renting

Oprah once said that "when you invite people to your home, you invite them to yourself." That's because your humble abode is a reflection of who you are. However, it's really hard to decorate and reflect the true "you" if you're living in a rental. You can't make permanent changes or you'll end up losing your security deposit when you move out. Here are some decorating tips for your temporary home:

• Don't knock holes. Yes, you may really want a certain shelf that would look perfect in your living room, but you can't knock holes into your wall. Learning how to patch it up may be more trouble than it's worth, especially if you're not going to live there for a long time. Use adhesive hooks if you want to hang something on your walls and get heavier furniture that won't topple over.
• Don't paint the walls. Your landlord may not let you paint the walls, and even if they do, some colors are really hard to paint over. Instead of painting, get wall decals that peel off easily and some fun wall art that you can hang on adhesive hooks.
• Don't use Blu-Tack: Don't use Blu-Tack on your walls, because it's actually really hard to get it off if you've been using it for a while.
• Get floor protectors. Stick floor protector stickers to the bottom of your furniture to protect your floor from scratches and marks.
• Make sure your furniture fits through the door. Keep your entryway's measurements in mind when you're looking at furniture. You don't want to ruin the paint on your walls trying to move your furniture in.
• Bring your own lighting. Remember, a lot of rentals won't let you install light fixtures, so you'll have to make do with lamps. Make sure you're happy with the amount of lighting the lamps provide, and you can always look for unique ones to add some character.

Photo courtesy of House to Home

If you want to save on expensive items you frequently use, renting could be a better option. Find out when it is better to rent rather than buy from LearnVest.

Renting a home? That we've heard of. Renting a casket? Not as much.

Just last week, we told you about how the younger generation of Americans would rather rent a home than buy one. But it's becoming clear that the rental industry—which was once reserved for tuxedos, cars and movies—has become much more, covering everything from cameras to power tools.

Related: Is It Cheaper To Rent Or To Buy? The Map

This new trend has a ton of benefits—for one, renting an item you'll only use once or twice is much cheaper (and more sustainable) than actually buying it. Not only that, sites like Rentalic.com let you tap into nearby resources like neighbors and community members to borrow items. Saving money and staying local? Now that's a movement we can get behind.

• Dresses. Let’s face it—most of us don’t have the cash to splurge on designer dresses, let alone shoes and accessories to go with them. That’s why we love the new trend of renting dresses: Sites like Rent the Runway and Lending Luxury allow users to borrow dresses for 3-5 days for as little as 10% of the retail value (plus Rent the Runway will send two sizes). To snag a matching clutch or handbag, check out Bag Borrow or Steal.

Read on for more.

If you're frustrated by the increase in rent, you're not alone. Business Insider sheds some light on this phenomenon.

With mortgage rates at record lows and a rental market flooded with previous homeowners, most experts agree that now's the time to transition from renter to buyer.

That's easier said than done.

Today's reality is that consumers left battered and bruised by the recession aren't exactly the most attractive candidates for home loans — especially at a time when lenders are choosier than ever with loan applicants.

RELATED: Setting a Budget Won't Stop You From Overspending After All

The result is a new wave of frustrated renters, says Citi Habitat President Gary Malin. Edged out of the housing market by foreclosure or turned down by lenders, they're left with no choice but to rent at some of the highest rates in years.

In Manhattan alone, the first quarter of 2012 brought the highest monthly rent average since 2007, tipping past the $3,400 mark, according to the brokerage firm's latest data. The city's vacancy rate is hovering just about the one percent mark.

"In Manhattan, in general, the housing market has yet to fully recover," Malin says. "Look at the cost of acquisition and the cost selling. If you don't have a long enough time, you might not get your money out."

Read on for more.

Rental rates in several markets are on the rise, particularly in San Francisco. In fact, rents rose to about 10.4 percent in San Francisco and 12.2 percent in San Jose at the close of 2011, according to RealFacts, a firm that analyzes rental data. If you don't want to face a hefty increase come lease renewal time, here are a couple of options you can take.

