What should I do? Is this on?

NinjaNikki

Okay so me and my boyfriend rent a room its a double bed room with

And we have a bathroom with the room by all means it's lovely room we live with the guy owns the place and one other person now what i want to know is this

Okay me and my boyfriend have one pc and we take it turns to use the internet yet because there is 2 of us we have to pay more for the internet yet we use the same as if there was one of us and the same with everything els fair enough with water but gas only one of use cooks and the tv the same is this fair?

Right so we have a clean router as well where we have to clean btween the four of us but me and my boyfriend have to clean twice a month because there is 2 of us but yet we never use the living room and other rooms just kitchen and are room so we are cleaing more and paying more just cause we are a couple is this right?


Even this month he is makeing us pay more for the water because my boyfriend has the water on to warm up for 20mins for 5 days a week so he can have a shower before work but yet sometimes the water is left on all day because of other ppl in the house.

Sorry really bad spelling but im not good with it sorry

Mr. Loverman

If there are three of you in the house the bills should be split three ways.

dory

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

If there are three of you in the house the bills should be split three ways.

Seems from the post that there are four of them. So splitting four ways is the norm.

You'd have a job finding a place that would split the bills 3 ways in this situation. This is why many have 'no couples' on ads.

echosound

In a regular house share situation, most bills would be split evenly between however many are in the house share - so you and your boyfriend count as two separate people, not one entity. Two people getting away with paying for the equivalent of only one person?

For the internet usage - you are only using a pc one at a time, but would one person sit down and browse for the same length as you both do - e.g. you browse for 1 hour, then your bf browses for another hour when you are done - the other people probably browse for 1 hr and that's it. So in effect although you are not using 2 pcs, you are still using the same amount of time/data as 2 people would (because you are two people, not one person).

As for the cleaning rota - I don't see how you would assume that you and your boyfriend should only have to do "half" a clean each (i.e. one "full" stint of cleaning between you) when each of the other two people have to do a full clean each.

In the past, I lived in various houseshares with my boyfriend and various other housemates - even though myself and my boyfriend always shared a room, and the other chap would have a room to himself, we always all split the rent, bills and cleaning equally, each of us paying a third.
Seemed to be the norm to just split shared bills evenly between however many people there were in the house using said utilities.

djimi

Bear in mind that internet access does not mean that its one PC per person. At present in my apartment I have 3 laptops, a PC, a PS3, a Wii, my phone and my Archos media player all connected to the wireless. So just because you and your boyfriend happen to only use the PC in alternating turns doesnt mean that the internet is not available to you both at the same time, and therefore it is only fair that you both pay for the service.

ztoical

NinjaNikki wrote: »

Okay me and my boyfriend have one pc and we take it turns to use the internet yet because there is 2 of us we have to pay more for the internet yet we use the same as if there was one of us

How are you paying more exactly? I would assume it's a monthly or bi-monthly bill that is a set amount for line rental and internet [depending on who your internet is with] You both use the internet, doesn't matter that your using the same computer, your not surfing the internet at the same time all the time.

NinjaNikki wrote: »

the same with everything els fair enough with water but gas only one of use cooks and the tv the same is this fair?

Only one of you cooks but I assume your cooking for both of you when you do which uses more gas. What costs are you taking about with regards the tv? Is it the cost of the tv license or the cost of a cable package like sky? Any flat I've ever shared the tv licence was split equal among everyone regardless of how much tv you did or didn't watch. You say you don't use the living room so either your not watching tv or you have a tv in your room, it seems fair that the bill for the tv is split between 4 if you've your own tv. If you both never watch the tv in the house ever then you need to speak to the others in the house.

Regarding the cleaning I would assume it's divided up between all 4 of you, I would see it as you and your BF most likely do your cleaning together and therefore clean 'twice' a month which is the same as 1 person cleaning on their own once a month.

Treehouse72

On your first three points:

> The internet: all 4 of you use it, so all 4 of you should pay for it. It doesn't matter that you and your boyfriend are a couple...a couple is still 2 people, not 1. You both should pay.
> The cooker: presumably all 4 of you eat food cooked in it, so even if only 3 of you cook, the 4 way split is again correct.
> Cleaning: A 4-way split roster to clean the whole house is fair and simple if all 4 of you have the option to use all the house. If you decide not to use the sitting room but could if you wanted, I still think each of the 4 of you cleaning the whole house in turn - except the bedrooms - is fair.

