In a little while, I’ll be taking my lunch break to check out an apartment. It’s on the third floor of an office building in a small town called Elmwood Park. The apartment was described to me as being a two-room apartment on the third floor of a building that also houses stores and a law office. Most of the heating is provided by the law offices, and there is no central air conditioning. It does have a full bath. The rent is $725 each month.
The place would be about fifteen minutes from the office where I work, I think. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just not feasible to live in south Jersey and work in Bergenfield. Unfortunately, I’m still not saving much money by moving. The current costs of transportation will be replaced by a much higher rent and higher utility costs.
Last night Becca told me about someone who had people sponsor him to ride his bike through ten states. He used the sponsorship money to go to a foreign country. At the time, it seemed kind of selfish to take other people’s money for traveling since the guy would be the only one benefiting from the money. I thought the sponsorship idea is good for a “cause,” like research for an AIDS vaccine.
I’m going to spend this weekend in Buffalo (for drum corps championships) trying to come up with creative solutions for paying off my debt. There must be some way I can figure out how reducing my debt will benefit the rest of the world in order to find sponsors.
Here’s an update on the apartment: it wasn’t bad, but I’m not going to take it. I’m considering going through a realtor to get something nicer for less money.
Hmmmm. Good luck on that nicer/less money thing. But don’t hold your breath. Though, of course, being a Silicon Valley girl, I’m naturally pessimistic about these things.
Well reducing your debt could benefit your creditors… maybe they in turn would spend more money and thereby stimulate the economy? It’s worth a try!
Realtors tend to not have a lot of listings because it’s more profitable for landlords to handle it themselves. There is such a demand for apartments, that generally landlords can list in the newspaper and have a renter within days. You can try it, but I wouldn’t stop looking elsewhere…