Just as my student loan debt peaked at the end of my grad school studies, bed bugs invaded the 3-bedroom Astoria apartment I shared with two roommates. Thankfully, my landlord footed the extermination bill, sparing me and my two roommates from the heftiest single line item.
But through the whole ordeal--which included the initial infestation, a month of frenzied home remedies, 6 months of peace, an explosive resurgence, and two months of exterminator visits--I had to reach into my own pocket again and again.
Until now, I've avoided doing a thorough calculation of exactly how much the money the infestation cost, because, frankly, I knew it would be bad, and didn't want to know. I had always estimated that the total price tag was around $600, considering the hundreds of quarters I fed to laundry machines and cost of new furniture I paid for myself. But upon reexamination, I found a number of related expenses that I hadn't previously considered.
The tally below does not include the immeasurable price of sleep deprivation--while starting a new job, no less--anxiety, severed relationships with roommates following bed bug stress and a year of my life spent treating bed bugs, apartment hunting, moving, furniture shopping, and getting settled again.
- $18 Powders from hardware store (totally useless--I was such a novice)
- $12 Spray from hardware store (ditto)
- $100 bed bug mattress protector for my original bed
- $80 box spring protector for my original bed
- $50 bed bug pillow protectors
- $150 dry cleaning
- $90 laundry
- $250 new mattress (following the first sign of bed bugs, before we had consulted exterminators)
- $2,000 in additional rent I’ve paid over the past 8 months, since I decided to abandon my cheap rent in favor of a fresh-start place that didn’t (as far as I know) have a history of bed bugs or evoke creepy memories.
- $250 moving fees
- $250 new, new mattress (which I bought when I moved to a new apartment. I was really serious about the fresh-start).
- $100 new bed bug cover for new mattress
- $250 new dresser (ditto)
- $500 guestimate of how much money I spent replacing clothing and other items I tossed throughout the ordeal
Total bed bug bill: $4,100.
Luckily, my parents were able to help out a bit, by buying me one of the mattresses for Christmas, the dresser for my birthday, and covering my dry cleaning bill and moving truck fee out of pity.
But the rest ($3,200) all came out of the remnants of my student loan money, which I had intended to pay back. While I'm finally getting back on my feet, I still think it'll be a long while before I'm financially ready to do anything glamorous, like replace my futon with a couch.
Related posts:
Life after bed bugs: I'd like to say I won
A step toward bedbug-free moving trucks
Bed bugged storage (Part 1): Is your stuff safe?
Top 10 bed bug products for New Yorkers
What every New Yorker should learn from the Nat'l Bed Bug Summit
How to bed bug proof your NYC apartment
BrickUnderground's bed bug survival kit
Bed bugs and lice in the laundry room