I Saved Money on Housing by Renting a Room for 4 Years
I Saved Money on Housing by Renting a Room for 4 Years
Today, I’m going to tell you about the four years I spent renting a room in a two-story house out in Helotes, Texas. We’re also going to discuss the mantra: ‘you can afford anything, but not everything’. Meaning that every decision comes with a trade-off. It’s really important for us to really consider how our choices are going to impact us. Finally, we’re talking about not letting other people’s opinions influence our decisions. People don’t know what we’ve got going on, and vice versa. We don’t know what people have going on. So always, always, always do what’s best for you.
I rented a room to save money.
So I rented a room in a house for four years, and the first year of that, it was totally out of need. But the second through the fourth years were an intentional choice that I made, and that choice allowed me to move forward in positive directions for many reasons- including maxing out my IRA every year by choosing to stay in this room.
Listen to this story on Apple Podcasts
Listen to this story on Spotify
At times, I did feel like I wanted to move out of the room. I didn’t have my own place – it was a shared space. I mean, it was a gated community so I knew I was safe.
I had my private bathroom, and my own parking spot in the driveway. But, you know, living in a room is different than having your own apartment. So, of course, I did consider leaving at times.
It wasn’t roses and unicorns the whole time. It was, you know, give and take.
While you read my story, I want to challenge you to think about a new choice that you could make or a different choice that you could make to find a little extra money in your budget.
Because like the mantra says, ‘You can afford anything, but not everything’. Every choice has a little ripple effect. And while we’re not going to spend all day double thinking every single choice, the big decisions, we want to consider the effects that those would have. We want to consider the trade-offs.
What are we giving up? What is this costing us besides money?”
Your best money decisions will require you to push against societal norms
I rented a room in a two story house from ages 29 to 33. I’m 34 now, which means that I recently moved out of that house.
It was bittersweet, but it was time to go. Now, I’ve gotten some heat for that decision to live in that room for that long. I don’t think it was necessarily from a bad place.
I think it’s just different from what we see in society. What is a 30-year-old doing renting a room in a house, right? Why don’t you have your own apartment, right?
I get that. I understand that. However, I was able to both afford my bills and max out my IRA for those four years on a low income.
Up until a year and a half ago, I wasn’t making more than 30K. And so my choice allowed me to do these things, and I have absolutely no regrets. If anything, I’m so grateful that it happened for me this way.
How my low income led to me living in a room
Let’s rewind a little bit. So in November of 2019, I had just come back from teaching English in Spain, and I was looking for a full-time job. In the meantime, I started serving at Saltgrass Steakhouse, and I was also teaching English online.
I had this idea that I could take in my RAV4 into Cavendar Toyota, and walk out with a lower car payment, a smaller loan size, etc. I think you can probably guess that did not happen. I walked out with double the loan because I traded in my car and my car had negative equity.
And anyway, my car payment was 1.5 times my previous car payment. So I made that terrible mistake. This decision to get a car when I didn’t need to get a new car, was what influenced my decision to stay so long at this room over in Helotes.
Let’s fast forward to March of 2020. I had gotten this new car. I still didn’t have a full-time job.
I had the two little side hustles. But everything started to shut down because of COVID. So I knew right away that I was not about to find a full-time job.
When I got back from Europe, I had posted on Facebook saying that I was looking for temporary housing, and if anyone had any ideas to let me know. My really, really good friend, Krystal, said she had a spare room, so I ended up renting her room for a few months. And then when I was thinking of long-term housing, I was very aware of my situation with this new car payment and the no money and the COVID shutdowns.
I decided to mail a letter to an Airbnb host that had this house over in Helotes, Texas (a tiny drive away from my city of San Antonio, Texas). I actually had stayed at that house initially when I was on a staycation with my friend Angella. And so I mailed the owner of the house a letter saying, ‘Hey, my name is Mariel. I stayed with you a few months ago. I was wondering if you’d be interested in a long term rental. Here’s what I can pay. Let me know if you’re interested.’ And she called me. She freaking called me.
Her old tenant had just moved out. And so that’s how it happened. Now, this first year, I was there out of need, right?
It was COVID. You already know my deal. Didn’t have a lot of money. I had that crazy car payment. I’m there out of need. As the years went on, I did start to make a little bit more money, but really not that much.
But I always wondered, when am I going to move out? Ultimately, I decided that I was not going to move out until one of two things happened. The first was I finished paying off my car. The second was that I could move out if and when I entered a relationship and we decided to move in together.
