The total cost of renting

This post comes from partner blog Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.

One of the main reasons I bought a home was because I was tired of moving. I hated packing up my things, renting a truck, moving my things, then unpacking my things. It felt like such wasted effort.

However, in my numerous moves, I did establish a great way to come up with a total cost-of-housing metric that helped me compare various housing options.

When I first started comparing apartments, I got the basics right. I compared the total rent, I accounted for utilities, and I accounted for any insurance I would need to buy. I failed to recognize commute time and cost, though, which played a significant factor in my first apartment (25 miles one way). That's just one of the considerations I missed. There are several more.

The total cost of renting should include the following factors (in the order of most likely to be overlooked):

• Parking.

• Commute mileage and time.

• Automobile insurance.

• Renters insurance.

• Deposit.

• Utilities and rent.

Parking. Parking is one of those factors you're either keenly aware of or entirely oblivious to. I've been fortunate enough to have lived in apartment complexes that had ample parking, and the farthest I've ever had to park was a few hundred feet from my building's front door. In more-populated cities, parking can be a huge pain. My friends in Baltimore tell me that if they get back into the city from work past 8 p.m., there's almost no chance they'll find any street parking nearby. Having a safe place to park is crucial when evaluating places to live, and some apartment complexes charge you extra for a parking spot.

Commute mileage and time. Many people fail to seriously consider commute mileage and time when comparing rental properties because they don't see it as being significant. With the recent fall in gas prices, it's becoming less and less financially significant and people are more easily overlooking it. I think that's a mistake.

A long commute can have a draining effect on a person. Having to drive an hour home after a 10-hour day of work absolutely sucks. Having to drive an hour to work, so you can stay there for 10 hours, then drive home -- that's brutal. However, I've seen people do that drive just so they can save $100 on rent, and that seems a bit foolish. If there are other reasons for that trade, then by all means do it, but to do it just for money seems foolish.

Automobile insurance. Many of my friends love living in Baltimore but many of them also complain that their automobile insurance rates are high. That's because it's more expensive to insure a car in Baltimore than in the suburbs. While I'm not an actuary, I believe it's a combination of the higher population density, both in people and in cars, and the higher incidence of crime. That, and people aren't that great at parallel parking.

Renters insurance. This is another, though less important, insurance number that is likely higher in the city than in the suburbs. Before you select a place, call your insurer and see how much renters insurance would be in your new place. It's not likely to be significantly different because renters insurance is often very cheap, but it could be big enough to change your decision.

Deposit. Some places require one month's rent as deposit, and others require only a few hundred dollars. I prefer the apartments that require only a few hundred dollars because I don't want to have to fight with the landlord to get my deposit back when I move out. I've heard many horror stories about people getting screwed on cleaning deposits because they forgot to vacuum or were blamed for regular wear and tear, and I prefer to avoid it entirely. My first apartment had a $300 deposit ($1,200 monthly rent for my roommate and myself) and no cleaning requirement. We were allowed to leave the place as filthy we wanted and we wouldn't lose a penny of our deposit.

The laws on deposits vary from state to state. Some states require a landlord to pay you interest on your deposit, and others limit the deposit to one or two months' rent. Check your state's Web site for additional details. Plenty of unscrupulous landlords, especially individuals, try to skirt the law when it comes to deposits. Know the laws and your recourse. (If I were you and I learned that a landlord was trying to break the law with regard to deposits, I'd rent somewhere else.)

Utilities and rent. I listed these two together and last because very few people overlook utilities and rent when comparing places to live. I always prefer a place that offers utilities included over one where you have to pay the bill yourself because it gives you a bit of protection against any bad months. As for rent, I recommend you take a look at Rentometer to get a better idea of how your rent compares with others in your area.

Are there any other financial factors I'm missing?

Other articles of interest at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity:

0% credit cards

Tax loss harvesting

Obama's 21st century New Deal: An economic stimulus

Messenger bags, shoes, watches, cell phones, action figures

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Invited to a party? That'll be $10, son

Ever notice how much it can cost to be a birthday party guest? David G. Mitchell of SavingAdvice.com sure did, when his kids were younger. They'd each get invited to one or two parties per month, even if they didn't really know the birthday boy or girl. (Apparently some teachers decree that if one kid in the class is invited, all must be invited.)

In a recent post, Mitchell noted that he and his wife "easily could have spent over a thousand dollars on birthday gifts for children who our own children never saw outside of school."

This rubbed him the wrong way, especially since some of the parties seemed to be "money grabs." At one party his older boy was one of more than three hundred invited guests, and his younger son went to a party with more than 100 guests. Special, huh?

Rather than forbid the children to accept every invitation, the parents tried a different tack: "We told them that if they wanted to go to a party, they would need to pay $10 towards the gift."

