Friends Plus an Appartment Equals Trouble

Millions of young adults move out of their parents homes every year, and many of them can not afford to live on their own and look for roommates. Here are some things to consider before deciding whether or not to move in with a friend or to get a roommate from the paper or internet. I have also added some of my own experiences from when I lived with my two former best friends.

Personal Space and Privacy:
Moving in with a friend over a stranger means you will have almost no privacy, friends have a tendency to wan to hang out especially when you door is shut and you just want to be alone, but a stranger will usually respect your privacy by not bothering you unless it is something important. Friends will also assume it is ok to borrow things from you without asking be it food in the fridge or your toe nail clippers from on top of your dresser.

My old roommate would always go into my room to borrow my things no matter how much I asked her not to, and every time I asked she would get insulted because it was her so it should be ok with me.

Bills and Expenses:
The reason why you moved in with a roommate in the first place was you don’t make enough to live on your own right. Well my experience has been that a friend may worry less if their roommate is a friend because their friend will help them out if they were short on the rent or electricity because they spent too much money in the online casinos, but that same person would probably be more considerate and make sure to have the rent money if they were living with a stranger rather then a good friend.

One of my friends would always spend his rent or bill money in online casinos playing blackjack, or in poker rooms online. I like to play some poker online just as much as anyone else but I always made sure to not gamble in an online casino with my rent money. If I was short on money I would not gamble, but I would never allow myself to not have the money to pay my share of the bills.

Cleaning of the Shared Spaces:
In the past roommates I had found in the news paper always made sure that any space we shared like the kitchen or living room was kept clean. If you cooked something any mess was cleaned from the counter and pots, pans and plates would be put in the sink and were taken care of within 12 hours, but friends may take advantage of the slack you will give to a friend, because they know you would be ok with it.

When I have was living with a female friend of mine she insisted that I clean up any dishes or anything I used immediately, but would always leave her dishes in the sink, or things on the table for days, because she said she did not think I would minded if she left a mess, even though she would complain if I left something soaking in the sink because she did not like to see it when she came home from work.

Power Consumption:
Unless your roommate has lots of money and lets face it if they had cash they would not need a roommate, then they will be looking to save money and not want to waste money on electricity, and once you agree on things like using the dryer or air conditioning two roommates who meet online or from an add in the paper will usually respect the rules better then two friends will. Friends will usually bend the rules, like leaving the computer on all day or running the ac all night.

The girl I was friends with would always go out and leave her AC on and when I called her to tell her she would just say she forgot and would try to remember, but the next day she would do it again. She would also go into my room and turn on my AC and the one in her room to cool down the rest of the house when she was home watching TV alone.

By the time I eventually moved out of that apartment I was no longer on speaking terms with my former best friends and that is why I recommend that you do not ever move in or allow friends to move in with you.

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