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.
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.
I read a wonderful blog post from Lisa DeCanio last week on why she couldn’t live with a co-ed roommate. It got me thinking about my past living situations, and I realized that I’ve never actually had a successful female roommate experience yet. They’ve all started off well enough, but usually ended up with someone setting the other persons worldly possessions on fire or a fist fight.
Is it me? Am I that much of a nightmare to live with that I should just live alone? (Hint: most likely) I’ve lived with plenty of men, and none of those situations ended with a police escort on moving out day. It must be something about my personal tastes clashing with the same sex.
Continue reading Living With the Same Sex – Is It Even Possible?
When it comes to living spaces windows can be both a blessing and a curse. You’ve either got no light, too much light or noise when it comes to some window pains (pun intended). 
Dear Splitwise,
I have a room in a 3 bedroom apartment that doesn’t have any normal windows but has a skylight. The other two rooms have large windows but face a fairly loud street. What do you think the the rent differential for this would be?
Painful Windows
Ever have one of those roommates that just can’t seem to ever do their share when it comes to chores around the house? Today we discuss that person who don’t get the importance of cleaning up after themselves while leaving appliances on 24/7.
Dear Splitwise,
I think maybe you guys should make a calculator for roommates who leave appliances on. Sorry, but I’m not paying for you to leave 2 fans and a scentsy on all day. Maybe even one for doing all your dishes all the time since you love to cook and use every dish in the house. There are flies and I’m not waiting for you to do them. Charge them.
Drowning in Dishes
Today we’ll be talking about how to split up room cost between roommates when it comes to fancy Texan livin’ and their huge closet spaces.
Dear Splitwise,
I am currently in the process of moving into an apartment for the first time with 3 very dear friends of mine. It’s all really exciting but we are having some problems figuring out exactly how much everyone needs to pay a month. Two people will be sharing the master bedroom, while the other 2 will get their own rooms. Continue reading Everything is Bigger in Texas (Including the Closets)
Today we’re talking about some sweet unconventional housing, hardwood floors, and figuring out how much rent each housemate should pay.
Dear Splitwise,
I am trying to arbitrate a living situation for my daughter and want to share some 
thoughts. Your “Splitwise” rent calculator is ingenious! However it may not work as well with unconventional housing. One thing missing from the calculation is the number of bathrooms. This is a drawback as a typical 4 bedroom house might have only two bathrooms so the MBR rent would be much higher due to the exclusive use of the MBR bath. All other tenants and house guests would use the single remaining bath… much less desirable.
In today’s Dear Splitwise, we consider the troubles of a super-intense treehugger who lives off-campus with his roommates (and their girlfriends).
Dear Splitwise,
I live in an student-style apartment with 3 roommates, and we all have separate leases. The only thing not separate is the electricity, and there are a couple issues splitting it based on usage and our guests. Also, I’m an environmentalist, and every month, they hand me a $180 electric bill and asking me to pay for a third of it. To me, this is like saying, “Hey I need you to give me some of your money for something I need that you will not be using that will cause your friends to die, can I get that on the 20th?”
The Splitwise Blog 
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