The Budget Room

These days living all on your own can be a very expensive task. Not only do you have to take care of the rent or mortgage on your own, but also all of those monthly bills like water services, electric or gas, phone lines, internet services, home insurance for the home, and high priced digital cable bills. All of these costs can make it really hard to make any head way in saving money for future investments or plans.

The best way to take care of all of these heavy costs is to get a roommate to split everything with you. What is the best way to find a roommate that you can stand to live with? You will learn a few different ways that you can go about finding a roommate in the Boston area.

College students have it a little easier sometimes; just post a roommate wanted sign in some of the public areas on campus. Other places you can post an ad physically is at your work or even at the gym where you belong. Just be careful about meeting people and try to make the 1st meeting in public, maybe at a coffee shop or something.

The Internet can be a great source for finding a roommate to live with. There are many free find-a-roommate type sites and of course the ever famous craigslist.

All of these Internet ads allow you to really broaden your roommate search all around Boston and beyond. You can also take your search beyond Boston as there always new residents looking for roommates when moving here.

You have found a chunk of good candidates so now it is time to dig deeper. It is best to get a good phone conversation with them and then set up a nice public meeting. Be sure to ask questions about their hobbies and habits to see if you guys will mesh well.

It may also be good idea to run a background check once you have decided on someone. You can also just do a search on Google, Yahoo, or Bing to see what comes up on them. It can be very vital to know the person?s background before you move in with them to give yourself a little personal insurance.

If you do not know anyone who knows the roommate you will possibly move in with, you may want ask for references from past landlords or roommates. I would normally also insist that they are willing to go half on insurance for the new place. In the possibility that they have no references to give you might want to look elsewhere, unless it is a well trusted friend someone close to you.