Howdy Apartments · Free planning tool

Know what your move will really cost.

Build your first-apartment budget in three steps. See your monthly housing total, the cash needed before your first paycheck, and what you will have left. No signup required.

Enter dollars. Blank fields are not included in totals. Your amounts stay on this page; they are not sent or saved. Download your worksheet before leaving.

1 Your monthly housing

Use your ordinary monthly payment, even if a special reduces the first bill.

Base rentRequired property feesUtilitiesInternetParkingRenters insuranceMonthly pet costs

2 Cash needed for the move

List the actual amounts due before your first paycheck. Count each bill once.

Initial rent payment dueDepositApplication and admin chargesMovers and travelEssential furnitureOld lease overlap or temporary housingUtility deposits and other setup costs

3 Money available and everyday costs

Only money already available counts toward move-in cash. A later reimbursement is shown separately.

Cash available for this moveEmployer assistance already receivedExpected reimbursement arriving laterMonthly take-home payMonthly transport and tollsOther monthly living costs and savings

How the moving budget works

Use written apartment quotes and your own estimates. All amounts are in US dollars. Blank inputs are excluded, so a small total can mean your budget is incomplete.

Monthly housing adds base rent, required fees, utilities, internet, parking, renters insurance and monthly pet costs.
Cash needed for the move adds the initial rent payment, deposit, application/admin charges, movers/travel, essential furniture, old-lease overlap or temporary housing, and setup costs. Include each bill once; the initial rent is part of move-in cash and is also represented in the ordinary monthly housing plan.
Available now adds cash you have set aside and employer assistance already received. If assistance is already included in your cash figure, leave the separate assistance field blank.
Cash left after the move subtracts upfront costs from available cash. An expected reimbursement paid later is displayed separately because it cannot pay an earlier bill.
Monthly balance, when take-home pay is supplied, subtracts monthly housing, transport and your other living costs and savings from that pay. Include groceries, debt payments, healthcare and anything else relevant in the other-costs field.

What about free rent or a roommate?

Use the ordinary monthly rent you must sustain. Put the actual initial payment in the move-in field; these can differ. Confirm any concession schedule in writing. If sharing, enter only your agreed share of each expense consistently; do not divide the final total again.

Save your plan

Download a plain-text worksheet or choose Print / Save PDF. Your inputs are not submitted, stored in your account, or added to the page URL. They clear when you leave or reload. Interactive calculation needs JavaScript; the formulas above can also be used on paper.

General rental-budget reference: Freddie Mac’s guide to upfront and recurring rent costs. This calculator uses your inputs, not live rent averages or a property quote.

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