Great 'Flatmate MoneySaving' Hunt

Former_MSE_Penelope

Great 'Flatmate MoneySaving' Hunt

Sharing a house with non-partners/family is often MoneySaving but has its problems too. It may be getting home insurance, tax credit issues, or even just how to split the bills. So we're asking MoneySavers what their top tips are for flatmate MoneySaving.

View past Great Hunts


[threadbanner] box [/threadbanner]

lauzt1987

I would advise that you open a joint back account and each put a set amount in it each month to cover rent, bills etc. Then have everything coming out of that account direct debit. Beats having to divide up bills when they come!

TUS

lauzt1987 wrote: »

I would advise that you open a joint back account and each put a set amount in it each month to cover rent, bills etc. Then have everything coming out of that account direct debit. Beats having to divide up bills when they come!

Does this not financially link you to that person for future credit checks, etc?

In my student days, we always "paid as we went" except Internet which I did in my name (as I wanted it setup quickly) and everyone gave me the cash each month (relatively small amount to be fair - I got it in beer most of the time).

mozzawatt

Hi
I share with four other adults - we have a list of communal items that we all contribute to and share and it is posted on the fridge.
List (Milk, butter, bread, olive oil, loo roll, cleaning products). Every month everyone puts in £15 and that goes toward having a cleaner once a week and paying for shared items.
The cash goes into one person's account and they do the shopping and pay the cleaner. But the left over cash goes in a money tin in the kitchen which we can take pennies out of to buy milk etc.
Also top tip for house sharing, stock up at least two spare loo rolls in the bathroom cupboard. Thats just good manners.

elmo2sam

I could use some help with this actually!

I own my two-bedroomed flat, and rent out the other room to my flatmate. I have always had the bills come out of my account as it is easier to monitor, especially when flatmates come and go.

The problem I have is that I have included bills in her rent (covering everything from council tax to line rental) but the Ground Rent and Service charge I pay for the building has doubled this year. I am aware that I need to increase her rent to reflect this, but should I change to charging her rent excluding bills to avoid situations like this in future?

Any comments/advice greatly appreciated!

BitterAndTwisted

Your ground rent and service charges are not "bills"! Bills are usually but not always: Council Tax, heating, hot-water and phone line-rental and calls and often a contribution towards internet access. Whenever I've had a flatmate in the past they have paid me rent excluding bills and then they had an incentive not to put the heating on 24/7, ring their auntie in Australia at my expense or use the washing-machine for only one item at a time.

You need to calculate what you charge your flatmate compared to what the going rate is in your area and not necessarily solely on what your mortgage/ground rent/service charges are

georgina17

Hiya, I'm 20 and share a house with four other 20 year olds. We organise the bills as one in each name (I 'do' electric), and so when a bill comes in, that person divides it up and sticks it on the fridge for everyone to pay them. We share basic groceries: bread, milk, cheddar, cooking oil, eggs, loo paper, cleaning products, potatoes. It works pretty well.

GEEGEE8

A friend shared a flat with someone and they had a joint bank account.. didn't work out so well and now my mate has a default on her file for when the payments were missed when she went on holiday and realised the flat mate hadn't put that months money into the joint account.

anniecave

If there are several people sharing a phone line, I'd recommend using a different override call provider (like 18185 or 1860) each, so its easy to know whose calls are whose. That way there should be only a few calls (when people forget to use the override number!) that you need to work out who needs to pay for.

pixie_girl_3

From previous experience* a shared phone is a no-no, most people just use mobile phones these days anyways and the argueing and prooving people have made those calls is not worth the effort. There is always skype over hte internet if you want cheap calls to other mobiles.

*A previous house mate who spent 100s of hours on the phone and when it got too expensive, brought a new mobile for his gf and said 'but its not her number its not me' it worked fine until she visited we rung the number and low and behold it rang! We were poor students at the time and couldn't afford a share of £100s a month in phone bills and it caused so much friction and arguements it really wasn't worth it.

In my current house once a week people buy shared things such as cleaning products and loo roll for the house it tends to be quite fair, and people just tend to see what we are missing and pick it up with their shopping if they feel they have done it too much recently they stop and someone else will do it instead.

I think that joint accounts can over complicate things, as some people forget to pay, or leave and are hard to get hold of to remove them off of the account.

My current house is all incl (thank goodness!) no more worries about bills-and no more arguements about who put the heating on, left lights on etc etc, but in the past the fridge door system of IOUs works quite well, everyone putting in X amount a week also is good only if the person in charge is honest (and keeps records as new housemates may not be so trusting or may want proof) also its nice when you have money left over at the end of the year to buy new kitchen stuff, or to fund a dinner party
Have never done the food sharing (have always had houses with 6+ people or with dietary problems which makes it harder) but I imagine it would stop a lot of food waste and reduce food bills (and fridge space)

spugzbunny

I live in a house share of 3. I have all the bills coming out of my account as I've been burnt in the past by people forgetting to pay. I keep a spreadsheet which is completed each Januray with my budget and includes all the house bills for every month of the coming year. This way I document how much everyone owes and when they owe it and I can update as and when bills change.