How much can I afford in rent?
My wife and I have a new baby, I make about $19,000 she's looking for a parttime job so we don't have to pay daycare and will be able to add another $5,000. An acquaintance has an apartment for rent and they said they would set the rent so we could afford it for us to suggest an amount. I've tried budgeting but I always come up short.
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As a rule of thumb, you don't want your housing costs to be more than 30% of the primary wage earner's gross pay. So, this would equal $19,000 x 0.30 = $5,700 a year /12 = $475 a month. You could go a little higher if utilities were included.
You may want to see if you are eligible for housing assistance, such as section 8 or housing choice voucher. For a family of 3, yours is a moderate income, and the government may give you a voucher to help pay your rent. It will also allow your acquaintance to charge a little more.
go to www.hud.gov for more info on housing choice.
Try 25%, plus a share of the utilities.
By the way, with a child and family, it is irresponsible to not have a budget, fella. You have to take care of them, and $19,000 is chicken feed, sorry. How about another part time job for you? They are your responsibility, not societies.
If I was you, I would look into finding a new job, in the mean time I would see if you qualify for housing assistance and then work with that money for your apartment.
look online for the cost of similar properties in the area to see what is fair