Help with moving out of parents house and into roommates apt.

Question

Hello, myself and two of my friends (two of us are girls one male) have decided that its time to move out of our parents houses and into an apartment rooming together. We all have good paying jobs and supportive parents over our decision. We just need to learn the basics. We started saving money and we just need to make a list of what we need. we already have all of our furniture from family. But we need to learn how to decide what apartment would be best how to work out the bills, setting rules, food and we basically need to learn everything we need to know... any advice is welcome is my question =]

Answer 1

rules:

Don't work together, too much time together, you will lose your friends

Clean up after yourself

no sexual intercourse in any of the rooms but your own

as for bills and stuff, I would split every thing three ways. Unless some one doesn't use it. Like with tampons, the guy isn't going to use them, so don't make him pay for it. Find something where you each have a room, and you can find a way to share the front room, kitchen, etc.

Have fun, its hard since you will be spending a lot of time together. Don't borrow money from each other, and don't do anything stupid. Good luck to you. hope this helps a little

Answer 2

Hi

The link below I have given to my daughters who are moving out this summer for the first time - so you might want to take a look at it. Its mostly about the 'stuff' you need.

As for splitting responsibilities b/t the 3 of you - it's a GREAT idea to establish rules BEFORE you move in together and post them at your new place to avoid future misunderstandings. Try to establish things like:

Who decides on the remote?  Should you switch off weeks or days?

Are the 3 of you all about the same in the way you'd like the house kept or is one of you a clean freak and the other two messy?

Who will pay what utility?

Will you combine $$$ and food shop together or separately?

What will get the mail?

Are you sharing the bathroom stuff and taking turns buying it or using your own?

What happens when you have friends over?  Overnight guests?

Another MAJOR thing is this - make sure everyone agrees that if its not working out there MUST be a 30 day notice given to others.

This is imperative as it happens all the time. It would be a good idea to have a months rent in reserve in case someone does leave or loses a job.

I had two different roommates and really didn't enjoy living with either one of them - and we had a big house!  People get their feelings hurt, or you think they're flirting with your boyfriend, or they ate the last of the cheese or woke you up from a nap. Little things can become blown way out of porportion - as well as the issue of 2 against 1 deciding a disagreement. Decide these things now!

It will certainly help if you have had roommates before (like in college).

Good luck.