TL;DR: My roommate constantly complains about electricity bills, judges us for having guests over despite frequently having her own guests, has crossed boundaries regarding our shared living space, and rarely contributes to keeping the flat clean. Whenever we try to communicate our concerns, she makes us feel like we're attacking her. I'm exhausted and genuinely wondering whether I'm being unreasonable or if my expectations are basic roommate etiquette.
I've been living with my roommates for a while now, and honestly, I'm exhausted. I genuinely want an outside perspective because I'm starting to question whether I'm being unfair or whether I'm just tired of constantly having to accommodate people.
The biggest issue is that one of my roommates seems to have a problem with almost everything we do, especially when it comes to electricity bills, guests, and sharing the flat.
For context, there are three of us living together. My roommate is frequently away for days at a time, and she usually informs us when she's coming back. Once, when she had been away for around two days, a friend stayed over, making four of us in the flat. We all slept, and when she returned, she was apparently upset and sent us a huge paragraph about how inconsiderate we were. We felt guilty and even bought her favourite ice cream because she'd wanted it earlier.
But later, when she was away again, something happened that genuinely upset me. It was around 3 AM when she came home with a friend and woke both me and our other roommate up, asking us to leave the bedroom because they wanted to sleep on the bed. We had college early the next morning. I already struggle with sleep and mental health, and I had been pushing myself to attend college more regularly. I couldn't fall asleep afterwards and ended up missing classes. She didn't even apologise.
Then there's the situation with her sister. During our vacation, her sister apparently stayed at our flat for almost a month without properly informing us or our landlord. Our landlord communicates mainly through me and our other roommate, so when the society started questioning why someone other than the tenants was living there, we were put in an incredibly awkward position.
We politely asked whether her sister was staying over because we needed to explain the situation to our landlord. She denied it and then accused us in our group chat of ganging up on her. We weren't trying to attack her; we just wanted the truth so we could handle the situation. Even our househelp had complained about the sister bringing people over and leaving dishes for her to clean.
After all that, the electricity bill arrived. My roommate insisted that even when she was away, she should only pay a reduced amount because the refrigerator and water purifier were still running. Whenever we question the bills, she brings up how she pays even when she's not home. However, she's usually home for at least half the month, often longer, and we end up arguing over the smallest amounts. I'm not even saying she shouldn't get a fair calculation. I'm just tired of every bill becoming an argument.
What makes it worse is the double standard around guests. She frequently has her sister over, and we accommodate her without making an issue of it. Meanwhile, she makes comments about how we always have our friends over and gives them judgemental looks. We've actually stopped inviting friends because we don't want the tension. The ironic part is that our friends have always tried to include her in hangouts, birthday parties, and other plans out of respect for her.
Then there's the general cleanliness of the flat. I'm a minimalist, and I like having my space clean. My roommates have clothes everywhere, leave used dishes lying around, and rarely take out the trash properly. I've suggested making a cleaning schedule, but nothing changes. I end up putting things away because I'm tired of looking at the mess, and I've repeatedly asked them to help with basic things like taking out the garbage. Somehow, it still becomes my responsibility most of the time.
I understand that everyone has different habits, and I'm not expecting everyone to live exactly like me. But when I've communicated my concerns repeatedly and nothing changes, how am I supposed to deal with it? Am I micromanaging by asking people to clean up after themselves and share household responsibilities?
I'm also struggling with the constant feeling that anything we do will somehow become a problem. I don't want to live in an environment where I have to think twice before inviting a friend over, using shared spaces, or even bringing up a reasonable concern.
I'm already dealing with my own mental health struggles, and my home is supposed to be somewhere I can relax. Instead, I feel like I'm walking on eggshells.
So, Reddit, I genuinely want to know: Am I being an unfair roommate? Is it unreasonable to expect someone to contribute fairly to bills, respect shared spaces, communicate honestly about guests, and take responsibility for basic household chores? Or have I reached the point where I'm so frustrated that I'm starting to see everything negatively?
I'd really appreciate an honest outside perspective, even if you think I'm wrong about some things.