Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Moving to Boston countdown....advice?
My Fiance has started his new job in Boston while I am here in Miami planning our wedding and figuring out how we are going to have a smooth move up there. Since we did not want to rush the process of choosing our first apartment together, my f is living in a temporary studio. I will be traveling in August to go see what apartments he has chosen so I can have the final say and then after we are married, I will live there with him.
Here is the bumpy part...I just graduated with my degree in secondary mathematics and was hoping to have my first year teaching be the 2010-2011 semester, but this moves means I will be in time for half the school year semester. I am a camp counselor now for the summer and then in fall I am a volleyball coach and will substitute in Miami-dade county. So instead of looking for an apartment that would be affordable for 2 incomes, we have to rely on one income....even though in the semester of 2011-2012 we will have two incomes. I do not want to move into one apartment for the one income and then move into another that would be better since we will have two incomes at that point. I want our first apartment, which I will decorate and make home, to last at least three years. However, I do not want to live in a crapy apartment just because of the circumstances. Any suggestions?
Re: Moving to Boston countdown....advice?
Keep in mind in HCOL cities, rent doesn't take up only 30% of your income. It generally takes up 40-45%. So you can use that as a guideline.
You can get plenty of decent apartments for $1200 or under if you aren't set on living in posh downtown areas. You can look at East Boston (the Maverick area or Orient Heights), Winthrop, Chelsea Waterfront, parts of Cambridge and Somerville (again, you aren't going to be in harvard square or davis square, but you'll find something), or even in a suburb like Woburn if you are willing to live outside of the city a ways.
And honestly, by Miami standards, "crappy" may be totally different to you. Boston is a very, very, very, very old city. Many buildings are run down, old, there isn't a lot with a/c, and places are tiny. I haven't lived in a place bigger than 800 square feet since leaving home until we moved out of Boston.
could you stay in the studio with him until you found a job and then bigger apt.?
Could you look for a temporary job until a teaching one came in? I.e. a temp/office type job, waitressing, or bartending. if you can get to a good restaurant, the tips could be great. Maybe also advertise tutoring online or something for some extra cash, esp since your specialty is math.
Good luck with your move, welcome to Boston!
Depending on how much your FI makes and the area you want to live will determine if you can afford the type of place you desire now without your extra income. Start looking on realtor.com, craigslist, and other sites to get an idea of the areas you want to live in and how much places are going for in those areas. If you are finding the places you want are unaffordable on your FI's income alone either expand your search area or consider a smaller place for a year and then move into another space once you have a job. There's no guarantee that you will find a job right away so don't count on a certain income for yourself before you have an offer.
GL!
I think you need to be a bit more flexible. Sure, moving a couple of times is a pain, but it's doable. I moved 7 times in 6 years while I was living in California--not because I wanted to, it was just circumstance and it was fine.
I think your best bet is to go with what you can afford on one budget and upgrade when you can. It's not the end of the world.
On a side note, I'm excited to have another volleyball player on the board! You'll love the v-ball scene here. Boston Ski and Sports Club (BSSC) and Boston Volleyball Association (BVA) are the two major organized vball clubs. The first is more professionally run, the second is a little schlocky but can be fun. The Yankee organization here rates each player individually on a scale from C- to Open. They sponsor tournaments every weekend during the indoor season. During the outdoor season there are multiple tournaments every weekend by a number of organizations. You'll want to sign up for the Yahoo Group "bavp" when you get settled up here.
Thank you so much ladies for all your advice. I will be more flexible and not only look for two bedroom but also one bedroom and check out the scene. We have definetly come down to three areas we are settling on: 1) Cambridge 2) Somerville 3) Boston. My fiance and I will have one car so we need to be somewhat near the T. We can afford up to 1800 a month on his salary alone. I will look at the websites recommended.
I will have to get use to the small space and different apartment life in Boston. I cannot wait to get into the scene in Boston with schools, volleyball, food, and different church communities. As for another question of advice.....what should I watch out for when picking our apartment? Heads up or expectance...anything any of you have expereinced whether positive or negative?
In Somerville, be sure to check out the area before committing. The areas that border Cambridge are great, others can be really sketchy.
I don't have any apartment tips beyond the general things you'd think of when it comes to renting in any city.
Not sure if this helps with the areas you've already selected, but another idea could be to look at apartment complexes on the T or cummuter rail. We used to live at a large complex with lower rent- it was about a 20-30 minute drive to Boston, but the commuter rail ran right through it, so DH would just take that to work and I would drive the car.
Good luck!
We found a nice small 1 and 1 apartment in Quincy for 1375. It is not the most modern looking place but we feel this might be a great deal and we can save money. Any advice about Quincy? Also, for our wedding registry we are asking for gift cards from Macys (for clothing mostly-winter wear), William Sonoma (Kitchen gear), Target (small affordable goods), and Bed Bath and Beyond. I figure since these stores are in Boston, so we can pick out the items with our gift cards. My concern is furniture, is there a national store that has great quality furniture that we can have our guest be aware of or even contribute towards online?