4 Tips For Being A Better Roommate

Most people find themselves in a situation at some point or another where they have to live with roommates. Everyone has had at least one horrible experience in their lifetime. Living with other people is difficult, especially when they are essentially strangers that you don’t know very well. Luckily, whether it’s in college or well into adulthood, there are definitely many things you can do to be a better roommate. Here are a few tips that can help.

Take Care Of Your Pets

Related to cleaning up after yourself, you should also make sure to stay on top of cleaning up after your pets if you have any roommates. This means that dog poop should be cleaned out of the yard and pet hair should be swept or vacuumed up on a regular basis. If you have a dog, make sure to brush them out at least once a week in order to help minimize fur. Some people have pet allergies and you should be conscious of that. You should also never rely on a roommate to feed or walk your pet unless you are paying them to do so. Your pets are your responsibility and it’s up to you to make sure they don’t cause any issues.

Pay Bills On Time

A common issue that comes up within roommate situations is when one roommate doesn’t pay their house bills (such as rent and utilities) in full or on time. This can sometimes cause stress on the other people living in the house or apartment as they may have to cover the bills in the interim. The best way to avoid this is to make sure to pay all of your bills on time every month, and if there are ever any issues to let your roommates know ahead of time.

Communicate

If you ever do have an issue with your roommate, such as their bills not being paid on time, messes they are not cleaning up, or sketchy guests they are bringing home — let them know as soon as possible and communicate in a calm and mature way. If you hold anger inside it will just grow over time and cause a much larger problem later on. It’s much smarter to have an open line of communication between yourself and anyone else living in your home.

Clean Up After Yourself

One of the biggest gripes roommates have about each other is that someone is too messy. Whether this means leaving dirty dishes in the sink, clothes all over the common areas, or something else, it can definitely dampen a living situation if someone is constantly leaving messes and not cleaning up after themselves.

Being a great roommate is not too hard if you just think about your actions, make an effort to communicate, and take a little bit more time to clean up after yourself and your pets. Hopefully these tips will help make you into a person that anyone would want to live with!