That question is easily solved by a few easy steps: first, sign up for a account with SpaceSplitter, now working with Soap.com, Target, and others, to do your shopping. You will be prompted to sign up with your Facebook account to start putting together your shopping list. Choose items such as sponges, paper towels, hand soap and add them all to OurList.

Once you search and add an item to OurList you can adjust the split, meaning confirm how much of that product you personally use. If you feel the product is shared evenly, leave the split as is since OurList automatically defaults to an even split when products are added.

Once you’re satisfied with your household shopping list and how each item is split you can proceed to the checkout. On this screen you will see how everything is broken down to show you the total cost of the item and what portions of it everyone is responsible to pay for. If you consume a bit more of a product purchased, your share of the order will be a bit larger, or visa versa if you use less. Once you pay for your “split”, SpaceSplitter will send an email to your roommate(s) informing them it is their turn to review the list and pay for their “split”. After everyone has covers their costs, your order will be placed.

The best part of this product is your total may be even less since SpaceSplitter will try to get you a better deal! Easy.

Watch the tutorial here.

To keep foot traffic through the apartment at a level you are comfortable with, take a minute to create a Roommate Agreement. This will help you call ahead first to prep the other roommates, or keep the late night parties to non-work nights. If spontaneity is their thing, or your thing, keep the noise down and agree on boundaries as to where guests can and cannot venture in the apartment.

Write it out.

Divide and Conquer
When you are packing your life into boxes and suitcases, think of packing in three piles: Mine, Ours, Free for All.

Mine: all items you bought with your money, were gifted to you, or initially brought into the living space with you.

Ours: should contain any and all items co-purchased.

Free for All: leftover items that neither of you want. Help say goodbye to great memories by hosting a yard sale, and then use the earned money to buy yourselves a much deserved drink.

Negotiating
The “our” pile will evoke the most tension since items here were bought together. This is a great chance to evaluate together and talk about who really needs/wants what. Maybe your sister is giving you a couch as a move-in present for your new place; give your partial ownership of the futon up to the roomie as a gesture of goodwill. This will initiate the bartering stage. In return your roommie should assess what they do not need for his or her new space. That microwave was never their favorite and they know you don’t have one. Since you gave up your stake in the futon, ask if they will give up their stake in the microwave.

How to Avoid in the Future
This is where planning ahead will save you a huge headache in the future. Let’s go back to the first day the two of you signed the lease and moved in. The dining area was missing a table. You didn’t have enough money to buy one on your own, so your roommate offered to give you half the money if they could help pick the design. After you agreed upon a table and brought it home, make an effort to have a talk about the possibility of who would get to keep it down the road.

Assure the other person that you are not planning on moving out tomorrow, and explain that you only want to avoid arguments on a very stressful day in the future. Maybe your roommate agrees that you can have the table when you move out, but you would owe them the money they put up for it. Then take out your post-it note pad, write your name is large caps letter, and tape the baby on the bottom of the table (with the note of the owed money). This way come move-out day no discussion is needed because the ownership has already been decided.

Why not utilize a roommate agreement as well? Online forms, such as SpaceSplitter, can put your discussion in writing. And who will argue with what they wrote?

The Results

I enlisted the help of my two roommates who happily agreed to see how much we were all cleaning and wiping. At the wrap up of three weeks (we were having so much fun we forgot to count at the end of weeks one and two) and here are our results: We completely consumed one roll of paper towels and seven rolls of toilet paper. That breaks down to 0.333 of a roll of paper towels and 2.333 rolls of toilet paper. Hmm. Not bad.

Our low paper towel usage comes from a mutual eco-friendly passion that we all share which drives us to use cloth rags. The seven rolls of toilet paper is hypothesized to be a bit high because not only are there three girls living in the apartment, but significant others visit almost every day and friends always drift in and out. I also had to take into account that our puppy channeled his inner-high schooler and toilet papered our hallway.

So What

Shared items are necessary. What, are you going to bring your own roll of toilet paper with you each time you need to use the bathroom? That’s a hassle and an added stress. The easy way to look figure out what everyone uses it to think about what are in common areas like the bathroom and the kitchen and come to an understanding of usage.

Think about it this way: It could take you years to finish a container of dried oregano, but you and your roommate both cook. Offer your roommate to use your oregano if you can use their dried chili pepper. Then agree whoever finished the herb needs to be the one to replenish the supply.

If you are afraid a verbal agreement will be forgotten in a few months then use an online agreement make, like the one SpaceSplitter offers, to put something in writing. This way you will each have something to refer to if a debate on who needs to buy more eggs breaks out.

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Next challenge? SpaceSplitter asked me to break down the logistics of sharing a pet with one of my roommates. Check back soon for the update!

Your bowl of Cheerios is drained of the soy milk and you double checked to make sure the CD with today’s presentation is secure in the front pocket of you briefcase, but you are still in your pajamas and your hair could gel itself with the amount of grease secreting from your scalp. The digital clock on the microwave is clicking closer to 7:15am then you feel comfortable with since your train leaves at 7:45am, and your roommate can be heard singly the lyrics to an old Britney Spears song.

