So Money with Farnoosh Torabi · Farnoosh Torabi

1965: Ask Farnoosh: Smart Moves After Debt, Student Loans, How to Invest Through the Noise

April 3, 2026·40 min·3 clips

Farnoosh reveals why Parent PLUS loans don't count as your debt when applying for a mortgage.

Morgan is staring at a real choice. The couple can leave an apartment with a gym and pool for an older 1970s place and save about $600 a month. Easy on paper, less easy in real life. The first year comes with moving costs and a month of double rent, so the payoff does not show up right away. Farnoosh starts by telling Morgan she is not overthinking it. Lower living expenses are hard to find right now, so the question deserves a serious look. The math still has to clear the emotional noise. First-year savings may land around $1,000, but after that the cheaper rent could free up about $7,000 a year. Over three years, Morgan sees almost $15,000 in savings. That money could help with a future home purchase or create more room to invest. Farnoosh keeps the conversation grounded. This is not just older apartment versus nicer amenities. Comfort costs money. So does staying in a place that may be pleasant but less useful for the next move. The point is not to glorify sacrifice. It is to ask whether the current apartment improves daily life enough to beat the flexibility that lower rent would create. Morgan and her partner are not making the choice from panic. They are a late-twenties couple grossing over $200,000 in a lower cost area, so the move is more strategic than desperate. Farnoosh ends by tying it back to financial independence, especially for women, and the habit of staying awake to money choices across a lifetime.

As heard by us

A practical, human take on when savings matter more than comfort.

Farnoosh uses Ask Farnoosh Friday to answer a plain housing question: whether moving to a cheaper apartment is worth giving up a newer place with amenities.

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Why you'd press play

If cheaper rent could buy you real breathing room.

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