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Roommate 101: How to Live in Harmony With Your Roomie

Sharing your space with another person is challenging, regardless of whether that person is a family member, a significant other, a friend, or no more than a roommate. But it doesn't have to be unpleasant or stress-inducing. If you approach the situation positively and maturely, your entire experience will change. Here are a few tips for living with a roommate.

1. Set boundaries. From the very beginning, be upfront about your expectations in the apartment. Are you cool with sharing food? Do you mind if your roommate has friends over regularly? Will loud music bother you? Voice any concerns you have right out of the gate to avoid future clashes.
2. Communicate clearly. Then after taking this first step, continue to communicate openly and clearly with your roommate. You can't be expected to predict every potentially stressful situation that could arise while you're living together, so take things as they come. When something bothers you, express it in a kind and straightforward way before you start to stew over it.
3. Tackle your responsibilities. It's not fair to expect your roommate to do his or her share of the chores if you're not already doing yours. Make sure that you're on top of taking out the trash, doing the dishes, and sending in the rent—or whatever other responsibilities you and your roommate decide to share.
4. Come together on cleanliness. One of the biggest points of contention among roommates is how clean they expect their home to be. If you're a neat freak and your roommate is messy, this could cause a surprisingly large amount of friction very quickly. So agree on how clean you want the place to be and assign regular cleaning tasks as necessary to achieve these goals.

The Rules of Roommate Etiquette [ForRent.com]
5 Quick Tips for Getting Along With Roommates [HuffPost]
Roommate Problems: Not Getting Along With Your Roommate? [Rent.com]

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