Throughout college, I’ve gone from one roommate to multiple roommates. By multiple, I’m talking 6-8 of us in one house. After freshman year, most of the housing situations are living with a house full of people. It’s super intimidating. Plus, I went in with only one or two friends, meaning I lived with a handful of random girls. That sounds even scarier, but I ended up making a lot of friends!Although living with that many girls seems like a nightmare, it was an overall good experience. There were always ups and downs and major pet peeves, but I’m going to impart some real wisdom for living with a lot of housemates.
Whether you’re living with friends or not, I promise you’ll want to punch everyone in the house at some point. Confined spaces and a bunch of girls who are all stressed about college can be dangerous. I also promise that other nights you’ll be on cloud nine. There were always ups and downs and major pet peeves, but I’m going to impart some real wisdom and some handy tips for living with a lot of housemates.
1. Look Them up on Social Media
A lot of people will tell you not to do this but I’m not here to spew B.S. You’re going to look up all of your roommates and you’re going to probably get months-deep in Instagrams. That’s fine. Remember, they’ll probably be doing the same to you. Check your own socials — is that the image of yourself you want to portray to your new housemates? If not, consider cleaning up your social media bit. It’s good for future employers, too.
2. See Who’s Bringing What
Make a master Google Doc for this! This is unbelievably helpful and it prevents having three microwaves but no toaster. Some items you’ll definitely want to include are a coffee maker, microwave, toaster oven, vacuum, and toaster.
3. Make a GroupMe
If you don’t have this app, download it ASAP (it’s even made my list of the 7 Apps Every College Student Needs). This is a great way to quickly and easily keep in touch with all of your housemates. It can also be disabled and enabled, meaning you can turn off group chats as you please.
4. Make a Cleaning Schedule
If you don’t want your living space to become a garbage hole, this is key. Don’t just assume everyone will do their fair share. Here’s a free printable cleaning schedule you can even use.
5. Be Upfront About Pet Peeves
If you can’t deal with people slamming doors or you don’t like sharing certain items, let it be known ASAP. It might seem forward, but it’s better to be direct and upfront than it is to be passive aggressive later on. If an issue can be prevented, prevent it.
6. Have House Meetings When Necessary
They can be awkward but they can also be really helpful. If someone keeps leaving dishes in the sink or one person consistently avoids trash duty, talk it out. Don’t turn it into a roast or a huge session of bitching about each other, but do bring up certain issues.
Take note of Common Roommate Problems & Solutions and multiply the wisdom by however many housemates you’ve got.
7. Decide What Costs to Split (& How)
If you’re in an apartment this might include a lot of utilities. If you’re in a dorm, this might include things like paper towels, toilet paper and other bulk shared items. Venmo and PayPal are both very helpful for easily splitting costs.
8. Label Your Food
Again, this is sometimes controversial and it can be seen as passive aggressive but it is so helpful. Seriously, it prevents you from accidentally using someone else’s eggs and it stops someone else from doing that to you.
9. Have Reasonable Expectations
If one of your housemates has to be up really early, try to hang out somewhere else or keep volume levels down once it’s late. That being said, if you decide to go to bed at 8 PM on a Friday and your housemate is hanging out with friends in the living room, cut them some slack. Remember, it’s not only your house. It’s shared. You can’t expect everyone’s life to end at 8 PM because you want to sleep.
10. Fill Them in on Plans in Advance
If you plan on hosting a party or having a group of people, it’s courteous to let your housemates know. It can be as simple as sending a “Hey, I’m having some people over to watch a movie tonight in the living room!” or “Is it cool if I throw a Halloween party here next Saturday? You’re all invited, of course.”
You don’t need to include them all in your plans, but it’s nice to have a heads up when your house is going to be full of people.
11. Bring the Party Elsewhere Sometimes
Again, it’s not only your house. Remember to go to someone else’s house sometimes. You don’t always need to host the movie night.
12. Buy a Sound Machine
My friend has one in her room and it (almost) totally drowns out the sounds of loud movies, housemates yelling and people talking. If you have a feeling living with multiple roommates will drive you crazy, a sound machine isn’t a bad investment.
13. Clean up After Your Guests
When you have friends over or host a pregame at your house, you’re obligated to clean up any shared spaces that became a mess. This means wiping margarita mix off of the couches, picking up the confetti your friend threw and putting the furniture back where it belongs. Don’t be rude and don’t make your friends your housemates’ problem.
14. Create a Guest Policy
While we’re talking guests…having multiple roommates is difficult enough without having bonus ones. By bonus ones, you guessed it, I mean significant others. The “guest policy” doesn’t need to be fancy, but maybe set a limit for how many days someone can stay over. Again, it doesn’t mean it’ll be followed but it’s not a bad idea. Don’t have your S.O. staying over every single night. Even though it seems like no big deal, it’s frustrating to have to share your bathroom, kitchen and home with a bonus person. If you’re having your S.O. visit or sleep over, let your housemates know in advance, even if it’s just a few hours.
That being said, if your roommate’s boyfriend has become a 5th roommate, there’s no harm in a house meeting to bring it up.
15. Acknowledge Eachother’s Presence
God, this doesn’t seem like something you’d think I’d have to say, but I can’t tell you how many people I know who have been flat-out hurt and insulted by roommates who ignore them. If you’re both in the kitchen making coffee, utter good morning! If you’re leaving and your roommate is in the living room, say “See ya later!” If you’re both brushing your teeth at the same time, say “Good night!” You don’t need to be besties and you don’t need to have heart-to-hearts but damn, acknowledge their presence sometimes.
What are your tips for living with multiple roommates? Anything you’re worried about?
