, I still have to wait until around Feb to move out. I think I'll Jew it out this holiday season -- stick to smaller gifts and all.

@Az: Not planning to buy them on increments but I do intend to have the money before I even use my credit card to purchase them. Which is the reason why I want to have at least $10,000 before I even set my foot into the new apartment. As far as living with roommates, I can say that at the moment, I'm able to afford the rent, utilities, and other monthly bills alone and have some extra money + savings at the end. However, what's really gonna sting is that initial moving-in phase which apparently costs $10,000.

[Goseki]

My moving from 1 apt (rented furniture) to another (no furniture).

So buying everything new.

Security Deposit - $900
Rent = $900
Fully furnished from a furniture store (everything including desks, tv, bed, couch (pimping), dining table, dressers, etc.) $4000
Utilities - $500
Food - $500

Total - ~ $7,000

[takolin]

Well I'm going to save in 2012 in order to move out of my parent's house around January next year. So far my bank account has a whopping 100 euros on it, but I got a job 2 weeks ago so I should have enough funds in order to move out at the end of next year.

[*BlackFox]

So...in the end, total cost of moving out would be approximately:
$4,400 + $4,000 + $600 =$9,000
Throw in some groceries = $9,200.

Holy crap.. It's brutal, way too extreme
But I think.. The price you pay.. also depends on the "location" and "Type" of your apartment

[dom]

lol wtf

When I moved into my first apartment I brought my TV and Bed from my parent's place, got a cheap couch, paid first month + security deposit (which doubles as last month), and $100 on groceries.

I don't get where most of you are coming from. The numbers you're mentioning are closer to what it cost me when I bought my condo.

[MrTwilliger]

I moved out of home around 5 months ago and for me it was incredibly cheap, actually. I got pretty lucky though as I was moving into a place which already had furniture set up and established. I live in a 2 year old, 2 story, 4 bedroom house with 3 other guys around my age. They had been living here since the house was built, 2 years ago, so all of the furniture was already in the house and all I had to do was occupy my room (which I did using my existing furniture at my parents house and the desk which I bought off the guy moving out for like $50).

Bond: $1000
Rent: $575 P/M (including internet)
Food: Around $300 P/M (I have a crazy fast metabolism so I eat a lot)

So off the bat it cost me just under $2000 to move in and my on going costs are pretty low. I also live in Canberra so the obvious "city tax" applies to everything. If I was in a much more remote place it would be even cheaper.

My biggest bit of advice is stop being so picky. You don't need that much furniture. Get a bed, a fridge and a microwave. That's it. Get the absolute bare essentials and then pick up stuff later on in life. I got a stained, hardwood bookcase from work which would cost around $1000 to buy retail for free. Instead of going out and spending money on furniture, I ceased an opportunity where I could and saved a lot of money. I still don't have a TV unit for this exact reason: I'm waiting until I get some spare time to build my own. It's not too relevant though as I hardly even use my TV anyway so it's just a side project for the holidays.

Skip the fancy art work, don't have a lounge, don't even have a dining table! Get the absolute bare essentials and then get the rest of the stuff off ebay. Furniture on ebay is insanely cheap and, if you have the drive, all the imperfections can be removed with a bit of sandpaper and some nice stain. Don't buy retail and learn to compromise and you will at least halve your initial moving in bills. Then, once you save up more money and get more pay rises etc, you can sell all that furniture on ebay for what you paid for it and buy all brand new stuff when you have the luxury of affording it.

[woutR]

when I moved out to study (I'm living in an apartment, not a dorm) I paid like ~100 euros for my stuff. I already had a bed, table, couch, chairs, closets and then I just bought a used stove and fridge and I was good to go. Idk why the furniture has to be so expensive. Surely your family has some stuff you can use too. The **** is up with 3 months rent btw?

[MrJoey]

Jesus fucking Christ... $1100 a month in rent? Fuck that, I'm glad I live in the midwest.

[ltsune]

A 45 square meter two-room apartment here in Denmark costs about $1000 per month. Might go up to $1200. It would seem it's rather expensive compared to where some of you guys come from.

[Skyve]

Kind of relevant, but in Canada (or at least in my province), you have to take this class called CALM before you can graduate from high-school. The class is pretty much about life, sex, drugs, our future ,etc. Anyways, there was that one project where you had to simulate buying an apartment and moving in with one of your friends. We'd go on websites and check the price for apartments, internet, utilities, furniture etc. Pretty interesting project and it got us to think about how to handle a situation like yours.

That cool story being said, why are you aiming for a 1,500$/mo apartment? (Unless that's the cheapest you can find in NYC).

As for the furniture, kajiji/craiglist this shit up.

[inky]

Forgot to mention, $1,100-1,500/month is only for a 450-750 sq. ft. studio apartment here. Granted it's in the good areas of Queens (close to subway, bars, mall, etc) and it's one of those nice buildings that have a 24-hour doorman. But still a studio.

As for furniture, my initial total was actually around $5,500 (not including artwork hangings and vinyl figures, etc) but I decided to change a few of the items on the list to bump it down to $4,000. If I really wanted to go on budget, I could even bring it down to $2,000 with all furniture included..but what's the use if I'm unsatisfied with the outcome? And in the long run, it's a lot cheaper than upgrading later on.

@MrTwi:
Either that or I stay with my folks for another month and a half to hit my mark, then move out.