This website has already discussed at length how student debt borrowers should cut expenses so that additional money can be devoted to student loans. And one of the biggest expenses that everyone has are housing costs. Although some people can reduce or eliminate this expense by crashing with their parents, many student debt borrowers need to find places of their own or bunk up with roommates. As I can attest to from firsthand experience, being a good roommate while paying off student loans can be difficult because of the financial stresses associated with repaying student debt.
While paying off my student loans, I lived with one of my triplet brothers (not the one I convinced to write a bunch of guest articles for this website!). My roommate had student loans of his own, although his student debt burden was about a third of the amount of loans I had when I first started paying back my student debt. Financial issues were the biggest causes of stress between me and my roommate, and this made being a good roommate while paying off student loans very difficult.
As previously mentioned on this website, I tried to save money in crazy ways while repaying student debt. This definitely affected my contributions around the apartment I shared with my brother. When it came to furnishing the apartment, I wanted to simply buy used couches on Craigslist for a few hundred dollars. My brother was repulsed by this idea, and he eventually purchased nice couches all on his own. Towards the end of our roommate tenure, I paid him a small amount of money to “rent” the couches he bought by himself, but this was a paltry sum for the enjoyment I got from that furniture (and those couches are in my condo right now!).
I also stiffed my brother in other ways around the apartment. I rarely purchased cleaning supplies, garbage bags, or other similar items. I would usually just play “chicken” with my brother, and when we ran out of something important, he would purchase it.
When I did buy something, I usually cheaped out. For instance, when we divided up the appliances we wanted to get for our place, I told my brother I’d purchase the vacuum cleaner. I ended up getting an extremely cheap vacuum cleaner that made it much more difficult to tidy up around our apartment. In addition, when I bought laundry detergent, I would usually purchase the smallest container possible, whereas my brother bought the biggest one.
Furthermore, I asked my brother to pay more money than me for cable, since he enjoyed the Red Zone Channel and other programming I never watched. In addition, when we hosted house parties, I usually tried my best to reduce the amount of money I contributed to the food and drinks we bought. I think the fact that my roommate was my brother made being a good roommate while paying off student loans more difficult. My brother couldn’t get as mad at me as others might have when my obsession over frugality impacted him.
To redeem myself somewhat, I did try to make up for my cheapness at the tail end of our time living with each other. To pay my brother for the extra money he shelled out during the previous several years we roomed together, we split the rent 50/50 even though my brother had the master bedroom. Towards the end of our time rooming together, and after I had already paid off the lion’s share of my student loans, I also pitched in around the apartment in a more equitable fashion.
I don’t enjoy conveying my story of being a cheapskate! Obviously, it’s not something I’m proud of, and if I could do things over again, I would have changed the relationship I had with my roommate/brother. Also, my roommate/brother read a draft of this article and wanted me to relate how I might not have been as bad a roommate as this piece portrays, and how we had and still have a great relationship. In any case, my story is important because it is illustrative of how being a good roommate while paying off student loans is achievable for many student debt borrowers.
Firstly, it is worth noting that cheaping out on roommate obligations is not worth the marginal benefit you might have on your student loans. If you irk your roommates by not meeting financial obligations, this could have an impact on your social life, since many people have solid social relationships with their roommates. In addition, being a moocher creates unnecessary tension in your life that you can avoid if you just met your financial obligations in the first place.
When being a good roommate while paying off student loans, you should agree at the beginning of any roommate relationship about the financial obligations each person expects of the other. When I was a Community Adviser as a college student, I suggested this strategy to my residents, but I never had such an arrangement with my brother. Perhaps this is because my roommate was my brother, and it can seem cold to put agreements between relatives in writing.
In any case, roommates should probably negotiate agreements to establish all of the financial and other expectations governing roommate relationships. Such agreements can also keep student debt borrowers who have roommates from allowing their student loans to get in the way of their roommate obligations. I wish I took this step sooner, since it could have saved me from being a bad roommate because of my student debt.
In the end, being a good roommate while paying off student loans is very achievable if you keep a few things in mind. Don’t make the same mistakes I made, and be sure to equally split financial obligations. In addition, roommate agreements can help student debt borrowers manage expectations in their roommate relationships.