On the final point, it is totally unfair for you to be charged more for water. It is not your partner's fault he has to wake up early, and he has every right to expect hot water at that time. Without that, the home isn't really habitable. Besides, who is to say that hot water shoud only be available from 9am or whatever? No, it is totally, totally wrong that you should pay more for this.

amdublin

You are are 4 people.

All bills should be split 4 ways.
You two should not pay any less on some bills (internet)
And you two should not pay any more on some bills (water)

NinjaNikki

right but the thing is say

Tv we watch it from 5 in the eving untill say 11 at night

the other 2 could be watching it longer as i do it hear it as we are trying to sleep

yes we cook but we cook the same amount as them as the other person has a friend who is here and they cook sometimes more then say one person in fact they basically have this person over all the time but pay for one person the man who owns the place he cooks more then we do and ends up chucking it half the time so yeah they cook like it was for 2 and we end up eating out at least one or even twice a week at family.

The internet okay right we use that say max 5 hours a day between us yet i know from seeing them my self they use it just as much as us so how is this any different.

Water we do one wash a week in washing machine for 2 of use they do about no lie about 2 wash for 2 ppl.

And i and my boyfriend are in the shower but we are in and out so no longer then a normal person they have a bath as well and use a bath as well we have just a shower.

the cleaning fair enough but myself and my boyfriend never use half the rooms and we have to clean the kitchen alot we got a letter through a room this week saying the kitchen was a mess yet it is use that is always emptying the dishwasher and putting it on and cleaning up after everyone els we never get to go in the kitchen to cook until after everyone els as everything is always used and we are not home until 5:30 so its gone 8 before we start cooking and the kitchen is left in a mess food everywhere no clean pans or anything yet we have to clean and everything before we can even think of cooking so its gone 9 before we sit down 2 a meal.

Mr. Loverman

The rules of sharing are you split the bills.

It is not the "fairest" solution (e.g. someone may use the oven more than you) but it makes things simple.

Trying to split the bill based on how much time you spent in the shower sounds like an awful life.

ztoical

NinjaNikki wrote: »

right but the thing is say

Tv we watch it from 5 in the eving untill say 11 at night

the other 2 could be watching it longer as i do it hear it as we are trying to sleep

The cost of a tv licence is not broken down by the amount of time you spend watching it. Even is the tv was broken you'd have to pay for it so 4 way split is fair. If your paying for a tv package like NTL or Sky again is not broken down by how many hours, it is a set price unless someone is ordering pay per view stuff which they should pay for themselves otherwise again 4 way divide is fair.

NinjaNikki wrote: »

The internet okay right we use that say max 5 hours a day between us yet i know from seeing them my self they use it just as much as us so how is this any different.

You haven't said what type of internet service you have so will have to assume it's a wi fi set up that you can all access. It would be a set price, like the tv the price doesn't change based on how much or little you use it. The service is provided and there for you to use when ever you want. So unless your using a service were your charged by usage rather then a set package price a 4 way split is fair.

NinjaNikki wrote: »

Water we do one wash a week in washing machine for 2 of use they do about no lie about 2 wash for 2 ppl.

How big is this washing machine? I'm one person and I do more then one wash load a week with colours, whites, bed clothes, towels, I can't imagine how two people are only doing one load a week.

NinjaNikki wrote: »

And i and my boyfriend are in the shower but we are in and out so no longer then a normal person they have a bath as well and use a bath as well we have just a shower..

Unless you plan on putting a meter on the heater and keep records on how long everyone stays in the shower each day spliting the heating bill 4 ways is the simplest and fairest way to divide up bills in a houseshare. It doesn't always work out fair but that's the reality of a houseshare. I would refuse to pay more then anyone else, would ask to see bills and make sure it's being split evenly in four.

Victor

Rent should be divided based on the size of rooms, bills should be divided per person. charging more for hot water isn't on.

There is an alternative - you only pay one third. However, you NinjaNikki aren't allowed:

Use the internet.
Watch TV.
Cook / eat hot food.

Does that sound fair?

It there were only three people in the property, you would be paying one third of the bills. Adding your boyfriend, your bills only go from 33% to 50%, so your boyfriend is only paying 16% of the bills.

---

the cleaning fair enough but myself and my boyfriend never use half the rooms

So the two of you are asocial so-and-sos that hole up in your bedroom, ignoring the others?

But the point is that you can use those rooms. Its you that seeks no to.

no clean pans

Then you need to deal with that issue, not bring other issues into it.

NinjaNikki

Victor wrote: »

Rent should be divided based on the size of rooms, bills should be divided per person. charging more for hot water isn't on.

There is an alternative - you only pay one third. However, you NinjaNikki aren't allowed:

Use the internet.
Watch TV.
Cook / eat hot food.