You have three options:

Option one consists of your asserting your frustration at your roommate’s monopolization of the bathroom during prime showering time. This could mean knocking on the door at exactly 7:15am and yelling through the door and over the water stream about how you have to leave for work and still smell like last night’s homemade Thai noodles. They need to hustle!

Option two would be you pulling out the baby wipes from your gym bag and doing a quick once-over of your sweaty regions and pulling your hair back into a ponytail, a headband, or dunking your head under the kitchen sink for a rinse. But there would be no way you would be willing to confront your roommate’s 30 minute showers. If they want to soak up the morning steam then who are you to suggest otherwise? You can easily adapt your schedule.

Option three would be politely knocking and asking how much longer they plan on showering. Then after you have completed your bathroom routine pop your head into your roommate’s room and ask if they would be ok to talk about the bathroom schedule after work, because you are feeling rushed in the am, and that you also don’t want to impose on the her or her bathroom time either

We, here at Spacesplitter, would definitely recommend option three. This way it will give you a chance to voice your concerns in a reasonable amount of time. If something is bothering you, don’t go to bed mad about it! Talk about it on the same day you are feeling frustrated because your roommate might be choosing option two and nobody benefits from a baby wipe-bath.

It is important to remember that honesty about what you can and cannot afford must be practiced, and that each roommate will be responsible for his or her share of the bill. No comprising. You do not want to overstretch your budget and be the roomie who can’t cover their share.

It’s just business
Ask to sit down with your roommate as a mutual time to meet up and talk finances before the big move in day. Write down questions you think are important to create a common understanding of where you want to money to go. The more transparency there is in the beginning, the more comfortable you may be to ask each other for some compromises later on if budgets change due to layoffs, salary cuts, or new responsibilities. Think of it as building a business together. Deadline must be met and honored along with keep expectations high and tangible. Some questions to ask might be:

Is location important?
How far do you want to be from public transportation/parking availability?
Do we have to have a doorman?
Will a walk up apartment be acceptable?
Can we live in an older model home/apartment?

Choose the bookie
If you aren’t good with deadlines or asking the hard hitting questions, don’t take on the bookie role. The bookie in the roommate relationship is the one who keeps track of how much each person owes for rent, utilities, commonly used items, and when the money is due. The rent may be due the 1st of each month, while the cable bill reaches you on the 29th, and finally the heat and gas makes its way into the mailbox with a due date of the 15th. This person has to have “organization” as their middle name because a late collection of a bill could lead to strict repercussions. Spacesplitter and GoogleDocs are two free and user-friendly online applications that can make keeping the who-owes-what-and-when confusion to a minimum.

Document, document, document!
With the going-green movement calming down documenting important activities has become a hybrid process. You can use online sharing systems such as Google, Sharevault, and Dropbox that can make any financial document available to everyone in the household. It seems that typing a request, such as asking where the rent check is, can be easier than asking it in person, use these programs to send reminders with the overdue bill highlighted with a general message to get the money to the payee as quickly as possible. Print our receipts for each other and make sure to keep personal documentation of how much you paid, to who, and when.

Financial conversations are a necessity and just like the cliché of ripping off the band-aid, the faster you do it the happier everyone will be in the end. There will be no surprises about who can afford what, and who the requests for money will be coming from.

This way you can focus on planning that awesome housewarming party you want to throw.

Bartering has been around since man has need something else that a neighbor had. Take a fun and simple history lesson from our friends at Schoolhouse Rock.

Well, what would you barter for some missing rent money?

“I would like them to iron my clothing!” – Gbadebo Williams, 26-years-old, 1 roommate

“Maybe cook and freeze a few meals. Something that time-wise I can equate to being just as important as the monetary value of what they’re falling short of.” – Sam Ghosh, 28-years-old, 1 roommate

“Groceries seems like a fair traded for me, personally.” – Samantha Yeung, 24-years-old, 2 roommates

“A bottle or two of wine would suffice. I mean, I would be buying them anyway.” – Ashley Powdar, 23-years-old, 1 roommate

Compatibility that is. We’re not talking about if your printer is compatible with your computer, or if your new doggie gate will fit in the kitchen door frame. We are asking you to dig deep and be honest with yourself about your negotiables and nonnegotiables because you and your future roommate(s) are going to have to talk about it sooner or later.

Negotiables and nonnegotiables are factors that you are or are not willing to compromise with someone, say your new roommate, on. Air out the dirty secret you’ve been keeping (like you love to blast reggae at 2:00am because it calms you, or you tend to take forever prepping in the bathroom during the morning) and get ready to find someone who will want to live with you and all of your idiosyncrasies! Just be prepared to have the same asked of you.

For example, you hate the smell of smoke. Your roommie likes the occasional cigarette and prefers to smoke it out her bedroom window. What do you do? Do you act like the habit doesn’t bother you in order not offend, or do you present an ultimatum of demanding her to quit? Well, neither of those outcomes would be the best because neither of you gave reasons why you feel the way you do. It is important to understand the other person’s reasoning behind what they do because assumptions can lead to hostile and tense situations.

