/

Budgeting

6.2 What’s the Cost of Living?

Activity

Name

Paying for Utilities

Once you move into an apartment, you’ll need to set up and begin paying for utilities (the broad collection of services you need, such as heat and hot water, and may want, such as cable or phone service).

1) Background Info

Read this brief article, Apartment Utilities: Who’s Responsible for Paying What?, (found on MHS website within group of Lease Articles) to determine what utilities are typically included in apartment’s rent, and which utilities the tenant (and optional roommates) are responsible for paying.

2) How Much Will Utilities Cost You?

Going back to this lesson’s earlier activities, you’ve already chosen a city to live in and how many roommates you’ll have. List those again here:

City: # of Roommates (include yourself):

Now, conduct internet research to find the cost you’ll pay monthly for each utility ; use the data to complete the chart below. You may want to use the hints below the chart to find specific price data on utilities for your given city.

UTILITY / Will you purchase?
(Optional utilities only) / Service Provider / Plan Level or Other Relevant Details / Total Cost per Month / Monthly Cost per Roommate
Cable/Satellite1
Cell Phone2
Internet3
Home Phone4
Gas/Electric5 / YES

Hints on Finding the Info you Need:

  1. For cable or satellite TV, find out which company provides service for your specific city; these prices vary greatly between different locations. Then, record the actual price of service, with the required fees (there are typically high taxes and fees on cable), after any promotional discounts expire ($30/month is a great introductory rate, but what does it go up to afterwards? How soon does the offer expire?)
  2. For your cell phone, you can use your current plan’s price data, if you plan to stick with it after graduation. If you plan to change service providers or add extra perks, do the research to find the best deal.
  3. For internet, find out which company provides service for your specific city. If it’s bundled in with cable, you might get a deal on both. Similar to cable, make sure to find out the normal monthly rate, not just the promotional discount for signing up.
  4. Home phone prices will vary based on location, too. Find the best provider for your city.
  5. Gas or electric might be more difficult to find a specific price, because it depends on how much of each to use. Try to find data on the average cost for your area, or the average cost for an apartment the size you have in mind. If you can’t find anything specific to your location, this website might be helpful in estimating cost: Rules of Thumb for Estimating Apartment Utility Costs.

3) What Are Your Priorities?

  1. Now that you see the prices for each utility, rank how important each is to you, with 1 being most important and 5 being least.

1. Gas/Electric -- if they’re not included in your rent, one or both of these are a necessity.

2.

3.

4.

5.

  1. If you had to cut your budget, which utility(ies) would you modify or remove?

4) Revise Your Salary-Based Budget

Go back to your Salary-Based Budget project from Lesson 6.1 Budgeting Basics and revise the categories for Renter’s Insurance, Cable/Satellite TV, Internet, Home Phone, Mobile Phone, and Electricity/Gas based on your budgeting knowledge and work within this activity. Remember, your ultimate goal is to end your complete budget with a surplus, and you’ve still got five budget lessons to complete.

all NGPF's lessons on Gooru

1