Living with a mooch?
When you find yourself completely responsible for the upkeep of your house or flat, it can be financially draining and put a big strain on the relationships in your household. It’s fine to do it once or twice but when you stop for a second to look around the house and realise you’re the one who’s provided the majority of the furnishings, the household products, the food…???
Here’s what to do when your flatmate finds it difficult to put their hand in their pocket.
Don’t Avoid The Problem
The worst thing you can do is let things slide. There’s that old adage: Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. The first time someone has trouble paying their side of the bills it can be tempting to give them some leeway. The proper thing to do, however, is to make plans for them to meet their obligation and agree on how you are going to cover the bills together right there and then.
It may sound a little harsh but it is undoubtedly sensible.
Tough Love
It may seem petty. But it works and only do this in extremely annoying circumstances: take all of your stuff to your room and leave them there!
Don’t take heavy things like the sofa or TV (unless your flatmate is refusing to contribute to the TV Licence or you’re really at war with your flatmates) but do take your food if they are taking it without permission (consider buying a mini fridge) and household products like toilet roll and cleaning products. Hopefully, your stingy flatmate will have the good sense to replace the products within a week of not having access to them. Of course, it helps not to tell your flatmate that you’ve taken everything to your room and just allow them to think that they have naturally run out and need replacing.
Be Firm But Reasonable
As in any relationship, money is always going to be an issue that causes conflict. If your flatmate is spending time going out but can’t find enough money to commit to the bills, you have to be pretty firm. These expenses need to be covered. Yes, you do have to maintain a level of reasonableness but that can become really difficult when things go on and on for months on end.
Try not to take things too personally and keep a clear head when you are negotiating financial terms with your flatmate. If this is a multiple flat share, then an intervention on the culprit is fair but try not to let it get out of hand.
Formal Proceedings
It can appear like you’re turning into the matriarch or patriarch if you start introducing measures to help your flatmate meet their obligations. If you don’t want to be constantly footing the bill, formalising the process may help. That could include setting up a payment calendar and sending your flatmate reminders by text to make sure they have funds available.
This method tends to work if your flatmate is simply just very bad at remembering to contribute to the upkeep of your abode rather than being a shameful freeloader. You may even find that they are grateful for the reminders.
Take Legal Action
It’s difficult to take things to court. Living in London, however, can mean that you incur significant extra costs compared to other parts of the country. The question is how much you can hold your flatmate responsible when there’s no legal framework between you ensuring the equal share of the bills. It can simply end up costing you more to go through legal proceedings.
Threateningto go to court, however, can be a good bluff tactic so it’s worth a try if things are starting to get out of hand. But rest assured that you run the risk of permanently destroying your friendship with this person!
Time for a New Flatmate
When it’s become too much and your fed up of your flatmate living the high life and doing nothing to contribute to the upkeep of your accommodation, you should probably start thinking about finding a new flatmate.City Flatmateis designed to match you with a flatmate that shares the same values, likes and dislikes as you do. This reduces the risk of living with someone who is likely to annoying you or create a hostile living situation as your more likely to experience using house sharing services.
