Moving
to a new house and living alone can be boring, especially when you are moving
away from the family for the first time. It can be super boring and lonely,
especially when you have free time, like during the weekends and on holidays.
But, how about moving in with friends? Just the thought of moving in with
friends and living together sounds so exciting, no?
Moving
in with friends can help save money by sharing the monthly rental and other
household expenses. You will also have someone to talk to, eat out and party
together. There are many other benefits of moving in with your best friends and
living together.
However, there are many drawbacks and challenges of living with your friends that you may not have even thought about. So, if you are planning to move in with friends and wondering about the pros, cons, challenges and solutions, then I have got you covered.
Today,
I am sharing everything worth knowing about moving in with friends, its pros,
cons, challenges you may face and solutions to overcome those challenges.
Moving
in with friends may be a super exciting idea.
But,
it has its own challenges that you must think about.
We
all have different lifestyles, priorities, habits, likes and dislikes. When you
decide to move in and live with a friend in the same house, you may be up for a
challenging time. Even though you know and understand your friend well, you may
not be fully aware of his habits and lifestyle. Sometimes it is difficult to
adjust unless one of you decides to adjust or change your lifestyle and habits.
And
that brings us to the most important question worth asking.
Is it a good idea to move in with friends to a rented house?
Moving
in with friends can be a good idea or a challenging one. It depends on how well
you both connect with each other. In other words, there are many pros and cons
of moving in with friends to a rented house. There may be some challenges, and
you may have to find solutions and deal with them without hurting each other
and your relationship.
So,
it is very important to think through well and consider all the benefits,
disadvantages and challenges you may face after moving in with friends. You
should decide to move in with friends, only after considering all the pros and
cons and being aware of the challenges.
Top benefits of moving in with friends
I
have personally shared a house with a friend for many years. And I can tell you
that moving in with friends has many advantages and benefits rather than the
cons and challenges. Thankfully, I was blessed to have a great human being and
a wonderful friend as my roommate.
When
you share a house or a room with a friend, you both get to live together. You
get help and support from your friend and you both enjoy good company.
Here
are the top benefits of moving in with a friend to a rented house.
Get company
Living
alone, away from the family can be boring and overwhelming, especially if you
have moved to a new city. Moving to live in a new city that you don’t know well
can be challenging. You may feel lonely and bored, especially during the
weekends or on holidays. Having a fiend as your housemate or roommate can help
big time. When you get the company of a good friend, you won’t feel bored and
can enjoy the company of each other.
Help and support
Help
and support that you get from a friend is unparalleled.
We
all go through challenges in our personal and professional life. No matter how
confident and motivated you are, sometimes a little help and support can help
you big time. When you have a friend as a roommate or your housemate, you both
can help and support each other when needed.
Helps save money
Moving in with friends to live in a rented house can help save money. As you both can share the monthly rental, utility bills, grocery expenses etc, you’ll be able to save a good amount of money every month. Although the major expense of living is the monthly rental, other smaller expenses when combined can be huge. And therefore, when you move in and live with your friends, the expenses can be shared by all. The overall monthly expenses for living will automatically go down for everyone sharing the space and living together.
Sharing chores
One
of the biggest advantages of living together with friends is that you all can
support each other while enjoying the lower cost of living by dividing monthly
expenses. Remember, when you are sharing the space with your friends, you can
also share the daily chores.
From day to day cleaning to cooking, doing dishes to shopping monthly grocery, you all can divide roles and responsibilities among yourself. When different people have different roles and responsibilities then life becomes much more convenient.
When
I moved with my friend, sharing daily chores was the biggest advantage because
I didn’t know how to cook at that time. So, we divided the chores, he used to
cook and I used to take care of other daily chores. Sharing daily chores among
your friends who are living together in the same house can be the biggest
advantage.
Risk free living
If
you are planning to rent out a small paying guest accommodation, then you may
have to share the space with another person. However, if you can find a friend
who is studying or working in the same city and looking for a shared space, it
would be wise to move in with him or her.
Since
you know your friend, you can trust them and rely on them. You don’t have to do
any background check or document verification because you already know and
trust your friend. Moving in with a friend can be really risk free and
comforting in such cases.
There
are many other benefits and advantages of living with your old buddy and
friends that you have known for a long time. While it helps get a good company,
divide monthly expenses and split chores, it also helps you live comfortably as
you don’t have to pretend anything. Since you both know each other for a long
time, you both can live together while helping, supporting and encouraging each
other when needed.
Major drawbacks of moving in with friends
Like
there are two sides of a coin, there are pros and cons of moving in with
friends. Although, there are many benefits of living together with your old
buddy, there are a few drawbacks and disadvantages as well.
Less privacy
Obviously,
when you are sharing a house with your friends, you will have less privacy than
living alone. When you live alone, you can go as you wish. However, when you
are living with a friend, you may not get the liberty. For instance, if you
want to have a long time, and your friends want to party, you can’t really
avoid that without hurting your friends.
This
may not be a huge drawback for many. But still, you should know and be aware of
the lack of privacy you may experience. If you are okay with it and know how to
deal with the lack of privacy, then you can consider living and moving in with
friends.
Awkward situations
Staying
together with your best buddies can be fun and exciting. However, you may also
have to deal with many awkward situations. For instance, your friend may use
your stuff without asking for your permission. Or your friend may avoid doing
the tasks he was supposed to do.
Similarly, when you are living with your friends in the same house, you will know them for what they are. And you may find some of their habits or actions to be awkward. For instance, some people like to stay organized while others like to throw things here and there. Living under the same roof, tolerating such awkward habits may not be easy for many.
