Many of us have lived with a
roommate either when we first
moved out on our own or when we
went off to college or
university. However, these
days, especially in major
cities where costs are rising,
it's not uncommon to have a
roommate in your 20s or even
your 30s. There can be some
good things about having a
roommate when you move into a
new city, such as having
introductions to new friends,
as well as having proper
recommendations to any events
or restaurants or any fun
things to do in your local
area. The downside though, is
if you've never known this
person before, or if you've
never lived with them, they may
have habits that you may find
irritating. And along the way
there can be roommate issues
that cause you guys to clash.
So in today's video, we're
going to be going over 8 common
roommate issues and as well
covering solutions to those
issues, so you can have a great
partnership with your roommate.
The first issue is different
views on housecleaning. If you
yourself is a neat freak and
your roommate not so much, you
could have some serious issues
with keeping the house clean.
One common workaround is to
hire a cleaning service every
two weeks or maybe even once a
month to help clean up the
house. However, what are you
going to do with the daily
tasks such as dishes,
vacuuming and maybe laundry and
other things that need to be
taken care of in the household?
And while those things I listed
were all little things, if
they're left not done, it could
become a big issue for the
other roommates or yourself.
So what do you do in cases like
this? Well, one of the
best ways to take care of this
problem is to create a chore
chart. And I've included a link
in the description below, for
an example, that you can simply
print off and work together
with your roommate. A chore
chart is a great way to divvy
up the household cleaning items
and also a great way to
schedule when the cleaning is
going to be done. The second
issue is too much togetherness.
If your roommate works from
home, they may always seem like
they're always around.
You may not be able to escape
them once you come home from
work, if they're working in the
living room, in the kitchen, or
maybe just wandering around
doing their own thing. Having a
roommate at home all the time
can have some benefits.
They may be able to pick up
some parcels that are dropped
off if you're away at work, or
they may be able to let the
cable person in to fix the
internet while you're gone to
your day job. However,
if they're always around, you
may feel like you can never
escape them. And this could
become an issue, especially if
you like your own alone time.
To solve this issue, you should
check in with your roommate
schedule and see when they have
plans to leave the house so you
can plan to do things in the
living room or around the house
in peace and quiet.
The third issue is bringing
your friends over too often.
If you yourself is a social
butterfly, but your roommate
uses their home as a refuge to
get away from people, there
could be issues that arise,
especially if you have people
over fairly often.
You yourself may feel like you
have to be trapped away in your
bedroom while your roommate has
friends over or vice versa.
And this is an uncomfortable
situation for both.
A common way to fix this issue
is to just discuss with your
roommate, when you're allowed
to have friends over when
you're not, or maybe some areas
you can hang out and such as
the kitchen while the other
roommate enjoys peace and quiet
in the living room. The fourth
and common issue is an unfair
split of expenses.
Hopefully when you moved in
with your roommate, you
discussed how rent will be
divvied up, whether that's
50/50 or one person is paying a
larger amount if they have a
larger bedroom, etc.
However, what about the small
things? If you yourself go pick
up groceries for the two of
you, or if you're picking up
dish soap and laundry detergent
and other small things for the
house. These things can add up
over time, and if one of you
isn't careful about keeping
track of this, or if you're not
letting the other roommate know
about these expenses, it could
become an issue as you may feel
the burden of having to buy all
these small things all the
time. One solution is
called SplitWise and it's an
app you can download for your
smartphone and I've included a
link in the description below
for that as well. But basically
this app lets you track
expenses and divvy up amongst
the people in your party, so
each person can properly pay
for the things they need to pay
for. It's a really great app,
especially if you live with a
roommate where you guys share
certain expenses and you want
to properly divvy up the
expenses but don't always want
to do it with pen and paper or
an Excel spreadsheet.
The SplitWise app is a great
solution to this issue.
The fifth issue is rising
temperature. If you yourself
love to be warm and cozy in
your house in the winter, but
your roommate is someone who
wears shorts while it's
snowing, you may want to
consider having a discussion
about who's going to be paying
for these rising heat bills.
If one of your roommates
doesn't particularly cared to
turn on the heat. They may feel
a bit of the burden in paying
for that heat bill. And this is
where issues can arise.
So one great way to solve this
issue is if if you're the type
of person that likes to keep a
very warm home, maybe you offer
to pay a bit more of the
heating bill. The six issue is
security. Did you or your
roommate forget to lock the
door on your way to work?
Or maybe you left the back
sliding door open because you
wanted a breeze while you ate
breakfast. These could be
serious issues and roommates
may not be comfortable with
leaving things unlocked or
leaving doors open, as it could
leave yourself exposed to
potential theft. A great way to
fix this issue is to leave a
simple checklist on the back of
the door that you can read
before you head out going
anywhere. This way, you can
list off the things that are
important such as shutting off
the lights, turning off the
oven, making sure doors are
locked and making sure windows
are closed. If you list all
that out, it's a great reminder
to have and you won't have any
issues with your roommate or
yourself forgetting these
things and leaving your
security exposed.
The seventh tip is using each
other's belongings.
Generally, this is a no-no for
roommates, unless you've had
explicit permission granted to
you before. If you are
using your roommates things or
if your roommate is using your
things while you're gone
without your permission.
This is obviously going to
create tension and issues.
And generally the roommates
space, especially their
bedroom, is usually considered
off limits and you should
respect this. And if you need
to borrow your roommates
belongings, I highly suggest
you two sit down and work out
what you can and cannot use
from each other. You may find
that your roommate is using all
your shampoo and you keep
having to buy more.
And this will cause issues.
But if you have a discussion
about this, maybe they are
going to pitch in next time and
maybe this issue won't arise
again. The 8th and one of the
most major issues I'm
discussing here is party time.
If you're someone that works on
the weekends or doesn't like to
party on the weekends, but your
roommate does, this could
become a serious issue as they
party on into the wee hours of
the night and prevent you from
getting the sleep you need.
While there is no easy solution
to this, a common one is to set
a quiet time. And beyond on
this time, it's time for both
roommates to quiet down and
respect each other's space and
allow each other to get the
rest they need. And you'll
never be able to agree with
your roommate on everything.
There will be some issues that
arise. But decide what's a
deal breaker and what you can
live with. And don't try and
pick a battle for every little
thing that you see as an issue.
Sometimes it just comes down to
having a proper discussion with
your roommate so you're both an
understanding of how you're
feeling and how you want this
household to run. Living with a
roommate can be a really great
experience. So if you tackle
these issues head on and you
work with your roommate and are
happy, you guys can both enjoy
a great space to live in.
So if you're a renter and
you're looking to insure your
belongings with renter's
insurance, you can head over
for an online quote to
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