This had an immediate effect even though the two kids have very different views of money. The younger boy cut down on his party-going somewhat, but generally felt that "any opportunity to have fun with his friends" was usually worth $10 of his allowance.

The older son went only to the parties of people he really liked, or "if he knew that the party would be 'worth the cost of the gift.'" The young man also tried the time-honored protest, "None of the other kids have to do this!" It didn't work.

On the bright side, the rule required that he learn to budget his available funds.

Some would call the Mitchells' tactic pretty hardcore. In fact, he writes that he has found "very few" other parents who say they make their kids chip in. But he says he's met a bunch who admire the Mitchells' determination to "enforce a regime of fiscal responsibility on our kids."

Personally, we'd call fiscal responsibility a pretty incredible gift in its own right.

How about you, readers: Do you think parents should pay for their kids to attend every party? Or as Mitchell put it, "Is it more important to ensure that your child attends all of the parties to which he or she is invited, or should children be taught that attending a party comes with a cost?"

Related articles:

Inside the treat bag: How we are ruining our kids

When frugal living conflicts with social gift-giving

Children's gifts: Don't spend a lot on what they don't want

When luxuries become boring (but still high-priced)

Now that times are tight, personal finance blogger "Anotherjen" suggests that it's time to "break ourselves of our skewed ideas of what exactly separates the 'essential' from the 'extras.'"

People are unlikely to eliminate all their extras, she acknowledges on a BlogHer post called "Breaking the cycle of habitual splurges." But perhaps they should think about whether these "extras" are still special enough to keep.

"When the 'extras' become 'everyday,' do you still get the same pleasure out of them?" the blogger asks.

Once upon a time, Anotherjen's own habitual splurge was the infamous latte: "You know, the ones that cost some of us upwards of $1,000 each year." For a while she was drinking one or two a day. In time, though, they stopped feeling like treats. Sometimes she didn't even enjoy them.

Now she stops for coffee once a week, tops. Still kind of a waste, she admits, given how much cheaper it is to make coffee at home. But these days, a latte every now and then feels like a true indulgence.

"So let's make sure are 'treats' are just that: treats," she says. "You eliminate the guilt of knowing you're flushing your money down the drain and, when you do splurge, the splurge will feel that much more decadent."

Related articles:

Sorry, Starbucks, but coffee is still cheaper at home

Saying 'yes' can help you say 'no'

How 'bout them apples?
 

Gettin' hitched at the courthouse

Personal finance blogger "Jennifer" at Becoming the Marshmallow could have spent thousands of dollars -- or tens of thousands -- to marry her sweetheart, Tim. But neither of them were all that interested in a conventional nuptials and reception.

Instead, they went to the Pinellas County (Fla.) Courthouse and got married. And they have the "commemorative paper framed portrait with the county logo" to prove it.

The wedding "was all that we could hope for," she wrote in a post called "My wedding cost $303.50." That cost included a nice dinner and a night in a hotel.

This isn't a choice for everyone, and even Jennifer acknowledges that "it was a little strange having a wedding without friends or family present." However, she felt more comfortable with just the two of them because she's a "rather private person."

At least three of her coworkers also had courthouse weddings; another is considering it. One of those coworkers and his now-wife were both working as aerial photographers, so they got married in their flight suits. After that, they grabbed a bite at the McDonald's drive-through and headed back to work.

Here's hoping their romance was a supersized one. But seriously: We think you should do what feels right for your situation. Jennifer and Tim are just as married as anybody else -- and they didn't exhaust themselves, or their budget, getting to that happy state.

"It's a route I highly recommend. No stressful planning, high costs or complications," Jennifer says.

"The wedding day is supposed to celebrate the love of two people. I think we did just that."

Related articles:

The complete guide to planning an affordable wedding

My daughter got married without going broke

7 tips for money and marriage
 

A gift war -- and I fired the first shot

I may have ignited a gift war. All I wanted to do was give some homemade jam, freshly baked Christmas cookies and an Anchorage Daily News moose calendar to the former owners of the apartment building that I manage.

I've been giving them these treats for several years and wanted to continue, especially because after selling the place in October they sent me a nice note and $300 worth of gift cards.

Jam, cookies and pictures of ungulates seemed like the least I could do.

When I gave the gift bag to the husband, he told me they enjoyed the annual sweets. "I think we've got one of these coming your way, too," he said, indicating the bag.

Oh dear.

I told him that wasn't necessary -- that I liked to share homemade treats and that I'd appreciated the chance to have worked for them. As I had written in the card that accompanied my gift, the job literally helped me survive when the chips were down.

Yet I also know how he feels: Anytime I'm given something, I want to give something back.

And that's how gift wars get started.

The gift that keeps on growing
These wars tend to escalate, according to an essay by personal-finance blogger "Frugal Zeitgeist." Someone surprises you with a present. The next year, you give that person something a little bit nicer, because you didn't get him anything before. After that, the recipient's next gift is probably upgraded, too.

"I hate gift wars. They're expensive. They're stressful. They create clutter," she writes.

The blogger has a few cease-fire tips:

•    Give of yourself. Offer dog walking, baby-sitting, Web design, fancy desserts -- whatever you do well.
•    Give within limits. Choose something consumable that the recipient might not buy for himself -- decent wine, chocolates, etc.
•    Give to others. Donate to that person's favorite charity.
•    Give, if you must. But suggest, gently, that gifts be "reasonable."
•    Give what's needed. Times are tough, so FZ is sending her parents a grocery store gift card. Or how about a gift that saves the recipient money?
•    Give up on giving. Of course, a no-gifts policy works only if everyone sticks with it. Another PF blogger, "Escape Brooklyn," writes that her family agreed not to exchange gifts -- but her sister sent a present anyway.

When fired upon, don't return fire
When I told a friend about this situation, she asked whether my former bosses gave presents in previous years. Yes -- gift cards with "Thanks for all you did for us this year" notes.

My friend pointed out that perhaps the $300 gift was a final thank-you in recognition to the end of our business relationship. Probably I shouldn't be giving them a Christmas gift, she suggested, unless I planned to continue at least a cordial friendship.

She has a point. When the owners said they hoped I would "keep in touch," they might have been just saying the kind of thing everyone says. Or they might have meant it. Earlier this month they sent me a Christmas card with a snapshot of their first grandchild.

They're busy, and I'm busy, but I'd like to keep in at least casual contact because they're nice people. Even so, I hope they don't send me anything more.

If they do? I'll write a thank-you note in which I'll explain that I don't want to start a gift war. Should they feel compelled to give, I'll send a list of my favorite charities and request a donation be made in my name.

However, I'll let them know that the cookies will keep coming. I like to make and share them because it brings back memories of baking with my mother. One year I skipped cookie-baking and it just didn't feel like Christmas.

However, I find it difficult to make just a few cookies. Thus if I don't give most of them away, I'll end up in the hospital, overdosed on butter and sugar and chocolate.

And at that point, someone might send me a get-well present and the whole cycle would begin anew.

4 Tips before you're making Balance Transfer

The offer from your credit card balances sounds like a pretty good business, is not it? And it is until your magnifying glass and start reading the small print to the offer. What many people do not realize is that the creditors who have such an incredible deal would not do if there is no other way to benefit financially. These lenders actually feel safe in the assumption that most people with the transfer of the balance is not respected, which may provide valuable data held by the offer.
The transfer of balances from a high interest rate on a credit card with no or a lower interest rate can save you a lot of money if you do not fall victim to these common errors.
1. Levy order
Rare is the balance transfer offer, not with a kind of balance. It is perhaps a lump-sum $ 50 or $ 75, but it is usually a percentage of the total amount of any balance. Maybe 3% does not sound like much, but if you several thousand dollars, that the charge may be hundreds of dollars!
Although you may know now on the lookout for such fees, it is something else you should look at: whether there is a limit to how much the balance transfer can go. Avoid people without caps. Before making an offer, which is always count. If the balance eventually transfer more than you have paid would be in the form of interest you did not have the transfer is made, it is not over!
2 Other interest
Even if little or no importance perhaps imbalance transfers, is still a new card that you have used to make purchases. Purchases, however, normally not part of the no or little interest. In fact, you can expect that the interest for the purchase or cash withdrawals are just as high or higher than the credit cards that are already used to shopping. If you seriously chipping away at your debt, which is really the best reason to take advantage of the transfer balance, you should really stop revenue credit card debt!
3. The payment allocation
If you have balances on the new account and you make purchases on this new credit account, you will be surprised that your payments are not assigned to your way of thinking (supposed). Suppose you $ 1000 and during the last month, new purchases in the amount of $ 200. They make a payment of $ 300 can clear away from the new taxes and chipping away at the transfer amount.
Next accounting period you will receive your statement and find that the $ 200 in new purchases is still there - and the number of new burdens that you since then. And all those purchases are compounding interest at the rate of 16, 19, 22% or more! What happened? Now, as the small, credit card your full payment on the balance zero interest, because - and it is not making money on that amount. But it is certainly in this new purchases!
4. Interest rate is set to intro
The low or no interest will not last forever and what you need to know how much they will increase when the deadline expired. Any remaining balance is likely to post whacked with a much higher rate. To ensure that this is the case - the savings negate the advantages that you collected so far - make sure you have a plan for paying off your balance before the rate increases. Also, make sure that you do not miss payments or too late. If you believe you can find - without warning - zero percent, no longer apply and you pay more interest than you were.