Does that sound fair?

It there were only three people in the property, you would be paying one third of the bills. Adding your boyfriend, your bills only go from 33% to 50%, so your boyfriend is only paying 16% of the bills.

---

So the two of you are asocial so-and-sos that hole up in your bedroom, ignoring the others?

But the point is that you can use those rooms. Its you that seeks no to.

Then you need to deal with that issue, not bring other issues into it.

So the two of you are asocial so-and-sos that hole up in your bedroom, ignoring the others?

No actually me and my boyfriend would love to have a sofa just to sit there at night and watch tv actually but we never get to as we are basically not aloud the landlord is in there all the time he has 2 tvs as well and 2 laptops where one is left on 24/7

Okay its 1am and i can not sleep because the landlord has decide to put a wash on and all i can hear is that.

Thing is my boyfriend punting the hot water on in the morning for 20mins actually warms up water for the hole day that everyone can use so how is it we have to pay more.

Do i not have the right then to pay less just because i'm a couple ????

NinjaNikki

Sorry i just get annoyed because i dont understand how if i am a couple and i put a pizza in the oven cook it for 20mins and that is for me and my boyfriend for 2 ppl so let's say that cost us 2 euro.

And then before that someone in the house has cooked for 2 ppl (one who dont even pay rent just come's around alot of the day watching tv and using internet just dose not sleep here )say using 4 stoves and cooking for 2 ppl but because they rent one room and they have cooked for 45mins pays 1 euro

and the landlord pays 50 cent for cooking the same pizza.

Can you not see how i get pissed off?

irisheddie85

I know a guy who when house sharing managed to work out what everyone used in electricity down to the nearest cent based on when there laptop was on and what sort of bulbs were in their room. No one liked living with him!

The normal way is bills get split equally between everyone in the house and when you moved in there is a rent agreed for the room not on how many people stay in it.

Anyway ive seen it in a 3 bed house with 2 doubles 1 single should be approx each double should pay 3/8 and the single 2/8 Regardless if its one or 2 people in the room.

If you are not happy with what you are being asked to pay talk to the landlord or move out

NinjaNikki

irisheddie85 wrote: »

I know a guy who when house sharing managed to work out what everyone used in electricity down to the nearest cent based on when there laptop was on and what sort of bulbs were in their room. No one liked living with him!

The normal way is bills get split equally between everyone in the house and when you moved in there is a rent agreed for the room not on how many people stay in it.

Anyway ive seen it in a 3 bed house with 2 doubles 1 single should be approx each double should pay 3/8 and the single 2/8 Regardless if its one or 2 people in the room.

If you are not happy with what you are being asked to pay talk to the landlord or move out

It's not that im not happy its i love it here i just wish i could feel like its more like home then worry about how much water i use and so on:(

ztoical

NinjaNikki wrote: »

No actually me and my boyfriend would love to have a sofa just to sit there at night and watch tv actually but we never get to as we are basically not aloud the landlord is in there all the time he has 2 tvs as well and 2 laptops where one is left on 24/7

When you say not allowed has the Landlord actually told you you are not allowed in the sitting room or is it you want to sit on the sofa and watch tv just the two of you? If it's the former then you need to speak with your landlord as your rent entitles you to use of the shared spaces such as kitchen and living room. If it's a case of you wanting time alone as couple then it's a case of though, your in a house share [or rather a rent a room scheme if the LL lives there] and that's the reality of house shares....some people love them others can never adjust. I don't understand what your issue is with the LL having 2 tv's....I assume the second one is in his room and are you saying he should go watch that one and leave the sitting room free you and your BF?

I think your over estimating how much power some items are using. Leaving a laptop on is very different to using a laptop with regard to the amount of power it's using.

NinjaNikki wrote: »

Okay its 1am and i can not sleep because the landlord has decide to put a wash on and all i can hear is that.

Is the LL aware that the washing machine keeping you awake? If they've never rented out rooms before or pervious tenants didn't say or didn't notice it may be a case that they just aren't aware that it is annoying you. When I first started sharing with my current flat mate he would put washing on at midnight as he had been living on his own for a while. He wasn't doing it to annoy me, he just didn't think.

You seem to have a never ending list of issues with the property, have you aired any of them with the other people in the house? I'm not saying your right or wrong but if you don't talk to the LL and other housemate it's not going to change. It may be that they are aware and don't care and you should think about looking for somewhere else to live or they're not aware and aren't going to be aware unless you speak to them.

