End of year - fridge question

Parents Forum
1

<p>My D and her roommate split on the cost of a mini refrigerator at the beginning of the school year.</p>

<p>Next year they'll be rooming with different roommates, and one will take the fridge with her.</p>

<p>Should the one who keeps the fridge reimburse the other for her half of the original cost? </p>

<p>Would 50% or 75% of her half of the original cost be fair (considering that the fridge has been used for a year)?</p>

<p>We're wondering how others have worked this out so that everyone is happy.</p>

2

<p>I’d divide the original cost in half and the roommate who’s taking the fridge reimburse the whole half. It’s not like dorm fridge’s get that much usage, and any “depreciation” calculations would probably not be worth the potential hard feelings, IMO.</p>

3

<p>How about they each write on a piece of paper what they are willing to pay for custody of the fridge. Winning bid buys the other out.</p>

4

<p>good suggestion, Dad’o’2</p>

5

<p>It depends. Did the other student bring something like a television set? My son bought a TV and a roommate bought the fridge freshman year. They each took what they bought with them at the end of the year. Second year everyone chipped in for the fridge (3 people). The person who took it at the end of the year did pay each of the others a little bit of money, but I don’t recall the breakdown. It was fair and the others could not take the fridge with them anyway. Hey, and the person who took it also cleaned it out ;)</p>

6

<p>I would not reimburse the other one 100%. Fridge doesn’t cost that much. I think reimburse the other person 25% of the total cost of fridge would be plenty, plus the person that’s keeping it has to move it and store it.</p>

7

<p>LOL…</p>

<p>I thought this would be a thread about what to do with all the emply space on the fridge after the kid leaves home… </p>

<p>You know lots less notes, reminders, appointments, the kid’s things that hide your frige and yet run your lives. ;)</p>

<p>I tell my friends, “I’ll have my fridge call your fridge and set up a time for lunch”. </p>

<p>Anyway… seriously… back to the real topic… I like Dad’o’2 answer !!! I’m going to try to remember that for the future…</p>

<p>hmmm… wonder if I put his idea on a post’it note on my fridge if it would last four years (and if it did could I still find it)??? :)</p>

8

<p>My DD was wondering what to do about her shared frig, the last week of school the girls washed it out and put it on the porch of the house to drain…within 20 minutes it was gone. Problem solved :smiley: (big city school)</p>

9

<p>^^^ roflmao</p>

10

<p>I.'reimburse the entire 50%. It’s not THAT much money, and a years use not that much either. We have a dorm fridge on our back porch under a built-in gas grill. It’s still running after 10+ years (outside on a somewhat covered porch. ) </p>

<p>And yeah, if you have a HS senior and you are looking for a dorm fridge, apartment furniture, etc, drive around your local U during move-out time. Drive by the GIRLS dorms and apts. The guy/frat stuff is usually pretty bad. The girls stuff not so much. A lot of folks put the stuff out to be recycled (as in taken) on purpose.</p>

11

<p>Yes, SF, stuff out buy the curb is there for the taking, but the porch was waaay off the street and it was not any where near an obvious give away (I was there, I saw it on the porch, up numerous steps and with a porch railing hiding it from sight, and I had not thought it was likely to be stolen), so Berkeley people may be more presumptuous :eek: than other schools</p>

12

<p>This is why they shouldn’t share in the cost of purchased items like fridges, chairs, printers, etc. Someone almost always gets the raw deal and it can cause a rift between them. It makes more sense for shared items for one student to provide the fridge, another the chair, another the other thing, etc. and when they’re done they each just take their own thing back. On a fridge/microwave the other option is to just rent it and share in the rental cost.</p>

13

<p>My next door neighbor said call salvation army.</p>

14

<p>Ask around and find someone who is majoring in actuarial science and get their opinion.</p>

15

<p>Waay back when, I think my roommate paid me my half back for the fridge when we parted ways. It was used when we bought it from someone else, but it was one of those double tall ones, so it was useful. The price of half of that fridge was a the same as a one year rental from the student rent all agency for the small fridge, so it was not a bad deal. I didn’t mind the rental since they delivered to the room (I think I had to drag it back for drop off). If it died or whatever, they gave you another one, and no storage or transport issues.</p>

<p>I never thought it was a good idea to split the cost, but she did so I went along with it. Since she wanted it later, I guess it worked out fairly.</p>

16

<p>This is too petty of an amount to turn it into a big issue. If both girls want the fridge, have them put their names in a hat and draw the name. The winner takes the fridge.</p>

17

<p>If Solomon had to render a verdict, he’d dictate one take the door, one the “box” if they can’t agree on a price.</p>

18

<p>I like vicariousparent’s suggestion of finding an actuarial science major! </p>

<p>Like an increasing number of campuses that are “going green,” her school only permits EnergyStar-rated models, which made the cost of the fridge somewhat more than trivial (something like $140 all told). </p>

<p>The issue isn’t who gets the fridge - they’ll settle that equitably, I’m sure. It’s really about a fair way to handle some sort of reimbursement.</p>

19

<p>A deal should have been from the start when each contributed $70 towards the purchase. It’s now “after the fact” and it doesn’t make sense to turn this an issue. I feel that the best way to handle it is to put the two names in a hat and draw the winner. They both got their money’s worth for having the use of the fridge for the academic year for $70.</p>