|
it can be really difficult sharing living space with other people, particularly when you don't know them very well. it's important to set down some "house rules" to make sure everyone understands what is okay.
when i was sharing an appartment with 3 other people, we all took turns doing the shopping. we had a list taped to up in the kitchen with 1 column for each roommate, and would write down the amount we spent each time. every couple of weeks or so we would add up it all up ; the total amount would be divided by 4, and whoever had spent less in the grocery store would pay the difference directly to the people who had done the shopping, so nobody felt cheated. and all the food was communal, so there was never a problem of "hey ! you drank my milk again !!!"
we also took turns cooking for everyone and doing the washing up, and cleaning the common areas (each person was responsible for their own room though). it worked really well, but mainly because nobody tried to get out of doing their share. it was a really good situation.
after that i shared a flat with 2 people who insisted that everyone was on their own : we each had our own area in the refrigerator and had to label our food. this led to such ridiculous situations as having 3 bottles of olive oil, 3 boxes of salt, etc. which is really kind of pointless i think. but that was a very bad experience and put me off having roommates, and i haven't done that since.
|