1021B

Christmas killed me this year.
With the commute each way, my work weeks were 60 hours long. Combine that with having to shop for gifts --dealing with crowds of people-- while having no idea what I wanted to get anyone, and it was a disaster. I was exhausted every freaking day. I'm surprised I didn't succumb to one of the icky illnesses traversing campus last month.

So, the day after classes officially stopped, I dragged my mom and grandma to Fort Collins to look at a few apartments. The first one was nice -- a ground floor one bedroom with a walk-in closet and a patio -- but it was out of my price range: $999 a month, plus all the utilities, which I'd have to put deposits on and get put into my name. And the pet rent would have been more, but I don't remember how much. It would be doable if I had a second income to play around with, but I don't want to force Bailey into pulling kids in carts around Downtown. The second one I went to showed me a two bedroom that would have been $960 with all utilities paid each month, plus a $25 monthly rent for Bailey. It was a lovely apartment and seemed to have lots of space, but it was, again, a bit too pricey. They did have a one bedroom in my price range available for rent starting January 25th, and the person showing me around told me to come back that next Friday to look at one with a similar arrangement. We went back that Friday, and, yes, it was small (395 sq ft) but I could afford it.

On New Year's Eve, I put a security deposit down to hold my name on a waiting list for my target dates: April through June. Three days later, I was slated to move into an apartment on May 16th. It's a smidgeon bigger than the other one (at a whopping 400 sq ft) but it has a patio, an off-patio storage closet, and a better layout. (I don't have to choose a dining room or a living room -- I can have a small version of both in this one.) The bedroom is a bit smaller than the first one bedroom we looked at on the site and it doesn't have a dishwasher, but I think it will be better for me. My rent, including Bailey's rent and all the utilities, is going to be $785. That definitely sounds doable.