Keep in mind, I pay $687 a month for my car. Now, my rent was $650. So in my mind, I just could not make that make sense.
I’m paying more in my car than I am in a rent. So why would I go and become even more strapped for cash? I told myself I don’t get to have a normal apartment because of the choice that I made with this new car.
It sounds a little bit harsh, but again, we got to remember, I wasn’t really making more than $30K a year for the first two years or so. So while I was a little bit tosca with myself, it also was the hard reality.
Be intentional with money even when it might feel easier not to
Little by little, I did start to outgrow that house.
I really enjoyed it. There was a lot of natural light. There was a gated community.
I would go on my runs, a lot of nature and things like that. But, you know, who doesn’t want their own space? Towards the end, I did get a boyfriend, and so I was starting to spend a lot of time at my boyfriend’s house anyway, and ultimately, I decided that, well, we decided that it was time to move in together.
And that’s when I ended up leaving that arrangement. All right, cool story, Mariel. But like, what does this have to do with me?
I want to highlight that I could have left that apartment a year and a half ago when I started full-time teaching. When I started full-time teaching, I doubled my salary. I had also paid off a bunch of debt, consumer debt, and so really, I could have made it work.
But I made the intentional choice to stay so that I could save up some money, continue to max out my IRA, and truthfully, I just was not ready to double my rent. Now, I know my situation only worked because I was single, I don’t have pets, I don’t have kids. I don’t even have a plant. It was a privilege.
It is a privilege that allowed me to live the way that I did. The other reason it worked was because I just did not care what people thought about it. Someone really close to me, and I love this person.
It’s no shade at all. But they always ask me, like, I just wonder, like, why don’t you want to be like an adult? Like, don’t you want to have your own space?
And in my head, I’m like, ‘NO, I don’t want a $1,000+ rent bill’. Like, I know people who are struggling with rent. Rent is not cheap.
Rent is expensive.
Let’s talk a little bit more about pushing against what other people try to impose on us.
Money decisions can lead to judgement from friends
I remember one time I was out at dinner with a group of friends, and I don’t remember how it came up. However, I shared that I used Cricket as my wireless provider.
Now, if you’re reading this, you might be like, ‘oops, that was me at that dinner’, and it’s okay. I’m not mad.
I’m just sharing because it’s relevant. And I love you. I hope you don’t feel like I’m trying to talk bad about you.
But I was out for drinks with these group of friends. And they, I mean, there’s no way to put it. They were making fun of me for having Cricket.
They were like laughing at me, not in a mean way, but just like, you know, like jabbing, like, why do you have Cricket? And in my head, I’m like, because I paid $35, I’m not going to pay $100 plus dollars for phone service. And that’s the reality.
We have access to Wi-Fi everywhere now. So you can do everything that you have to do on Wi-Fi. Why do I need to pay over $100 a month? It didn’t make sense to me.
Now, I really felt the cost difference because before I moved to Europe, I was paying over $100 with AT&T. And then out there in Spain, I was paying like 20 bucks a month from my service. I was surprised at the affordability of a phone plan in Spain.
And so when I came back, I was like, yeah, I’m not about to go get a $100 phone bill. I am going to pay as close to $20 as I can. And for me, that was cricket.
Money decisions are personal, make money decisions based off your needs
Do what you have to do for you. Challenge what society expects of you. Stay strong when you know in your heart, what you’re doing is right for you.
And everybody’s telling you, no, stay strong. If you want to move in with your mom and dad for a year, cool. Maybe you can rent out the guest house or the guest room for a couple of extra hundred dollars. Maybe you can try being a one car household, or maybe you can downgrade your apartment when your lease is up.
Whatever that choice is for you, I want to strongly encourage you to do it. And if you haven’t been put in a situation where you need to decide between a choice like that, I want to challenge you to think of what you could do if you needed to. Make a list of all the ways that you could make more money, and then maybe you’ll kind of warm up to the idea of making that one BOLD, out of the ‘norm’ decision that can change your life for the better.
For me, those four years allowed me, one, to not be house poor, two, to max out my IRA every single year, and three, it really reiterated to me to do what works for me. And for me, that worked. Now, I’m glad I’m out.
I love having more space, but it was a great decision for me at that time. So, challenge what society expects of you. Do what’s right for you.
You’ve got this. One year of a new uncomfortable choice could really change you. So don’t be afraid to think outside the box. YOU’VE GOT THIS.
If you enjoyed this piece, there’s plenty more over on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. See you there!