A great start is to write down a list of topics you think are important. Define why you think the topics is important, and if you would be willing compromise or not. A few topics to start with could be:

Level of cleanliness
Sleep patterns
Music volume
Drugs/alcohol use in the home and overall
Cursing/language useSharing food/clothing
Guests
Shower schedule
Pets
Division of chores

RoomSync, a lifestyle application on Facebook, is helping to make your preferences more transparent to prospective roommates. This way you could have seen that your roommate smoked without leaving it to chance, and it would have given you a chance to ask if she would be willing to smoke outside. This tool could be used to start your list of topics to discuss. It is important to remember that just as you might be unwilling to budge on certain things, your roommate may as well.

It is ok to agree to disagree as long as you understand where each other is coming from and you remain respectful about it.  And you don’t have to make matching yourself to be an end-all to anything. Have fun with it! Use this time to learn about yourself and see where you are willing to change and adapt to something new. This will help your grow and learn about yourself, and what you hold important and why. Because if you don’t know yourself, how do you expect a complete strange to?

Like we said, have fun and take some quizzes:
The Big Five Personality Test
What Kind of Roommate Will You Be?
Human Metrics  (based off of the Meyer Briggs personality test)

What is a roommate agreement?

A roommate agreement is a document reviewed and accepted by all persons living together that states what each person is responsible for.

Why they are necessary

Unfortunately to open up the channel of communication with a perfect stranger is tough. It’s uncomfortable to feel as if you are listing demands and even more so to have that stranger tell you what they want, but with neither of you being able to voice disagreements without fear of insult. Even if you are moving in with a friend, relative, or significant other, it is still important to not make assumptions on who is in charge of paying the utilities or if adopting a cat is ok when allergies weren’t asked about. Instead of giving the situation any allowance to turn into a hostile one, proposing an option where everyone gets to speak their ideas is a great start.

How to get started

The simplest way to get started is to meet a week or two before you move in. Since you already agreed to live together it means that you each felt some level of comfort so don’t be afraid to be the first one to bring up the idea of a roommate agreement. Try to leave out the word “contract” as that can sound intimidating and can cause defenses to be raised.

Once all of the roommates are okay with drafting an agreement, you can generate a customized Roommate Agreement for free in a matter of minutes with SpaceSplitter.

Create a space where everyone feels comfortable and safe to bring up their concerns.  One roommate may hate taking out the trash but could wash dishes all night long, or someone might go to bed really early so can they take the room furthest from the living/common room area? It is important to find out each roommate’s tolerance levels for many issues to avoid unnecessary conflict later on. Make sure to hold each other accountable for the responsibilities you all agreed to – SpaceSplitter can help with that too!

What should be in an agreement?

Rent, security deposit, utilities (electricity, gas, cable), bedroom assignments, food, house hold chores, guests, pets, leaving before the lease is expired, and dispute resolutions would be a solid start. State who pays what, when, and if it is more or less than the other roommates, why. This is a situation where to spell everything out is a good idea because as you write it down any concerns will naturally come up and be worked out.

A key point to remember is that the reason roommates benefit from roommate agreements is because it helps everyone manage each other’s expectations by increasing communications and making things transparent. Don’t be afraid to voice a concern; just make sure to do it constructively and with a solution in mind.

Miscommunication in common consumption is a normal cause of roommate disputes. What if one roommate is afraid of the dark and needs to sleep with the lights on? How about the one that takes 45 minutes spa showers versus your 10 minute power showers? Or someone thinks they are a master baker and constantly has the oven turned on?

The theory of collaborative consumption is all about buying something without actually owning it. It’s true that neither you nor your roommate(s) own the gas, electric, or hot water, but someone still needs to take responsibility for it. If you are both moving in at the same time start the conversation about who feels comfortable putting what utilities in ther name. Calculators exist on the web, such as the soon to come SpaceSplitter, which helps to keep track of who owes what. Another way to ensure each person pays what he or she promises is to create a roommate agreement. This way there is a written document that you can use to hold each other accountable and to keep transparency.

If you are moving into a living situation where you are replacing a past roommate the bill deviation might already be in place. Make sure to talk about it, as Cassie Rodenberg from Astoria did with her past roommate, “Since I was the newcomer to the apartment, my roommate had the bill division already split. So we looked at the numbers, and she paid for the TV/internet bundle and I took electricity/gas. On months where the electricity was higher, I showed her the bill and she would reimburse me with cash.” It may be intimidating to start the communication, especially if you are the “new” roommate moving in, but all you have to do is ask.

According to Laura Anderson, Innovation Director at Collaboration Consumption, “We are starting to look…at the resurgence of community, and community values and connect with each other as being more fundamentally important. But also technology is enabling us to do this on a scale and in ways that has never actually been possible.”

The creation of community in your own home is pivotal. Without open communication assumptions can be made, payments can be forgotten about, and distrust can grow. It is important to hold each other accountable and divvy up responsibilities.