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Are you currently living with one or more roommates?

Excited Sheldon from Big Bang Theory getting ready to enter an apartment

Here are some guidelines that can help you have a productive conversation about shared resources such as food, common living areas, utilities, and storage spaces.

Set Clear Expectations

To start, take a minute to reflect on your own needs, preferences and boundaries.

Joey from Friends saying, 'Joey Doesn't Share Food'

Do you prefer to share common grocery items or use your own?

What's the cleanliness level that you expect?

How do you feel about having guests over?

Decide what works for you.

Conversation Tips: Sharing Groceries

Flaticon Icon

Let's imagine that you don't want to share common grocery items such as cooking oil, herbs and spices with your roommate.

State your 'why': the reason for your preference to keep groceries separate.

Say:

I generally prefer to buy my own items instead of sharing, that way I can keep track of what needs to be replenished.

Or:

I've shared groceries with roommates in the past, and we always seemed to run out of things! That's why I like using my own items.

Divide Up Space

Should the fridge space be divided exactly in half? Does one roommate need more cabinet space? Make these decisions right at the outset to avoid confusion.

Interior view of a fridge with neatly stacked itemsPhoto by Ello on Unsplash

Conversation Tips: Sharing Fridge Space

Try and find a win-win scenario. Let's say your roommate needs more space for frozen food, and you like buying different types of jam and could use more room in the fridge door.

Say:

I noticed that you're struggling to find space in the freezer. I'm having the same problem in the door section. How about we make an arrangement that works for both of us?

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Set Up Payment Systems

Find ways to pay for expenses evenly, and decide on ways to transfer money to make sure all debts are paid.

  • Divide responsibilities among roommates to avoid overburdening one person

  • Use apps such as Splitwise and Venmo to facilitate and track payments

Aziz Ansari throwing money in the air

Conversation Tips: Splitting Payments

Flaticon IconLet's imagine that your roommate prefers to wait till the end of the month to split all expenses, whereas you prefer to review payments more frequently.

Say:

Why don't we split expenses as they come up instead of waiting till the end of the month? That way, we can save time and only focus on divvying up big bills (like utilities) at the end of the month.

Clear And Open Communication

Try and have open, honest conversations with roommates whenever an issue comes up. Remember, being transparent is generally the best way to avoid major conflicts in the long run.

Dog in burning house meme - 'this is fine'

Quiz

Your roommate routinely uses your dishes without asking you first. While you don't mind this once in a while, it has recently been happening every day and you would like it to stop. What should you do?

Take Action

Flaticon IconEstablishing a good relationship with your roommates can take some effort, but it can make your overall living experience so much better! It's worth taking the time to set clear boundaries early on to make sure everyone is on the same page.

License:

This Byte has been authored by

DM

Dipika Mallya

Founder at Ideation Labs

English

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