Background: School starting and a group of guys (5 including me) move into a house to hopefully save some money by splitting rent. We decided months to get internet and cable but the bill is ridiculous for the cable portion, so we cancel it (keep the internet). Now they want cable again but this time, i'm not too keen on getting it. I tell them that they're welcome to get it but I would not be paying for it simply because I don't watch tv at all (like 100% will not watch tv when I can watch everything over the internet for free and without commercials too, plus i'm not into sports) They proceed to flip out on me saying that I should pay because they voted on getting cable four to one and that its "for the house". I can't wrap my head around the concept of paying for something I will never use but they seem pretty adamant that this is pretty standard.
Now I'm just curious whether i'm being an ******** or they have no concept of real life?
Help? Suggestions? Possible analogies to use to explain to them that their position makes no sense?
Honestly, I was kind of miffed when my roommate ran the dishwasher and clothes washer/dryer all the time because his best friend was here at least 4 days a week and he was always cooking for her, so when he asked me to foot half of the electricity and internet/utilities instead of just the internet and utilities (it was agreed when he moved in that I would handle utilities and internet, and he would handle electricity) and that was one of the reasons I moved out.
Your call, bro, but expect that you won't be able to convince them to see it your way.
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Shared living will never be entirely fair - question is whether it is "fair enough" to work for you. Odds are that some of the rooms are more desirable than others, utilities may be used unequally, groceries (or more likely, alcohol) may be consumed at different rates, etc.
This one probably isn't worth doing permanent damage to your friendship over.
Shared living will never be entirely fair - question is whether it is "fair enough" to work for you. Odds are that some of the rooms are more desirable than others, utilities may be used unequally, groceries (or more likely, alcohol) may be consumed at different rates, etc.
This one probably isn't worth doing permanent damage to your friendship over.
Yeah, there is always going to be an imbalance in the distribution of finances. My buddy and I split the groceries, but he ate more expensive foods (frozen pizzas and the like) and more of it so it really didn't come out completely fair.
Do you have an actual written agreement between the five of you? What does it say about these situations? Because if you went into this agreeing to split house expenses, cable can be considered a house expense, especially if the four other guys want it.
And how much does Cable cost near you? Even with HBO, I'm only looking at a little over $100 a month. What set up are they going for here?
Shared living will never be entirely fair - question is whether it is "fair enough" to work for you. Odds are that some of the rooms are more desirable than others, utilities may be used unequally, groceries (or more likely, alcohol) may be consumed at different rates, etc.
This one probably isn't worth doing permanent damage to your friendship over.
Yeah, there is always going to be an imbalance in the distribution of finances. My buddy and I split the groceries, but he ate more expensive foods (frozen pizzas and the like) and more of it so it really didn't come out completely fair.
Do you have an actual written agreement between the five of you? What does it say about these situations? Because if you went into this agreeing to split house expenses, cable can be considered a house expense, especially if the four other guys want it.
And how much does Cable cost near you? Even with HBO, I'm only looking at a little over $100 a month. What set up are they going for here?
No written agreement, we just split the rent for the landlord and that was on our lease contract. In our area we only have Optimum and they're huge ********s about cable. Initially the website stated it was only $35 for basic cable but when I got the bill after installations it was more like $50ish because of all the hidden fees and taxes, we contacted them and they basically said since they're the only providers in the area, they can set the price as high as they want and not negotiate. The internet on the other hand was clear cut $55 with no hidden fees. All together, we had over $110 cable bill for basic (sports and the basic channels) and internet. I even went out of my way to get our group slightly faster internet so that we could just stream TV online but apparently that was bad logic according to my housemates.
I came into the house trying to save money because dorming was fairly expensive and tuition hikes plus rising book costs are not helping. So i'm not trying to shell out more money let alone on something I have no intentions of using.
$11 is just internet. It's sitting around $20 lows for everything. Though I get the gist of what you're saying. However, this is going to set a precedent where they can either just 4-1, 3-2 vote on anything and i'd be obliged to follow along even if I voted against it. My housemates are incredibly irrational so I rather not be affected by their terrible decision making.
edit: yes I know I made a bad choice in choosing to room with these set of people and I already regret it based on some of their previous decisions. But unfortunately, it is too late to back out.
