Diana+C.,+Anna+B.,+&+Mandy+C.

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You overpaid on your deposit - was only $500 ($167 per)

Price Evidence [|Apartment] $317 Rent with $317 Deposit [|Bus Pass] $32 Youth (ages 6-18) Regional Monthly Pass [|Cox Bundle] $89.99 Basic Bundle for Cable, Internet, and Phone

Write-Up 1) After finding out that all three of us would attend SDSU, our group decided to share an apartment. The location of the apartment was extremely important to us because we wanted to be near SDSU in order to save money on transportation and to not have the hassle of parking on-campus, which is why we chose to live in a two-bedroom apartment on College Avenue near SDSU. 2) Keeping in mind that we had to save up money for next semester we tried to spend our money wisely. Sharing an apartment allowed us to divide up the rent, rent deposit, utilities, and Cox Bundle, which includes phone, cable and Internet services. Since gas prices are continuously high, we also decided to buy a monthly MTS bus pass that allows us to ride every route unlimited. Paying for a bus pass also allowed us to avoid car and car insurance payments. Little could be done to save on food or laundry bills, as we were not prepared to neither starve nor forgo personal hygiene in order to save a few bucks, so we spent the average on both of those areas. Too much studying is never good for anyone, which is why we decided to also set aside money for entertainment which we could spend on weekends while going out with friends, eating at restaurants, etc. Finally, each month we set aside an equal amount for our second semester savings. 3) Since three of us live in one apartment we are able to split the $950 rent/mo three ways, leaving us each with a $317 rent bill, along with a $317 rent deposit our first month. Utilities and the Cox Bundle were also split between the three of us, allowing each of us to pay $50 on utilities and $30 on the Cox Bundle a month. Dividing up these four bills allowed us to save $633 on rent, $633 on the rent deposit, $60 on the Cox Bundle, and unspecified amount on utilities because theoretically the more people that live in a house, the more gas, water, and electricity that is needed, however sharing the bill does allow everyone to save. We also saved on transportation by paying for a bus pass that cost $32 a month instead of paying for gas and car insurance, which would be the case if we had chosen to own a car. We were all unwilling to compromise when it came to food and laundry so we paid $200 per month on food and $20 a month on laundry. We also knew that we would need spending money for going out on weekends and other fun activities, so we set aside $175 a month for entertainment, except for month one, where we only spent $92 in order to accommodate the rent deposit. As for school savings, we spread the $2300 needed for the following semester out evenly over the six months, leading us to save $384 a month. 4) All of our decisions weren’t particularly difficult to make, however they were thoroughly thought out in order to ensure that we could continue to pay for school. We always made sure that our “essentials” were paid and saved for and allowed our “luxuries,” mostly entertaining, to take the hit for any extra expenses we had, such as the rent deposit in month one. Though we wouldn’t have all the extra comforts we did when we lived with our parents, such as a car or more cable channels, we did what we had to do in order to stay in school, which ultimately overweighs having any car or HBO. 5) Our planning, saving, and sacrifice ultimately will pay off because we will have money to go to school for another semester, which, in the end, was our greatest goal.