DEAR ABBY: I recently moved into a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment with my good friend from college. My room appears to be slightly larger. I also have a slightly bigger bathroom attached to my room. Her bathroom is smaller and down the hall. Amid the stress of moving, I impulsively agreed to pay $100 more for my room. I know I should have measured the footage to calculate what would be fair. We are two months into living together and, overall, things are going well.
It has finally hit me that I'm paying $200 more in rent. (She pays $760, and I pay $960.) It just seems like a huge difference when I don't feel like our situations are that different. She also makes a little more money than I do, if you consider that relevant.
Would it be rude to ask her to reconsider the difference in how much we pay? This time around, I'd definitely want to take measurements so there's no guesswork. However, I value our relationship as friends and roommates, so I'm hesitant to go back on our original agreement. -- SECOND THOUGHTS IN FLORIDA
DEAR SECOND THOUGHTS: You should not be paying $200 extra. Revisit the conversation you had while the two of you were moving in and recalculate those figures. Your roommate should be paying $810 and you should be paying $910, which adds up to the $1,720 you owe the landlord.