August 25, 2008

Roommate's

Sallie Mae is a very cruel woman. Due to the excessive amount of student loans I have received in my life I have a gigantic student loan payment each month starting in September. I have been trying to figure out ways to adjust my budget to accommodate this new debt but I haven’t found a workable solution yet. Since I am not yet desperate enough to become an exotic dancer I have been toying with the idea of getting a roommate. I have had roommates in the past and they never seem to work out very well. However, I do feel that I am much more calm and relaxed than I have been in the past and perhaps I could learn to share more.

So Friday night I got the idea of joining roommates.com. I just wanted to view the listings but I was required to create a profile in order to look. I didn’t take much time with this task as I only wanted to look at some choices so I was very brief and I didn’t include any photos or really try to sell myself. I was surprised this morning when I received an email from this boy who was interested. I was a little nervous of having a strange man coming to my house but after discussing it with Lou he agreed to come over for the interview process. I have become more used to this idea as the day has gone by and I am excited for this new adventure. I did some review of people on the website today and sent some emails to potential roommates.

Does anyone have any suggestions on things I should consider or ask these potential people? Thanks for any advise you are able to give.

3 comments:

Moore said...

gLet me preface this by stating that I do not think a "border" is a good idea, and since it is your house the person you take in will be more "border" than "roommate" However, with that said..I still have a suggestion. You can ask potential roommates questions, but it would be preferable to have them first fill out a questionnaire that contains open-ended questions. I believe you learn more about a person this way. I used to design questionnaires for job applicants to fill out and their answers were far more revealing than I believe they intended.

Moore said...

Oops, it should have been spelled "boarder". I must have been thinking of the bookstore while I was typing earlier.

ems said...

Wow. Um, I don't know what I think about this. I think the idea of a roommate is exciting. But it's your home, and it's a stranger. The roommate's personality has to be pretty compatible with yours, even if it is strictly a 'boarder.' If you don't feel comfortable around this person, then you'll feel uncomfortable in your own home, and that's not cool.

I would almost say more than one interview. One somewhere neutral, say for dinner or something, and then one in your home, and then a final one to wrap up any further questions you may have. I would guess it's like a date. If you meet this potential roommate for dinner, you will know almost immediately whether or not it will work...

Questions to ask:
1) do you smoke?
2) do you have pets?
3) do you like cats?
4) what hours do you work?

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