postagenotes's Profile

This is what we shall put on Earth's tombstone. lol

Dang that's nice! Veeery nice!

Agreed! This is a much better rule of thumb.

My rent alone is only 18%, but my recurring living expenses (unavoidable) push it much closer to 35%. Which is a more accurate reflection of the costs. If my rent alone came to 30%, I'd likely be eating ramen noodles and living in the dark.

I guess it has a lot to do with how much insurance/cable/internet/phone/etc cost in your area. In some places rent is cheaper, and those costs are higher, in others it's the opposite, and in some they are both high or both low. Things to consider for sure when calculating the %.

I scheduled two full days to clean before I even moved anything into my place. Just brought a car full of friends/cleaning supplies on the day I got my key, and went to work. It's so much easier to clean an empty apartment, than it is to work around all your unpacked stuff! Highly recommend this route, if it's possible.

My current place (see: Small Cool 2012 "Geoff's southern exposure studio").

It's the perfect size for me. It's bright, and in a great neighborhood. I have a West Elm, West Elm Market, Pottery Barn, Williams Sonoma, Restoration Hardware and Anthropologie (among others) all within 2 blocks of my door! There's an old theatre across the street, and a public transit hub a block down. I've got a patio, and face south, so it's nice and sunny spot to chill. New doors/windows, hardwood floors, plenty of closet space.

The clincher, though, is that I have a super cheap monthly parking spot (which my family abuses on shopping day trips) and my rent is well below what it should be for the area, thanks to a very kind/friendly/helpful landlord!

The shower switches from boiling to freezing every time I use it, and the neighbors can be a bit noisy, but I'm happy to ignore those flaws. I don't see myself moving any time soon!

Vote coming your way from a fellow Lululemoncouverite. :)

Love it! So clean and bright. Tidiness is a sexy thing.

Went to the Vancouver one a couple weeks ago. Mulled wine, sauerkraut, yum.

Glass door! down light on the ceiling, glass shelves. store coloured glasses!

Some of the comments in here lead me to believe that these people have nothing but time to find their perfect apartments, or are viewing apartments without much competition. I, for one, had a total of 2 minutes to view my apartment, in which time another potential renter had already filled out the paperwork and applied for it. I, quite literally, didn't have enough time to count outlets.

In some cities, where there are an abundance of tenants and a deficit of places to live, there simply isn't time to be picky. If the furniture fits, the lights turn on, and the water runs hot and cold, you sign the lease.

I ended up getting the place, and I also have no outlets in the bathroom. (except one that is built into the light, which only works for my electric razor, but isn't powerful enough to run my travel sized blow dryer). I have considered talking to the landlord to see about getting an outlet installed, but as others have noted, my place is at least 60yrs old, and the plaster walls do not take kindly to being opened up.

I just use another outlet in my kitchen for the blow dryer. Compromise I had to make to live in my dream location, in a seriously low-rent (for the area) apartment with an amazing landlord.

Best of luck!