23 Of The Best Tips For Living With Roommates
Depending on your situation, living with roommates can either be a challenge or an incredible experience. 10 years down the road, some people may never speak to their college roommate again, while others are still best friends. Starting a good relationship with your roommate is important, and it’s possible with these 23 tips for living with roommates!
1. Communicate, communicate, communicate!
When the year starts off, it is important to establish what ticks you off and what you appreciate. Your roommate and you should know each other’s likes and dislikes. This will help you avoid pissing each other off; and if you do on accident, you will have a go-to way of making it up to them if you know some of their favorite things.
2. Establish ground rules.
Cleaning and sharing should be discussed. If you’re a clean freak, you should probably let your roommate know that if the room is a mess, then you will be too. Respectfully sharing clothes should be something that is just accepted between roommates (in my opinion). Two closets are always better than one. But sharing food—that really should never be a thing. Food is gold, we all know that.
3. Don’t force the friendship, but recognize if you’ve found your soulmate.
Some people go into the year thinking they are about to be living with their soon-to-be best friend. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Friendships are supposed to be natural, slow growing things. If you and your roommate don’t mesh right away, don’t fret. In time, you guys might become inseparable. But if you’re lucky, you might recognize you’ve found your soulmate right away. If so, thank the spiritual beings involved because you are blessed.
4. Give each other space.
No matter what the circumstances are between roommates, space is always necessary. Even if someone is the most social person in the world, alone time is always needed for a healthy mind to relax and unwind. You don’t want to be the person with a roommate going around saying, “She’s literally always home whenever I come back.”
5. If you or your roommate are in a relationship, establish some sort of dynamic.
Sharing a room becomes awkward when a roommate wants to spend time with their significant other. If your roommate asks you to have some alone time in their room with their bf or gf, get the heck out of their and let them do their thing.
6. If you are the one in a relationship, recognize your single roommate’s needs too.
While it is important for your roommate to give you alone time with your boo thang, you should also let your single roomie have time to explore their options.
7. Don’t go hog-wild on the alone time though.
Yes, privacy is needed for an intimate relationship. But always kicking your roommate out will most definitely ruin your friendship. So, be a good roomie and balance your relationships as much as possible.
8. Be there for each other.
Roommates are awesome because they are usually the person you spend time with the most. This means they probably know almost everything going on in your life. If your roommate needs to vent, you’re the one who is going to know the background of their situation the most. Recognize your roommates needs, and try your best to be there for them.
9. However, don’t treat your roommate like your therapist.
While we all need a support system, don’t make your roommate your only support system. Also, don’t utilize your roommate’s presence only by complaining to them about your day. They won’t dig that, just like you wouldn’t.
10. Incorporate your roommate into other aspects of your life.
Bringing your roommate to events with you, or introducing your roommate to your other friends is a great way to get to know each other more and make memories. If you love your roommate, some of your friends probably will too. Establishing a solid group to have fun with is always better than just going out as a pair.
11. Go out together!
Whether it’s for lunch, shopping or a drink—go out on the town with your roomie! If you both are just wasting away in your tiny living space, go adventure with your designated adventure buddy.
12. Use the buddy system while going out.
It just makes sense to stick with your roommate while out. If you guys usually go out together, stay out together, and go back to your room together, then just go ahead and make this dynamic duo an established thing. It’ll keep both of you safe and will guarantee a fun time.
13. Be the perfect wing man (well, wing woman).
If your roommate is going out with a determined mindset, be the one to tell her, “YES, go for it,” or “Stay the heck away from that.” Be smart about giving the go ahead, you’ll be held partially accountable.
14. Buy your roommate the occasional drink. It’ll come out in the wash, I promise.
It usually takes FOREVER to get a drink at the bar. If you’re getting yourself a drink, go ahead and get your roommate one too sometimes (especially if you’re using a card and there is a minimum… you probably don’t need two vodka sprites yourself). And if you get your roomie one, they will remember this next time they go get a drink.
15. Tell your roommate she’s had enough, when needed.
Don’t be afraid to cut your roommate off. She will appreciate it, and no one else knows her well enough to recognize when things are going down hill.
16. If your roommate is gone way past her limits, be her support system.
No one enjoys getting sick. And if your roommate is at that point, she might not know exactly how to take care of herself. Make the experience a little more tolerable for her. You’ll make her life a lot better, and t’ll also earn you her help if you ever are in the same situation.
17. When a roommate is actually sick (like, doctor visiting worthy), treat her well.
Being sick in college is literally one of the worst things to happen at school. You’re usually feeling awful, stressed and pretty hopeless. If you’re in this situation, you would hope your roommate would grab you a ginger ale or get you some tissues. Do some nice gestures for her, and you’ll get it in return when a sickness strikes.
18. Don’t be too needy or request too much.
Now, if you do get sick, it is common courtesy for your roommate to help you out a bit. But don’t go demanding your roommate of doing nonsense things for you. She’s not your nurse, and she probably has a lot on her plate too.
19. Make your roommate’s birthday special!!!
Birthdays in college have the potential to be a ton of fun, while bars and restaurants are at your disposal. But, if you don’t plan anything for your roommate’s birthday, she will wake up feeling sorry for herself as she has to try to get other people excited to go out with her that night. Do this for her, and you’ll be rewarded for being such a good roomie.
20. If you both don’t have a significant other, make Valentine’s Day your Gal-entines Day.
It’s sad to spend Valentine’s Day alone, so don’t do it! Make an agreement with your roomie to go out and treat each other to a day where you can forget about being single, and be thankful for having a great roommate.
21. Occasionally perform some random acts of kindness.
College is a stressful experience. Each day can come with its own obstacles. Be the one to give your roomie a pick-me-up. It’ll create a happy environment in your room and she’ll be forever grateful.
22. Express your gratitude.
If you just love what your roommate has done for you, whether it’s cleaning the room, giving you good advice, or letting you wear a cute outfit, let her know you appreciate it. While you might think she would know how grateful you are, she will love hearing it from you.
23. If you and your roommate get along great all year, go ahead and talk about being roommates again.
If a good thing is going strong, go ahead and keep it up. It’ll be way better than trying to find a new roommate who lives up to your expectations.
These are 23 of the best tips for living with roommates. Anything to add? Share in the comments!
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