NinjaNikki wrote: »

Thing is my boyfriend punting the hot water on in the morning for 20mins actually warms up water for the hole day that everyone can use so how is it we have to pay more.

Do i not have the right then to pay less just because i'm a couple ????

You don't have a right to pay more or less. Being a couple makes no difference, you are still two people. Renting as a couple can save on rent as your spliting the cost of the room and sharing food and other costs but for general household bills in a house share it's split evenly between everyone sharing. If you feel your being charged more then others ask to see the bills. It becomes far to messy trying to figure out exactly how much heat and power each person has used and there's a never ending lists of situations people can argue for example if one person has a smaller room they can say it takes less to heat it so they should pay less on heating etc etc

sesna

The many perils of sharing with randomers. Time to move out, enjoy life and get your own place.

NinjaNikki

Look i dont mind the bills or the rent im just pissed off getting a note saying about water paying more.

The livein room the LL just hints when he dont wants us in there makes tuting sounds

for example when he cleans and where in the kitchen like if i am he is mopping i dont go in until he is done and then i would make lunch then he would come in tuting at me.

sorry ill shut up now

ztoical

NinjaNikki wrote: »

Look i dont mind the bills or the rent im just pissed off getting a note saying about water paying more.

The livein room the LL just hints when he dont wants us in there makes tuting sounds

for example when he cleans and where in the kitchen like if i am he is mopping i dont go in until he is done and then i would make lunch then he would come in tuting at me.

Have you spoken face to face to the LL about any of these issues? It sounds like they are communicating via notes and letters which I would find really annoying given that they live in the house. The reality is your living with an owner and there's plenty of threads on here about people having hard times with owner occupied porperties [there does seem to be the odd nice one] Alot of time they can't get past the mind set that it's their house, their kitchen, their livingroom etc and can be difficult to share with. If your LL has never rented out rooms before it can be case of them just not be aware of what they are doing or it could be they just don't care. Either way you need to speak to them and sort a living arangement you are both happy with or else move out.

dory

NinjaNikki wrote: »

Look i dont mind the bills or the rent im just pissed off getting a note saying about water paying more.

The livein room the LL just hints when he dont wants us in there makes tuting sounds

for example when he cleans and where in the kitchen like if i am he is mopping i dont go in until he is done and then i would make lunch then he would come in tuting at me.

sorry ill shut up now

It sounds as if you live in a horrible place. You should really think about moving out. And you should absolutely refuse to pay more for water.
But sharing the other bills is normal.

TwoShedsJackson

NinjaNikki wrote: »

Sorry i just get annoyed because i dont understand how if i am a couple and i put a pizza in the oven cook it for 20mins and that is for me and my boyfriend for 2 ppl so let's say that cost us 2 euro.

And then before that someone in the house has cooked for 2 ppl (one who dont even pay rent just come's around alot of the day watching tv and using internet just dose not sleep here )say using 4 stoves and cooking for 2 ppl but because they rent one room and they have cooked for 45mins pays 1 euro

and the landlord pays 50 cent for cooking the same pizza.

Can you not see how i get pissed off?

To be honest if you're that tight about money, you and your boyfriend may be better off finding your own place then you know all the usage of amenities is yours.

Or put another way, I once shared a house with 3 other people, one of whom insisted on attempting to divide the electricity bill and tv licence based on what he thought people were using. Everyone else there hated him.

Zulu

Are you supposed to be living there?
ie: Did your boyfriend live there first, and then after a while you moved in?

newmug

NinjaNikki wrote: »

Sorry i just get annoyed because i dont understand how if i am a couple and i put a pizza in the oven cook it for 20mins and that is for me and my boyfriend for 2 ppl so let's say that cost us 2 euro.

And then before that someone in the house has cooked for 2 ppl (one who dont even pay rent just come's around alot of the day watching tv and using internet just dose not sleep here )say using 4 stoves and cooking for 2 ppl but because they rent one room and they have cooked for 45mins pays 1 euro

and the landlord pays 50 cent for cooking the same pizza.

Can you not see how i get pissed off?

So:

1)You and your BF cook a pizza big enough for both of you, it costs 2 euro.

2)The other lodger cooks for him and his friend, but it costs 1 euro.

3)The Landlord cooks something for himself and it costs 50cent.


Is that right?

The only thing I see wrong there is the landlord only paying 50cent. This is just basic maths.

You pay 1 euro, your BF pays 1 euro, the other lodger pays 1 euro, L/L pays 50cent, but should pay 1 euro.

