Step up Your Roommate Game with These Awesome Life Hacks

Those first days of having a roommate… Do you remember? Oh, the good old days, when you were still hoping that having a roommate would feel like a perpetual sleepover: fun, relaxing and full of weird inside jokes. And at first, it was. Sharing nachos and listening to Coldplay, baking goodies and doing the dishes were a regular thing. It was all fun and games until their dark side kicked in. You don’t know when, where or why – all you remember is that it was the beginning of your worst nightmare. Bad words, insults, carelessness on every level, drug use, loud sex, you name it. Your rooming fairy tale was shattered to pieces before your very eyes.

If you can relate, you already know that there are some actions that can be excused, and then there are others that can’t. Apartment search website RENTCafé polled 1,500 people to figure out the most common reasons why roommate experiences turn out to be epic fails and what can be done about it.

The survey revealed what are the worst roommate offenses: 

It turns out that illegal drug use and messiness are not as bad as having a roomie who’s not paying their share of the rent. Like Jessie J would put it, “it’s all about the money”. Apartment mates who turn a deaf ear to your (repeated) friendly reminders about the rent being due are the worst. As the survey reveals, the second most unforgivable offense is mean or insulting behavior. This one was a little more predictable. If your housemate is rude, bossy and selfish, no one’s going to blame you for kicking them out.

We all know that being politically correct is a big thing these days, so if they offend your race, gender or religion, things are likely to get messy. But contrary to our expectations, it appears that disinterest in being friends or a passive aggressive behavior is worse, according to the survey respondents. Long story short, here are some basic things to remember for your next roommate experience:

• Money talks and it sometimes uses bad words. Make sure you pay your rent by the due date. Your roommate might not thank you for it every evening before bed, but it will surely keep you from being kicked out.
• Mind your words. They might deserve to hear some things, but most times it’s better to keep your mouth shut. Even if you speak sarcasm as a second language and it physically hurts to hold in your brilliant comments, it might help keep a roof over your head.
• Try to be friendly. You don’t need to wear matching outfits and go to the parties together, but it’s important that you get along well. Peace can be priceless.
• Nobody wants to smell those rotten McDonalds french fries from underneath your bed. Clean and declutter as often as possible to avoid transforming your room into a pigsty. Roommates tend to hate pigsties.