Living with a nocturnal person can be challenging to say the least. But if you have a house, you can make it work.

See why apartment living turned out not to work for this roommate arrangement.

AITA for asking my lodger to be quiet after midnight?

I have a lodger who’s been living in the spare room on my 2 bed, 2 bath flat. I “own” the flat under shared ownership (I pay mortgage on half and pay rent on the other). I had no intention of being a live-in landlord, and don’t want to make any profit, so only charge what it costs for rent and 50% of the bills.

Her generosity is going to kick her.

I work full time 8:30 – 5:30 and my bedroom is next to the kitchen. I advertised for the room because my sister moved out (bought her own place nearer to her job), and it helps having company and not having to pay for an empty room.

In the initial ad, I shared that I essentially work a 9-5 and am looking for someone with a similar schedule because I’m sensitive to late night noise. All started fine. She was friendly enough, would go to work a few days a week, pay rent and bills on time and I hadn’t noticed anything strange, until…

This past month, my sleep pattern has been wrecked, I get woken up between 1 AM and 2 AM at least once or twice a week because she cooks late. It’s not just reheating food, it’s full on chopping, pots and pans, washing, fridge door slamming (to the point I can feel the wall shake), doors closing loudly, corridor lights on.

I’ve bought earplugs, but I still feel like I have no say in when and how I can fall asleep. It seems she’s up until at least 2 AM and still awake at 7 AM and sleeps all day. She seems to not be leaving the flat to go to work as often too.

Unfortunately, it’s not use.

I’ve asked her politely to keep it down. Her “compromise” was to finish cooking at 1 AM and I stupidly agreed. But even with that, I’ve been woken up again tonight.

This may be irrelevant, but it’s annoying, so I’ll say. She goes on about natural remedies, “energy boosting” supplements and complains about her poor mental health. As someone who’s recently had an admission for severe depression and has worked hard to sort out my sleep schedule, I feel all kinds of irritated by her.

I’m kind of stressed about confronting her, and sometimes worry I’m being uptight. WIBTA if I asked her plainly if she can adjust her schedule back to her “best behaviour” that she has at the start, otherwise I don’t think the living situation is sustainable.

Here is what folks are saying.

Some people don’t care what you ask for.

Key question!

I doubt it will be that easy.

I hope it wouldn’t come to that!

I didn’t get that either. Unfortunately cheap rent also attracts sketchy characters.

I’m nocturnal so I find it hard to be ticked.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.