By BookRenter Briana
Photo by moron noodle
Co-existing
We all know that living with roommates can be difficult and challenging at times, especially if you’re living in the same, tiny room. Being able to get along and create a fun living environment can relieve so much stress from school and make your college experience much better. Hopefully these tips can help you out when dealing with the roomies.
- Don’t live with your best friends. You may think that this is a great idea at first, ‘cuz “We’re friends, how can we fight”, well, you will. You already have a relationship with that person. Why not try meeting new people and exploring different relationships? Plus, being around the same person 24/7 will bring new annoyances you never thought you had with your BFF.
- Try putting yourself in the other person’s shoes.
- Respect your roommates’ space. Don’t touch their things, and please, if your roommates are away it is not smart to lend their bed to your friends who want to pass out after a hard night of drinking. Would you really want someone stanky and gross in your bed? I really don’t think so.
- Spend time together – If you rarely see your roommates and actually want to spend time with them, try having dinners together where you can catch up on the things.
- Do activities outside of your place. Encourage them to get involved with activities so they get out of the house. Space is crucial when you live with roommates. Encourage not only them but yourself to explore different campus activities so everyone can have some alone time in the living room.
- Communicate! Trust me if something bothers you, tell them, because there is nothing like one huge emotional blow up where you tell them all their faults at once. Space it out – if not your roommate will feel attacked.
- If you’re throwing a party – make sure you consult with all roommates, and make sure you include them. Even though you might not want to party with them it will make them less irritated and make the house atmosphere a lot better to live in. And hey, there is nothing like taking funny pictures of them so you can laugh at them when you move out.
- Be organized – create some sort of ground rules for bills and groceries or house cleaning. It’ll avoid confusion and keep people in the know.
- If all else fails, try the best to co-exist. Don’t play pranks and move all your roommates’ clothes around, or mess with their valuables. It’s just not smart because it will cause more problems for all of you. Just focus on your when your lease is up and finding new roommates.
- Save Money – Money can be tight, instead of borrowing from your roommate, you can rent textbooks from us. It can save you a bundle (wink, wink).
pick me!
Cool site!
Saving money by renting textbooks is by far, the best advice I’ve seen all day.
Just be tolerant of your roommates beliefs and do not jump to conclusions.
never borrow there stuff without asking.
Great advice. The best thing is to always be courteous to others.
Great Advice! Don’t let your roomates girlfriend/boyfriend move in as well….DRAMA!
Also dont live with your boyfriend and have one of his friends as a house mate…… not fun!
Love the one about throwing a party! All must be on board or at least in the know!
ignore them , when they say off the wall stuff. i do that to everyone , so i can keep my peace. =]
Absolutely agree with the not living with your best friends. I knew better not to do it but saw many a friends relationships ruined by being roommates.
My son did not have good luck with his roommates in college last year.
Love it! especially number 1.
I agree, NEVER live with your best friend! It’ll ruin ur relationship..
Try to have activities that does not always include your roommate. Too much togetherness can be a bad thing sometimes!!
respect each other and be kind
Definitely some good tips there!
Very good advice!
Great Advice!!
All excellent ideas..or just live alone..;)
I like setting up house rules… at least then you know what to expect.
I had THE worst roommate in college. She would bring a guy over to spend the night, who I later found out was arrested for illegal possession of firearms and drug distribution. One day I opened my dorm door to have three police officers SHUT it in my face. I knocked and asked, “um, can I come in? I really need my books so I can go to class”. Needless to say, I was late for class because I was questioned by the police. My wonderful roommate and her boyfriend had been doing drugs in my room. Next semester, I was a commuter. I haven’t had a roommate since. I think I’m traumatized!
Make sure you don’t live with a bunch of girls if you are a girl! Drama will start!
Most important tip is to talk to each other
Communication is very important when you live with roommates.
Some people u just can’t get along with. But good advice.
Great advice!
Try to spend time apart!!! BTW PLZ PICK ME =)
great tips
woo hooo!!! thanks!
Thank God I’m married now!
Oh, I do need coffee!!
interesting advice.
good advice (=
My comment is still awaiting moderation so I am not sure if it will be approved or not, so I will make another one. lol. Pick me. I’ve had horrible experiences with my first and last roommate.
I tried the whole living with my best friend thing…..It really is not a good thing and can end a friendship if you are not careful.
great advice! Thank you!
Take your roomies for coffee!
The best rule is: Do NOT do to me what YOU would not want done to YOU. mutual respect and learning to listen to each other is key.
Seriously! It is hard to co-exist. It helps to have different schedules so you’re not together too often. Great article!
I got lucky and had an amazing roommate in the Army…one of the best things we did to make sure we got along, was to learn more about each others backgrounds…we used our interest in learning more about other cultures to bring us closer…we loved going to new restaurants or new places
I miss her a lot
Life is difficult enough without adding more unnecessary drama! We all need to learn how to live, laugh and love! All the choices listed above are good but we do live by the choices made and just remember everything that looks good isn’t good to include deciding on taking a roommate.
