Flatmates spending money I don't have...

tbourner

preable wrote: »

I would buy a flat screen tv and ask for there share xD

Better to buy something that they won't use, then return it without them noticing and get your money back.

demondoctor

I used to share a house with 2 guys and a girl. We used to share food and the girl would constantly be going to the supermarket to buy food (expensive stuff too) even though we didn't need it, then expect us to pay.

In the end we all got fed up and ended up buying our own food.

cjames_3

I'm feel so bad for you!

I know you've just moved in but maybe you should say that you're moving out. Then they'll really be stuck!

Hope it all works out though, it's terrible when it's your friends and money up for discussion.

Good Luck!

[Deleted User]

All this is making me impressed with my previous housemates. We used to go shopping for food together and used to take turns to cook dinner. We would go round with the trolley for group food purchases and household stuff then would have a basket each for snacks, drinks, lunches, toiletries ect we would pay for individually. It worked out quite well. If any of us wanted stuff like a blender, steamer ect we would buy ourselves let others use but when it came to moving out the person who bought it took it. I live with my boyfriend now, he buys everything but I am unemployed and he gets the tax credits paid into his bank so it does work out.

wireframe_2

drinkupretty wrote: »

he buys everything but I am unemployed and he gets the tax credits paid into his bank so it does work out.

Probably not, actually.

[Deleted User]

wireframe wrote: »

Probably not, actually.

Food and household items it does.

Idiophreak

This is much trickier than many people seem to think...You certainly have to be a little diplomatic about stuff. When I was at uni the girls wanted to redo the curtains, seat covers etc - stuff us lads couldn't care less about, but we all chipped in to keep the peace. One of my friends had an issue where a girl in the house refused to pay for the (cheap) TV or licence because she didn't intend to use it - she got off really badly in the house as a result and didn't really bond with anyone else - a miserable year later, she's moving out - in retrospect, she might think that she'd have been better off handing over the extra £30 for the sake of a happy year.

I guess it's just a case of where to drawn the line...but if you've run out of money, that's a pretty easy line to draw...

olly300

Idiophreak wrote: »

This is much trickier than many people seem to think...You certainly have to be a little diplomatic about stuff. When I was at uni the girls wanted to redo the curtains, seat covers etc - stuff us lads couldn't care less about, but we all chipped in to keep the peace. One of my friends had an issue where a girl in the house refused to pay for the (cheap) TV or licence because she didn't intend to use it - she got off really badly in the house as a result and didn't really bond with anyone else - a miserable year later, she's moving out - in retrospect, she might think that she'd have been better off handing over the extra £30 for the sake of a happy year.

I guess it's just a case of where to drawn the line...but if you've run out of money, that's a pretty easy line to draw...

Quite a few people replying to the thread have been students and/or student advisers.

I purposely always chose my housemates due:
1. The courses they were on
2. How they spent money - so those who went to the bank of mum and dad I couldn't live with.

Oldernotwiser

How things have changed! I shared flats and houses throughout my twenties (both as a student as a worker) and I can't remember anyone ever buying anything for a property, much less expecting everybody else to chip in.

Just out of interest, OP, what sort of things have been bought?

Doom_and_Gloom

minicooper272 wrote: »

I thought they'd all be on a similar wavelength as me because I earn more than most of them within a year, but they all get bailed out by Mum and Dad and I really don't have that option!

This is somethig you need to point out to be honest. It might not bode well with them but really this is the clincher. You may earn more than them but you need to make it obvious that while they can go and get money from mum or dad that you can not. This means that you will have to be more careful to counter anything going wrong.

If they don't listen to reason show them a list of in going and out goings. This might make them see sense. If they don't then they are just spoilt brats in my honest opinion.

It's probably obvious but I really can not stand people who spend other peoples money without consulting it.

I remember when I was in a flateshare and we went shopping together on the premis that it would be cheaper to get a taxi back with all of us - fair enough that was true. I was buying loads of reduced or basic food and being careful adding up all the costs of what I put in the trolly. When we went back to the flat three of the others worked out what a 1/5 of the bill would be as there was five of us! Queue me being really angry and saying I wasn't going to pay it. The amount they wanted me to pay was around double what my stuff had come to - not a chance was I going to subsidise them (a lot of it was meat and dairy items I didn't and still don't eat for one but these items are also very expencive). I made it clear after that that I was going to buying my own food. Oddly they tonned down their own spending on food after that.

You need to nip it early or they will walk over you. Be nice about it but firm in the fact that you aren't able to pay it and you are not going to. It was up to them to buy it. Do say that if something is decided on in a flat meeting that that is okay as long as everyone agrees on a top price. That way you are at least giving the option of things being bought but it needs to be decided by everyone. If not they can buy it themselves.