“is it true that I can cut the cost of living if I live in a share house…?”
You might be one of those people wondering like that.
The cost of living in a share house is around ¥150,000 ~ ¥160,000 per month. It’s ¥30,000 ~ ¥65,000 cheaper than living in a one-room apartment so it’s possible to cut the cost of living a lot.
By living in a share house, you can save some money and use it for shopping, hobby, travel, and savings.
However, you may still feel, “Is it really cheap?”, if you have never lived in a share house.
So, we explain the following:
- Average cost of living in a share house and one-room apartment
- Reasons why the cost of living in a share house is cheap
- Share house’s initial cost is cheap too
- Reasons why we recommend a share house whose cost of living is cheap
- Advantages of a share house besides moneywise
- Ways of cutting the cost of living even more in a share house
Also, we introduce share houses of Hidamari in which you can cut the cost of living so please refer to the share houses as well.
[In case of Tokyo] The cost of living in a share house is around ¥140,000 ~ ¥150,000
Estimation of the cost of living is ¥118,000 ~ ¥180,000 if you live in a share house in Tokyo. It’s approximately ¥140,000 ~ ¥150,000 on average.
Let’s take a look at details.
[The cost of living in case of living in a share house in Tokyo]
Rent: ¥55,000 ~ ¥65,000
Common service fee: ¥5,000 ~ ¥10,000
Utility expenses: ¥5,000 ~ ¥10,000
Food expenses: ¥20,000 ~ ¥30,000
Mobile phone charge: ¥10,000
Daily necessities expenses: ¥3,000 ~ ¥5,000
Social expenses: ¥20,000 ~ ¥50,000
Total: ¥118,000 ~ ¥180,000
In addition to the above, ¥10,000 ~ ¥20,000 more for expenses for clothes, cosmetics, and hobbies (of course there are individual differences). In that case, ¥150,000 ~ ¥160,000 would be the average cost of living.
Business men’s salary in their 20’s is ¥200,000 ~ ¥250,000 on average so you could live easily in a share house.
Let’s compare the cost of living in a share house with living in a one-room apartment.
The comparison of living in a one-room apartment and the cost of living in a share house.
The cost of living in a one-room apartment in Tokyo is as follows.
[The cost of living in a one-room apartment]
Rent: ¥70,000 ~ ¥100,000
Common service fee: ¥10,000
Utility expenses: ¥8,000 ~ ¥10,000
Food expenses: ¥20,000 ~ ¥50,000
Mobile phone charge: ¥10,000
Daily necessities expenses: ¥8,000 ~ ¥15,000
Social expenses: ¥20,000 ~ ¥50,000
Total: ¥146,000 ~ ¥245,000
The same as living in a share house, if ¥10,000 ~ ¥20,000 is added to the above as expenses for clothes, cosmetics, and hobbies, the total cost of living is ¥160,000 ~ ¥250,000. Approximately ¥50,000 is more expensive than living in a share house, and also a room you can rent heavily depends on your salary and work.
Compared to a one-room apartment, the total cost of living in a share house is ¥30,000 ~ ¥65,000 cheaper than living in a one-room apartment.
Next, we explain details of reasons why the cost of living in a share house is cheap.
[Reasons why the cost of living in a share house is cheap]
Reasons why the cost of living in a share house is cheap are mainly the following 3 points.
- Rent is cheap in the first place
- Daily necessities expenses (such as toilet papers, detergent and cleaning tools) are included in common service fee
- The cost of Internet is also included in common service fee
Frist, rent for a one-room apartment in Tokyo is ¥100,000 on average, which is not cheap at all. Even a cheap one-room apartment would cost ¥70,000 ~ ¥80,000 per month so you can cut fixed expenses by living in a share house.
Second, “Common service fee,” which is a big advantage of a share house. The common service fee means expenses for daily necessities like toilet papers and also for Internet. In a share house, expenses for daily necessities and Internet are included in the common service fee so you don’t need to be worried about those small expenses.
Utility expenses such as water, gas and electricity, are also included. Expenses for daily necessities, utilities, and Internet are all included in the common service fee and some share houses set the fee at the price of ¥10,000.
You can pay for things you need for daily life at once and the fee is low so that you can cut more fixed expenses.
Initial cost for a share house and its details! Why it’s so cheap?
We explained the cost of living in a share house, but, in fact, initial cost for a share house is also very cheap.
Let’s compare to a one-room apartment.
- [Share house] ¥80,000 ~ ¥130,000
- [One-room apartment] ¥400,000 ~ ¥600,000
Initial cost of a share house is one fifth times cheaper than that of a one-room apartment.
It’s because a share house doesn’t require a security bond and key money necessary for an apartment. Instead, a deposit is required but it’s cheap, around ¥20,000 ~ ¥50,000.
Usually, just a security bond and key money costs ¥100,000 ~ ¥200,000 for an apartment, but you can cut the expense to around ¥30,000 for a share house.
Moreover, furniture and home appliances are prepared/installed in a share house so you don’t need to buy them. Sometimes living alone in an apartment costs ¥100,000 ~ ¥200,000 just for expenses of furniture and home appliances so you cut expenses a lot.
For example, in case of Hidamari, initial cost is as follows.
- Rent for the first month: ¥20,000 ~ ¥50,000
- Utility expenses including Internet: ¥12,000
- Processing fee: ¥30,000
- Total: ¥62,000 ~ ¥102,000
*Rent varies depending on a share house.
