How to Live with Roommates, Survive and Even Thrive

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We all know that living with roommates can be rough, but that does not mean it’s impossible.

I think that in order to have healthy relationships with your roommates, there needs to be established rules and boundaries.

Here are four things that I think are important to remember when living with your friends.

1. Respect each other’s space and feelings.

If your roommate has something that you would like to use or borrow, ask first. If they say no, don’t borrow it.

It’s really that simple. If you respect their belongings then they will be much more likely to respect yours.

Just like respecting their space, it’s important to respect how they feel.

If you disagree on something, recognize that it’s OK to disagree and find a happy medium.

Compromising means that both parties must give in half way, making the situation equally fair to both parties.

2. Clean up after yourself.

I understand that we aren’t all perfectly clean people.

Heck, I’m the queen of clutter. But if you are living with someone else, it’s important to reduce your clutter, dirty laundry and inches of dirt grime.

Try to establish a system. One thing that helps me stay on top of things is having one day a week that I always do laundry.

So try picking a day that you have a light work/school load and devote an hour out of that day to whipping down the bathroom and counter tops, and folding some laundry.

Setting a time aside to clean up will not only give you a cleaner lifestyle, but it will also enhance your relationships with your roommates.

3. DO YOUR DISHES.

I cannot stress this point enough. Dirty dishes in the sink are one of my biggest pet peeves.

My tip for this is to wash your dishes as soon as you are done using them.

When you leave your dirty dishes in the sink your food dries to them, making them harder to clean after they sit, and if you take care of them right away then they won’t build up and it will be easy.

4. Don’t spend all your time with your roommates.

Make friends with people who aren’t your roommates, and those who don’t spend much time with your roommates.

No matter how much you might love your roommates, it’s important to spend time away from them.

If you spend every waking minute with the people you live with you will get tired of those people much quicker.

In conclusion, I have found that doing these things makes life with my roommates much more comfortable.

So respect each other, clean up after yourself, do your own dishes and mingle with other groups.