And dont forget the Golden rule…..
Great advice!
Don’t let yourself get dragged into your roomates drama either.. but also don’t let it make your room a warzone..
Love the pic… haha
WOULD LOVE SOME COFFEE YUM……………. AND LIVING WITH SOME ONE IS ALWAYS HARD MAKE SURE YOU CAN STILL BE FRIENDS EVEN IF LIVING TOGETHER DOESNT WORK OUT
Nice list, wide variety.
And I love the self promotion in number 10.
Just live alone and save yourself the hassle!
Tonto @Tarzan
Tonto- roommates bad
Tarzan- renting textbooks good
Don’t get a roommate
Do not mess with each other’s coffee, alcohol or main source of caffeine.
These are some really good tips! And even if you cant schedule dinners together you could always have coffee!!!! Which I love
That looks like me and my sister “that’s my starbucks caramel frappuccino coffee..you got vanilla”
See how much they REALLY drink / smoke before you move in. What you see is what you get, you aren’t going to change them!
good advice and great subject
Apparently, my experience with my roommate was so bad that the moderator will not post it. No more roommates for me! :/
Great tips. I need to forward this to my roommate so he can read this too. I like tip number 10 about renting textbooks
Great advice! My fav is communicate because most likely if some things about your roommate are bugging you some things you do are bothering them as well ha ha communicate with one another and all will be happy
Great Advice!
Here’s a solution: live by yourself!
Give them space and make certain that they are aware of and will respect your need for space.
Be respectful of each other & treat them how you’d want to be treated. Great advise though…thanks!
Textbooks cost a lot and renting from Bookshelf saves big bucks.
thank god for coffee and tiki
I say if you can’t live alone, you need to be able to respect each other and have a good friend to vent to
So true.
Nice article on living with roomies!
What about spouses? They are your roommates in a way too, and how about your kids? Shoot, why don’t they help pay the bills?
Good advice
Thanks for the tips!
Thank god I don’t have roommates anymore…no idea how I survived years of them!
Dont sweat the small stuff, almost everything is fixable and worth working through it
Renting from bookrenter is the way to go is saves you so much money you could rent several semesters of books for the price you would pay buying them for one semester at your college bookstore. Rent your books at bookrenter every semester and save for that special thing you’ve been wanting to buy.
Great advice!!
Pick me Pick me!
Roommates can be tricky to get along with. It’s always a good idea to try to come up with a set of rules you mutually agree on.
well said. great advice.
great tips!
yummy coffee
Roommates can be hard! But if you work it right, they can be easy. They become like a sibling – sometimes you have fun, sometimes you get annoyed, and sometimes you just plain out ignore each other. But in the end, it becomes a good relationship.
Tried living with friends..and your right it is not easy and not a good idea. Ya know, coffee and books from bookrenter go great together!
Thanks for the info.
Great advice!
Stay @ home as long as you can….its cheaper!
All are very useful and true tips! I love this one the most ”Respect your roommates’ space”!
Have a movie night with your roomie and catch up with each other.
great tips here….. my best advice is to NOT room with a close friend. I don’t care how close you are, it will cause problems in the long run.
now….now about that $10 gc……i need some coffee! thanks!
“how” about that coffee….oops!
I will never have a roommate again! Worse thing ever to have to deal with someone that could careless!
Love your site!
Don’t fight your roommate!
Those are some great tips!!
Those are some great tips. Couldve definitely used those my freshman year.
This was great advice! I have had troubles with my roommate and this helped so much!
My university has sweetmates with a shared bathroom – when it’s your turn to clean the bathroom then clean it don’t make a trillion excuses that you’re never there and don’t use it (because you do!) or buy extra TP so you don’t have to clean it.
My roommate is my husband…some advice for the kids playing house out there: when you’re married, things don’t change. He (or she) won’t magically start doing the dishes or cleaning up the bathroom. If you are planning on getting married and there are things that you don’t agree with each other about, try to work it out now.
Not living with your best friend is something that I keep trying to tell my best friend. She really wants the two of us to live together and I know our relationship couldn’t handle it. Anyway thanks for all the great advice!
Great Article… Yet lil bit funny but true…
Love this site
Wow! Those are some pretty good grounded tips that can really make having roommates so much easier. Love the tips!
As a commuting student, I’ve never had a roommate, but I remember the stories my classmates used to tell about them. Some good, some bad, but never boring!
We are social creatures, yet VERY territorial, and we tend to pass blame for the problems that arise from this. I’m glad I no longer have to deal with the roommate situation. Now I have to deal with the husband situation. Haha. Oh, and I love the last piece of advice!
I did the mistake of moving in with my best friend and now we don’t live together or speak anymore. Stay away from moving in with your BFF!
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Thanks for an idea, you sparked at thought from a angle I hadn’t given thoguht to yet. Now lets see if I can do something with it.
This is GREAT information that EVERYONE who is considering living with a friend should read!!!