Thoughtless Houseguest

I do share my distress with others...like could you please turn off the light when you leave a room...I am not scared to hurt someone's feelings when it comes to something like this...and for wasting food!

It seems that you have come to the point where you couldn't stand her any more.The houseguest is surely used to being wasteful ,No way should she take your feelings into account.Habit is a second nature.If I were you,I shouldn't put up with her behavior either.We all have a frugal habits.

Hiya GM, Make her a cup of Tea if you can and see if you can get her to notice that you are only putting in enough Water for one Cup. She will probably saya that is not enough for the two of us. Also ask if she wants a Sandwich of cheese is it you have put there? Let her notice how you put everything back right in front of her nose if you can that is. Seeing as I don´t know what your Kitchen looks like sounds like it has to be quite big as well. This is what I would do in the most relaxed friendly manner altogether if you can and see if the Penny drops if at first it does not then drop hints like making another Cup of Tea and filling the Kettle uses a load of Power from my panels and we rely on them for our light. Also about the Cheese mention that although you might be able to make Cheese yourself the animals that help to make it are very expensive to keep, feed and clean them and look after them too. I think I would be a bit annoyed as well but she is your Friend so she does not give it another thought although she should. I would show her a bit of how you have to go about doing tasks on the Farm and what you have like the Solar Panels that is such a good Idea too by the way. Point your interest towards those Panels and explain about them. If it were me I would already know all that but it could be barring that she lives in another World of her own bless her she might not have thought about how the power gets there and how expensive Cheese is to make now. Not an easy task for you and you have enough to do already without having to do things like that. But I think she is completely oblivious as to how you have to live your life myself. xxx You probably might think my idea is a bit daft but I would do it all so casually and put your pet peeves into the conversation you can make with her see what I mean?xxx

That's a tough situation. You want to be as hospitable as much as possible, yet there are things that shouldn't be taken forgranted. These may be 'nothing' in her house, but you should let her know about it. Personally, I would say it in jest. Or let it slip in a joke. So, she wouldn't get offended, and yet still get the message across.

Hi GreenMoo, If we are used to keeping the house neat and orderly, and being economical in most things, we sometimes set some rules for others to follow. I think, even if a guest is an old friend there is still a need to be honest with her. Assist her on how to use the things inside the house. Tell her your techniques on how to save food, electricity, and other things. Perhaps, she will understand your concern and follow the house rules also.

We welcome guests in our house.Giving them orientation on what are the things to be done, especially these days could have been part of welcoming her. Since she is your personal friends, she will understand and will be sensitive enough to observe it while she is around. Just try to tell her in a very friendly manner. It might be difficult because its a sensitive issue but if it robs you of your peace of mind, why not give it a try. Invasion of your space will only happen if you allow it. It is you who can decide if you let others invade your privacy. Be patient and kind always.:-) Don't lose your cool .

ya we had a guy live with us for several months last year like that. we finally kicked him out!

I think you should let your friend know what's what. Good luck.

That is all stuff my kids do, and although it's not a huge deal for us as we don't have solar power.. it still irks me. I like to attempt to be as frugal as I possibly can. I don't like that they waste bread by leaving it open, or waste electricity by leaving their bedroom light and fans on when they aren't in the room. It's a pain. We don't have house guests very often, but the last time we did the guest was actually pleasant to have around. She did not get in our way or mess up our routine. The only time I began to feel a bit irked was when we were planning to go places. I am rather impatient when I set my mind to do something. So when I say it's time to go, we should be ready and out the door as quickly as possible. However this friend would first need to shower. Most days she was awake before any of us, so I felt she had ample time to shower. That was the only annoyance.

And you have just underlined the reason why I don't like to entertain guests for more than a few hours, especially when they stay. They take the term make themselves at home far too literal for my liking. Its great to have people over, but when people really think that they can do as they please and not follow the rules of common sense, that is most galling to say the very least. Some people do have no concept of personal space and that is rather sad. There are many people who have no concepts of decency or manners. I don't mind them coming over for a visit but obviously if they stay and they have a drastic effect on the way that I live, then there is going to be a bit of a problem to say the very least. More than a bit of a problem, a lot of a problem rather. Then again, there are people who don't understand that there are certain ways things should be done when they are in my house. If they want to trash their own place, then go nuts, I'll hand them an axe.

Nothing will be one about a problem if it is not talked with the concerned person. Being the owner of the house, we have every right to remind our houseguests of some rules and cost saving measures we would like done by everyone. Perhaps you can talk with the houseguest in a jokingly manner like , "i think i should give you a monetary penalty every time you leave the lights on in the kitchen" or something like that. That will get your house guest on the right track again.