Unfortunately for renters, Boston is one of the most expensive cities in the nation to live in.  Calculating how much you can afford in rent and what you can do to cut down on rent is crucial if you’re new to the city and haven’t started making a lot of money.  But don’t lose hope, there are plenty of ways to save money, cut down on rent, and stay out of debt.

Calculate how much you can afford

There are several ways to go about this first step.  You can simply estimate your costs, subtract them from your monthly income, and appropriate the rest for rent.  Another option is to take the advice of personal finance professionals, such as this article from Yahoo Finance.  In the end this is just a more informed version of the first option.  If you rather not do the math yourself you can put your faith in a site that does the calculation for you, such as this one.  Any way you do it, just figure out what you can afford so we have a starting point.

Get a roommate

Sharing rent with one or more people is going to be cheaper than paying for it on your own, that’s no surprise.  If you’ve already signed up for PadMatcher you’re well on your way to saving yourself plenty of money by using our roommate search to find someone to share the burden of rent.  Once you have a roommate you can figure out between yourselves how you will split rent, based on income, room size, etc.

Choose a small room or share a bigger one

The smaller the room the lower the rent, another obvious fact.  What you really want to consider when looking at the size of your bedroom is how much time you spend in there.  If you’re gone at work most of the day and spend your weekends out of the apartment then you can probably settle for a smaller room and save some money.  If you’re on an even tighter budget you can share a room or fashion a “2-bed split.”  The first option isn’t ideal for privacy and comfort, but it instantly cuts the price of rent in half.  The latter choice simply means that a one bedroom apartment can be made into a two bed by someone making the living room into their bedroom.  Either way you’ll be sacrificing a little luxury for money, which you’ll be glad you did in the end.

Live in a less popular neighborhood

Everyone wants to live Downtown, in the North End, South End, Back Bay, and all the other famous areas around Boston.  Unfortunately for renters on a budget, these places are pretty expensive due to their popularity so you may want to avoid them.  Instead look into less popular areas that have cheaper rent such as East Boston, Brighton, or Jamaica Plain.  You can typically get apartments for relatively cheap in these areas and you can even get a bigger room!  These neighborhoods have a low price per square foot so you’ll get more bang for your buck.

Cut down on your expenses and check in on our blog

We’ve written several posts about different ways to save money in Boston that we will be posting in the coming weeks and we’ll continue doing so to save your sanity and have you not constantly worrying about paying rent.  It’s pretty easy to save money, you just need to remind yourself to do (or not do) certain things.  Don’t go out to eat frequently, use AC/heating sparingly, keep track of your expenses, and plenty of other simple tips.  Keep these in mind and you’ll be saving money in no time, then maybe you can afford a place a little nicer or in the neighborhood you really like.