No, I meant $11 extra. You were already paying for the internet either way, right?
That said, this is unfortunately the price of roommates, especially when you don't have a firm agreement in place in advance. It can be a great situation financially, but you really need to make sure you have a way of settling these disputes that isn't majority rule.
I mean, you're not wrong. I went a year with a roommate using Hulu with high speed internet because costs were ridiculous. But this comes down to a judgment between whether you want this to be the issue you pick a fight on, especially since I imagine it's only the start of the semester. Agreeing to this, despite not using TV, will give you leverage against bad decisions later.
I do understand your argument and perspective on the matter, however when you get into a situation with housemate the concept of splitting the residence bills is something you are going to be stuck with regardless of if you use something or not UNLESS such options were discussed before you even moved in together.
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I mean, you're not wrong. I went a year with a roommate using Hulu with high speed internet because costs were ridiculous. But this comes down to a judgment between whether you want this to be the issue you pick a fight on, especially since I imagine it's only the start of the semester. Agreeing to this, despite not using TV, will give you leverage against bad decisions later.
How on earth would that give me leverage later on?
I do understand your argument and perspective on the matter, however when you get into a situation with housemate the concept of splitting the residence bills is something you are going to be stuck with regardless of if you use something or not UNLESS such options were discussed before you even moved in together.
Splitting the residence bill to me is splitting rent and splitting the necessary utilities like gas and electricity and probably internet because those are things everyone is guaranteed to use. We live in a day and age where TV is no longer considered essential especially since it can be found online relatively easily.
How on earth would that give me leverage later on?
Make it clear that you're not happy about this and that you won't be using the TV service. If another 'majority rules' vote comes up again, tell them you've already given them the TV and aren't giving anything else.
How on earth would that give me leverage later on?
Make it clear that you're not happy about this and that you won't be using the TV service. If another 'majority rules' vote comes up again, tell them you've already given them the TV and aren't giving anything else.
Well as I would have it, a miracle just happened. Some guy came to the door offering to switch our gas/electric supplier to instate and send us rebate checks to me. I just told my housemates listening to the conversation that i'l give them that check for cable to shut them up. They accepted thank god
i think that since its a common expense that all others agreed to pay and you are not living alone but with 4 other people to share expenses, you are on the wrong side.
So they could all agree to buy groceries even though I have a meal plan for the dining hall and I still have to split the money for it when i'm not going to eat the food? I could leave the house for a month and not use any gas/electricity and still have to pay for that? Is it fair in your eyes? According to my housemates, no apparently, which makes their position extremely inconsistent.
Using the same logic you can avoid paying your rent to your landlord if you go for a vacation for a month, since you are not living in the house. Whether its a contract or an oral agreement, if you agreed to split the expences with others, then you have to do so. The problem is that you agreed to share expences with them, without clarifing if you are going to use them or not, and as it seems they take advantage of it. The best thing you can do, if they keep taking advantage of you/money, is to cancel the agreement and move out of the house or you can try to make a new agreement with them.
For the rent, I signed a contract for 1 year where I would give my landlord a check for rent each month. I know ahead of time that it would be the case and that even if I went somewhere else, I would still pay. No such contract either oral or written was made between my housemates so your logic doesn't stand. So far we've just eyeballed/split the utilities we all use in terms of shared expenses and I was reasonable about it because I was the only one in the house for 3 months before they moved in and I didn't force my housemates to pay for gas/electricity because they were not using it so i'm not sure why they want me to pay for cable when I would not be using it.
It seems like the lack of defined terms is hurting everyone here. No arrangements were made, and now you AND they are both getting frustrated because your respective assumptions on the way it's supposed to work are not being met.
It's hard living with friends. Money changes a lot of people, I'd be looking for other living arrangements while trying to appease the masses. You should remain steadfast in your decision. although it's hard you're right to some degree.
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Now I'm just curious whether i'm being an ******** or they have no concept of real life?
Help? Suggestions? Possible analogies to use to explain to them that their position makes no sense?
Your call, bro, but expect that you won't be able to convince them to see it your way.
