Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the winner of the Splitwise’s roommate horror story contest. Though, this isn’t as much about a person as much as it is about a place. This guy was lucky to get out of here alive, and he’s a much better man than me. This apartment “13 Horror street” sounds like it should be featured on some sort of reality TV show.
Continue reading Splitwise’s Halloween Horror Story Contest Winner
Splitwise asked for your best roommate horror story, and boy did people deliver! Our inbox filled with some insane situations, some so bad and horrific we couldn’t even print them. The stories ranged from tales of simple social awkwardness to straight up sociopathic. Thankfully we were able to live through those situations second-hand, and not have to actually experience any of it ourselves. The challenge to find the winner was difficult … but kind of fun.
We’ll save the winning roommate horror story for tomorrow, but here are the runners-up.
Continue reading Halloween Horror Roommate Contest – Runners Up
Living with people takes skill and patience. It’s one of those things everyone should do at least once to learn life lessons that may not be learned otherwise. You’ll form life long bonds (or disdain) for the people you room with. Sadly, there isn’t a magical silver bullet to a successful roommate relationship. It’s one of those things that take time, effort and lots of work.
To avoid uncomfortable situations while sharing living space with someone, use these 10 tips to make your living experience easier to manage.
Some of you may remember my terrible experience involving customer service at Yahoo! Answers. An account of mine was suspended, and I was unable to talk to a real person about my situation. After writing a blog post about the ordeal, I was contacted by a top tier customer service rep, and the issues I had were taken care of.
Fast forward 37 days. Over the weekend, without any warning, my account was suspended again. I emailed the address they gave in the email (which actually worked this time) asking for information on the suspension. I also cc’ed the Concierge Team I delt with previously to make sure someone saw my email. It’s been three days, and I have still yet to hear anything from anyone. Talk about frustrating!
Owning a home – it’s one of those things that we’re told we should do from early on in life. Home ownership is considered a status symbol that separates the middle class from the poor class. Wikipedia even states that a core pillar of the the American dream is owning property.
This is why even when living in a location where it’s better to rent than buy, many people are insistent on owning a home. Since the housing market bottomed out and loans are difficult to obtain, finding an alternative way to sell or own a home has become a necessity. One option is a “lease to own” contract between a buyer and homeowner. The future buyer will rent the property for a period of time, then have the option to purchase the home at the end the lease.
Halloween is right around the corner, and chances are you’ll need a costume. This year people will spend 2.5 billion dollars on costumes alone. You can grab something pre-made at your local costume shop, but costumes out of a bag are usually overpriced and lame.
I came to this conclusion while searching for costumes online. I was flabbergasted at the amount of “sexy” costumes made for women. The most ridiculous being a “Sexy Ghostbuster” costume. Everyone knows that you can’t carry a Proton Pack in daisy dukes. The heat generated on use would instantly scorch and destroy the back of your legs. Do these people not understand Science?
Continue reading Halloween Costumes That Don’t Cost an Arm and a Leg
Finished basements can be a tricky situation, and they aren’t for everyone. In today’s Dear Splitwise we take a look at how a bi-level duplex with an inhabited basement should be split up.
Dear Ask Splitwise,
I’m so thankful for the rent calculator you have. It’s been a great starting point for me, but I’m wondering if you can give me some additional advice on my quirky living situation. I just moved into a duplex apartment with one bedroom on the top-level and two bedrooms on the basement level. Here are the deets:
Don’t forget to send in your roommate horror story submission for our Halloween contest to ask@splitwise.com.
We’ve got some amazing submissions so far, but we want more! Do you think your horrible roommate experience can top the competition? The horror story can encompass anything involving roommates: money, personal hygiene, bad habits, theft, ect.
Get your submissions in before October 25th to qualify for our contest.
Are you one of the 8.1 million people who stream music over the internet on a weekly basis? I am, along with most people I know. Recently Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R -UT) and Jared Polis (D -CO) introduced bill H.R.6480 into the Senate, dubbed the “Internet Radio Fairness Act”. This bill targets the percentage of royalties when it comes to internet radio services and their various providers.
To understand what this bill is trying to solve, you need to know a bit about how music royalties work. Songs have two types of copyrights: one for sound recordings, which are usually owned by the artists and labels; and one for musical composition (words in the song). These are usually owned by the person who wrote the song and the company that published it.
Today in Dear Splitwise, we talk about a unique housing situation in which one occupant makes considerably more than the other, and how rent should be handled when in that situation.
Dear Splitwise,
I have been utterly in love with a specific home design for nearly half of my life. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize that this particular home is far bigger (and more expensive) than I could manage all by myself. Then an idea struck me- why not make it a two family home?! My best friend and I see eye to eye on just about everything from chore duties to child rearing, every core value that makes or breaks cohabitation.
The Splitwise Blog 
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