Who doesn’t want a few square metres of property to call their own?

But with soaring house prices and increasing demand, more and more professionals are turning to flat shares to save money.

However, sharing with others brings its own pitfalls – the major one being the subject of paying bills. After all, who wants to chase flat mates for cash contributions to bills or have to tell them your bank account number?

Thankfully, the UK’s mobile payment service Paym can help alleviate these financial stresses as it enables you to make and receive payments without the need to share any details with anyone, other than your mobile number.

Found on your mobile banking app (it’s already built into 17 major banks and building societies’ apps), it enables super quick transfers and it’s easy to use.

But sharing a flat isn’t just a minefield because of the finances: there are a host of other awkward situations that arise and anyone who’s never done a flat share just couldn’t possibly understand…

1. When you walk into your living room – and there’s a stranger sleeping on the sofa…

Or when you go to make yourself a cup of tea in the morning and a random person is in your kitchen using YOUR mug and your lavender and limeflower teabags. Oh the horror. When will your flat mates realise your place is not a dosshouse? On the flip side there will always be someone around to cheer you up when you’re feeling down. So you’ll never, ever feel lonely.

2. When they say they’ll pay you for that bill ‘tomorrow’ – but they never do

It’s as if they think you are paying for the privilege of living with them. They claim they must have submitted the wrong bank details but you need never hear an excuse again thanks to Paym. Your disorganised flat mate need only enter your phone number into their banking app and the quick and easy service will see the money in your account in no time at all! No excuses required.

3. You’ve got the smallest room so you want to pay less

If you’re buying a property (*the dream*), you pay for the square footage you get. So it makes sense you want to pay less for the box room at the front of the house. But sometimes, forking out for the higher priced room is worth it if it means avoiding the death stares over your bowl of cornflakes. Plus, a bigger room means more space for all your clothes. Hooray!

4. When you are forced to pay for a TV package even though you don’t watch TV

Paying for something in a flat share that you don’t even use is a surefire pathway to heated arguments. Much like that flat mate who downloads all of those movies and goes over the download limit so you all get charged… he should be paying more than you that month, right? On the flip side. Living with proactive people means that your entertainment will be sorted. Share their DVD collection or make the most of those flat nights in catching up on your favourite series.

5. When everyone owes you for the cleaning products you bought

Whether you’ve got a new flat mate moving in, you had a wild house party or you just fancy a big spring clean, sometimes you’ll need to spend outside of the flat kitty. But getting the money back for a few extra bottles of bleach and some disinfectant is like getting blood from a stone and you panic that your pushing will annoy your flat mates. At least there’s Paym on hand to make the process less awkward.

6. When your flat mate has the heating on ALL. DAY. LONG.

It’s enough to make you faint at the sight of the bill. And these offenders are usually the ones that moan that they’re freezing in a T-shirt in December. The gripe doesn’t end there: this housemate also uses up all of the hot water before you’ve had a chance to shower. The best part? He/she never offers to pay a little bit extra.

7. When they eat your cheese and drink your milk

It’s as if they think your shelf in the fridge is their very own personalised Sainsbury’s Local. You avoid the awkward ‘can you stop stealing my food’ conversation for as long as you possibly can but when they nick the last of your balsamic vinegar, it’s all too much and you prepare for war. But take a moment, and a breather, to remember that time last week when you ran out of washing powder and body lotion, and they were only too happy to be on hand to help.

8. When their girlfriend pretty much moves in – but they still only pay for themselves

You signed up to the flat share with three other people. You didn’t sign up to a load of freeloading plus ones too. If someone else is using the bathroom, the hot water, the central heating, the TV licence AND the sofa space, someone else has to pay too. The worst thing? When your Game Of Thrones night is bulldozed for their date night in the living room. But on the flip side, if you’re single throw a house party and meet their pals, an easy way to meet new potential love matches.

9. When their cooking isn’t good enough for your nan’s dog

You can only make your excuses to dodge the Sunday lunch they’ve been trying to plan forever so many times before they start getting suspicious. But stewed beef, undercooked potatoes, overcooked mushy carrots and murky brown water for gravy on unwashed plates is enough to put you off food for life.

10. When there’s a bed going spare because you’re going home for the weekend

Just because you won’t be sleeping in your bed, your flat mate does not have the right to offer it out to their uni mate who is visiting that same weekend. And when your flat mate brings up the fact you didn’t have a problem drinking their wine and eating their Camembert last weekend, you find yourself between a rock and a hard place.

11. When you turn into a nag

Whether they’re lazing about stinking on the sofa all day long and ignoring the cleaning rota you drew up or if they play their music way too loud or if they always get drunk at the weekends, stumble in late and then leave the front door unlocked – you’ll be ready to nag, nag, nag. And that can cause more arguments than an unpaid water bill…

Mobile payment system Paym allows you to make and receive payments to family, friends and small businesses just using your mobile phone number.