Living With Roommates: Part Three
Kristin Foster, 23, is a Tennessee/Texas transplant working and chasing the dream in the Chicagoland area as an editor on several different magazines. But a little less than a year ago, things were much different. Fresh out of school and ready for a change, she packed her bags and moved 1200 miles to Chicago. But just before the move, Foster made contact with an old friend.
“Despite living and going to college in different places, me in Texas, her here in Chicago, we kept in touch,” says Foster. “When my last semester of college was drawing to a close, I asked her if she’d live with me if I moved to Chicago sometime that summer. I got a pretty enthusiastic response, so that’s basically how it was settled. An added bonus was my roommate’s family lives close by, and they were nice enough to kind of take me in as another daughter.”
Almost as a throwback to a bygone era, the duo found a place the old-fashioned way.
“We ended up having the best luck just driving around and looking for ‘for rent’ signs,” says Foster. “That’s actually how she found the place we’re in now.”
But like many Echo Boomers, the two split furniture and decoration responsibilities with a couch from eBay, and a kitchen set, end table and chairs from IKEA.
Kristin chalks up a lot of their success as roommates to giving each other space and not worrying about some of the little things. The two didn’t see much need to put responsibilities in writing, either. Sometimes roommates are lucky enough to just plain get along.
“I’ve always maintained that there’s a distinct difference between being messy [or] cluttered and being dirty,” says Foster. “I’ve never been the neatest person, but I do keep my clutter mostly to my room, though, and she does the same. We both clean the communal spaces pretty evenly, I’d say. And neither of us is the designated cooker. We buy our own groceries and cook for ourselves since we both have different jobs and different schedules.”
For social gatherings, a friendly heads-up is all that is required—unlike some roommates who feel hanging a sock on the door will suffice as an announcement of company.
“Neither of us minds having people over, nor do we require permission or anything like that,” says Foster. “However, I always like to tell her if a friend’s coming in from out of town just as a heads up. It’s just kind of a common courtesy thing to do.”
It’s that even balance of shared costs and similar personalities that keeps the household humming.
“We read each other well enough to know when we need space and the like,” says Foster. “It’s basically good and functional all around, so I couldn’t have asked for a better situation when I came here. We’re friends and have no desire to screw the other over money-wise, so it tends to work out pretty well. I mean, she’s basically the sister I never had. We have a lot of fun together.”
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