In essence, apart from the landlord you all eat for 1 euro. The other lodger had to share his food with his friend, so he comes out the worst. You seem to be confusing the fact that you are being charged more with the fact that there are 2 of you in the couple, so why shouldn't things be doubled up?

djimi

NinjaNikki wrote: »

right but the thing is say

Tv we watch it from 5 in the eving untill say 11 at night

the other 2 could be watching it longer as i do it hear it as we are trying to sleep

yes we cook but we cook the same amount as them as the other person has a friend who is here and they cook sometimes more then say one person in fact they basically have this person over all the time but pay for one person the man who owns the place he cooks more then we do and ends up chucking it half the time so yeah they cook like it was for 2 and we end up eating out at least one or even twice a week at family.

The internet okay right we use that say max 5 hours a day between us yet i know from seeing them my self they use it just as much as us so how is this any different.

Water we do one wash a week in washing machine for 2 of use they do about no lie about 2 wash for 2 ppl.

And i and my boyfriend are in the shower but we are in and out so no longer then a normal person they have a bath as well and use a bath as well we have just a shower.

the cleaning fair enough but myself and my boyfriend never use half the rooms and we have to clean the kitchen alot we got a letter through a room this week saying the kitchen was a mess yet it is use that is always emptying the dishwasher and putting it on and cleaning up after everyone els we never get to go in the kitchen to cook until after everyone els as everything is always used and we are not home until 5:30 so its gone 8 before we start cooking and the kitchen is left in a mess food everywhere no clean pans or anything yet we have to clean and everything before we can even think of cooking so its gone 9 before we sit down 2 a meal.

Whatever about the metered bills such as electricity which you could argue that 1 person is costing more than others, I think youre failing to grasp that the TV and internet services are available to everyone 24/7. How much you choose to use them is irrelevant; I cant turn around to UPC and tell them that I am in work between 9 and 5 during the week so I dont want to pay for those hours, or that I only actually watch TV for an hour a day and only want to pay accordingly. Its the same principle here; you have internet and TV available to you at all times so you pay the same as everyone else. The bill should be split equally.

Wrt the water heater; do you have night saver rate electricity? If so why dont you do as I do and turn on the immersion to come on between say 5.30 and 6.30 in the morning? In my case that is enough to heat the water for a shower in the morning and to have hot water for the sinks for the rest of the day. Unless people are spending hours a day in the shower this should be sufficient and the cost can be spread evenly between everyone in the house.

The thing you have to realise tho is that the fact that you are a couple is completely irrelevant. You are 4 people sharing house; doesnt matter if 2 of you happen to sleep in the same bed. This means that you have equal responsibilities and the fact that you are part of a couple does not lessen that responsbility. If you dont like that arrangement then perhaps housesharing is not for you and you and your boyfriend should consider getting a place of your own for just the two of you.

dearg lady

You seem to be focusing on all the wrong issues. It's ridiculous to expect to pasy less for bills just because you're in a couple. What if the other two people always cook for each other also?? It just makes no sense.

What I would however take issue with is

1. Being asked to contribute more for the hot water.

2. Noise late at night

3. Feeling uncomfortable in the sitting room.

4. Leaving dirty dishes

But as others have said, you need to sit down and have a chat with the others about these issues, they may be unaware you can hear the washing machine so loud from your room, or that you feel unwanted in the sitting room(this can be highly subjective tho!!!)

Zamboni

Rent a one bed apt if you can afford it.
There is no shortage.

Life is too short for this crap.

Snakeblood

NinjaNikki wrote: »

Look i dont mind the bills or the rent im just pissed off getting a note saying about water paying more.

The livein room the LL just hints when he dont wants us in there makes tuting sounds

for example when he cleans and where in the kitchen like if i am he is mopping i dont go in until he is done and then i would make lunch then he would come in tuting at me.

sorry ill shut up now

It sounds like it's interfering with your quality of life. I'd either speak to the landlord about your issues, or try moving somewhere else. Even a bunch of tiny annoyances like that can make life unlivable if you don't deal with them in some way.

John Mason

You really understand the concept of sharing a house with other people, so it might be better that you and your bf move out and get your own place

NinjaNikki

dory wrote: »

It sounds as if you live in a horrible place. You should really think about moving out. And you should absolutely refuse to pay more for water.
But sharing the other bills is normal.

Thankyou i just wanted to know its normal about the bills also he is making us pay more for eircom now as well

NinjaNikki

Zulu wrote: »

Are you supposed to be living there?
ie: Did your boyfriend live there first, and then after a while you moved in?

No i found the place and we both moved in like i said i dont mind about the bills i just dont think how its right about uping bills like water and now eircom