Living with a roommate can be a great experience—splitting rent, sharing chores, and having someone to talk to after a long day. But when one person starts taking advantage of the other, tensions can build quickly. I learned this the hard way when my roommate, Taryn, decided she was exempt from paying for groceries, leaving me to foot the bill time and time again.

At first, I didn’t mind. We had a friendly agreement—if one of us was out shopping, we’d pick up groceries for the other. It seemed fair, and since I did most of the shopping, I figured it evened out. But as time went on, I started to notice a pattern. Taryn wasn’t paying me back. Not once, not ever.

The First Red Flags
It started with small things.

“Hey, could you grab some extra eggs? I’ll Venmo you later,” she’d say.

Or, “I forgot to get milk, can you pick some up? I’ll pay you back.”

At first, I didn’t think much of it. I mean, how much could eggs and milk cost? But soon, the requests escalated.