“My roommate got a pet elephant. Then it got lost. It’s in the apartment somewhere.”—Stephen Wright
Unless you are rolling in cash or you enjoy living by yourself (which also requires a lot of money) then after you graduate college you find yourself still needing and wanting to live with other people. This is a good way to save money and often times expand your social networks. Living with other people is an interesting experience and a great challenge. From my past experiences of living with best friends to strangers I have some very important points I think one should consider before signing a lease.
1. Make sure you are honest with the people you move in with. This will avoid so many possible issues you have no idea!
2. Decide if you want a housemate or a friend. I am very talkative and love meeting new people so I want to form relationships with the people I live with and be able to hang out with them in the house and outside of the house. Some people just want to share rent and nothing else.
3. Cleanliness matters. If you think someone is messy it will not be a big deal but when you share a living space with someone and a bathroom and they leave it in shambles every day it will really start to bother you. On the other hand, if you are a messy person just try to be respectful and keep the mess to your own room.
4. Contributing to the shared space. This may seem like a mindless topic, but from my experience it is not at all. For example, someone I once lived with had never lived with other people and didn’t understand the concept of bringing anything to the apartment, not even one utensil and for some reason had serious issues with buying toilet paper which is just annoying!
5. Money and responsibilities. It is vital to decide who is paying what in the beginning so that there are no misunderstandings or fights in the future; it is also best to divide up who will handle each bill so that everyone is helping out, so someone pay for electricity, someone else for cable, and someone for trash/water. Another thing that is best to do from the get-go is divide up house responsibilities even though you think it is understood for someone to just take out the garbage. It will not happen unless you create a schedule with assigned cleaning and other house duties.
No matter how much you prepare for you roommate situation you can never fully predict the outcome but being as prepared as possible and open with the people you are planning on living with is the most you can do until you move in. If you are lucky hopefully you can create some new relationships along the way and learn more about how to live with all different people. It isn’t always a fun experience but in the end is helpful because you will have a broader understanding of how to deal with all types of people!
