You could go ahead and ask people with rooms for rent if they're okay with an extra boyfriend/cat option.

But if your do this, be sure to split the rent between all individuals versus by the amount of rooms. It is a lot more courteous and makes your situation (albeit more expensive for you compared to regular rental rates for rooms) a lot more presentable with someone for rooms to rent-- i.e., splitting the rent of say a 3-bedroom $1500 month apartment 4 ways [with your and your boyfriend paying $750].

The reason I recommend this is after years of living with near strangers and in many different places... the biggest gripe I've encountered with couples is that couples don't pay their equal share. Meaning, everyone loathes the couple in the apartment because they pay significantly less per person and it is only a benefit to the couple-- i.e., more dishes to clean, more dirt to vacuum, more pubic hair on everything.

Just found this amazing resource... using it to find housing in Berkeley actually, good luck.

padmapper.com

Thanks Michael, that's a sweet site. Let me know if you have any questions re: Berkeley, I know the area pretty well by now and would be happy to help.

Unicorn: good point about the shared housing. I'm aware of the possible inequalities of the situation and would of course do as you've suggested if it came to pass. That is why we're only looking for our individual pad - which would only be a little pricier - because imposing 3 bodies into a single-occupancy room would be too much for any communal household. Plus we're usually the cleaner ones occasionally hoovering up other mystery pubes in the place. :)

I've seen an actual fight occur over a mystery pube!

Redheaded girlfriend preferred the upstairs shower (boyfriend and rommate only had domain over the downstairs bathroom) because the redheaded girlfriend like the "massaging" detachable handle showerhead.

A fistfight occured because of redheaded girlfriend's hour long hot water showers, the growing number of foreign hairs in the upstairs bathroom and her penchant for leaving dairy products out of the refrigerator.

I don't have anything against redheads and the only reason I'm bringing this up is because the entire apartment/house is nothing but brunettes.

In fact, the fight only occurred after it was discovered that the girlfriend was in fact a redhead with colored hair.

Of course, post fight everyone had to explain to the couple that it was unfair to rent the room (it was like a combination mother-in-law suite / master bedroom) as a couple for $750 a month. At least everyone was paying $750 a month.

Shortly before the fight occurred, it was realized that the couple was renting out the giant huge walk-in closet to a close personal friend for 300.

In reality, the couple only spent $225 a person in rent and had the closet roommate pay their utilities for them.

They spent plenty of money on pot, xany bars and alcohol. Baked to a point that they never did anything or put the dairy back up in the fridge.

Delicious intraroomate fist fight was certainly delicious.

And like any good college pseudo-hippie fist fight, it was brought to resolution with a massive potsmoking circle. The 5 or 6 people who were over that night certainly enjoyed the bittersweet ending.

Nothing says I'm sorry like consecutive back-to-back blunts and an always packed roor!