tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668460283955922895.post3325606781907147857..comments2023-07-05T02:15:26.621-07:00Comments on The Two Body Problem: What if I gave you $800 / month?PUI profhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12478071402571477766noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668460283955922895.post-2176320697827192402012-07-25T07:39:59.328-07:002012-07-25T07:39:59.328-07:00Wonderful! Thanks for the ideas, I will float them...Wonderful! Thanks for the ideas, I will float them by Hub.PUI profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12478071402571477766noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3668460283955922895.post-84545994647378580872012-07-25T04:20:24.452-07:002012-07-25T04:20:24.452-07:00My husband and I were in a similar situation. We w...My husband and I were in a similar situation. We wasted a lot of money with him always renting places that were big enough for all of us (me and two kids) to come visit. In reality, over the five years we did this, we rarely spent time at his apartment as a family. The apartment did come in handy when there was a major storm in my area that knocked out power for a week, but even in that case we could have just booked a hotel room near my husband's apartment.<br /><br />I know other commuting couples who have saved money with the following options -- maybe one will work for you.<br /><br />1. Hub rents just a room in a shared house, rather than his own apt. Shared house with quiet older faculty works much better than shared house with students, obviously. An alternative (which we have done) is to rent an apt with fewer features -- my husband's current apt has no laundry and only a dorm-size fridge and microwave, and he just does laundry when he comes home on the weekend. It is almost $200 less per month than his previous place.<br /><br />2. Try to negotiate a good rate with a local hotel, letting the know that he will be a regular. If his institution has a campus hotel or institutional agreements with a local hotel, this may help. One of the commuting couples on our faculty does this, and the daily rate that they got at our campus hotel is less than $67 --I think it may be around $50.<br /><br />3. Depending on where he is, he may be able to rent cheaper during part of the year, then move somewhere more expensive. This is a pain because it requires lots of moving. In many college towns, it's easy to get a cheap summer sublet, so he could do this and then move somewhere more expensive for the year. My husband's job is close to a vacation-y sort of town, so there are folks with summer homes there who rent cheaply during the school year but want the place back by summer.<br /><br />4. Ask around for faculty going on sabbatical who need someone responsible to rent to. He can probably strike a deal with faculty like this. Most faculty I know who have rented out their homes are very leery of renting to students, and would gladly take a lower rent to know that their tenat is older and responsible.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com