Should we get an apartment with or without utilities?

Question

My fiance and I are pretty young. We both live at home at the moment, we've never lived anywhere else. So we are new to all this. Sadly though, we don't have much help. He's in the military and gets home in December so we are looking to have a place by January (our baby is due at the end of february)

It'll be cold and with a baby, obviously we will need alot of heat. We live in Ohio, it's pretty cold here!

We will have about $5000 to start off with. But that has to last at least 2 months. So thats rent, buying a car, food, etc. (no baby stuff, all thats covered)

There are many apartments here ranging from 395-450 and that's really good, but they dont include any utilities. The others cost about 600-700 but they do include them.

As we are new at this, what do you ladies think? How much do utilities cost? We don't plan on having cable/internet unless of course we have enough for it but for now we wont have it. We also have no animals. 
Its all really stressful because i cant work with the baby at least the first few months and he doesnt have a job yet lined up for when he gets home so $5000 will NOT last long at all but we have to make it last as long as possible for him to find a job.

We have no choice but to move, so.. Any tips?

Answer

I agree with getting utilities included in rent. Utilities can differ each month and if you're in a place that has bad heating, imagine yourself paying for it. A steady amount aka in your rent payment is much easier because you have already budgeted for your rent unlike if you get a random high bill.

Answer

I would do the utilities, especially with a new baby. You don't have to worry about jacking up the bill if you're on an already paid plan, and you want your little one comfortable! Plus, no surprises are always the way to go when you first start out.

Answer

I get the apartment with utilities at least that way you can stick to the budget. With out worrying about the utilities going up

Answer

You should be set up just fine. Pay the utilities for a couple months worth so you have it outta the way and set aside some more money for rent and get a decent place in a safe neighborhood that has a park close by if you can so you and baby can get out for a walk. We have always had to pay atleast 6-700 a month and that was a cheap apartment 1 bedroom two if we were lucky. And about 230 for utilities (power) and that's with the AC cranked and lots of loads of laundry. For 5k you should be fine

Answer

Right now we live with ppl a 3 bdrm house 1 bathroom we pay ( between all of us)
1200- rent
140-180 electric
And behind on the gas 300$ a month.
We are looking at places for 725-800 with everything included so we can save that money for other things

Answer

I live in Texas so summer's usually when we get our expensive electric bill. We got one for $150 this summer in an 857 sq ft apartment. Water bill is usually around $20.

Answer

Utilities included is always a plus. Our most recent electric & gas bill (they're both under the same company) is currently about $130 with no gas/elec used (that's all delivery/supply fees we pay monthly no matter what), our elec used was $60, and gas used was $0. So our total bill was $190. This is all highly dependent on location. My mom lives an hour away, suburban/rural, and gets charged about half of what we do for delivery/supply fees.

I've never seen an apartment listing where we are that ever expected the tenant to pay the water bill.

Either way, finding a place that includes electricity is awesome, especially if the heat is electric. Finding a place that includes heat is great for the 6mo out of the year it gets used.

Answer

I live in a 3 br 2 bath house with a basement, front and back porch with fenced in yard. This type of house usually goes for $600 or more a month. But it is my family's house that they are renting to us so we pay $300 a month. 
$300- rent
$60- water (average)
$150- electric (average)

Answer

Not sure when you two plan to marry and if ulitilies will be an issue at the time but I would try looking for military housing not sure how that works out there (I'm in California but we don't live in housing) but utilities are included. I would get a place were utilities aren't included, that way, there it isn't like a fixed price even if you don't end up racking up that High of a bill. By paying them yourself, you know what to and not to use and can monitor things. Good luck!

Answer

I might move to Ohio😂I pay 1200 a month not including utilities which usually comes to another 200-300 a month! For a three bedroom apartment

Should we get an apartment with or without utilities?

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