When new relationships start getting serious, it's likely for lovebirds to begin staying over at each other's pads. This is easy peasy if peeps live alone, but roommates can make this situation a little trickier. Some roomies may expect you to start contributing to the bills, especially if you're eating, showering, and watching TV there a lot of the time.
Forbes.com recently addressed this issue in an article called "How Much to Charge Your Roommate's Girlfriend" and the author surveyed over 100 people with roommates.
A majority of the respondents think it's no problem when a roommates' significant other is staying over 2 to 3 nights per week. However, if you're shacking up 5 or more nights, they say you should be chipping in something. But the big question is: how much?
"If a roommate’s significant other stays about half the time or less and has their own place, they shouldn’t be expected to systematically contribute to bills or rent (but might want to bring a few host gifts out of politeness)," explains the author, Jon Bittner.
On the other hand, if you're staying more than that, most people say to count yourself as a "half person" towards bills like water, electric, and cable, and calculate a fair contribution.
Visit Forbes.com to see fancy bar graphs of these survey results!
Photo: Lisa Liang
69d4fd59-6979-4a23-aad1-5d5ad9e3a919|1|5.0
Tags:
living with roommates,
staying at your partner's place,
dating advice,
forbes.com,
jon bittner,
roommate situations,
how much to charge your roommate's girlfriend
Categories:
Tips and advice