It’s one thing to host a guest for a week, but it’s another to end up footing the bill for an uninvited third roommate.

Imagine watching your utilities climb, your food disappear, and your living room turn into someone else’s office, all while being told you’re “transactional” for asking them to contribute.

Would you stay quiet and continue to let it go on? Or would you offer a firm ultimatum?

In the following story, one roommate finds herself in this very predicament and opts for the latter.

Here’s the full scoop.

AITA for telling my roommate’s boyfriend he has to pay £100 toward utilities or move out after his “one-week” stay hit five weeks?

I (F27) share a 2-bed flat with a roommate (F26). Her boyfriend “stayed for a week” after his lease ended. We’re on week five.

In that time, he’s been showering twice a day, cooking with my pots/spices, pouring my milk/using my eggs, and my shampoo keeps magically shrinking.

Our smart meter’s been climbing, and the water bill’s up. Plus, the living room has become his office/gaming den.

Her roommate feels like she’s stuck in the middle.

Last week, I asked for a totally reasonable contribution: £100 toward utilities and to stop treating my food/toiletries as communal.

He laughed and said it’s “temporary” and I’m being “transactional.” My roommate says I’m “making her choose,” that he’s “basically family,” and I should show “compassion.”

I actually like him fine, but compassion doesn’t pay the bill when the meter’s spinning.

Fed up, she set a firm boundary.

So I set a boundary: by Friday, either (1) he transfers £100 and agrees to stop using my groceries/personal items, or (2) he finds somewhere else to sleep.

Now I’m the villain for “setting ultimatums.” For context, when we moved in we agreed that guests are a few nights, not a third roommate by stealth. This isn’t a guest anymore – it’s an unpaid tenant with opinions.

I’m not trying to ban him; I just don’t want to subsidize someone who isn’t on the lease. If he chipped in and respected basic house rules, great. But right now it feels like I’m sponsoring a staycation.

AITA?

Yikes! It’s easy to see why she’s so upset with this whole thing.

Let’s see what advice the folks at Reddit have to offer her.

This person wouldn’t let their own child get away with that many showers a day.

Here’s someone who thinks he should also be paying part of the rent.

For this reader, she should offer another solution.

According to this comment, the guy is a leech.

She should not back down. Asking for money to cover his share of the utilities is more than fair.

If you liked that story, read this one about grandparents who set up a college fund for their grandkid because his parents won’t, but then his parents want to use the money to cover sibling’s medical expenses.