Top 5: Tips for Living With a Roommate or Housemate

Whether you’re living with roommates in residence or have housemates off campus everyone can run into some problems along the way, here are a few tips and tricks to help you avoid these problems and have a fun and stress-free living environment.

1) Be Clear About Things From the Beginning

Everyone has pet peeves involving living arrangements such as, cleaning, routines or even sharing things. Something that could help with this is to be clear about all of these things early on. Sit down with your roommates or housemates and have an open discussion on possible rules for the house or make a cleaning schedule so that everything is talked about right away and everything is fair. It might be good to have these discussions every few months as changes occur.

2) Address Small Problems Right Away

If you let things build up over time it adds unnecessary stress and frustration to the relationship. It is inevitable that sooner or later someone will blow up and a small problem will turn into a huge problem that might not be as easy to fix. If something small bothers you talk to your roommate or housemate right away to clear the air. Sometimes things are perceived wrong and a small discussion on the problem will provide a solution.

3) Respect Their Stuff

A lot of people don’t like their things to be touched, this is a boundary that shouldn’t be crossed when it involves someone you live with unless they give you permission beforehand. Always make sure you ask rather than move their things or use their things in order to avoid a possible conflict. They should give you the same respect.

4) Stay Open to Change and be Open to New Ideas

Everyone’s different and come from different backgrounds with various values, beliefs and social locations. There is also a possibility of change when you live with someone new or even someone whom you think you know. No matter the circumstances, you will learn new things about them and your perspective on different aspects will differ. Always stay open to these types of things, you never know what you will learn and like.

5) Be Respectful

Your roommate or housemate doesn’t have to be your best friend but living with people involves a certain aspect of respect. Treat the person the way you would like to be treated and this will more often than not allow you to have a positive experience while being in this temporary position of living with someone. It’s not for everyone but if you work hard at avoiding conflict and be a nice person everything will turn out great.