When I got accepted to UCSB and started looking at the cost of rentals in Goleta and Santa Barbara, I was completely shocked. Although I knew I had the option of living in San Clemente for a few years (at the time, the maximum time was three years), I had been living on my own for two years and didn’t want to go back to living with roommates. To be honest, I found it ridiculous that at almost 30 I had to continue living with other people. Instead, I found a studio apartment in Isla Vista and opted not to bring a car with me to save money on car payments, gas, and insurance. That first apartment was $1,350 per month, and I survived that year by burning through the money I had saved while at my previous, non-academic life. Not only was the apartment expensive but it was nearly impossible to convince the landlord to fix anything, including the blinds on the sliding door that had been broken since I moved in. That sliding door was the only “window” in the apartment, and there was no natural light in the apartment because the building was so close to the one next to it.
That first apartment was $1,350 per month, and I survived that year by burning through the money I had saved while at my previous, non-academic life.
At the end of my first year in the program, I had just enough in savings to pay the deposit on a new apartment and moved out of IV. When I moved to my second apartment, $1,335 per month, it required me to go further into Goleta. I was still on a bus route, but it required me to take two busses to get to campus, adding an extra 30 minutes to my commute each day. I lived in that apartment for two years, and each summer scrounged up enough work to get by, which included searching Craigslist for short-term work. By the end of my third year in the program, I had an $8,000 balance on my credit card and could no longer meet the minimum payment: it was charged off and I still get letters from a collection agency.
Recently, I was fortunate enough to move into Family Student Housing with my partner and we split a $1,510 apartment. Even only paying half, I’m still 38% rent burdened. Life has been made slightly easier by the fact that he has a car and I’m close enough to campus again to walk or take a short bus ride if needed, but I’m still living paycheck-to-paycheck and am unable to put any money into savings. I still jump at any chance to do extra paying work in the department (I recently helped a faculty member with a conference he hosted), I have a side job outside of UCSB (to circumvent the 75% employment rule), and every once in awhile I have to ask my mom for a little extra money to get my hair cut or buy new bras.
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