Living with a roommate is a great way to avoid some issues that may exist when you live on your own. Rent for your
apartment will probably be cheaper, you may be able to carpool if you go to work or school near each other, and living with someone else can help alleviate the loneliness you may feel living on your own. However, having a roommate doesn’t come without potential issues, and those issues can easily tear your place apart to the point where you hate even being in your apartment! Avoiding that kind of issue is top priority when you’re living with a roommate. Here are five of the most common roommate issues, and how to deal with them before they get to that point.
Problem: Cleanliness
Different people have different standards when it comes to what “clean” means, and that’s why this is easily the most common roommate issue that people have to deal with. When one of you considers it better to put dishes in the sink all day until you can do them all before dinner, but the other hates seeing dishes in the sink at all, you’ll have to find some way to compromise.
Solution: Communication
The best way to avoid this is simply to communicate. Tell your roommate what you need in order to make the apartment feel clean and comfortable, and ask them what they want from you as well.
Problem: Unbalanced Finances
When it comes to paying, rent is the easiest thing to decide on. It’s pretty commonplace for each person to pay an equal amount, and that’s usually something you establish before you even move in, so it’s not an issue that will slowly build over the course of a lease. The tertiary things —toilet paper, food, cleaning supplies, and a gigantic list of other things— you have to buy are more of a rocky ground, and that’s why people get so upset about it.
Solution: Design a Plan
To avoid building up resentment, consider drawing up a plan for who pays for what. Maybe you alternate months as to who buys toilet paper, or you split your fridge down the middle so each person can keep track of their own food.
Problem: Love Life
It’s a pretty common issue —your roommate gets involved with someone, things start getting serious, and all of a sudden they’re staying over four nights a week and spending ten hours a day at your apartment. Having a significant other essentially move in can be annoying or frustrating, because you didn’t sign up for them being your roommate too.
Solution: Talk It Out
This is another situation where communication will solve your issues. You need to have a frank talk about if this new significant other is going to move in, and what that means for both of you. You may want to renegotiate rent, or ask that the new person do chores or something else equally helpful. The only way to fix this one is to bring it up, so you don’t just build up a grudge over the months.
Problem: Unexpected Guests
If your roommate brings people over without asking once or twice, it’s likely that you can just let it go. Even if it happens a couple times a month, you may be okay with them just shooting you a text that there are going to be people over.
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Solution: Ground Rules
If it’s a more constant issue, and people start coming over more than once or twice a week, you may need to lay down some ground rules. They don’t have to be unnecessarily strict, but it’s not ridiculous to ask for guests to leave by nine, or to ask that they stay in the living room.
Problem: Accidents/Mistakes
This is just a given for both parties. There are going to be mistakes made —maybe you knock over a lamp in the front room, or they spill a glass of grape juice on your blanket. Whatever the case, mistakes happen to everyone.
Solution: Fix and Forgive
You have to be willing to forgive mistakes while at the same time owning up to being responsible for them. If you break or ruin something, be prepared to replace it. At the same time, if you have something incredibly important, keep it in your bedroom, rather than in a common area.
