Here a little tip for all the students maybe in their first experiences away from your families. If you have already found a place well done! Or else instead of looking online you should try going at the university campuses where many notices are put up. Novoli, Viale Morgagni, Brunelleschi, and Santa Reparata are some of the campuses. This will avoid you the normal and costly notices that are put up in the city centre especially for the students from abroad.
Normaly a nice single room in Florence could be found from a cost range of 300-350 Euros per month, bills excluded. Whereas a double room could be from 200-250 Euros each. Then of course normally the flat in the city centre or even at the area of San Niccolo’ tend to go a little higher. In any case always try to get the price down a little. Its worth a try! Maximum the property owner will say no 😉
Well of course he will ask you for a deposit but give the deposit only after recieving some kind of a receipt which states that if there are no destructions in the house, the amount will be returned. Then of course it is important to make a contract agreement with the owner to confirm your permanancy in the room. In this way atleast till your stay, you will not have to worry about any unwanted situations.
If your bills are included its even better since the small worries of how much the spending cost will be or the hassal of paying the bills in the post office will be avoided. If the budget as a total comes upto 400 to 450 for a single and 300-350 for a double it is a good enough. The prices unfortunately are rising every year since there is a lot of students coming into Florence.
If your bills are excluded from the rent then check the meters of both the gas and electricity bills. Mark the numbers given so that you have proof of the day you arrived. Another reason why one must check the meter is because the gas and water company take an approximation of how much normally the bills come in that accomodation. This of course is an approximation but if on previous occasions the residence was inhabited by more students the total will be exceeding the actual meter count. Normally represetatives do come to check the meter once in a while but if no one is at home to recieve them, they leave a little slip for you to fill up and send or call. By the end of it rarely anyone does. So that is how they keep the previous readings. So do check it up.
Many of you will be using the washing machines for the first time. Don’t feel shy! We’ve all passed through it so just remeber, there is nothing such as a stupid question 😉 Don’t hesitate in asking others.
Another tip to give is to try and not eat outside too much. It may look like a small issue but as you sum up the amount of money you can spend eating outside is way larger than making somethin at home. What is better then making a delicous pasta all by yourself? 🙂 Of course there are so many pizzas and different Italian cuisines to be tasted but you will have enough time to spoil yourself once in a while during your semester.
One last thing I would plead you to do is to PLEASE LEARN ITALIAN. It isn’t the best thing to go to a place and come back without learning the language. So one solution can be looking for a room with Italian flat mates. Simple communication is a must to practice the language since other wise you’ll always end up speaking in english 🙂
Then of course you can try seeing the TV or even check out some movies in Italian. Remember a bit of sacrifice will get you the the right path. Its no quotation from any author…just a piece of useful advice 🙂
Special thanks to Virginia