Grown woman hangin’ with her roomies.

A couple of months ago I arrived home to a letter from my landlord advising that my rent was to increase by $16.17. This brought my monthly payment to just over $1100. I was scandalized. $1085 was one thing, $1100 was quite another! I know people who have smaller mortgage payments than that.

After years of redirecting my pay cheque to a grumpy old man it was time for action. I handed in my sixty days notice and informed the landlord that he had priced me out of my home and left me heartbroken, he informed me that I was to make sure I cleaned the oven and depart in a timely manner. It wasn’t long before I realised that I was in fact priced out of the WHOLE downtown core. Drastic action was required. I’m not sure at what point I decided to move in with roommates but before I knew it, the contents of my one bedroom apartment had been redirected to one bedroom.

Six years of living alone and I’m now faced with the prospect of walking around fully clothed, keeping my George Michael’s greatest hits CD at a communal volume and having a rather limited pre assigned space in the fridge. Hell hath no fury like a roommate’s fridge boundaries scorned. Part of me thinks it’s the pits, that I’ve failed in some way but mostly, all I can see are dollar signs. I’m saving over 50% on the rent and have put together a plan to save for a down payment with my colleague and new financial coach. In an attempt to help keep my roommate experience short and sweet he has also cut out my golf lessons (a vain attempt to pick up single investment bankers rather than a love of the game) and introduced a foreign concept of bringing my own lunch to work. My new roomies are amazing but what will be more amazing is being in a position to look at purchasing my own place in the next few years.

Thank you greedy landlord for forcing me into action!

Tagged as: financial coaching, rent, roommates