For those of you who have lived with roomies, how do you all split the bills?
My friend has a few bills for his apartment: water, electricity, cable/internet. He and his roomie split them evenly, but an issue has come up. They sometimes have different school schedules/holidays. The roommate told my friend that if someone is living in the apartment for less than two weeks, they shouldn’t have to pay any of the bills.
The thing is, because of their odd billing cycles, it has happened and will happen a few times that the roommate will be there for less than 2 weeks… so all those days add up and he’s saving saving quite a bit of money.
My friend feels like it’s unfair and wants to come up with some sort of rule and avoid tension, especially since his tuition is more, he has more loans and spent more money on his apartment.
I have no clue what to advise him. Is there any rule that you all came up with and followed?
For some of the billing cycles, the roommate was there for 1 week. When my friend said if not 50-50, then pay 20 or 25%... the roommate answered, "how much power or water can be used in 1 week??"
First rule. You should both have your names on the lease (electricity, cable, internet, phone) Second rule. Split the bills in half, even if your roommate doesn’t live there for a day
This summer my roommate went home to Montreal, but she still paid half the bills. The only time she refused to pay half was when I spilled coffee on the carpet. Later I dropped her toothbrush in the toilet Oops, and yeah now we are even
Then inform him that if he does not pay for utilities he can not use them. If need be find a new place and leave the guy in a lurch. If someone is being a dick screwing them over is perfectly halal.
Tell him if he cannot pay for the utilities, he is not allowed to use them. He cannot live there for free and your friend does not run a charitable institution.
I realize your friend does not want to cause tension but some things need to be crystal clear to avoid even further tension in the future due to misunderstandings.
Stand your ground and put your foot down. Tell him how its gonna be, if he don't like it, he can find somewhere else... Do it and do it quick before he starts taking even more liberties with you..
First rule. You should both have your names on the lease (electricity, cable, internet, phone)
Second rule. Split the bills in half, even if your roommate doesn't live there for a day
^ Agreed.
In addition....tell your friend he/she made a HUGE mistake by not discussing this and putting this in writing BEFORE signing a lease with another person! All details related to money needs to be ironed out before both parties make a legal commitment.
Thats silly. What if both of them spend less than 2 weeks? Noone pays?
If both aren't in the apartment, all bills are split in half.
I get the roommate's point that if he isn't living there or takes off early, why should he pay half of the bills.
But then again, it's a one year lease and no where does it state that it's for students and bills/rent are determined by their school schedules. If someone chooses to spend their vacation at home they still have to pay the rent while living away, then they should pay their portion of the bills. If my friend has to pay for usage of electricity/water because only he is present in the apartment, I totally understand that. But a lot of the bills consist of mandatory service charges which is suppose to be for both roommates, at least that should be split regardless of whether or not both are present in the apartment. If my friend only uses like $7 worth of water, why should he pay the full $40 in service charge in addition to that? The roommate on the other hand, thinks it's unfair to pay for it if he was only living there for 6 or whatever days. It's becoming a messy situation and I think my view on it might just be biased.
