I have no idea what I'm doing.
We are being relocated to san antonio (78216) for about a year, and I am trying to find an affordable furnished apartment with all (most) amneties, or one of those extended stay hotel type things with 2 bedrooms and a living room.

But I cant find much with the search engines, and what I do find is way out of my budget! My budget for a furnished apartment 2 bedrooms, is between 1500-2000 a month with tax and all that mumbo jumbo included.

I have to book for january 25th! the military didnt give us much notice! Please help!!

I am not sure if this help, but try this link.
http://www.rentals.com/Texas/San-Antonio/
Good luck!!!

Try this: http://www.forrent.com/results.php?page_type_id=refine&search_type=citystate&view_type=list&is_refined=1&seed=256282199&main_field=San+Antonio%2C+TX&ssradius=-1&min_price=%240&max_price=%241500&sbeds=2&sbaths=Any&amenities%5B%5D=24&user_entered_neighborhood=Find+Your+Neighborhood

I think you would have to call and find out about their furnished rates. Also the utilities may be separate...you can figure $100 a month electric in the winter, $200 a month electric in the summer (from May to October). You can get a package deal on cable, phone and internet for about $100 a month. Most complexes will bill for water too which can be about $40 a month. There's not tax on apartment rent but probably is on a furnished hotel suite.

There's not very good public transportation here, so if y'all are going to have only one vehicle you may want to make sure you're near a bus line. You can check out the schools at http://www.greatschools.org/

Avoid anything near Walzem Rd, Austin Highway, or Fredericksburg Rd. There are some really cheap furnished apartments around there but that's not the kind of place you want to live.

Well we found something on wurzbach (!?!) called dwelling suites that seemed within budget and the pictures looked very nice. We already reserved with them so thats a load off! just going to get off the plane and go straight there, not having to worry about buying anything other than groceries.

My kids are are 3 years old, are there any play places or day cares I could take them to a few times a week? or some kind of supervised play area where I can drop them off to run errands or something? lugging around twin 3 year old boys is a nightmare.

I guess i could put up a "babysitter wanted" sign in the laundry room of the apartment complex or something! What is the average rate for a babysitter in the states?

Is wurzbach considered a nice area? safe?

LOL sorry. but CC has been so helpful with all my cake needs it's only natural I post all these questions here.

1- Does anyone reccomend a nice place to spend Vday with my husband? I'd like something romantic but also on the fun side..maybe with music and dancing, stand up comedy?? we like all types of food.

2- a place that sells cake stuff? packaging, sprinkles, edible glitters, and all that stuff? Im gonna spend the year stocking up and bring it all back with me!

There's two Wurzbach streets here. One is Harry Wurzbach and the other is just plain Wurzbach. Until you know your way around the city, you'll want to get a map so you don't try to go home on the wrong Wurzbach. I know there's a Dwelling Suites on Harry Wurzbach. It's not a safe area, they've been trying hard to clean it up and Austin Highway is looking nicer, with a new Walmart and a fancy HEB but there are still lots of scary people around there. Definitely don't put up an ad for a sitter in the laundry room.

It's very conveniently located to Fort Sam, so that will be a plus if that's where your husband will be. It's not far from Randoph AFB either.

For the babysitting question, check the local churches for Mother's Day Out. Sometimes it's drop-in and other places it's not. But it's not too expensive and it's something good to do with the kids for the day. I noticed a daycare place in one of the malls recently...some place where you could pay by the hour for them to watch your kids while you shop. I can't remember which mall it was, maybe Rolling Oaks. I don't know what the going rate for a sitter is, I never leave my kids with anyone (I know, I'm paranoid). You can also find sitters on Craigslist. Ideally, find one who will watch the kids in her home so you don't have to worry about anyone going through your stuff. It's usually a little cheaper that way too because the sitter has the comfort of being in her own home, usually with her own kids there too. Ask for references and then call them. Also, for this one you can't just drop the kids off, but in Rolling Oaks mall there's a place called Inflatable Wonderland (or maybe inflatable world, I forget which). They've got a bunch of bouncy castles for the kids to play on. On Tues and Thurs they're half price which means you can take both kids in for about $11. If I'm right they have WIFI so you see lots of moms taking their laptops to use while the kids play. If you go during school hours the big kids won't be there either.

Now, for the fun part...

There's a few different places to get cake stuff here. There's Hobby Lobby for packaging and sprinkles and Lorann Oils, plus the standard assortment of Wilton stuff. They have coupons you can print out on their website too, a lot of times for 40 percent off one item. There's Michaels that only has Wilton stuff in their cake decorating aisle. Walmart has some Wilton stuff too.

American Gift Shoppe on Blanco at 1604 has all the real goodies...tons of sprinkles, luster dusts, silicone molds, chocolate molds, tylose, creme bouquet, etc...

Terry's House of Cake Decorating on El Monte has everything Wilton ever made, plus some plateaus and toppers.

Lucy's is a bakery too and I've never been there. I know they sell boards and sleeve fillings and boxes but I don't know what else.

Central Market on Broadway has gourmet groceries...lots of different extracts and fancy stuff. They don't focus on cake decorating, but it's a fun place to go.

About Valentine's Day, anywhere on the riverwalk will probably appeal to you. Also, they do mass weddings on the courthouse steps all day long, and the last one, usually at 7pm, is a vow renewal for people who are already married. You have to take your marriage license with you. It's a fun thing to do and it's free...might be nice to do before you go to dinner. My husband and I have gone almost every year for the last 12 years...we missed last year because I had my accident on Feb 12, but we're going this year for sure.

thank u so much for all the great and very wonderful and helpful info! Im printing! I am bummed though to find out the area im staying in isnt considered safe. I guess if it freaks us out we can stay the 1 month minimum then leave. Does a lot of crime go on there?

You can look up different areas of the city on mysanantonio.com

Here's a link to the police reports for Harry Wurzbach http://www.mysanantonio.com/crimebase/crimeBaseSummaries.html?reportingOfficer= &caseNumber= &address= Harry Wurzbach &zip= &specificDate= &startDate= &endDate= &description= &firstResult=0

You can look up other streets or zip codes if you decide to move somewhere else, to see what kind of area it is.

Also, you can look on the state sex offender database to see how many are in the area. https://records.txdps.state.tx.us/DPS_WEB/SorNew/PublicSite/Search/index.aspx?PageIndex=Results&SearchType=Address