When my friends and I compare our rents I come in on the lowest of the low spectrum with $750.  DC is one very expensive place to live if you want to live without a bunch of roommates/housemates.  AfterCollege.com put the average rent for a one bedroom apartment at $1,469 and Rent.com put that figure at an unheard of $1,100.  Most students and professionals who wants to live in a decent area that is close to the metro pays that much for a studio. 

 My Cali Friend’s rent is $1,250 for a studio while my New Mexico friend’s rent is $1,350 for a studio.  They both rent directly from condo owners which makes their rent lower than the typical apartment rates.  My Richmond study buddy pays $1,450 for a studio and she lives in an apartment.  They all live in a very nice area that is very close to the metro with a stone’s throw from a gym, grocery store, banks, restaurants and other convenience. 

 I pay $750 for a Junior 1 Bedroom.  I live in (ahem) a less-than desirable area of Washington, DC.  It’s the kind of place that I never would have lived in the first time I got to DC.  But, let’s just say my standards have changed and I have toughened up.  

 
I drive anywhere from 15-30 minutes depending on the time of the day to get to school.  If I want to take the metro then I will need to take a bus to get to it, but I don’t need to since I can park at school.  There is a grocery store that is about 10 minutes away but no gyms, banks or any other convenience. 

 This is the best I’ve had in law school.  A rent of $750 is dirt cheap in DC and it is the first time ever that I had a 1bedroom and I love it (except I live on the ground floor and sometimes people really like to stand outside my window and talk at 5:00 a.m.).     

 I used to have rent envy. 

 My first year my rent was $1,590 per month that was very convenient to my school.  This was really good for the stress fest and sleep deprivation that is the first year of law school.  It broke my heart every month to write a check out for “one thousand five hundred and ninety dollars” but I enjoyed the convenience and safety.  This was my first apartment and I vowed I will never ever pay this much for an apartment ever again in my life. 

 My second year I moved out to a basement apartment for $850 that was about 10 minutes away from school.  It was a complete dump and I hated every minute that I lived in that apartment.  In the winter it would never get warm enough even with my small personal heater.  The good thing was that the price of $850 included everything including laundry. 

 Okay, I actually still have rent envy.

There are three apartments where I live now.  The apartment that I live in right now is the biggest and nicest of the three with our own parking lot.  This is really good for me because I don’t have DC tags and I can get towed if I repeatedly park on the street.  The second apartment closest to us looks like a dump.  It’s just very ugly looking.  Then, the third apartment is much more decent looking and more like my apartment.  I am desperate for my rent to be lower next year because it takes up so much of my budget.  So, I called up the decent looking apartment and they told me their 1 bedroom apartments are renting for $850 per month.  Then I called up the dump and asked them how much and they said $650 for a 1 bedroom.  Hmm…$650 you say?  That would be an additional savings of $1,200 per year.  I can take a trip abroad with that kind of money.  Wow, that would be so nice.  And really, the place isn’t really a dump.  Sure, they have iron bars on their window’s and that just, um, adds character to the building, right?