With the cap and gown returned, your books ditched and your first post-grad job just lined up, you’re officially a young professional. Excellent work!
No, the parties and life as you know it aren’t necessarily over. But the bottom line is, you’re an adult now. When it comes to house sharing, if they didn’t have time before, your housemates—now with their own professional jobs—really don’t have time to do your dishes or chase you for your portion of the water bill.
The rules of house sharing as a young professional are largely the same as they were with house sharing in your uni days, with just a few notable tweaks. If you want to ensure you’re the best housemate you can be, check out our list of do’s and don’ts.
The do’s
Clean up after yourself – Ideally you were doing this as a student, so this shouldn’t be a major shift. But it’s doubly important now that you clean up after yourself not just on a daily basis, but by doing your share of the nitty gritty cleaning too. You’ll split this with your housemates as well, but make sure you’re always doing your fair share.
Pay your bills on time – Because you’re paying your bills yourself, you’ll feel the strain of your housemates’ unpaid bills now more than ever. Don’t be that housemate – pay your bills on time! To make sure you don’t let anyone down, set up a bill-splitting app so you and your housemates can see exactly where everyone stands on the monthly bill front.
Respect your neighbours – You don’t have the excuse of being a student anymore for loud parties and not bringing in your bins. Read up on how your local council deals with noise complaints, or what to do if your neighbour is complaining about you to make sure you and your housemates don’t get into real-world trouble.
The don’ts
Throw parties without your housemates’ permission – This rule might’ve been a little more relaxed in your uni days, but now that everyone has a job to go to in the morning, your housemates likely don’t want to hear you and your mates singing along to “Don’t Stop Believin’” all night long. Ask their permission about a party well in advance so they can weigh in and make preparations.
Steal food – There’s nothing more disappointing than coming home from the office only to find that your housemate has eaten that last slice of pizza you’ve been dreaming about all day. You worked hard for the money it took to buy that pizza – treat your housemates (and their food, belongings, etc.) with respect.
Don’t come home loudly – This goes back to the whole, we’ve got jobs and don’t want to be woken up at four in the morning, thing. Just as it’s important to respect your housemates’ property, it’s also important to respect their sleep.
acasa can make house sharing easier
acasa is a bill-splitting app originally designed for house sharing students. By pairing users with award-winning and affordable utilities providers and debiting user accounts for monthly bills, acasa makes paying for bills simple and stress-free. To find out how acasa can improve your house sharing experience, get a quote today.