Sharing For Saving
If we are a big fan of one of the most popular old TV series, Friends, then we should know all about the ups and downs of flat sharing. It is basically not a new thing in North America and Europe but it comes to be a new trend in Asia Region that includes Jakarta. In fact, it is not surprising since prior to this time there were merely few Jakarta people who were living in a flat or apartment. However, as the time goes by, more and more people in Jakarta has chosen to live in a flat because the rapid development of the flat itself. The main obstacle for people to move to a flat is the price which is supposedly pricy. The best way to solve this high cost problem is by sharing the flat. Yes, it is what people commonly call as flat sharing just like Joey and Chandler or Monica with Rachel in Friends series where they shared their apartment to share the flat rental cost. Although flat sharing as the way to save some money seems to be unfamiliar in Jakarta, they are slowly becoming the new trend.
Share the Bill, Share the Works
Flat sharing as a new trend offers some advantages for both for us, the flat owner and for the people that will be our flat partner. The first advantage would be the shared cost as what has been explained before. It is unavoidable that the price to rent a flat is quite expensive nowadays where by doing the flat sharing, we can split the bill hence we won’t spend too much money for the flat. The second advantage would be the sharing of work. Well, it must have been a tiring day if we must do all the laundries and the dishes by ourselves. Fortunately by having a flat partner, we are able to share the responsibility in cleaning the flat so that it won’t be too tiring after all.
A Companion
Being more secure, especially for women, is one of the most important benefits in flat sharing. Yes, by sharing our flat means that we will have a companion hence we will feel more secure. Living on the elite and expensive flat does not mean that we will live in a criminal-free environtment therefore by having a companion on our side will surely reduce our fear to experience such a bad “accident”.
Lonely No More
Sharing our flat will also get rid of our loneliness. After all the tiring works on the office, we certainly want someone to share our thought or even our feeling and this what our flat partner is for. We won’t feel lonely since we have got someone to talk to in our flat. Even though it looks simple, but having a friend to talk with is something that is irreplaceable. If we happen to have pets in our flat, it seems to be a common thing to do to place our pets in the pet’s day care or places like that. It surely urges us to spend more money whereas by having a flat partner, we can give the responsibility in taking care of our pets to him/her and this is another great advantage of flat sharing.
Choosing the Suitable Flat Partners
After considering all the benefits that we can derive by sharing our flat, some of us may be intrigued to immediately search for flat partners where it is not as easy as it looks like. If we are living either in London or New York, we will find a pretty easy way to find a flat partner which is by visiting certain websites. Those websites are designed to “meet” us with the most suitable people to be our flat partner. Now this privilege has not been developed in Indonesia since flat sharing is still new after all. Therefore, it becomes a challenge to find a flat partner who fits with our criterion. Since it is almost impossible to find “strangers” via websites hence it is suggested to offer person that we have known personally such as our work mates or even our relatives. Why? Offering our flat to a total stranger can be very dangerous since we don’t have any ideas about their background, personalities, and other stuffs. Nevertheless, we can conduct a little informal interview if we are willing to take a stranger and make a list. The list will tell us the most suitable to stranger that can be our flat partner although we still must aware about them.
An Informal Interview
It is important to get a flat partner that fits with our personality since it will affect the circumstances inside the flat. As what has been mentioned before, personal interview would be the best way to filter our flat partner candidates. There are actually several things that should be asked to the candidates such as the current job of the candidates for estimating the shared cost, the personality of the candidate to ensure that he/she is not a mass-killing psycho, the ownership of pets in case we are not accepting pets, and any other things. It seems to be exaggerating at first but it will be very useful to avoid any bad things that are possible to happen in the future.
Better Flat, More Candidates
Before considering to do flat sharing, there is actually one thing that is needed to be known. That one thing is the size and the facilities of the flat. Too little flat won’t fit to be shared hence there are several requirements that a flat must have so that it is worth be shared. For example, a flat must have at least two bedrooms and also a bathroom. A big-sized living room is also something that some people expect in choosing the right flat hence it can be another selling point to get a flat partner. Actually, there are no formal requirements for turning our flat to be a suitable flat for everyone. Nevertheless, a better the flat can get more people attracted to be our flat partner hence we can get lots of choices to choose the best candidate for our flat partner.
A New Way in Living in Jakarta
Now we have known the benefits of flat sharing and some ways to identify the right flat partner for us. The question that may rise is: Has flat sharing become the new trend in Jakarta? Well, more and more people have well-adapted to this new trend nowadays which is supported by the rapid development of apartments in Jakarta itself. The apartment’s developers use a very good strategy which is by building apartments near the office buildings hence it attracts more workers to rent apartment since it is located adjacent to their office building. However, this new trend needs some times in order to attract more Jakarta people because living in apartment or flat and sharing it to other people are still new “cultures”. Despite of the great benefits which are offered by flat sharing, replacing the old “cultures” with the new one takes more time than we have expected. A better information for this new way to live in Jakarta in social Medias or advertisement may help people realize that flat sharing is worth to be tried.
Those benefits above from flat sharing are mostly individual benefits where it makes us wonder if there are larger benefit for the society, for example. Seeing from a bigger lens of scope, flat sharing may contribute to a workers’ higher living standard. Although Jakarta has been one of the biggest metropolitan countries in Southeast Asia, its living standard is still low where by driving the workers to live in apartment by flat sharing method, it will supposedly rise their living standard, escaping from living in a slum or suburb. Another benefit from a bigger lens of scope is the immediate reduction of traffic congestion in Jakarta. Flat sharing makes people take a shorter route either by walking or sharing car to reach their office hence they won’t presumably be crowding the street. This surely is a good news especially for Jakarta which is renowned for its everlasting traffic gridlock.
The Whole New Trend
In conclusion, flat sharing is a whole new trend especially on the Eastern part of this world including Jakarta. With all of its benefits, flat sharing can be the perfect solution in living in such a big metropolitan country where the living cost is undoubtedly high. Some of us may still anxious to share our flat but we need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages fairly. If the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, why shouldn’t we give it a shot?