Behaviors to Avoid When Living with a Roommate
Cohabitating with a roommate is a very different experience than living by oneself. When sharing your living space with someone else, you’ll need to alter your behaviors and lifestyle in a number of ways. For people who have never lived with a roommate, this can be a bit of an adjustment. Fortunately, getting the hang of life with a roomie doesn’t have to be an uphill battle. Provided you remain fully cognizant of your words and actions and how they stand to affect your roommate, the two of you should enjoy your time together. In the quest to become the ideal roomie, make a point of avoiding the following behaviors.
Coming Home at Unreasonable Hours
The last thing you want to do is mess with your roomie’s sleep patterns. A lack of proper sleep is practically guaranteed to make your roommate less accepting of your bad habits and put them in a sour mood. With this in mind, avoid coming home at unreasonable hours. This isn’t to say you can’t have late nights, but you’ll need to keep them within reason. Bursting into your residence at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning and rousing your roomie out of a deep slumber is highly inconsiderate and liable to prevent them from being sufficiently rested for the day ahead. If you absolutely insist on partying into the wee hours, be mindful of your volume and make an effort to be as quiet as possible when entering the residence.
Renters in the market for furnished apartments for rent in Omaha, NE should read each building’s policies on nighttime volume control. This will ensure that you know exactly what’s expected of you with regard to keeping your noise levels in check.
Allowing Messes to Linger
Nothing is more aggravating than living with someone who doesn’t pick up after themselves. Even if you have no problem with allowing messes to linger, this is a shared residence, and cleaning up any messes you or your guests make is your responsibility – and no one else’s. This rule primarily applies to messes created in common areas, like kitchens and living rooms. This means promptly washing any dishes you use and picking up any personal items you leave strewn about. Your roommate is neither your parent nor your maid, and expecting them to pick after you is nothing short of inconsiderate.
Being Late with Rent
Having your portion of the rent ready on time is the cardinal rule of living with a roommate. Being bereft of personal funds when rent is due puts your roomie in a very uncomfortable situation. Should they refuse to pay your share of the rent and allow their credit to suffer? Should they pick up your portion of the rent, thereby encouraging your irresponsible behavior? Neither option is good, and a considerate roommate would never put someone in a position to make this choice.
It’s no secret that some roommate relationships quickly go south. There are many reasons these arrangements fall apart, with noise pollution, consistent inconsideration and late rent payments being among the most common. At the end of the day, you have no control over your roommate’s actions, but you are fully in command of your own. As such, take care to avoid the inconsiderate behaviors discussed above.