24 Jul 2018

No matter your age, living in share house can prove to be a fantastic life experience.

Not only will you be able to meet awesome new people, who quickly turn from housemates to actual good mates, share houses are an effective way to help you save on costs #winning.

While the idea of reducing your regular expenses is enticing, one of the grey areas of some share houses, stems around how the household bills should be split. Should a couple who live in a larger room need to chip in more dosh for the electricity bill, or should the person who works from home three days a week be liable to pay a bigger portion of the internet bill?

Thankfully, it’s now easier than ever to maintain the feng shui of your share house, while also keeping your costs on the low.

Let’s face, we’ve all been there: three months after entering a share house agreement, an energy bill arrives from a provider we didn’t know existed, and the bill is astronomical.

Rather than waiting for your first bill to arrive, it’s important to compare home service providers to ensure you’re all happy with your chosen provider. This way you’ll avoid being stung by bill shock unexpectedly and forced to eat sardines until pay day!

As an easy way to streamline and simplify your home service experience, amaysim offers great-value home internet and energy plans, that all include no lock-in contracts, meaning you’re free to switch plans (or providers) if you find your needs ever change - simple!

Arguably the most important step of achieving harmony in your share house bill management, is to set solid ground rules upfront around who’s paying for what and the share they’ll need to pay.

It sounds straightforward, but there are so many variables regarding what certain people think they should be liable to pay: such as room size, energy and internet usage and whether they’re sharing a room with someone else.

Once you’ve worked everything out, put what you’ve agreed upon in writing. This doesn’t need to be an official contract, but a simple, friendly email should do the trick.

One simple way to avoid a blown-out energy bill during a chilly winter or sweltering summer, is to ensure everyone’s on the same page regarding energy efficiency.

Not only is saving on household energy great for your wallet, it’s an awesome way to have a positive impact on the environment.

To inspire you on your energy saving journey, here are some easy wins to get on the board regarding energy savings.

Household items that run on a standby mode slowly chew up power over time. This includes everything from your washing machine and microwave to less obvious (but no less power hungry) culprits like speakers and printers. Commit to saving energy by switching it all off at the wall and unplugging it until you’re ready to use it again.

These babies chew up electricity like no one’s business. Unless it’s a fashion emergency and you’re desperate to dry something off with speed, hang your clothes out to dry on a good old fashioned clothes hanger.

Opening the fridge to stare at its contents repeatedly is only going to make your fridge work harder to regulate its temperature. We’ve all been there! Resist the urge to snack and stare at your haul post grocery shop and keep the fridge door shut until it’s time for your next meal.

Budgeting apps have become increasingly popular in recent times and there are a number of awesome apps available, specifically designed to help manage group finances – bingo!

Splittable for instance allows you to keep track of who’s paid for what and when, while other popular apps such as SplitWise and Venmo make managing and tracking payments amongst housemates easier than ever.

These budgeting apps are simple to use and help remove any doubt about who’s paid for what and avoid any future arguments that could arise.

#lifestyle    #lifehacks    #home    #energy