TV shows like Friends and New Girl have glamorised the idea of living with house-mates. Whether you are a student moving to college, or an adult moving out of your parent’s home, living in a shared house or apartment is often the most affordable housing option; however, sharing a space with what are essentially strangers is not always a piece of cake.
Home is your sanctuary – where you shelter from the rest of the world; therefore, it cannot be a place that makes you stressed. As Nelson Management advises, it’s imperative to set some rules with your house-mates (or flatmates) and come to a mutual agreement to avoid conflict. Here are some things to keep in mind when moving into a shared house. Take a look.
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Respect Boundaries
Inviting people over all the time or snooping around in your house-mates’ rooms are a few of the things that are off-limits. You have complete access to the communal living space and your room, stick to those areas. Respecting each other’s boundaries is extremely important.
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Communication is Key
Do you feel like you’re doing way more of the housework? Are your house-mates inviting people over too often? Unresolved resentment can build up and create a toxic living environment. You must communicate with each other regularly. If something is bothering you, don’t take the passive-aggressive route. Be up front about it without being rude. It might be helpful to create a group chat for easier communication.
- Consider Splitting Your Bills
Money and bills usually lead to disagreements in a shared house. Make sure you have a reliable system in place to fairly split all bills. ‘Splitwise’ is an excellent app that you can use to easily track and split bills.
Rising energy bills in colder months can cause a rift between you and your house-mates? Explore Alinta Energy to find competitively priced plans in your area, this is one way you may lower costs and save.
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Be Prepared to Share
Living in a communal accommodation implies that you may be expected to share some of your belongings with other occupants. While everything in your room is just for you, you may share kitchen appliances, living room furniture and so on.
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Make a House Jobs List
Apart from bills, housework can also lead to house-mate quarrels. It would be best to create a “task wheel”. Dividing and assigning tasks will ensure your house is in order and without disagreements.
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Do Your Chores
An action wheel is only effective if you actually do your part. So don’t be lazy—complete your chores on time.
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Set Up a Communal Shelf
There is nothing more annoying than your house-mate eating the food you were dreaming about all day. To prevent that from happening, set up a communal shelf in your fridge. Use this shelf to store items like milk, butter, eggs and other shared items.
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Be Open-Minded
Your house-mates might have a completely different upbringing or come from a different culture to you, so you can’t expect them to do things exactly the way you like it. Be open-minded and prepared to expect differences in lifestyles.
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Don’t Take Anything Without Permission
Whether you need to borrow your house-mates’ hairdryer or clothes, don’t be that person who takes things without permission. If you want your boundaries and privacy to be respected, you need to extend the same to others. Even if your house-mates seem easy-going, asking before borrowing is the polite thing to do.
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Keep the Noise Down
Do you love listening to loud music while working out in the morning? Invest in a pair of good quality headphones instead of annoying your house-mates.
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Socialise
If this will be your long-term living situation, you should make efforts to bond with your house-mates – and who knows? They might turn out to be lifelong friends. It’s a great idea to set aside a free night to enjoy a meal and watch a movie together.