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Good luck actually getting the 4 to 1 majority to vote against their best interest because of logic. Be sure to tell us how it goes.
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This one probably isn't worth doing permanent damage to your friendship over.
Yeah, there is always going to be an imbalance in the distribution of finances. My buddy and I split the groceries, but he ate more expensive foods (frozen pizzas and the like) and more of it so it really didn't come out completely fair.
Do you have an actual written agreement between the five of you? What does it say about these situations? Because if you went into this agreeing to split house expenses, cable can be considered a house expense, especially if the four other guys want it.
And how much does Cable cost near you? Even with HBO, I'm only looking at a little over $100 a month. What set up are they going for here?
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No written agreement, we just split the rent for the landlord and that was on our lease contract. In our area we only have Optimum and they're huge ********s about cable. Initially the website stated it was only $35 for basic cable but when I got the bill after installations it was more like $50ish because of all the hidden fees and taxes, we contacted them and they basically said since they're the only providers in the area, they can set the price as high as they want and not negotiate. The internet on the other hand was clear cut $55 with no hidden fees. All together, we had over $110 cable bill for basic (sports and the basic channels) and internet. I even went out of my way to get our group slightly faster internet so that we could just stream TV online but apparently that was bad logic according to my housemates.
I came into the house trying to save money because dorming was fairly expensive and tuition hikes plus rising book costs are not helping. So i'm not trying to shell out more money let alone on something I have no intentions of using.
Is $11 a month worth a hostile home environment?
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yes I have kids.
$11 is just internet. It's sitting around $20 lows for everything. Though I get the gist of what you're saying. However, this is going to set a precedent where they can either just 4-1, 3-2 vote on anything and i'd be obliged to follow along even if I voted against it. My housemates are incredibly irrational so I rather not be affected by their terrible decision making.
edit: yes I know I made a bad choice in choosing to room with these set of people and I already regret it based on some of their previous decisions. But unfortunately, it is too late to back out.
That said, this is unfortunately the price of roommates, especially when you don't have a firm agreement in place in advance. It can be a great situation financially, but you really need to make sure you have a way of settling these disputes that isn't majority rule.
I mean, you're not wrong. I went a year with a roommate using Hulu with high speed internet because costs were ridiculous. But this comes down to a judgment between whether you want this to be the issue you pick a fight on, especially since I imagine it's only the start of the semester. Agreeing to this, despite not using TV, will give you leverage against bad decisions later.
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[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
― Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential
I will always firmly stand by the belief that Magic is a game first and a collectable second.
How on earth would that give me leverage later on?
Splitting the residence bill to me is splitting rent and splitting the necessary utilities like gas and electricity and probably internet because those are things everyone is guaranteed to use. We live in a day and age where TV is no longer considered essential especially since it can be found online relatively easily.
Make it clear that you're not happy about this and that you won't be using the TV service. If another 'majority rules' vote comes up again, tell them you've already given them the TV and aren't giving anything else.
TerribleBad at Magic since 1998.A Vorthos Guide to Magic Story | Twitter | Tumblr
[Primer] Krenko | Azor | Kess | Zacama | Kumena | Sram | The Ur-Dragon | Edgar Markov | Daretti | Marath
Well as I would have it, a miracle just happened. Some guy came to the door offering to switch our gas/electric supplier to instate and send us rebate checks to me. I just told my housemates listening to the conversation that i'l give them that check for cable to shut them up. They accepted thank god
So they could all agree to buy groceries even though I have a meal plan for the dining hall and I still have to split the money for it when i'm not going to eat the food? I could leave the house for a month and not use any gas/electricity and still have to pay for that? Is it fair in your eyes? According to my housemates, no apparently, which makes their position extremely inconsistent.
For the rent, I signed a contract for 1 year where I would give my landlord a check for rent each month. I know ahead of time that it would be the case and that even if I went somewhere else, I would still pay. No such contract either oral or written was made between my housemates so your logic doesn't stand. So far we've just eyeballed/split the utilities we all use in terms of shared expenses and I was reasonable about it because I was the only one in the house for 3 months before they moved in and I didn't force my housemates to pay for gas/electricity because they were not using it so i'm not sure why they want me to pay for cable when I would not be using it.
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