Roommates can be an exciting part of renting a house or apartment. Sharing a space with one, two, or more people can be a great way to make friends, not to mention cut down on your monthly rent payment and utility bills. Living with roommates isn’t without its challenges though. Since there’s more than one party handling bills and rent, budgeting and splitting utility costs and other expenses may not be as simple as splitting everything evenly. Everyone has a different idea of how bills should be handled, and you want to be understanding with the people you share a roof with. So, how can you set a roommate budget?
Why Roommates Need a Budget
Conflicts are one of the main reasons people avoid living with roommates. Living with another person can be hard, especially if you disagree on something as important as spending habits, or even something as small as who is responsible for loading the dishwasher. Like most roommate situations, it’s best to lay some groundwork when or before you move in to ensure you and your housemates are on the same page when it comes to budgeting.
One common issue that arises when roommates don’t assign bills or budget together is resentment. One person feels like they have all the responsibility, which is a recipe for a bad situation. Groceries can be another point of contention when it comes to cohabitating. Are you and your roomies planning to split essential groceries like cooking oil, butter, or milk? Will you share paper towels, toilet paper, and other frequently bought consumables? These are all things that could potentially put a riff in your roommate relationship if you don’t share the same budget constraints.
Should all expenses be shared?
Shared expenses are arguably the biggest pro of living with roommates. You can save thousands by splitting utilities and rent, but should you split every expense with your housemates? The answer is really up to you and the rest of your household. Most renters will agree that sharing utility bills is agreeable and is an expected part of living with other people. But should you share food, toiletries, or even furniture cost?
If your fridge space allows for it, it’s best to keep groceries separate. No one wants to feel like they’ve paid to have a roomie eat the last of the chips. Sharing basic food items like bread, milk, sugar, butter, and oil is advisable to save some fridge and cabinet space. You should also consider purchasing big ticket items and shared furniture separately. Who’s going to take the living room couch if every roommate split the cost evenly? Rock, paper, scissors for the TV? Let every roommate purchase these items on their own. If you feel like keeping track of who’s purchased what so you can furnish the rental equitably, create a spreadsheet.
How to Split Utilities with Roommates
There are two strategies you can take when it comes to splitting utility costs with your roommates. The first and most used is to simply split every bill evenly. That means gas, water, electric, internet, cable, etc. would all be split evenly among every renter in the unit. Why take this approach? Equitably splitting utility costs regardless of usage is arguably the fairest. Determining if one roommate keeps the air on or uses the TV more than the others can become tiresome for whoever pays that particular bill. If you decide to split utilities evenly and want to keep costs low, create an agreement for certain thermostat temperatures, shower times, etc. so that no one feels like they’re paying for someone else’s usage.
It’s not unheard of to divide utility bills by usage among roommates. This can get tricky, however, as determining who’s used more electricity or water can be a painstaking task. However, if one roommate only uses internet streaming services to watch TV or movies, while the others watch cable, it’s not out of the realm of acceptability to not require someone to pay for a service they don’t use. Whatever you decide, it’s wise to draw up a roommate agreement so that everyone is clear on how utility bills will be split.
Sharing Grocery Costs with Roommates
Fridge and pantry space can become a hot commodity when you live with one or more people. If you and your roommates shop separately, how do you split up the fridge and pantry so that everyone can store their groceries? If your fridge allows you to change the height of the shelves, create a space for taller items and more low-profile groceries. Divide these spaces evenly among your roommates so that everyone has an equal amount of shelf space to store their various items. Storage bins are your friend here. You can even label storage bins for each roommate and use dividers to separate produce bins so that everyone has the same amount of refrigerator real estate.
If you and your roommates shop together and share most of your groceries, create a list of all the recurring purchases you make and split that bill evenly. For any items that you or your housemates want to keep for themselves, they should be paid for separately and labeled so no one else takes them.
How to Keep Roommates Accountable
Being open and communicative and having clear and concise roommate agreement for utility costs and groceries is the best way to prevent roommate disagreements, but disputes may still happen. The most important thing to remember is to talk about it. If a roommate hasn’t paid their fair share of a bill or consistently eats someone else’s groceries, talk to them about it. In some cases, your fellow flatmate may be going through a hard time financially. If the behavior continues, remind your roommate of the agreements you made concerning utility bills and grocery costs. You may need to draft another agreement with different terms so that you can account for this behavior and prevent it.
Roommates can be tough, but as long as you lay down the ground rules when you move in and keep an open line of communication when disputes arise, you should enjoy an enriching (and lower cost) living arrangement. Happy renting!
Published June 18, 2021
