When you look for an apartment cost is a very important part of budgeting what you can afford.   What most people are concerned about is the monthly amount they will have to pay for rent.  The problem is they do not take into account the amount for the utilities they will be using while living thereThere are other utilities that you will need to factor into your monthly budget for living expenses.

Let’s look at a few of these.   

ELECTRIC:    Electric bills vary from month to month.   You will not know the amount until you open the bill.  Electric baseboard heat and electric hot water heaters consume a large amount of power when running which will raise this bill in the winter.   If you have an air conditioner, the same will be true of increased bills in the summer.  According to PGE the average bill for electricity in our areas for a family of 2 is $80.00 per month.  This is only an average and varies depending on many factors.

NATURAL GAS:  If you have gas for either room heating or water this will lower your electric consumption per month, but will add another bill to pay.  This decrease in electric usage will not be reflected dollar for dollar from savings on your electric bill.  Average gas bill per month is $60.00.

WATER, SEWER and GARBAGE:  At one time all apartment communities paid these as part of your monthly rental amount.  As ways to monitor each unit and the laws allowed it, many communities not charge an additional fee for these.  Some use meters to reflect just your usage,  others just use a set amount charged to you based on the number of people living in the apartment.   The problem with this is you can’t lower this amount even if you try not to waste water.  The sewer is a charged based on water consumption so that won’t lower either.  You will just pay this amount to them for every month you live there.   The average amount charged for a family of 2 is $25- $40 per month.

TELEPHONE, CABLE and INTERNET:  These are personal choice items and will not be factor into your apartment rent unless you want them.

To find the True Cost of your new apartment you will need to add these in.

This amount will vary from month to month and could be higher.

Why do we list $0.00 for all these utilities?  Because at Raleigh Scholls we included in your rent amount.  Each and every month you live here the charge will continue to be zero.