Faith Manheimer

December 5th, 2015

Math 1030/Fall Semester
The Cost of Living on Your Own
The purpose of my project is using mathematical formulas, specifically financial
formulas, in order to calculate, estimate and analyze exactly how much money would be spent
every month for a year if I were to live on my own in apartment along with bills and monthly
expenses. I have chosen to analyze four different apartment complexes with prices that were
listed on the website and compare them with each other to see which apartment would be the
better fit for my personal budget.
On the outset of this project I wanted to gather information about the four apartments that
I had looked at on the internet, and wrote the following information: 1 Bedroom, full kitchen and
bath, price per month of rent, whether the apartment was pet friendly and if so how much the
deposit was along with the pet rent per month, if there was an application fee, in two of the
apartment complexes I had noticed there was a parking or garage fee that guaranteed parking,
and finally I looked at if there were administrator fees that go along with filling out a lease with
the apartment.
Afterward, I began calculating my monthly expenses that would go along with the rest of
the apartment expenses. I had calculated my monthly expenses to come to a total of $708.11 by
adding altogether my financial expenses on groceries- $100, phone bill-$90, water-$20, autoinsurance-$80, movies/concerts-$80 clothes-$20, Gas-$60, Student Loan-$148.11, and $100
deposited into savings, and by adding all these expenses the total would come to be $708.11.
Each taxed paycheck I receive is at a total of $980 making that, 980+980=$1,960/month which
means that my monthly income is $1,960. To calculate my monthly cash flow for each month, I

Faith Manheimer
December 5th, 2015
Math 1030/Fall Semester
had to subtract the monthly expenses by monthly income which in turn came out to be:
$1,960-$708.11=$1,251.89

Furthermore, I then added together the cost of the apartment expenses with my monthly
expenses. It turned out that I would have a couple hundred dollars left over when I calculated
each apartment investment. When that was completed it was easier for me to compare the prices
of each apartment and help decipher which would be the better fit for my budget. The apartment
that I would most likely choose that would be more reasonable and would save me money is
Hills at Sandy Station apartments, they allow pets for free of cost it would save me money and
wouldnt have to worry about paying fees. That is another factor that would has to have
consideration when moving into an apartment is deciding if you want to have a pet included or
not.
My reaction to these results are quite satisfying to be honest, not only will I have money
left over to spend or save in case of an emergency but that my budget on monthly expenses was
not quite as high as I expected it to be. Drawing to a conclusion to my project is that by
examining and analyzing different pieces of information to apply mathematical applications into
the real world, you can begin to get a sense of how useful math can be to figuring out the
answers to certain problems or situations. The prices for rent on the apartments were a lot lower
as well than I had anticipated, which means that it is a lot more easier to get leased an apartment,
along with not having to worry about paying bills for electricity or the water heater. I feel like
renting and living in an apartment is a lot more affordable than owning a house, and that there
are no mortgages or loans that we had to take out or worry about in order to live in an apartment.

Faith Manheimer
December 5th, 2015
Math 1030/Fall Semester
RENT

APPLICATION
FEE

PET
RENT/DEPOSIT

PARKING/GARAGE

OTHER FEES

The
Redwood

1 Bed$580/month

n/a

1 Bed$660/month

Covered parking.

n/a

Hills At
Sandy
Station.
Winchester
Park.

1 Bed$710/month

$300 cat
deposit+
$35/month
$250 cat
deposit+
$25/month
Free.

$15 parking.

Stonehedge
Apartments.

$35
application
fee
$20
application
fee
$28
application
fee
$25
application
fee

$75 Garage
parking.

$150 admin.
fee

No pets.

Covered parking.

$300 down
deposit

1 Bed$690/month

1. The Redwood: 580+300+35+35+15=$965+$708.11=$1,673.11

i. $1,960-1673.11=$286.89 left over.
2. Stone hedge Apartments: 660+20+250+25=$955+$708.11=$1,663.11
i. $1,960-$1,663.11=$296.89 left over.
3. Hills At Sandy Station: 710+75+28+150=$963+$708.11=$1,671.11
i. $1,960-$1,671.11=$288.89 left over.
4. Winchester Park: 690+300+25=$1,015+$708.11=$1,723.11
i. $1,960-$1,723.11=236.89 left over.

References
Apartments. (n.d.).

Faith Manheimer
December 5th, 2015
Math 1030/Fall Semester
Group, C. (2015). Apartments. Retrieved from Apartments.com:
http://www.apartments.com/apartments/taylorsville-ut/?
frontdoor=msn&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=GeoMSA-Salt%20Lake%20City%20UT&utm_term=Taylorsville%20apartments

http://www.apartmentguide.com/apartments/Utah/Taylorsville/WinchesterPark/15940/