Living with Roommates: There's an app for that!

So you and your roommate just signed the lease for a Hazelview apartment! We’re glad to have you in our community of thousands of renters across Canada and welcome you to your new home. We bet that you’re pretty excited about your new apartment and roomateright now, and we want to make sure that things stay that way; it’s easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day roommate stuff.  Of course, these days there’s an app for everything from calling a cab to calculating the digits of pi, so today’s post focuses on the best social finance and household apps/websites for coordinating among roommates or family members.

OurGroceries

If you’re the sort of roommates that enjoy sharing meals and trying new recipes together, OurGroceries lets users make and share shopping lists that update in real time. This is a great time saver for shopping and it can also be used as a packing list for road trips or a move. OurGroceries lets roommates connect even if they’re on opposite schedules. Available via: BlackBerry, Android and iPhone.

OU1
For those who don’t care much about the money, OU1 relies on social currency instead. This app lets your track things like dinners, favours, lunches and drinks with digital IOU’s.  Repay your favours or show your appreciation by sending a nudge to your friends. This can remind them that you owe them a pint or two and help you make good on your IOU’s. Availablie via: iPhone.

Splitwise
This service lets roomies track who owes what on everything and anything. Spot your roomie a twenty on take out? Or have you signed up for cable, but it can only be connected to one credit card?  We recommend that roomies check out this app to make sure you even up. Splitwise tracks recurring bills as well as one-time expenses shared by roommates. The Splitwise team also has a great blog that covers a variety of roommate-centric topics based on surveys and data from users. Their post about the threshold of when to start charging a roommate’s significant other for rent and expenses is both funny and practical. Sign up for an account or just keep an eye on the Splitwise team’s posts for great roommate advice.  Available via: Web-based service, Android and iPhone.

Chore Buster
Gone are the days of the dreaded chore wheel, instead, use this service to create a fair schedule of chores. Households are organized by chores and users can specify the level of difficulty or time that each task takes and how often it should be completed. Don’t worry about users having to log in to preview their assigned chores; tasks are automatically emailed as reminders without logging in. Chore Buster helps renters get organized and stops household arguments before they get started. Available via: Web-based service, Android and iPhone.

Of course, no matter the app you use, it’s important to have discussions with your roommates early on and establish how your household will run. Tackle even the most ‘awkward’ of conversations head-on before something compounds into a truly complicated situation. How do you and your roommate plan on settling expenses and splitting chores? Are you using any apps that make sharing your space and expenses easier? Leave your comments below.

You and your roommates deserve the best; with properties located in cities throughout Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia, Hazelview has the apartment for you. Whether you’re a student living off campus at university or a busy young professional sharing rent with a friend, we invite you to make a Hazelview apartment your home.