Here’s an article, published by the AARP on middle-aged single women choosing to live together. It was written in 2007. I wonder how many more people are discovering the pleasures of sharing housing?
Posts Tagged ‘sharing housing’
The Time Has Come?
At a conference in the summer of 2009, home sharing was declared “An idea whose time has come”. But this is not a new idea. It is an old, old way of living. History is full of examples of individuals sharing housing. Farm helpers lived on the farm. Teachers and preachers boarded with families. Servants [...]
For Real
Local columnist, Joyce Marcel, writes a insightful column about the relationships between elderly white seniors in Florida living with caretakers coming from different cultures.
Hardly Forgotten
It’s been awhile since I wrote on this blog. I’ve been hard at work on the book of the same name as this blog. Draft 1 is complete. I can focus once again on writing for the blog. The book offers a step by step guide on how to go about finding and selecting housemates [...]
Internet Matching Services
While Craigslist simply offers the ability to post, there are internet services that offer matching services. For a (in general) small fee you can get an account and are prompted through questions that create your profile. Since everyone has a profile, it is possible to search for housemates that match your criteria. You can also [...]
The interview – Key to success
“She seemed nice enough.” “He was well-spoken and gentle.” “We were friends and both needed a place to live.” These are real quotes from people who ended up being unhappy about their shared housing arrangements. What do they have in common? Lazy interviewing. All three neglected to really consider the interview and what they needed [...]
Calculating Housing Costs
The general rule of thumb for a reasonable amount to spend on housing is now 30% of gross income. It used to be 27%. The three percent increase probably represents a creep upward as everyone copes with higher housing costs. So what is 30% actually? Here’s a quick look. Income $25,000, housing $625 a month. [...]
Older Householders
As I interview people sharing houses, I notice a generational shift about sharing housing. The folks who came of age in the late 60′s and after, are more comfortable with the idea that the WWII generation. This makes sense. The WWII generation came of age when marriage, 4 children families, and a stay-at-home mom were [...]
Cleanliness – the Kitchen
The kitchen is the most used common room in a home. When there are housemates, the kitchen is often the place for casual conversation, laughter, and sharing. It can also be a source of irritation and anger when members of a household don’t have the same standards of cleanliness and/or guidelines are not followed. It [...]
The Kitchen – Independent or Communal?
In sharing housing, the kitchen is the center. Everyone has to eat. Few people have the money to eat all their meals out. So how do you share a kitchen? The easiest is to have separate food. This avoids conflict around shopping, meals, cooking, meal times, tastes, guests, money, etc. The refrigerator can be divided [...]