@LadyMarissa
Hello LadyMarissa,
First I would like to start off by saying thank you for taking the time out fo your day to respond to my post. To answer one of your statements; I live in the state of Georgia located in the United States. Firefighters here as well eat at the station but usually, we have to put in about $5–10 a shift to be able to eat. Honestly, I usually just bring in my own food but that is not saying I do not eat with the crew because I do agree with you regarding the food budget. I only budgeted $500 because I wanted to over budget just in case if that makes sense. Ideal I do not believe I will ever even go over $400. Honestly, when it comes to electronics it will not be much. All I will have is my laptop which I bring to work the majority of the time and my computer which will, of course, stay at the apartment but when I leave for work I will have my desktop all unplugged so it does not run any unwanted power while I am gone. I do not plan on getting cable since I can watch the majority of what I need on my laptop for free. So ideal I would only need to budget more for the internet if my apartment does not already come with it. I was using the website SmartAsset to find an estimate on utilities and according to the website for Georgia, they were saying that Utilities usually range from $140–200. I really hope that is true but again I will never know until I get there. I do not plan to overspend anywhere to honest with you. I like to consider myself a pretty boring person. All I do is go to the gym and when I am not at the gym I am either working or at home just watching a sports game or studying. I do not drink or do any drugs so as you can probably tell I do not waste my time at bars. Thank you again for your kind words and I hope everything works out as well. I am too old to still be living at home.
@janbb
Hello janbb,
Thank you for responding to my post! I also believe I will spend much less on utilities but I only budgeted it that high because I wanted to over-budget rather than under budget if that makes sense. I do not know what to expect and that’s why I budgeted it like that. Thank you again.
@ARE_you_kidding_me
Hello ARE you kidding me,
Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post. While I agree with you that I will not be able to afford without my second job, that is why I have a second job and possibly a third job. I am by no means trying to sound rude when I say this but did you read my whole post because I am not sure you saw the area of me talking about my second job. I agree that I must save for retirement and I plan to do so but to be completely honest with you I was not planning on it until next year. Hear me out. I am currently living in Georgia and I do not want to live here my entire life. I found this great company in Texas that pays paramedics $60,500 starting off but the kicker is they have a pension plan and they contribute 200% of what you put into it. After attaining my paramedic in 7–8 months I was planning on getting that job and once I landed that job I would have much better income and then I was going to start contributing to there retirement. I would love to look for cheaper rent but there are no options regarding that. Literally what I have found is the cheapest rent and this is looking all across the boards within a 150-mile radius. The absolute cheapest apartments I found where $750–850 but there were located in the ghetto and had mold on the ceilings and in the vents. To me, that is not worth it at all just to save maybe an extra hundred. I am not sure what entertainment you are talking about and for healthcare, my full-time job covers that. I pay nothing out of pocket for health insurance. My emergency account has 2,000 in it and I still plan on increasing it to at least 4,000. I wish I could find rent for $325 but nowadays that is pretty unrealistic. Heck I even went onto craigslist and looking for rooms to rent and the closest thing I could find was $650 with utilities included but I am not sure how comfortable I am with doing such a thing. I had my own room and bathroom but everything else was shared and I don’t know but it makes me feel weird inside. I would possibly look into a roommate but I get really nervous with that because if my roommate misses a payment then I would get really nervous about my credit score.
I am not sure why after being debt free you were still struggling. Your rent was pretty low. Not trying to sound rude. I agree that firefighters need to be paid more but that’s not my call sadly and I have to work with what society is giving me. Once I get my paramedic I plan to bridge to my nursing after getting on with the company in Texas and then eventually attain my NP. Thank you for the kind words and I am proud to serve any community. It’s an honor.
@Inspired_2write
Hello Inspired_2write,
Thank you for responding to my post. I would ask my real estate agent but I am nervous that I will need to pay out of pocket for the services and I really do not want to spend money where I might not need to if that makes sense. I could always ask the neighbors but knocking on random peoples doors is not always plausible. I doubt the realtor could but it may be worth trying. I have looked countless of hours.
@johnpowell
Hello Johnpowell,
Yes, I agree with you that the utilities seem high and I did that on purpose. I over-budgeted my utilities on purpose because I never did this before and I have no idea what to expect for it. I am hoping my utilities are no more than $200 a month, to be honest with you. The utilities will not be included. There are actually no apartments here in Georgia that have utilities included. It’s kinda annoying, to be honest with you. Thank you for your advice!