It’s ¥80,000 on average and much cheaper than a one-room apartment. You can cut expenses of initial cost and start a new life with financial leeway.
Reasons why a share house whose cost of living, rent and initial cost are cheap is recommended.
We explained how cheap the cost of living and initial cost for a share house. The following are advantages of cutting expenses.
- You can use more money for hobbies such as music and comics/manga
- You can buy new clothes and cosmetics
- You go to higher-grade restaurants/shops for lunch or drinks with your friends
- You can take a domestic/overseas trip more
- You can put all money you save by cutting the cost of living into your saving account to prepare for the future
Even by just having extra tens of thousands of yen, you can spend more money for hobbies and socializing. You can put all the money in activities/things you’ve been enduring.
If you put that money into your saving account, you can prepare for the future. As a matter of fact, some people living in a share house have saved ¥1,000,000 within a year.
It’s recommended to live in a share house for your purpose or as a way to get a step closer to your goal.
It’s not only about the cheapness of the cost of living. What are other share house’s advantages besides financial aspects?
So far, we explained how cheap the cost of living is, but a share house has other advantages as follows.
- Less burden of housework because, in many cases, subcontractors take care of cleaning
- Make more friends even in an unfamiliar place
- Use luxury facilities/equipment at a low price
The biggest advantage is “Make more friends.” Not you can be friends with everyone, but friends who you made in a share house tend to have a long-standing friendship.
It’s recommended especially for people moving to Tokyo from a countryside to make friends in a share house.
Ways of cutting rent expenses even more in a share house
It’s possible to cut rent expenses of a share house.
For example,
- Live in a dormitory
- Live in a common space
Until this point, we have explained based on the assumption that you live in a private room of a share house. But, some share houses have a dormitory and it’s a few thousands of yen ~ ¥10,000 cheaper than a private room.
Moreover, some people sleep in a common space such as a living room. A permission from the owner and other share mates is needed, but the rent can be kept around ¥10,000 in that way.
3 recommended share houses among Hidamari share houses in which you can cut the cost of living
Lastly, we list 3 share houses in which you can cut the cost of living among Hidamari share houses.
Komazawa [Setagaya-ku, Tokyo]
A share house in Komazawa has a male-only dormitory. It’s for up to 4 people, but a room itself is 10 tatami-mat size (≒ approx. 10.24㎡) so you don’t feel tight. Moreover, a living room is14 tatami-mat size (≒ approx. 25.53㎡) and a kitchen is 8 tatami-mat size (≒ approx. 14.50㎡) so you can live comfortably in the share house.
[Details of the share house]
- Rent + Common service fee: ¥38,000 (dormitory) + ¥12,000
- The number of private rooms: 7
- The number of residents: 10
- The nearest station: Komazawa-daigaku Station on Tokyu Denentoshi Line
- Recommended for people who: want to cut the cost of living, don’t be bothered by living with others
Yokohama Dot Terrace [Yokohama, Kanagawa]
Yokohama Dot Terrace is a share house with a female-only dormitory. Rent for the dormitory is ¥19,000 per person, which is very very cheap. Even rent for a private room is ¥49,000 and it’s cheaper than a one-room apartment. Moreover, common service fee is set at a low price of ¥7,000 so it’s possible to cut the cost of living a lot per month.
[Details of the share house]
- Rent + Common service fee: ¥19,000 ~ ¥49,000 + ¥7,000
- The number of private rooms: 15
- The number of residents: 17
- The nearest station: Tenno-cho Station on Sagami Railway Main Line, Yokohama Station on JR or Tokyu Toyoko Line
- Recommended for people who: want to live in a big city at a low price, want to cut the common service fee
→ For more details about Share House Hidamari Yokogama Dot Terrace!
Minumadai-Shinsuikoen [Tokyo]
Minumadai-Shinsuikoen is a share house that you can rent a private room at a low price. All rooms are private rooms, but rent is ¥23,000, which is surprisingly cheap as rent for a one-room apartment. Although it’s cheap but it’s 4.5 tatami-mat size (≒ approx. 8.2㎡) so you don’t feel too tight. Moreover, the share house is fully renovated with new facilities/equipment so that you can live comfortably as cutting the cost of living.
[Details of the share house]
- Rent + Common service fee: ¥23,000 + ¥12,000
- The number of private rooms: 11
- The number of residents: 11
- The nearest station: Minumadai-Shinsuikoen Station on Nippori-Toneri Line
- Recommended for people who: want to live in a clean share house at a low price
→ For more details about Share House Hidamari Minumadai-Shinsuikoen!
Summary: If you cut the cost of living by living in a share house, you can use money you save for your hobbies!
We explained the cost of living in a share house, which is said to be cheap, in this article.
To go over the article, the cost of living in a share house is about ¥140,000 ~ ¥150,000. Compared to a one-room apartment, it’s ¥30,000 ~ ¥65,000 cheaper so you can use money you save for your hobbies.
We explained the 3 reasons why a share house’s rent is cheap:
- Rent is cheap in the first place
- Daily necessities expenses (such as toilet papers, detergent and cleaning tools) are included in common service fee
- The cost of Internet is also included in common service fee
If you feel, “It might be financially difficult to live in a one-room apartment,” please take living in the 3 share houses we listed above into consideration.
Also, there might be people thinking, “I want to live in a stylish share house at a low price!”.
