Real-life MMD: Should I be let off houseshare cash for a week?

Former_MSE_Debs · 2 September 2013 at 5:45PM

Money Moral Dilemma: Should I be let off houseshare cash for a week?

I live in a houseshare. Being organised, I'm usually the one to buy communal items (dishwasher tablets, sponges, etc) before we run out. I don't like to make a fuss, so haven't asked my housemates for any money towards them. They've now started a kitty for these items and have asked me for a £10 contribution. I feel I should be let off the first week, as I've spent much more than £10 in the past, but I don't want to cause problems.

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iclayt · 3 September 2013 at 9:20PM

Having lived in many shared households I would say just pay it. The time to make a fuss about paying more than your share has been and gone when you didn't ask for money in the past. Better to all start paying an equal share now and be glad they're finally doing their bit than quibble over money you've already spent.

nikki299 · 3 September 2013 at 9:34PM

I agree with above post.
You paid for the items and didn't ask for any money back in the past, through your choice. Perhaps you should have suggested a kitty long ago.
I think you just have to be grateful everyone is now paying an equal share and write off what you have spent in the past.

Talent · 3 September 2013 at 11:38PM

Pay up and learn.

telsco · 4 September 2013 at 1:22AM

You say you are "...usually the one to buy..". But, you don't claim to have always done so. If you did you might have had a claim to be let off for the first round of £10.
Therefore, as others have also bought stuff in the past I think you should just pay your £10 like everyone else.

oldtrout · 4 September 2013 at 1:42AM

You could ask them!!

Brydav · 4 September 2013 at 3:25AM

You really should have brought it up sooner. Now that the others are finally getting their act together I'd just pay up and be glad that in future everyone will be chipping in equally.

silkcutblue · 4 September 2013 at 6:34AM

I'm not sure if I'd say that's being organised. It sounds more like wanting to avoid confrontation so going out and buying the stuff rather than speaking to the flatmates about the underlying issue.

Here is the solution to it all - a kitty. Work done. Pay up. Move on with the knowledge that it's fairly being sorted from here on

minicooper272 · 4 September 2013 at 7:21AM

No, you can't ask to be let off.

If you're the only one that buys stuff for the house and your housemates took the initiative to start a kitty, it sounds like they have recognised you're the one that pays for everything and are trying to fix that. I think you enter two scenarios:

1. Pay up
2. Argue to be let out, have them decide they don't have to do a kitty (lets face it, they're not losing out) and wind up going back to a situation where you pay for everything again.

If oyu've had a very large purchase in the past that your housemates didn't contribute to, you can take 50p over time to cover it. E.g. When my house needed a frying pan, one housemate thought I should pay for this myself because the kitty was low and she doesn't like frying pans. As my other 3 housemates all use it regularly, I took the money (£6) over 3 months to spread the cost for the kitty, which I thought was fair.

tgroom57 · 4 September 2013 at 9:12AM

1. You say that you've been asked for £10 contribution - and we are all assuming the others have been asked for the same amount. But we don't know for sure, they might have been asked for more.
2. £10 a week sounds rather extreme, again- presumably you mean the first payment, which might turn out to be monthly / or when the kitty runs dry.
3. No mention of who has the labour of actually going to the store and getting the stuff / ensuring a good price.
4. Do you still have a receipt for anything more than £4 ?
5. as noted above, you weren't the only one buying stuff.

All considered, I would ask if I could pay a reduced contribution this first time, especially if I could produce a receipt for, say, dishwasher tablets. I'd be happy to pay half the initial contribution i.e. £5, and I would expect them to vote on it.

JimmyTheWig · 4 September 2013 at 9:29AM

I agree that now is the wrong time to be asking to be let off.

A kitty that works is much better than not having a kitty - especially much better for you. So if other people are now organising a kitty I think you should support them (for your own good) as much as you can. If the whole thing turns into an argument about who has spent what and when it may be that the kitty never gets off the ground - at which point you might end up paying for the bulk of things again.

Unless it has been agreed in the past that you have bought things and so the others owe you money. If they accept that they owe you then the kitty doesn't all of a sudden mean that they don't.
But I would suggest, even then, that you help get the kitty up and running in the first place. You could say something like "Once the kitty is established it can be used to pay me back that tenner I'm owed for the stuff I bought last week".

Real-life MMD: Should I be let off houseshare cash for a week?

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