Death and Taxes...and Rent

When Benjamin Franklin uttered that “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” he must have forgotten about rent. Not only is it unavoidable, but it can also get very expensive. The first place I lived in when I moved out of my parents' house was a “charming” room in a boarding house. It was around 200 square feet; enough room for my bedroom furniture and a kitchenette, but not a bathroom—that was downstairs, shared by the tenants of the house. The only reason I was willing to endure this disgusting arrangement that it was cheap: $400 per month, including utilities, cable and Internet.

Since then, I haven't lived in the same apartment for more than a year and a half (my shortest stay was three months) because I never had a problem moving into a place that would offer cheap rent. All my stuff could be moved in two truckloads and, being single, I never had to discuss the move with anyone. By either living in single rooms or with roommates, I never paid more than $500 per month for rent—until I got engaged.

When I moved in with my fiancée, my rent increased significantly. She had been living in a three-bedroom townhome with roommates, so when I moved in, the hefty rent—along with the utilities—had to be split two ways instead of three. The cost of rent and utilities was manageable at around $700 each, but we soon found that there was a lot of unused space in the house we were paying to heat. Since we only used the kitchen, living room and bedroom (and since I'm so cheap), I suggested we downsize and find a cheaper, smaller place. We found a big one-bedroom place that will provide enough space for just the two of us and a bit of a break on rent, which will be $600 per month each.

But what if even $600 per month is too much to spend on rent? What if rent is so high that you can't even afford to rent a 200-square-foot room? Some people go to pretty extreme lengths to afford on rent, like this Manhattanite:

If I weren't engaged, I'd be seriously considering moving into a place like this:

This guy takes it a little too far for me, but at least he's not paying rent:

Move in to a smaller apartment and become a MISER!