I’ve been through the “new roommates” deal three times now. Let me give you a quick run down. Freshman year of college, I didn’t know anyone at my school. In fact, it was in a completely different state. So I lived in dorms and did random roommates. Random roommates meaning three other girls that I’d never seen before. Luckily, it turned out great and I’m still friends with all three of those girls! My second year was a bit trickier. I started out with two friends of mine and one random. The first random girl never showed. Another girl moved in and that didn’t work out for a number of reasons so she left. The third random stayed and we still see her and talk to her occasionally! This year, my third, so far so good. So, if you want to know the trick of how to live with people whether they’re your friends or complete strangers, these are what you do and don’t do.

Make sure to ask up front what they do and don’t like. A problem I’ve had in the past is being messy. I’m a messy person and I own up to that. Some people are clean freaks or just like having things organized. So you just want to find out what a middle ground is for all of the roommates and you may have to start cleaning up after yourself or it’ll become a problem.

Ask their take on partying, being loud, or staying up late. Some people like to party all night long and some like peace and quiet. Again, find a medium. Maybe say the weekends are for partying and the week days are for studying. That’s reasonable!

Sharing is caring. This is limited, though. When it comes to plates, bowls, utensils, pens, etc., I’m okay with sharing. The only thing I don’t share much of is my food. If I go out and spend money on groceries, my roommates better ask before touching! We’ve established this already, but I’ve definitely had problems in the past with food and drinks disappearing.

Don’t live with your life long best friend. There are some friends you can live with and some friends you just can’t. If you’ve been best friends with someone your entire life or even throughout high school and their friendship means anything to you, I advise you to steer clear of living with them. Go to school with them and trust me, you’ll hang out with each other enough. Give yourself time to get away and meet new people, your best friend will always be there. Then again, if you’re like me and you become best friends with your new roommate, you can live with them again because you two already know how to live together.

If you’re in relationships, always make sure it’s okay with your roommates if your boyfriend or girlfriend stays over. Some people can get uncomfortable by these things.

The most important thing to keep in mind about your roommates is the second you have a problem about something, bring it up. If you don’t talk about it, then nothing will ever change. There are been plenty of times where I’ve messaged my roommates or one of them messaged me with different problems we have. Every year, we have a roommates group chat and we talk about everything in that chat. It’s good to have. For example, if there are piles of trash everywhere and you’re always taking the trash out, it should be mutual and you should mention it to your roommates.

It’s not hard living with others, it’s actually easy. I’ve had the privilege to have my own bedrooms everywhere I’ve lived so if I need alone time or don’t want to be with my roommates, I can always shut myself off. I prefer living with others so knowing how to compromise and live with others is very important!