You’ve got an Atlanta apartment. It seems that adding a roommate should cut your expenses in half. The reality is that the old adage - “Two can live as cheaply as one” - is only true if one of you doesn’t eat, flush the toilet, take a shower or use electricity. So what’s the point of having a roommate? Sharing an Atlanta apartment can be a cost-efficient step, if you take time to spell out the rules.
The easiest place to start is at the rent. Paying in shares is typically the answer, meaning that two would split the rent in half while three would each pay a third. It’s pretty easy to share the basic utilities in the same way because the amount of water, electricity and gas used by one roommate is typically going to be fairly equal to that used by the others. If one starts taking three showers a day and running the Atlanta apartment’s dishwasher to take care of a plate and cup, it might be time to have a chat about living efficiently. Other than those occasions, simply dividing the cost will probably suffice.
After those basics, it becomes much more difficult to decide who should pay what and food is likely to become a source of irritation. Here’s what typically happens. One roommate likes to cook and spends money each week on groceries. The other doesn’t like to cook and would live on peanut butter sandwiches, if not invited to meals with the in-house chef. The problem is, one is paying for the groceries all the time. One may be willing to live on peanut butter and bread in order to save money while the other is willing to splurge on steaks. When the division becomes increasingly complicated, there are several options.
* If you typically eat evening meals together, take time to make a list of what’s to be on the menu each night, buy what’s needed and divide the grocery bill.
* Chip in a specific amount each week with one person assigned to shop for groceries. The shopper may be the same person every week or you may take turns. If you agree that you’re each going to put in forty bucks, the shopper knows that there’s eighty dollars for groceries every week.
* If you each have your own personal likes and dislikes and meal times together rarely happen, buy your own food and establish a strict “hands off” policy. Set aside a specific place in the refrigerator for each roommates’ food as well as assigning cabinet space for each. Using this method, everyone can buy what they want and like.
Other issues may arise. If there’s a telephone, it’s a good idea to limit calling. Cell phones are so readily available that a home phone, while arguably necessary for home security, can be set up so that no long-distance calls are allowed. Your roommate may have been the one to say cable was an unnecessary expense, but may now be watching your TV all the time. Those kinds of issues must be dealt with to the mutual satisfaction of all, or the roommate situation is bound to end.
All these tips can be translated to deal with other aspects of financial sharing, but the bottom line is that all the tips in the world won’t help if you don’t have some legal standing. For that reason, consider having some sort of legal document that outlines your responsibilities. Depending on who signs the Atlanta apartment lease and the payment agreement for utilities, you may be responsible for the final bills regardless of who was supposed to pay, but a legal document of your agreement at least puts you in the position of taking your Atlanta apartment roommate to court for his or her half of the bills, though by that point you’ll likely be former roommates anyway.