How to be the Best Roommate Ever – 10 Pros & Cons

How to be the Best Roommate Ever & the Benefits of having one 

It’s exciting to move into college housing. Most people are living independently for the first time, and most students are eagerly anticipating moving day. Although it can be a lot of fun, living in a college dorm can often be stressful. Living with others is never simple; whether you share a home with your greatest friend or a complete stranger, problems could always arise. We will share with you in this article the advantages and disadvantages of having a roommate and how to be the best roommate ever!

Advantages of having a Roommate

1. Savings: When everything, including rent and utilities, are shared, this benefit may be the most obvious.
2. Shared resources and abilities: They’ll supply the large screen, and you’ll supply the couch. They have a tool kit, and you’re a gourmet chef. You can save time and money by sharing.
3. An argument in favor of cleanliness: It’s one thing to live in your own mess, but quite another to subject others to it. Living up to a roommate’s cleaner-than-you standards can help you live your best life.
4. Possibility of friendship: On occasion, it’s comforting to return home knowing someone will be there. A casual connection could develop into a true friendship if you actually like your roommate. It will be simpler to create a bond if you can find something you both enjoy, whether it’s cooking or watching football.
5. Better interpersonal skills: Living with a roommate will force you to overcome your fear of conflict and cope with it. Any chance you get to improve your communication abilities will pay off in the long run. A key managerial competence is the ability to express expectations in detail.
6. More laid-back outlook: You’ll probably spend the majority of your life living with people, whether temporarily or permanently. You can be getting married, starting a family, or living with a relative. You’ll learn to unwind and let things happen naturally if you share a space with someone.

Disadvantages of having a Roommate

1. Lack of privacy: Even when you believe you are alone, having a roommate requires you to close the door and cover up. Getting acclimated to the new situation can be difficult if you are used to living alone or with a significant other.
2. More accommodations: Perhaps you prefer a conventional appearance while your roommate prefers boho ones. When you share a home, you have to find a way to make concessions on everything, from the decor to the frequency of cleaning.
3. Giving and receiving: There will never be a perfect balance. There will always be one roommate who is cleaner or more responsible with the payments. If you begin to dislike these distinctions, life will become very stressful very soon.
4. A bad match: Returning home is no longer comfortable if you and that person are not getting along and they are simply unwilling to cooperate. You’ll have to put up with that until one of you can come up with another solution.

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How to be the Best Roommate Ever

It can be particularly challenging to manage these issues if you’ve never lived with anybody other than your family because you might not anticipate them. You must put forth effort to be a wonderful roommate in order to ensure that you have a great living environment. If you want to know how to be the best roommate ever, Here are a few methods for doing it:

1. Roommate Agreement

Once you’ve been living with someone for a while, it will be simpler to spot issues and harder to resolve them. For this reason, you should make an effort to head off problems before they arise. A roommate agreement will allow you to accomplish this.

Basically, roommate contracts are agreements outlining the fundamental principles that you and your roommate should abide by. In a roommate agreement, you will cover issues like:

• When is it OK to invite guests over? Should you first ask your roommate?
• What should be done to clean the kitchen? How long can you leave the dishes in the sink?
• How frequently should the bathroom be cleaned? In case you share a bathroom, how will you rotate?
• How should disputes with your roommate be handled?
• Is it acceptable to own pets?

2. Simplify Your Lives for the Both of You

After establishing some ground rules, you can go a step further and take actions that will simplify things for both of you. Simple solutions for this include beautifying the space to make it feel cozier. If you can locate a few things that will make living together more convenient, it can improve the environment at home. Of course, you shouldn’t acquire anything you don’t wish to use or pander to their wants.

3. Noise and Temperature control

The subject of temperature might give rise to arguments between roommates. The temperature in the house may be different for each of you, or one of you may be more committed to energy conservation than the other.

You might purchase a portable air conditioner for your room if this is the situation and you want a cooler environment. If energy is a concern, you might get an energy-efficient air conditioner to reduce your expenses. This will prevent arguments with your roommate about the temperature of your personal space, which you can control at all times.

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4. A Task Board

Cleaning schedules should be covered when creating a roommate contract, but it might be challenging to enforce them later. You can keep a task whiteboard in a common area like the kitchen or living room to keep everyone organized. This can help everyone understand who is responsible for cleaning the kitchen and bathroom at any given time and enable you to mark off tasks as you do them.

Meetings with your roommates can be scheduled here as well. No matter how big or small, disagreements will inevitably arise, so it is a good idea to be able to communicate with one another.

5. Watch out for one another

Working successfully together doesn’t need you to be great friends with your roommate. However, it doesn’t necessarily signal that something is wrong if you don’t hang out with them frequently or at all. You can still show each other care despite this. When you are in the living room or kitchen together, try to make time to talk to them, get to know them, and introduce yourself.

You two might even feel at ease enough to discuss intimate matters while conversing. Sometimes, you can learn facts about your roommate that may worry you, such as the fact that they frequently discuss going out to party or that they are frequently intoxicated.

While some drinking is to be expected in college, you can also seek assistance if you are worried that they may be drug addicts or abuse alcohol. Alcohol and prescription drugs are the most often abused narcotics among young adults in their college years, claim experts in addiction and rehabilitation. You can check out on-campus services offered by most universities to aid with such situations on your school’s website, or you can get in touch with those who can, including resident assistants, resident directors, teachers, or counselors.

See: 30 Best Data Science Colleges in the world 2022

6. Learn about them

Moving in with a new individual involves doing something, which is crucial. Find out who you will be sharing a home with. Check to see if you have any shared hobbies or interests before moving forward. Even if your roommate doesn’t end up becoming your new best friend, you’ll likely spend a lot of time with them, so get to know them!

7. Talk to others

When moving in with a new person, communication is essential. Although you might be moving in with a close friend, there’s a high chance that your roommate was chosen at random. Inform your roommate of anything they should be aware of about you. Communication is crucial whenever a problem may occur. Before it escalates into a bigger argument, let them know if something is bothering you.

8. Establish Limits

Everyone has a unique set of personal restrictions. Examine your comfort level with distributing items like food, appliances, etc. Try to keep your possessions localized, and refrain from touching anyone else’s property without permission.

9. Distribute Obligations

An essential component of sharing a space with someone is responsibility sharing. This could entail making a chore plan to assign weekly tasks like vacuuming or bringing out the garbage, but not everyone enjoys using chore charts. The most crucial thing is to make sure that both you and your roommate put forth effort to maintain your area tidy and organized.

10. Get to know your roommate’s schedule.

After moving in with a new person, one of the first things you should do is get acquainted with their schedule. This is crucial in relation to sleep schedules. If your roommate goes to bed at 9 p.m. and you remain up until 3 a.m. every night doing schoolwork with the light on, they won’t be your biggest fans. Find a schedule that both of you can follow!

Frequently Asked Questions about having Roommate

Final Words on how to be the Best Roommate ever

Remember that everyone has their own viewpoints while you’re sharing a dorm room with a roommate for the rest of your life. Try to maintain your composure and have an open and considerate talk with your roommate if you have a disagreement with them. You will be far more likely to enjoy your first year of college if you try your hardest and strive to be the best roommate ever.

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