Students moving into their first apartments in the fall face the potentially daunting task of dealing with bills and having to set up their utilities, but there are several resources available to assist with this transition.
Many students, of course, rely on family to guide them through this process.
Katherine Kosich, a senior majoring in English who is originally from New Jersey, said she was thankful to have someone with experience giving her advice during her move.
“I didn’t know anybody when I came to Alabama, so when I was going to move into my first apartment, I brought my mother and my aunt,” Kosich said. “I was a little spoiled in that they knew what to do. Setting up the utilities was not as daunting because of my family.”
Kosich also said consulting with her family helped her avoid wasting money.
“I guess it’s better than my friends who lost a lot of money on packages they didn’t need – like cable, when they didn’t even watch TV,” Kosich said.
For more basic utilities, online setup is often available. For instance, Alabama Power allows customers to set up service through a tab on the company’s website.
“I didn’t really know what I was doing when I moved in,” Nadia Barksdale, a UA gradute, said. “It was really easy to deal with Alabama Power online, though. I did that instead of calling them.”
The City of Tuscaloosa Water and Sewer Department has a similar online process for setting up these utilities, which is accessible at tuscaloosa.com/onlineservices.
Since July 24, the Water and Sewer Department also has extended the hours for its customer service phone banks until 6 p.m.
For internet and cable, many students living off campus choose cable and Internet bundles through Comcast or AT&T. For those looking to reduce costs, some students choose to stick to television shows online.
Laura Flowers, a senior majoring in English, said she saves money by using her Internet as a substitute for TV, cutting down on her monthly bill.
“I had cable for about four months. I didn’t need cable because I was using Hulu and Netflix, so I shut it off. Now I’m just paying for that,” Flowers said. “Most people I know don’t even really use their TVs.”
Flowers said she previously lived in an all-inclusive apartment, and all of her bills were paid with rent; however, now that each bill is paid individually, she said she tries to only pay what is absolutely necessary.
“Only my water is included where I live now,” Flowers said. “I have to worry about my power and my gas. I didn’t get my gas turned on when I first moved in because it was early August, and there was no need for it.”
