How to Deal With Roommates

Sharing living quarters with someone can considerably cut your monthly expenses. Follow these steps to peacefully coexist with a roommate.

Instructions

1. Be selective. Interview prospective roommates and be honest about your own daily habits. Preventing problems is the best way to deal with roommates.

2. Prior to moving in with one another, set clear guidelines. Discuss utilities, cleaning, appropriate noise levels, sharing electronics and food. Set clear boundaries to handle these issues.

3. Develop a positive friendly rapport from the start. Plan to help the roommate move into your new place, if possible.

4. Communicate with your roommate. Make a cleaning schedule and adhere to it. Talk about how you can create rules that benefit all parties.

5. Pick your battles, refuse to nag. Calmly tell your roommate you want to talk about a problem, and then listen to their point of view. Find a compromise that works for both.

6. Devise a plan for paying bills so that everyone knows when their share is due. You might want to set up a seperate checking account for these payments. Do not link any of your individual accounts to the group account.

Tips & Warnings

• You don't have to be best friends with your roommate, but you should be on friendly, pleasant terms.

• Cleanliness is often the biggest part of dealing with a roommate. If a roommate is not adhering to the cleaning schedule, talk about how you can make the schedule work for both of you.

• Stay calm if a disagreement occurs. If you are angry, take some time to cool down, but address the issue as soon as possible.

• Once an issue as been addressed, let it go and don't bring it up again.