In
order to reduce the living expenses, what is the best option among the three options?
- To
find a roommate who can share the living expenses
- To
buy new technological devices such as cell phone less frequently
- To
cook at home instead of going expensive restaurant
Over the past few decades, the constantly
and rapidly rising living expenses have
been burdening many university students around the world. So, it has been
argued which among finding a roommate, buying technological devices less
frequently, and cooking at home instead of going out is the best option for
reducing living expenses. Some people might say that buying technological
devices less frequently or cooking at home more often would be the best solution,
but others might disagree with them. However, I am deeply convinced that there
is no better solution than finding a roommate who can share your financial
burden with you.
Actually, I have a couple of reasons to support my opinion. I will explain and
develop them in the next following paragraphs below.
First
of all, having a roommate means that you will be able to spend less money on the
most mandatory and largest factors, such as your
house rent or your dormitory fees. When it comes to
financial burdens, you generally use the largest amount of money on housing. However, by having a roommate, you
can achieve the same quality and comfortableness from your shelter while spending
lesser money on it, coincidentally. Although some people might say that buying
new technological devices less frequently would be better than living an
uncomfortable life with a roommate,
living with a roommate will actually provide you with a more mentally
comfortable life because it reduces the largest financial burden you have more
efficiently than the less-frequent purchasing of devices. To give an example of
this, my older sister was extremely stressed when she went to study abroad in
the United States of America. Her school was in New York City, and my parents
couldn’t afford a better place for her to live in. So, she lived in a very
small and cheap apartment where the hot water would sometimes stop running and
the heater would oftentimes stop working. She wanted to find a better place,
but her tuition itself was a big burden to my parents. At first, she tried
spending less money on purchasing products, such as technological devices. Despite the effort,
this didn’t make a lot of change in reducing her financial expenses
and only made her life quality decrease because technological devices were
greatly needed in her school life. However, when she found a roommate, everything
changed. She moved into a better place with her roommate and spent relatively
lesser money on her housing fees, which ate up the largest portion of her monthly living
expenses. Although having company was not always the most
comfortable life style, her mental stress
reduced because she was saving the highest living expenses by living with her
roommate. Like her, finding a roommate to share your housing expenses with the
roommate is the most efficient way to reduce your overall living costs.
Moreover,
having a roommate can not only reduce large expenditures such as housing expenses, but also even the small payments of
your daily life. There are more things that you can
share with your roommate, other than just your room. For instance, you can
share your daily items, such as your furniture, cooking supplies, groceries,
washing tools, digital devices, or even a car. Although such items may not seem
like very large costs, they later add up to be much larger than you imagined.
Meanwhile, some people might say that cooking at home instead of going to restaurants
will reduce much of the living expenses more efficiently because most of the restaurant
menus are very costly, but living with a roommate can save your daily
expenditures beyond the money you spend on restaurants. For example, some
experiment was held by a few researchers at SNU(Seoul National University) who wanted
to know how roommates can influence students’ lives. According to the data, university
students who live with roommates spend lesser money on their daily needs,
including their food, than those who find other ways to increase savings.
Unintentionally, university students who live with roommates usually cook at
home and eat out less frequently. Since they even share the money needed for
groceries or cooking items, they save more money than those who never go out to
eat and only cook at home. What is more, students with roommates spend lesser
money and achieve better quality of life at the same time. This explains that
having a roommate is the most dynamic solution for reducing the living expenses
spent on both large factors and smaller ones.