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

happyinflorida

How many are there in this house? Is this really £10 per week for these things?! Wow - where you do you shop, Harrods?

How long have you been buying things? Has anyone else bought stuff or just you?

You need to learn from this - if it has been going on for some time, then you must speak up sooner in future. Communication is the key to good relationships.

Depending on your answers to the above I would say - if it's been going on for a long time and you've bought practically everything, then do a quick add up of how much you've spent and point this out and ask for a let off period for how much you've spent.

Good luck though!

alggomas

Pay. You were to weak to ask before now you are too weak "to be let off". Are you six years old?
No one asked you to pay for these items. Your housmates probably realised you were paying so started this kitty.

cuba2008

I agree with others saying you should have brought the subject up much sooner. It's a bit late now they've started a kitty to be complaining about monies spent previously. However, I am confused about one thing. How many of you will be chipping in and if this £10 is per week each (as suggested in the original post) then what on earth are you spending it on? Even if there are only 3 of you, that's £30 a week. If it's only for essentials it seems an awful lot to be spending on items such as loo paper, washing up liquid, clothes wash and dish washer tablets. I would be more concerned at discussing the figure of £10 and how it's been arrived at.

happy2B

How come "THEY'VE" now started a kitty? Did you not all sit down and discuss it and make the decision together? Maybe they have recognised the situation and realised it's unfair on you and that's why they came up with the idea. But surely you ALL need to agree on the amount and what it covers. Otherwise it will just descend into chaos.

happy2B

I agree with a lot of the other posters - what's gone is gone and it's hard to retrospectively make a fuss about something you accepted at the time. Plus good relations with the people you live with is worth a lot more than a disputed £10. Rather than try to fight your own corner, I would maybe throw the ball back in their court and see what they say - something like "I'm so glad we've started this kitty because most of what we currently have was bought out of my own pocket and it was costing me a fortune" - if they volunteer to take that as your initial contribution then accept graciously, otherwise just let it go and be grateful at least that the situation has been rectified for the future.

happy2B

However, my concern would be that you all agree what the kitty covers, who does the buying - so you don't duplicate or no-one does it. And what happens if some items are used more by one person than another.
In a similar problem, we once had a "tea fund" at work - initially it worked OK, but some people took sugar while others didn't, some drank more cups during the day..... so how do you make it fair? Should you all make the same contribution if the usage differs?

happy2B

And you don't always know what issues will arise. In another similar problem, when I was in a shared flat at uni with 3 other students, we paid individual rent but had shared heating and electric bills. But 2 of the flatmates then met partners and spent most of their time at their place, so felt they shouldn't have to contribute so much to our bill. I could see their point, though felt it should have been addressed sooner, but agreed an uneven % split. But when the bill arrived, then I felt aggrieved as a lot of it was standing charge and I thought they should have paid their full share of that, even if they paid less for the actual fuel costs. And it was a bit annoying for me too, having anticipated an even split - it costs the same to heat a building of a certain size regardless of the number of people in it, so I was actually lumbered with a bigger bill than I had budgeted for. But sometimes you just have to suck it up and decide what is and isn't worth arguing for in life.

happy2B

Plus the other flatmate who DID stay there, decided to remove the plug-in radiator from their room to justify paying a lesser share - but of course the room still got some warmth from the rest of the house, so may have been cooler but certainly wasn't totally unheated. Just how petty can you get ??? I am so glad I now have my own house and make my own decisions - life is so much simpler (well that part of it is at least!)