Oh, and volunteers get free beer. Or, if by chance we actually have a cold winter, maybe coffee with Kahlua or hot chocolate with some irish creme or peppermint schnapps.

But there's some great stuff in there.

Of course, Bob Dole could have bought 3 new versions of everything for what he's spent in rent on the storage facility over the past decade.

Have you considered buying a small house rather than renting? Apartments suck baows and all you have after paying for years is a handful of rent receipts.

Yes, I've considered it. I don't think I'll really look at buying a house until I get married. That'll be two incomes plus some to help with repairs, yard work, etc (everything I hate doing...hehehe). If I have nothing to show for renting, well, I have no one to leave anything for, so it's no biggy.

Bob Dole hasn't been in MO for over a decade and doesn't know what your financial situation is, but you might check to see if there are any first-time homeowner programs available to you.

If you can get some grants and an attractive mortgage rate, the sale of that small home you buy now can make for a dandy down payment on the home you want after you get hitched.

With everything I'll have to be paying for...

House payment insurance, property taxes, all utilities, cable, internet, trash service, buying a lawn mower, buying tools, paying to have things fixed, renovation costs (decorating, paint, etc)...

There's no way I'm gonna be able to afford anything worth having. I still have a year to pay on my car. A docto'rs bill I'm paying off, a loan I'm paying off.....

I just don't think I could do all that on one income of (currently) 12.95/hour.

I like renting, cause I don't have to worry about crap when something breaks, I don't have to mow my lawn, my renter's insurance is 9 bucks a month, it's all good!

I have heard the costs of buying only come out ahead if you're going to be in the place for over 5 years. Less than that and its actually still beneficial to rent what with the interest and other costs.

Moooo

This guy gets my point. Not only am I paying for a place to live, but I'm paying for convenience when renting.

Although, this time I'm gonna try to get an end apartment. That way, I don't have my bedroom adjoining anyone else's.

Not this conversation again...

Moooo

Oh, no. Not trying to go there at all. Just thinking out loud (so to speak).

Not everyone loves to move? Growing up as an "army brat" nutured my gypsy ways. My family called three continents home before I was 10. I guess the the wanderlust never ends. I love it all. Even the packing and unpacking.

Here's a news flash. You're paying all of that anyway + a profit for the apartment owner.

Exactly right. Even if she buys a mobile home, she is building some equity that she can use later. That's how I got my first house.

As opposed to paying all that anyway + a profit for the bank?

Its all the same. Like I said, with interest rates, processing fees, and all that other stuff, a home doesn't earn equity until about 5 years in. If you know you're gonna be in the same place for that long, you should buy, but anything else and you should rent.

Not to mention the uncertainty of buying a house. I mean, there are laws saying an apartment has to be suitable to live, but you can get termites and all sorts of stuff with a house, and without anywhere to turn.

Moooo

You don't think the bank is getting paid in an apartment deal? You must be really young and stupid.