The best kind of rent is Free rent, amirite?? haha. If you can live with your parents, grand-parents, aunt, uncle, friend’s basement, distant relative… for FREE, then please do it! Consider yourself blessed to have people open their home to you like that. But I get it, most people don’t have that kind of opportunity and need to pay for rent. So the question is, how can you lower your rent?
Best Ways to Get Cheap Rent
- Pack the house – If you live in a house by yourself, guess how much you have to split rent by? You guessed it, ONE. Now imagine living with 10 people, that rent goes down significantly.
- Take the bottom bunk – If you split a room with someone and their furniture takes up 60% of the room, then it’s possible to negotiate for lesser rent.
- Utilities included – In exchange for rent money you get a roof over your head. But people often forget that water, gas, & electric may not be included. I like to think of these expenses as part of my rent. So find a place that lumps this into the rent.
- Lower your standards – The general rule for rent is that you get what you pay for. If you’re trying to save money, don’t expect any progress by renting a place on a cliff with an ocean-view and brings you to tears during sunset. You save money by finding a cheap room. Duhh
- Don’t say yes so fast – I bet you right now, if I go to Craigslist.org, Rent.com, Zillow.com, Trulia, Realtor.com, I can find about 100 places in the area I want to rent. Weigh out your options, you’ll thank yourself for choosing the right place at the right price.
- Cut your budget in half – If you allowed $700 for rent, try finding a place for $350. I know this sounds absurd, but saving money is all about making cuts.
Good Luck my friend. I know there’s a ton of research ahead of you, so drink some coffee, and get your save hustle on. If you end up finding that affordable place to rest your head at night, then I hope it frees up money for investing, Disneyland passes, skydiving, 401k, presents for your Mom, brazilian jujitsu lessons… All of that good stuff.
Save Your Money, You Might Need It 