Although
these things can be sorted and dealt with, it can become really awkward when
your roommate or the house mate default on paying for their share of the
monthly expenses. Also, if it comes down to money matters, the situation can
become really awkward and difficult to deal with.
Should you move in with friends?
Now
that you know about the potential benefits and drawbacks, I am sure you can
take a call. Although, there are a few drawbacks of living with your friends in
the same house, there are many benefits and advantages.
Things to consider before moving in with your friends
The
benefits of moving in with friends and living together outweigh the drawbacks.
So, if you think you can deal with these challenges, then you can consider
moving in together. However, make sure to discuss everything well with your
friends and then take the final call.
Here’re
the most important things to consider before moving in with your friends.
Discuss the pros and cons openly
If
you and your friends have decided to move in together, then you must discuss
the pros and cons openly. Discussing everything in detail with an open mind can
help set the expectation right. Talk about the space, money matters, roles and
responsibilities. It is important to come to an agreement and know what to
expect from the other housemate and roommate. And discussing everything openly
can help you all to come to the same line.
Discuss the expenses
It
does not matter who pays the bills when you go out occasionally to eat out with
friends. But, living under the same roof with your friends is a different thing
altogether. Apart from the fixed monthly rental expenses, there will be tons of
other expenses that you need to discuss.
Also, different people have different priorities and hence different expenses. Your spending habits may not match with all your friends and therefore you all should talk about it. This will help everyone planning to live together under the same roof prepare their personal budget correctly.
Check competency
Different
people have different habits. Something that is annoying to you may be quite
normal to your friends. However, when two or three of your friends have decided
to move in and stay together under the same roof, there has to be some
competency. Otherwise, living together may become difficult for some of you. So
talk about competency and find out ways to support each other and make moving
together fun for everyone.
Division of work
This is absolutely important and you all should discuss this openly. Divide the daily chores, cooking, cleaning, and doing dishes and everything else that you all can think of. It’s better to discuss and debate upfront before moving in together, than fight over lack of responsibility after moving in together. So, list out the most common tasks, and divide the task in such a way that everyone gets to do a task. For instance, someone who knows cooking can take care of cooking, others can take care of dusting and cleaning, grocery shopping and so on.
Usage of shared space
When you plan to move in with your friends, you will be sharing some of the spaces with each other. For instance, the kitchen, may be a bathroom, terrace and other such spaces. These shared spaces need special attention like cleaning. So, discuss using these spaces among yourselves, and make a plan that can work for everyone moving in together.
Talk about guests
As
you all will be living together under one roof, there will be instances when
you would like to invite a guest to your home. The guest may be your relative,
friends, colleague or anyone else. But, sometimes frequent visitors may annoy
your friends. And therefore, you all should talk about it and make a guest and
visitor policy that’ll be acceptable to all.
Even
though you are moving with your good friends, there are certain things that
must be talked about. When you talk and discuss everything openly and make
certain rules, living together becomes fun.
Quick checklist for moving in with friends
After discussing all the benefits and drawbacks if you have decided to move with your friends then it’s time to shift the focus. The next big step is to figure out the kind of property you need to rent. You have to find a property that fits in your budget, and meets other important requirements like neighborhood, size of the property etc. You also need to make a list of essential goods needed to set up your new home. Also tackle the relocation issues like packing and moving of your existing household goods to your new home.
So,
once you have decided to move in, there’ll be other things to sort out.
But
you don’t have to worry, as here’s a quick checklist that’ll help you move in
with your friends in a new rental property.
Find an apartment
Finding a suitable apartment that meets your space requirements and monthly rental can be overwhelming. It’s going to take a lot of effort in finding, inspecting and sorting a property which meets all your requirements such as rental budget, location, space requirements etc. So start early on, and make a list of a few of the apartments available for renting out.
Inspect the apartment
Once
you have made the list of available apartments, the next step is to inspect the
property. Schedule to visit multiple apartments in the same day, that way you
can compare and make a decision quickly. While choosing the apartment, just see
to it that the property is not too big or too small to meet your space
requirements.
Make the list of inventory
Now that you have inspected and finalized the apartment, make a list of items that you would require to set up the house. There will be several items that you would need to set up your home and hence this list. Depending on whether the apartment is fully furnished or partly furnished, the list can be large or small.
Prepare for relocating your goods
The
next step is to make moving arrangements to relocate your goods. So, start by
making a list of items you would like to move and decide whether to use a
moving service or you can move on your own. Self-move can be overwhelming in
most cases and therefore using moving service is always preferred.
Depending
on who is relocating from which city, you all may need to consult different
moving service companies. If all your friends are staying in the same city,
then you can hire a local moving service to pick items from different locations
and move it to your new apartment.
Unpack and arrange
Once your goods are delivered by the movers and packers, you can start unpacking and re-arranging your goods. There is no need to rush the unpacking, so do it as per your convenience. Start by unpacking the essential items, followed by major items like furniture etc.
Once
you are done with unpacking, and re-arrange your home, you can celebrate the
moment to make it memorable for you all.
Final thoughts on moving in with friends
There
are many benefits of moving in with friends and living together under one roof.
However, there are a few drawbacks and challenges as well. Even though the
benefits of living together outweigh the drawbacks, the decision to move in and
live together has to be a well thought and an informed decision.
I
already discussed the pros, cons, challenges and solutions that can help you
take the final call on moving in with friends.
If
you have moved in with your friends recently, then I would like to hear your
thoughts on it. How is it going and what do you think matters the most when
moving in with friends? Do share your experiences by commenting below!!
