Sharing an Apartment

Next month, I will be receiving a notice from my apartment complex saying that my lease is up and do I wish to renew, as a valued apartment customer?

I believe the answer will be, "not entirely."

My younger sister is one of the few people I can imagine sharing space with with. I shared a room with her for many a year when I still lived at home and we get along great, for the most part. And she is just about ready to move out. The perks of living with her will be:

• Spending significantly less (at least $200/month) on monthly rent...woohoo!
• Having someone to share cleaning responsibilities...woohoo!
• Having someone to hang out with more often.
• and sister-bonding time!

The cons of living with her will probably be the same as they were before (and still are, for some of them):

• She likes to be in control aka bossy at times.
• She isn't always willing to be flexible.
• She likes to take over. My bedroom at my parents was mine long before she even came into the room. When I went away to college, all of my stuff got pushed out of the room and it became her room even though it was still technically ours. This resulted in trauma and an identity crisis. "Who am I...what is my purpose in life?" (Come to think of , that could have just been due to my college age...)
• And she isn't really a peace & quiet type of person (and I am)

Overall, I think it will be good, for both of us.

So since the end of my lease is coming up, we've been talking about where to look and of course, finances. She works at Starbucks as a barista which means that while she has steady hours and steady paychecks, she isn't raking in the dough. Understandably, she can afford less than I can and needs an apartment that fits within her price range.

I have already offered to take the "Master bedroom" and will pay more rent for that, in order to give her a lower rent but I'm not sure financially what is fair. Is the Master bedroom worth just $50/month more or would fair be higher than that? Regardless of what I pay, I'm still coming out ahead and saving more than I am right now. So maybe I'll make another deal with her involving house chores to make it work for her.

This Saturday, we are going to check out the two bedroom apartments in my current apartment complex. I would love to stay there...it's been a good complex to live in for the two years and half years I've been there already. But we shall see...regardless, there are good time in store.