Having a Roommate Can be a Positive Experience

Living with a roommate has been bathed with a negative light for a long time by various accounts of close friends, as well as its portrayal in pop culture. Although they’re not entirely wrong in some respects, such as in instances when a roommate doesn’t pay his half of the rent or doesn’t do his chores, you have the opportunity to keep them from happening early on. Turn a supposed ‘nightmare experience’ into a positive one with these tips on living with a roommate.

·         Before getting a roommate to live with, leave your present apartment and look for a different apartment for rent to occupy. Whether you already have an apartment and would like to have a roommate or would like to move in with another person living in an apartment, there will be a power struggle regarding who should be in control regarding certain issues. If you move to a new place together, you’ll both get to have a say in the way things should be done in the apartment.

·         Because you and your best friend like the same things, you probably think that she would make the best roommate. Don’t be so sure. There are reasons why the phrase “absence makes the heart grow fonder” became popular, and this is one of them. Letting them sleep over at your place from time to time is fine, but living with them 24/7 will be too much and you’ll soon end up resenting each other. Quirky behavior that you didn’t mind before will become very apparent and irritating, and might start to affect your friendship.

·         Chores are not fun to do, but if you don’t do them, no one will. It would be unfair if you rush out of the apartment early on the weekends to force her to clean the mess that you two had a hand in creating. Determine all of the chores that need to be accomplished, discuss your schedule for doing them and make sure that you both do your tasks regularly. Simplify your chores even further by following a clean-as-you-go method; for instance, instead of letting dishes pile up in the sink, wash every plate or glass immediately after using it.

·         Many roommates become problematic due to financial matters, so you have to ensure that everything related to money is discussed from the get-go. Are you more comfortable with each person giving their share for every bill on the day they’re due, or would you rather one pay the entire bill first and then ask for reimbursement from the other later? Be sure not to borrow money from each other either; if one promises to pay the money back later and they don’t deliver, you’re bound to fight about it.

·         While you’re not required to turn your roommate into your new best friend, you shouldn’t act like strangers around each other. Spend some time with each other every week to discuss certain things so that you’ll be able to tackle any problems about your living situation together and no one has to harbor ill feelings.

People nowadays turn to sharing their apartment with a roommate when they’re having trouble staying on top of their monthly expenses. If your friends’ negative experiences worked in getting you worried about rooming with someone, be sure to apply these suggestions to keep these horror stories from happening to you.