Apartment Hunting
The great apartment hunt begins. Since we heard that my wife did not receive the job in Ohio, it looks like we'll be remaining in California's central coast for a while longer, since that is where our jobs are, without anything immediate on the horizon. The immediate concern is now to try to scrounge up enough cash to afford to move into a new apartment, since our current apartment complex is going condo later this year.
I have been steadily pumping money for the past few months into a summer savings fund, which now has a balance of about $1,600.00. Unfortunately this falls a bit short of what we will need to get us moved into a new apartment, since in this area landlords typically ask for a rather hefty deposit (often greater than one month's rent), the first month's rent, and often the last month's rent as well. When the rent on a two-bedroom apartment is going for $1,400–1,600/month, this adds up to upwards of $4,500 to move into a new place.
The good news is that our current complex is generously paying the tenants a month and a half of rent (about $2,100 total) as compensation for being vacated, but unfortunately we will receive this money back along with our original security deposit once we have moved out. So while this is very generous of our current place, it does not help us get all settled into a new apartment. The $2,100 will be great for getting through the summer, especially considering my pathetic lack of teaching work this summer; but I am in search of a brilliant solution about how to get us into a new apartment in the near future so that we can use that money in the summer itself.
One idea, which rubs against the grain of my finance guru part of my brain, is to use my new Capital One credit card to help get us moved into a new place. This is precisely what I had hoped to avoid when I finally qualified for a new credit card, especially since it would set our net worth back ever further than it already is. It is true that I could use the $2,100 to pay back the credit card immediately, so perhaps this would not be a bad solution after all, as long as I retain the self-discipline to immediately pay back the charged balance rather than to let the balance sit on the card for any great length of time.
On the one hand, I can't help but feel that it was providential that I received a new credit card for the first time in many years immediately before a period of financial hardship. But on the other hand, the temptation to use the new credit card and take the easy way out rather than struggling through this trial the old fashioned way and trust in God's provision feels uncannily like a temptation of the enemy rather than a hand from above.
