Curve Balls

Once again it has been a long time since I've last written. It will probably come as no surprise that I've been busy with work. And it just feels like I've been busier than usual over the past few weeks. And if I wasn't busy enough with my "real" job, I have also taken on a few additional freelance jobs. The extra money will be good, and the projects are fairly easy, so it was hard to turn down.

In unrelated news, I came home yesterday and found a note on my door from the apartment complex. Unfortunately they are raising my rent next year. A few weeks ago, I overheard someone walking through my building saying "I can't believe how much they are raising the rent." That's never something that you want to hear and initially I was really worried and panicked about it. But I convinced myself to calm down and to just wait to see what they were going to do with me. And apparently they are raising my rent, too. So now I'm worried and panicked again.

If they were raising my rent by $20 or $50, I wouldn't be bothered. But they are raising my rent by $100. Right now my rate is $850, but they always add extra for certain utilities (water, sewer, and trash) and it usually ends up being about $880. Now that the rent is going up to $950, it will probably be about $980 with utilities. I just can't afford to pay nearly $1000 on rent with my salary. If you do the math, my rent is going up by about 10 or 12 percent. Unfortunately my annual cost of living raise at work is only 2 percent. As it is, I highly doubt that 2 percent is even enough to compensate for the cost of gas and groceries these days.

So, over the next few weeks I have to start looking around for a new place to live. My lease is technically up at the end of June, but I have to give my complex 30 day's notice if I'm going to leave. So I have to at least find something by the end of this month. Then I just have to deal with the costs of application fees, deposits, moving expenses, and who knows whatever other expenses I could encounter. I think I'm mostly just really sad to leave this place. It's a nice, roomy apartment, the area is nice, management has been nice. Unfortunately, I suppose, they just need to raise the rent to keep up with the market and their own costs.