See How Much Your Section 8 Housing Voucher Could Be Worth

You may daydream about having more money in your monthly budget and how much of a difference it would make in your life. For example, it could help you save for a rainy day so you can sleep better at night. You could use it to pay off debt and get bill collectors off of your back. Or you could simply use that extra money to treat yourself for all of your hard work.

Regardless of what you’d do with more wiggle room in your budget, this is the best way to get it: Reduce your rent costs. Rent, after all, is probably your biggest expense every month. But unless you move somewhere else or get a roommate to split the costs, your rent probably won’t get any cheaper. Or will it?

There is a way to get cheaper rent, and it’s through the government’s Section 8 program. With a housing voucher, you can get a portion of your rent paid by Uncle Sam, which automatically makes it cheaper and gives you that more flexible monthly budget to work with.

Just how much cheaper can rent become with a housing voucher? Let’s break it down now.

The Value of Section 8 Housing Vouchers

When it comes to Section 8, your income decides how much you’ll have to pay the landlord each month. The more income you make, the bigger the rent check you’ll have to write.

The Section 8 standard is to pay 30 percent of your income in rent. So, if you make $1,500 per month, you’ll pay $450 towards the rent. If the apartment costs $1,000 per month, the voucher will pay the remaining $550, so your landlord is paid in full.

What can cause you to pay more rent out of pocket? If the property you want to live in is more expensive than the Fair Market Rent. The HUD establishes this amount by looking at other rentals in the area. It’s a number used to ensure that the housing you pick is affordable.

Pick a more expensive property, and you’ll not only have to pay that 30 percent of your income, but you’ll also end up paying the difference above the Fair Market Rent.

Getting a Section 8 Voucher

As you can expect, many people are lining up to get Section 8 vouchers so they can save a bunch on their monthly rent expenses. This demand means that you probably won’t be able to get a voucher within days, weeks, or even months. In fact, you may end up waiting years until your spot on the waiting list comes up.

Keeping this in mind, you should apply for your voucher now by contacting your Public Housing Agency so you can accelerate the process.