Natwerk Designs

Roomate Drama!?

Roomate Drama!? Ok, so my husband and I have a roomate, a girl we have lived with since being Freshman in college, unmarried, and without child(4 years). We all graduate next year and live in a REALLY expensive area in which you either live in the ghetto or live in a really nice luxury area. In order for all of us to avoid living in student housing, which was nasty, we all moved into an apartment in the nice area of town. My husband and I have 2 out of three bedrooms(1 for our son and 1 for us) and our roomate has the master bedroom. We pay 2/3rds of the rent since we have two bedrooms. Well, we are moving into another apartment because we no longer qualify to live in the one we live in now. The apartment is HUMUNGOUS, but it's only a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom-about 1400 sq ft. So, it'll be my husband, our son, and me in one room, and my roomate in other. Both rooms and bathrooms are masters and are the same size. My roomate wants my husband and I to pay $100 more a month than she does. she says my husband makes more money than she does. We are all fulltime students. She makes only about 6.75 an hour because she wants to work with her boyfriend. Regardless, my husband and I have about 20,000 in medical bills and we take care of ourselves with no outside help. Our roomates mother gives her 400/month. Should we pay more because my husband makes more when we will have the same amount of living space as she does?

Public Comments

1. You may not want to hear this, but I think your roommate has a valid point of view in some ways. I don't fully agree with EVERYTHING she's suggested, however. I believe ability to pay overrides the amount of space alloted to each occupant. All three of you share some common spaces like the kitchen, bathroom and livingroom, I assume. It's only the bedrooms which are being divided 50/50. That's more of an architectural issue to me. Not much has changed as far as the 2/3 to 1/3 ownership. I'd say pay the extra $100 as a gesture of goodwill towards your financially challenged roommate. It's only a temporary situation anyway, so why borrow trouble? Arguably, you and your husband and child are also using a larger percentage of the utilities, so count your blessings. It sounds to me like you'd like to use this 50/50 issue as leverage against your roommate in general. I'd suggest getting to the real problem instead of creating more conflict. You and your growing family need more privacy as soon as possible, so keep looking for something affordable after graduation. It's entirely possible that one of you may find a better job in another city anyway.
2. No just because he makes more money doesn't mean you guys should have to pay more. If you both have the same amount of space then you should both pay the same price
3. I dont really think ability to pay should enter in to the question. But I do think that 3 people take up a lot more of the living areas than 1 person does! (especially when one is a child!!) So I do think that you should pay more...even if it is just to cover utilities!!
4. I am going through the same dilemma with my fiance's cousin. You should not have to pay more because technically even though the rooms are the same size you don't actually have equal amount of space because you are sharing a room with 2 other people and she has a room to herself. Tell her to stop trtying to get over and pay the $100. If she doesn't like it then tell her to get her own place. You have a faamily to support and she's just supporting herself. Don't let her pull that crap on you.
5. I think you two should pay the more because it is two of you with a son. She only supports herself. It does not matter about space. You share the bills right thats all