Invisapeeps 2.0

winds55 · Guru

Roommates - why? how?

Mischa · Loins of Joy

When I had roommates:

1. Money
2. Usually friends, unless I was desperate!
3. Yes, almost always affected friendship. (Mostly due to me being the only one actually paying the rent!!)
4. If not already friends, no, I lost touch with them as soon as one of us moved out.

Mata Hari · Veteran Member

The only apt I had with a roommate was back in my early twenties.
we were friends in high school.
Lasted about a year or so.

Not likely I would ever. Willingly do it again.
I like my space.

Aqua · Veteran Member

winds55 wrote:
Why did you decide to get a roommate/ be a roommate? Was it financial? Loneliness? Security of having someone else in the place?
How did you pick your roommate? If you were friends before, did moving in together affect the friendship? If you weren't friends before, did that stay the same or did you become friends afterwards?

Well, in college it was required; residential campus.

After college, I lived alone for three years. When I chose to move in with a roommate, it was because I knew in one year I was moving in with my now-husband, and I wanted to get back into the swing of things when it came to living with others and compromising. I'm a rigid stubborn control freak, so practice with working/playing well with others was good.

I moved in with a friend from college. We were friendly but not super close. We ended up becoming much closer as a result. But we are similar personality types in some ways and suited each other really well; we each had a good sense of when to engage and when to allow privacy. She was really good people.

uglydude42 · Senior Member

while I was in my early 20's I had my own apartment , with a studio space unused. I met an aquaintance of two female friends of mine. We had a lot in common, golf, drinking and chasing women.

He recently moved into the area and was recently divorced and staying with friends. So he moved into the studio space. My lease was up in a month so we moved into another apartment complex for 6 months. That palce was a dump so we moved into another one.

We are still friends after 20 years. I was a groomsman in his wedding and he was a groomsman in mine over my brothers.

We even hung out with each others family after he moved back to his midwest hometown

Evil Stepmother · Guru

When I was in my twenties I lived with a friend for a year or so after her divorce. We are still friends except for a break we took in the 90's when she had a crack problem.

I also lived with my sister for several years and that worked out very well. After my ex and I separated, living alone was great.

dqm either · Don't Quote Me

Married the summer after HS so the only 'roommate' I had that summer was my brother. Moved in with him for a few months before he went to college and I got married.

After we got married we had some kids but they make TERRIBLE roommates! They're noisy, messy, they never pay any bills or pick up after themselves. They're also very short so you have to get stuff off the shelves for them.

Saturn · Veteran Member

I had many roommates in my 20's. I found that the men were easiest to get along with but did the least amount of housework. I had to kick a couple of roommates out of my first apartment but we somehow remained friends. I did loose a couple of girl friends - we were close when we moved in but drifted apart after. It was for the best though, you really get to know someone when you live with them!

And yeah, always for financial reasons. I would have loved to live alone! I actually never have. My DH (bf at the time) moved in with me and my roommate and that roommate was there for a year or two before we finally got the place to ourselves. It was a wonderful day when that finally happened.

I almost forgot - I have a good one. I had a roommate leave unexpectedly and needed another one. I had just started dating this guy (a friend so we had known each other for years) who wanted to move out of his place really bad (sloppy loud roommates). So I let him move in. We both agreed to keep our own bedrooms since we had been dating only a couple of weeks. We of course broke up a few months later. I let him stay until he found another place, he was a good guy and I wasn't going to put him out on the street. He stayed like 6 more months, met a girl, dated, and then moved in with her. They got married a year or so later. I was a bridesmaid at their wedding. Yes, really. Best breakup ever.

Family Gal · Veteran Member

Never. I lived within my means, and/or took a second job, relocated to a cheaper area, or worked on developing a higher paying career. I did what I had to do to make myself self supporting, so that I did not have to rely on the income of another to live.

Almostheretx · Member

I had one roommate, and she let me live with her rent free, but I felt bad and so I paid for the cleaning lady, and cleaned up after her kitty, made dinner and such. She was hardly home.

FrootLoop · Naturally Frootilicious

I've had two room mates as an adult. Both are friends I made online who at one point needed a place to live. The first was a Katrina refugee, I moved her from New Orleans to Michigan. That ended badly, she was emotionally shattered and hit a major depression that she refused help on. The second is EmmDee. I'm genuinely enjoying sharing a living space with her.

Even though I really do love living alone, I'd become a bit too isolated and lonely. Having another human (and a human I like to hang out with) has really made a difference. Plus its fun to have real meals again! I'd gotten out of the habit when just feeding myself.

~FrootLoop

EmmDee · Guru

It is funny because I am like Froot. I generally prefer living alone but this arrangement has really worked for me. Now I want to figure out something to cook tonight.

kapper · I am always right, unless I am wrong.

My only roommates have been my husbands. The first one was horrible but I am really enjoying my second roommate (now that I am older, wiser, and more sure of what I want)!

Family Gal · Veteran Member

The closest I've come to having a roommate is having sex with the roommate of a friend. Does that count?

I don't consider spouses or S/O's to be "roommates", unless you marry or co-habitate for economic reasons.

RichardInTN · I believe in I.D.I.C.

I had roommates before... twice.

The first one almost turned me off of the idea of roommates because, as roommates go, she SUCKED. she never paid her rent (not "it was late"... she NEVER paid it), she apparently didn't understand how dish soap and a dish scrubber worked, and she kept eating MY food.

I never give up on anything after only one try though... so I tried it once more... and she was perfection. Always early on her rent, always did her dishes (and usually offered to do mine... which I refused, but the offer was nice), always provided her own food (we'd sometimes split "big things" like delivery pizza).

My wife (then: S/O) moved in about a month after the last roomie moved out... so there hasn't been an option for having a roomie since then.

Riding in the WY Wind · ~Ride Free~ ~ Live Free~ (M)

Ummm with a wife. No need for roommate lol

RichardInTN · I believe in I.D.I.C.

Riding in the WY Wind wrote:
Ummm with a wife. No need for roommate lol

Typically, that's only true if the wife's income exceeds her drain on the total family finances... I've known couples that needed to take in roomies before.

(while that wasn't the case here... having a wife did lessen the amount spent partying every night... so... indirectly, yes, wife = no need for roomie)

Riding in the WY Wind · ~Ride Free~ ~ Live Free~ (M)

OH my