Roommates. This is a scary word for some people. I always had my own room growing up so going into college knowing I would have roommates was difficult for me. Fortunately, I got lucky and one of my roommates freshman year turned out to be my best friend. We still live together, three years later, and have figured out a no-stress, easy-living roommate system. I live in an apartment with three other girls and it can get pretty hectic. Luckily, I've got some tips for you to avoid going crazy from your roomie-zilla. (Get it?)
Tip #1: Always communicate. If your parking situation is like mine, you will know exactly what I'm talking about. At my complex, you get two designated parking spots for a two bedroom apartment. We have four girls in one apartment, so we had to come up with a plan. This plan being: the two girls who get home the latest, get the spots. The girls who get home first, either park on the street or park in one of our parking spots (if no street spots are open) and move to Stater Bro's across the street and have someone pick you up on their way home. Although it seems complicated, it makes life much easier and leads to less pointless arguments. With this being said, you will need to communicate with your other roommates and let them know what time you'll be home. Miscommunication leads to misunderstandings which leads to unwanted, awkward roomie conflict!
Tip #2: Clean up after yourself! No one likes to come home to a sink full of dishes. Something we did was create a chore chart. We each have a column showing which chore is ours. Mine, for example, is wiping down the kitchen and dining room area with disinfecting wipes. The other chores consist of taking out the trash, sweeping and mopping the floors, and wiping down the living room area. On the bottom of the chore chart we wrote down reminders to put dirty dishes in the dishwasher and put the dishes away if they are clean. We also wrote down a reminder to not eat other peoples food without asking, which leads me into my third and final tip.
Tip #3: Don't use other peoples things without asking. This is the main reason for arguments between my roommates. For example, one roommate eats our food without asking and when we want to eat it and it's not there, we get upset. This same roommate uses peoples toiletry and cosmetic items of ours and leaves it empty. If you need or want to use someone else's things, ASK FIRST!!
I hope these tips help you out when living with roommates avoiding drama and unnecessary conflicts. See you next time!
-Tay
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