When moving to a new city, living in shared apartments with roommates may be the most convenient, affordable and usually enjoyable way of living. If you’ve never lived with roommates, it can seem a little daunting, but it’s always worth the experience. Adjusting and getting along with strangers can take time and this list of do’s and don’ts will make your experience much simpler and easier to navigate. So here are the DOs and DON’Ts of living with roommates.
DOs
1. Decide how to split expenses
One of the main reasons people preferred living with roommates, is because it’s a great way to cut down on cost of living. If you’re moving into a new home and will require groceries, any maintenance to be done, bills to be paid, appliances to be bought or hiring a house help, discuss all costs, what all is required by whom and how bills will be split beforehand.
2. Divide the chores equally
Be it cooking, cleaning, shopping for common requirements and anything else in a shared space, divide the responsibility of doing it equally. This does not burden one person only and makes living with roommates easier. Have a weekly schedule and be accommodating while assigning each one a role. Someone loves cooking, let them take charge of it, another one enjoys organizing stuff, let them do that. Find ways to make jobs easier to be done and keep rotating chores, if doing one thing gets boring.
To reduce this hassle, coliving options like Zolo provide fully furnished homes with food and housekeeping that make sharing a home extremely convenient!
3. Respect their personal space
Even when living in a shared accommodation, it is important that your roommates and you have your own personal space. Everyone is different and they have their own boundaries, which must be respected, especially at the start. Even when y’all get comfortable with each other, set some personal space aside, that is customized and personalized according to each one. It’s always nice having your own personal space while living with roommates in a shared home.
4. Learn to adjust
Living with new people is not easy, especially if there is a difference in schedules, personalities or anything else. But the key to making a roommate equation work, is trying your best to adjust. Initially things will be very new, especially if it’s your first time living with roommates, but as you get used to the process, it’s much easier. Understanding another person’s point of view and way of things is important and that is an area where it is good to adjust, be accommodating and accepting.
5. Set ground rules
To avoid arguments on issues that different people think about differently, it is important to set ground rules in a shared home. Discuss managing clashing schedules, consulting your roommates before making decisions about shared things, having guests over, how long can guests stay for, chores, food and anything else you can think of. Having a clear list of ground rules will help sorting and avoiding issues ahead. Set rules about anything you think would have varied opinions and would need to be addressed.
DON’Ts
1. Don’t Pick flights on minor issues
When strangers begin living together, there are bound to be differences among them and so, expect to have differences with your roommates. Instead of having arguments for every matter, try sorting it out with a healthy discussion, taking into consideration each other’s opinion and point of view. This is why ground rules set in place also helps avoid a lot of conflict and helps come to mutual decisions faster and in a much better manner.
2. Don’t Borrow without asking
Clothes, books, gadgets and sometimes even money, it’s very common among roommates to share things with each other, but it’s always important to ask before borrowing. Not everyone is okay with people randomly taking their stuff, so, especially at the start, always ask your roommate before borrowing something from them. If you need something urgently and your roommate is not around, send them a text or leave them a note, always keep them informed when you’re borrowing something.
3. Don’t Make assumptions
It’s always good to keep an open mind when living with someone new. Avoid any assumptions and stereotypes concerning your roommates and try and overlook their minor flaws. Having any preconceived notions will automatically create a sense of disliking towards the other person, which is not what you want while living with a roommate. Even if you’ve had bad experiences previously, do not base assumptions on that. Begin living with a new roommate like a blank page, this makes adjusting to a new environment much easier!
So those were some basic Dos and Don’ts that make living with roommates much easier and better. While we’re at it, Do enjoy this experience as much as you can, and Don’t take everything too personally. Building a mutual bond of respect is they key to any roommate relationship, whether you like your roommate or not, and the mentioned tips will help you do so!
Feature image credit: RENTCafe
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