Living with Roommates? Take Note of the Things That You Need to Avoid to Make It Work

If you’re like most Americans, you’re probably heading out of your house once you reached 18-years old and live with roommates. More often than not, you would be sharing a room, an apartment or condo unit with someone else. This is a practical way to live independently and pay for your bills since you’re no longer dependent to your parents for your finances. Whether you’re planning to sharing a place with one or more individuals, or you’re already in this situation, there are some things that you should avoid doing in order to have a better relationship with your roomies. Here are some of them.

Don’t Eat Foods That Are Not Yours

This is a common courtesy, but the truth is that it’s something that a lot of people forget, especially when they already feel comfortable with their roommates. However, you are all probably working in a budget and food is usually the area where people spend most. If you eat your roomies’ foods, they would end up having to buy again, which also means spending more. It’s something that you don’t want to be done to you so avoid doing this to others too. If you really like something or you think that your roommates wouldn’t eat it anyway, ask for permission.

Don’t Forget to Chip in on Basic Household Items

Basic household items such as cleaning products and condiments are often shared by roommates or housemates. This doesn’t mean that only one person should always shoulder purchasing these items. You may compute on the total price of all the common items you share and divide it equally to your number so that you could all chip in. Another option is to have a rotation. If someone bought these items for this month, let another person buy them next month or when the supply runs out.

Don’t Just Sit There and Let Your Roommates Do the Household Chores

You are all living in the same place. It’s not just you or them who has the responsibility for keeping it clean. To avoid issues regarding the household chores, create a schedule for cleaning or set a task that each of you would do so everyone could contribute.

Don’t Take Their Privacy For Granted

Even if you’re staying in the same house or apartment, you should still have boundaries and you should respect each other’s privacy. Aside from not eating their foods without their permission, don’t use or take their things without asking them either. Discuss about your rules when it comes to visitors, such as how long they should only stay or the acceptable time for visit. This is because not everyone may be comfortable having a lot of people in the house. If you’re smoking or drinking alcohol and your roommate doesn’t, you may consider doing it outside the house.

Don’t Be Late On Your Payments

You should be paying your part for the rent and utility bills on time. They don’t have to shoulder your part if you’re late on your payment. As mentioned, they too are working on their budget and it’s not their responsibility to pay everything as you’re sharing the space.

Do you know of other things that you should avoid when living with roommates? Type your comments below.

Photo Attribution:

Featured and 1^st image by Tulane Public Relations (Roommates  Uploaded by AlbertHerring) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

2^nd image by David Shankbone (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons