In my apartment hunts over the years I’ve come across the “all inclusive” option for rent. This means that the rental price includes utilities, or cable television, or other extras like that. This can mean that you’re either saving money each month, because you can use whatever the extra is for as much as you like, or it means that you’re getting ripped off because you’re paying for your neighbour’s usage.

My utilities are not currently included in my rent, however I split the hydro bill with my landlord. This bothers me somewhat, because it’s not really accurate of my actual usage. Because I don’t have a separate hydro meter on my apartment, I just end up sharing in the usage of my landlord and her family. This bothers me because in general, I am very contientious of my use of hydro, so I don’t like paying for what I don’t use, you know?

In my search for a new apartment this winter, I came across a property management company that has both types of arrangements for their apartments. I find this a little intriguing that they would have both options, but regardless, I seem to have some choice on that front. So I crunched some numbers…

And found that if I go with one of the non-inclusive apartments, I end up saving $50-100 a month. That is wonderful news! That means that I could put that extra money towards my debt repayment and even savings. This is even considering the fact that my parking bill will go from $10 a month to $85. Don’t get all excited to hear that I’ll be paying $85 a month for parking….that’s for underground parking. Those of you in Toronto will understand why this is exciting news to me. For those of you outside the Toronto area: we got 26 cms of snow dumped on us in one night (that’s about 10 inches.) That meant 60 minutes of shovelling the driveway and digging out my car. Not fun at all when it’s -8C outside.

The rental company tells me that hydro costs for these apartments tend to be in the $25-30 range, but the thing I like about the whole arrangement is that the cost is controlled by me. If I want to save more money, I can just turn off the lights, the tv and the computer. I don’t have to rely on a price adjustment by the management company every year, you know? This is something I can control, and something that I will control. I am quite pleased at this prospect.

I’ll be meeting with the rental agent later on this week, so wish me luck with the visit! I’m hoping to have everything settled by the end of the week, so that I can concentrate on packing, hiring movers, changing my address, and all the other related moving tasks.

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