Financial Feuds
Who Ate My Food?
You agreed to split the cost of food with your roommate, but you just went to the store two days ago, and your roommate has already eaten your bananas, cereal and soup. You’ve had enough, and decide that from now on you will buy your own food. How do you talk to your roommate about your new plan? What kind of conflicts could erupt and how will you diffuse them?
You would simple tell your roommate that since all the food that they bought got eaten in less than two days, you decided that instead of sharing the cost of food for the both of them that they will now just buy their own food for themselves and if any food is eaten that they didn’t buy they will have to pay the cost of that item.
Decorating Your Place
You’re getting ready to move into your new apartment and you and your roommate are trying to decide who should bring or buy furniture and other basics. You have everything you need for your own room, but you also need furniture for the living room and dishes for the kitchen. How will you decide who should bring or buy each item? How can you make sure you are contributing fairly to your shared space?
You would divide the areas that need furniture and other necessary items into equal sections and discover the cost of everything that is needed. Then you would equally share the cost to furnish the whole apartment by sorting the sections until both roommates are paying about the same cost.
Streaming Video
You and your roommate decide to have a movie marathon together. Just as you are about to pop in a DVD, your roommate says he can stream video to the TV because he added the service to your cable bill. Oh, and he’s going to need an extra ten bucks from you each month to cover it. You’re glad to have the convenience, but you’re annoyed that he didn’t ask first. How will you communicate your frustrations to your roommate, and what will you do to ensure something like this doesn’t happen in the future?
I would tell him that I am very disappointed with him that he did something to our apartment without my permission, then I would make sure that he contacts me in the future with anything in regard to the apartment and if he didn’t he would have to pay the full cost of whatever he purchased.
Passwords Please
You’re out of town and you forgot your cell phone bill is due. You usually pay it online, but you can’t remember your username and password. You call your roommate and ask if she can take care of it for you, letting her know that your usernames and passwords are in a notebook by your desk. What are the pros and cons of letting a roommate have access to your financial information? What security concerns should you think about in this situation?
Pros- you are able to pay your bill on time without any overdue charges.
Cons-your roommate now knows your financial information and can purchase things freely, they can tell someone else about your username and password to buy items.
Security concerns- my account is now compromised, my roommate now knows how much money I have saved up and has access to that money, and my roommate now can tell others about my financial information.
Broken Promises
Your roommate has a new boyfriend and you’re worried things will change. Sure enough, a few months later she moves out of your place and in with her boyfriend. The worst part? You still have six months left on the lease and she refuses to pay rent now that she has moved out. How will you talk to your roommate about this situation? What might you do differently in the future when choosing a roommate?
I would contact them by phone and discuss with them that they need to forward the money to me to pay the rent because they agreed to do so. In the future I would try to find a roommate that already has an apartment that way I wouldn’t have to worry about having them make payments and I just throw in my money in order to pay for it and that way I don’t have to worry about my roommate leaving.
You agreed to split the cost of food with your roommate, but you just went to the store two days ago, and your roommate has already eaten your bananas, cereal and soup. You’ve had enough, and decide that from now on you will buy your own food. How do you talk to your roommate about your new plan? What kind of conflicts could erupt and how will you diffuse them?
You would simple tell your roommate that since all the food that they bought got eaten in less than two days, you decided that instead of sharing the cost of food for the both of them that they will now just buy their own food for themselves and if any food is eaten that they didn’t buy they will have to pay the cost of that item.
Decorating Your Place
You’re getting ready to move into your new apartment and you and your roommate are trying to decide who should bring or buy furniture and other basics. You have everything you need for your own room, but you also need furniture for the living room and dishes for the kitchen. How will you decide who should bring or buy each item? How can you make sure you are contributing fairly to your shared space?
You would divide the areas that need furniture and other necessary items into equal sections and discover the cost of everything that is needed. Then you would equally share the cost to furnish the whole apartment by sorting the sections until both roommates are paying about the same cost.
Streaming Video
You and your roommate decide to have a movie marathon together. Just as you are about to pop in a DVD, your roommate says he can stream video to the TV because he added the service to your cable bill. Oh, and he’s going to need an extra ten bucks from you each month to cover it. You’re glad to have the convenience, but you’re annoyed that he didn’t ask first. How will you communicate your frustrations to your roommate, and what will you do to ensure something like this doesn’t happen in the future?
I would tell him that I am very disappointed with him that he did something to our apartment without my permission, then I would make sure that he contacts me in the future with anything in regard to the apartment and if he didn’t he would have to pay the full cost of whatever he purchased.
Passwords Please
You’re out of town and you forgot your cell phone bill is due. You usually pay it online, but you can’t remember your username and password. You call your roommate and ask if she can take care of it for you, letting her know that your usernames and passwords are in a notebook by your desk. What are the pros and cons of letting a roommate have access to your financial information? What security concerns should you think about in this situation?
Pros- you are able to pay your bill on time without any overdue charges.
Cons-your roommate now knows your financial information and can purchase things freely, they can tell someone else about your username and password to buy items.
Security concerns- my account is now compromised, my roommate now knows how much money I have saved up and has access to that money, and my roommate now can tell others about my financial information.
Broken Promises
Your roommate has a new boyfriend and you’re worried things will change. Sure enough, a few months later she moves out of your place and in with her boyfriend. The worst part? You still have six months left on the lease and she refuses to pay rent now that she has moved out. How will you talk to your roommate about this situation? What might you do differently in the future when choosing a roommate?
I would contact them by phone and discuss with them that they need to forward the money to me to pay the rent because they agreed to do so. In the future I would try to find a roommate that already has an apartment that way I wouldn’t have to worry about having them make payments and I just throw in my money in order to pay for it and that way I don’t have to worry about my roommate leaving.