• Rent control. Research the rent control laws in your city and state. Basically, what it does is it sets price controls for apartment rent prices. If you don't like seeing an unreasonable hike in your rent every time your lease is up, pick a unit that qualifies for rent control.
• Negotiate a longer lease. If you're happy with the rent offer and with your apartment, opt for a longer lease. The most popular lease is one year, but you should go for two if you want to keep your rental rate. Signing a two-year lease is especially smart if you're going to be in the area for a while and if you live in a hot rental market.
• Have more options. When it comes time to renegotiate your lease terms, make sure you have other options available so you can really mean it when you tell them you'll move if the terms aren't to your liking. If you're not happy with the new rental rate, you can always move to the other researched options.
• Be on good terms with your landlord. Whenever you're negotiating, it can only help to be on good terms with the other party. Be courteous when you see your landlord and pay your rent on time. Don't be that tenant that plays loud music and throw parties until the wee hours. That way, you can prove your "good tenant" track record and use it as ammunition when it comes time to stating your case for a reasonable rental rate.

Good news for prospective home buyers: the housing market crash caused an increase in demand for rentals and drop in housing prices, which makes it cheaper now to buy rather than rent in many US cities, according to data compiled by Trulia, a residential real estate website. In fact, Trulia found it was cheaper to buy rather than rent in 74 percent of the 50 biggest cities in July.

Here are five cities where it is more affordable to rent:

• New York, NY
• Fort Worth, TX
• Omaha, NB
• Seattle, WA
• San Francisco, CA

And five cities where it is more affordable to buy:

• Las Vegas, NV
• Detroit, MI
• Fresno, CA
• Mesa, AZ
• Arlington, TX

Of course, it only makes sense to buy if you're looking to stay in a place for longer than seven years, if you manage to get a loan with a good rate, and if you have enough cash on hand to pay for it as well as a savings cushion if an emergency pops up.

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

Whether you're moving out of the dorms for the first time or you've been living sans-resident-adviser for a while now, you might consider getting one or more roommates to help cut costs. But sharing a living space can be a minefield of monetary problems.

Sidestep any big blowups by discussing how you’ll address potential problems with your roommate(s) before you even sign a lease. And consider formalizing your chat by creating an official roommate agreement — signed and notarized, just in case a little spat escalates to a legal battle. Here are eight common causes of cohabitation conflict that you might address in your contract:

1. Size Matters

Specify how much each person will pay for rent and which room (or side of the room) each person will get. Especially if one room is bigger or comes with better perks (such as a nice view or its own bathroom), everyone needs to agree on the living situation. You may all decide that the person taking the biggest room ought to pay the biggest slice of rent.

Or you can work out another arrangement. For example, my old roommate and I shared a two-bedroom apartment, where I got the master bedroom (complete with a view of tennis courts, where unwitting casual players were subjected to my dramatic, stroke-by-stroke commentary) and she took the other, much-smaller room. We didn’t want to quibble over how much each room was worth, so we agreed to split the rent evenly. To make it fair, I let her use the majority of the common area as her personal office space. And we lived together happily ever after -- for a year (she was even a bridesmaid in my wedding).

Read on for more money issues roommates fight about.

An anonymous reader weighed in on a posting in our Savvy Confessions group which asked readers for advice on strategies for renegotiating rent. Here's what the anonymous user had to say:

The challenge here is that generally, rents are rising nationwide. If your landlord is an individual, you might have some luck with "we are taking great care of your house and paying on time or early every month," if both of those things are true.

The best way to do it is find some similar, cheaper, comparable options and present them to your landlord. Tell them you're willing to move (and mean it) if they can't match the price. If you aren't willing to switch, then don't expect much movement. If you can't find any cheaper comparable units, then you really don't have much leverage, so you just have to hope that you get lucky and ask while they're in a good mood!

Do you have more tips for renegotiating rent? Share them in the comments below! Remember, you can ask your own career- and finance-related questions anonymously in the Savvy Confessions group for a chance to be featured on SavvySugar and advised by fellow Savvy readers.

This anonymous poster in our Savvy Confessions group needs tips on how to get a lower rent when renewing a lease. Help out and leave your comments and suggestions below.

Hi guys! So my lease is going to be up soon and because we got a discount for the first year, our rent will be higher if we renew our lease — the discount doesn't apply anymore. Do you have any tips on what I can say or do to have it stay the same price as the first year or get an even bigger discount? My roommates and I might have to pay about a $100 more.

Share your own career- and finance-related questions anonymously in the Savvy Confessions group for a chance to be featured on SavvySugar and advised by fellow Savvy readers.