How To Share Expenses With Your Roommate
Having a roommate can be great for a lot of different reasons. By sharing the space, you call home, you can always say there is someone to hang out with, bounce ideas off or share a meal with. When you share a space, you can also share expenses, and you may be able to afford a bigger place in a better location or a place closer to the action like entertainment venues and restaurants. Sharing an apartment with a roommate does not come without its challenges but we can help you determine how to share expenses with your roommate. Here are some tips to help you keep the peace.
How To Share Expenses With Your Roommate
1. Decide what bills you will share and how you will pay them.
This is important and allows you to keep an eye on the details. Ask yourself what your budget plan looks like and how does that fit with your budget plan together. When it comes to splitting utilities, rent and other bills make a plan on who is ultimately responsible for paying the bill. By deciding who will be sending in the payment or check, there will be no confusion if the bill was paid. Standard utilities like electric, water, heat, and trash are all something to consider when making this plan. When you take a tour be sure to ask the property manager what utilities the tenants are responsible for and how much an average bill is. They will be able to add some valuable insight into additional costs when living at the property. When you rent With Rosetti Properties, trash removal, lawn care and snow removal are all included in your lease. Find out what is included in your rent if you live at one of our apartments for rent in Upstate, NY.
Additional expenses you should write into your budget include cable, internet, phone, and streaming subscriptions. Be clear on who is paying for what and how much each is willing to spend. If you have a roommate that is insisting on MLB Sports Package and you don’t need those channels, then ask if they can pay the additional charge for having them. Being upfront and clear about your budget and expectations is going to be great for your roommate relationship and ease tensions about money.
2. Make a budget and write it down.
Once you decide what bills you will share and who is responsible for paying them the next step to create a budget and write it down. This will make sure that all roommates are aware of the expectations and when bills are due. Just because you are not the one paying the bill it is still up to you to give your roommate your share on time. You may also need to step in if they are out of town or can not pay the bill on time for some reason. You may also want to think about a joint calendar or app that you all have access to and can add notes and alerts when bills are paid.
3. Are there things that we should keep separate?
When it comes to sharing expenses with your roommate there are some things you may want to keep separate. Each of you may bring some furniture to the collective apartment but when you are purchasing news things think about who will take them if you decide to not live together. It may be easier to decide on things together but ultimately purchase things separately. Then if that time comes there is a clear owner of shared common area items.
Groceries are another thing that you may want to keep separate from your roommate. There are some things that can be shared like milk and eggs but if you have different eating schedules, choices in food, or snack habits you may want to do your own grocery shopping. We don’t think sneaking a fruit snack is a deal breaker but eating the entire box may be. If you do plan on splitting the groceries, add it to your shared expense document so everyone is aware of expectations and budget.
Whether you’re moving into an apartment for the first time or moving into a bigger place with your current roommate knowing how to share expenses with your roommate is going to be the key to your success. Having a roommate is a great adventure keep things great by setting clear expectations about budget and bills. Take a tour of our available apartments and find your new home today.
Additional Roommate Resources: