Sharing your space. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Pros:

• Someone is always there
• Sharing costs (rent, bills, food)

Cons:

• Someone is always there
• Depending on someone else to share costs (rent, bills, food)

A good roommate is worth their weight in gold. I have had over 20 roommates, and overall they were generally good. A couple were complete terrors. (Bad roommate stories will follow at the end of this post) and a couple were wonderful people that I continue to have in my life and cherish their friendships.

Moving in with a friend vs. a stranger.

Every single friend I have moved in with, with one exception – and I married him – was a failure. Friends tend to expect more of you than strangers will, and you are hesitant to confront a friend with any little issues…which leads to big issues later on. Strangers have their own danger. Make sure that you have checked references. Don’t move in with someone (whether opposite or same gender) without meeting their significant other. Find out what they do for fun and what hours they keep. If you are getting warning signals from your subconscious mind…pay attention to them. Call if off if you need to feel safe.

The Saturday giveaway will include a suggested “Roommate Rules”, that you can download and customize for yourself.

Bottom line rule for roommates? Communication, Communication, Communication.

-Auntie Zia

Promised bad roommate stories:

Bad Roommate Number one:

The one who I thought was my friend until the day she set me up on a blind date. I showed up for the date and it turned out to be a man who was twice (if not three times) my age, who was under the impression that we were meeting to discuss the price for my time. Then when I got home, I found she had taken that time to move out with no notice.

Bad Roommates #2 and #3

Teenage couple who chased each other around the house half naked, skipped out on paying rent and ran up a phone bill of over $1,000 calling a sex line.

Bad Roommate #4

The drug dealer. Very charismatic and nice guy. No idea he was dealing drugs until one of his suppliers broke into the apartment and beat the shit out of him.  My other roommates and I kicked him out ASAP.

Bad Roommate #5

Not really bad to me, she was very easy going, but had no actual income. When she got short on money, she would disappear for a few days…go on a cruise with a “friend” and come back with LOTS of money. She also enjoyed pot. A lot.  And when she smoked, would get out her photo albums to show me (again) how she had won “Miss Exotic Erotic”.