This has been giving me negative thoughts against my friend and I need another POV.

Five years ago my two friends and I moved into a house with a very kind landlord open for us to negotiate the cost of each room.

Here is what each room has and the agreement we came up with.

Master bedroom: $850
– Bigger room
– Bigger closet
– Private bathroom
– Floor to ceiling window/door connecting to a deck and the garden.
– Garage
Second room: $800
– Decent size closet
– Floor to ceiling window/door connecting to a deck and the garden.
– Second standard size window
– Shared bathroom with the third room
Third room: Me → $800
– Small closet
– One standard size window
– Shared bathroom with the second room

Common spaces shared: kitchen and living room.

Needless to say that when I list out the items, I understand that this may have not been a fair agreement but coming from a toxic previous living situation, I was just glad to get out.

When Master bedroom’s girlfriend moved in, he drew up another arrangement and emailed us to communicate the following:

Master bedroom: $1,050 + $100 for the water bill: $1,150 → two people
Second room: $700 → single
Third room: $700 → single

Because he was taking the water bill and my rent would be $100 less, I thought it was a fair price, and because he is my friend I did not check his calculations. Granted, we had started with an unfair division anyway.

Fast forward three years after Master bedroom’s girlfriend moved in and I decide to move in with my partner into my room and since there is no objections from my roommates, I tell them I will look into the calculations Master bedroom guy made when his girlfriend moved in to create a new division.

He recommends using Splitwise because that’s what he did. He also told me to remember that there are other things to take into consideration when another person moves in, like shared spaces, water bill and how the second room would still be paying for privacy. I nodded and Googled Splitwise immediately.

According to Splitwise our new rent should be:
Master bedroom: $1,029 → two people
Second room: $615 → single
Third room: $806 → two people

This made sense to me, two people in a room should pay more and the master bedroom is bigger with better amenities.

Here is where the negative thoughts started. I calculated what I would have been paying for the past three years using this app, which he told me he used, and here is what I got.

Master bedroom: $1,151
Second room: $677
Third room: $622

If we had split the water bill 4 ways, I would still have been paying less. 😦

This would mean I have been overpaying for the last 3 years. Please remember the amenities of the rooms and tell me if I am seeing this wrong. I don’t want to ruin a friendship over this.

Thank you,

https://trademe.nz/property/residential/rent/auckland/auckland-city/western-springs/listing/1829539613