So you’ve moved and your belly is doing so many backflips with nerves and excitement that you’re sure you can qualify for the next Olympics. You’ve unpacked all of your stuff (with the help of your mummy) and starting a new way of life. You’re in a new place and meeting new people to share these all new experiences with. Having good friends will make the whole thing easier and more enjoyable. So who better to have as your uni BFF’s than the people you live under the same room as, right? This guide will show you how to not annoy your new housemates and make them want to avoid you in every way possible.
1. Don’t steal their food
This may seem obvious but the time will come when you run out of milk and you’ve just poured your cereal or you’ve run out of cheese and you’ve just buttered your bread and you feel you have no other option than to just take a teeny-weeny-tiny bit of their food which you insist to your brain that you’ll “replace later” although you nearly always forget. Although you may be thinking you have taken the smallest bit, believe me they’ll notice, and when they do all hell will break loose! So when you stumble home at 4am and look in the fridge and their ham looks really tempting to you, stay away! The quickest way to lose friends or to have an argument is to take the food that your housemate has been looking forward to all day.
2. Clean up after yourself
Seriously, it’s not that hard. Leaving a plate out is fine and I’m sure your housemates won’t get worked up over that (unless they’re a clean freak) but if you’ve used 4 pots, 3 plates and 9 knives to make a spaghetti bolognese, just wash it up after yourself. There’s nothing worse than going to the kitchen to find your pots and pans have all been used and there’s nothing for you to cook with. Same goes in the bathroom, if you’ve had particularly spicy food and your number twos leave skids all down the toilet, or you’ve shaved your legs in the shower and the hair is everywhere, just clean up. If anything, it should be embarrassing for you if your housemates see what comes out or off of you.
3. Respect your housemates sleeping times
So you move in and find out your housemate isn’t a big partier, in fact, they like to be in bed by 10pm with a cup of hot chocolate and a Disney film, every night. But you, you’re the exact opposite, you plan to go to all the fresher’s events and not get home until the sun is already coming back up. This is all fine until you get home, start singing Oasis and pass out right outside your housemate’s room and snore until midday. If you are the cause of your housemate losing sleep, they will hate you, simple as. They’ll be cranky the next morning; they’ll probably leave you angry notes and leave you feeling shamefaced and alone all while you’re suffering a terrible hangover. They may even wake up really early and start banging pans and singing themselves to get you back and if your head is pounding, that’s surely the last thing you’ll want to happen. Instead, come home, tiptoe through the halls, open and close your door silently and pass out in your bed. Simple stuff.
4. Don’t have loud, awkward-for-your-housemates-to-hear sex
There is nothing, absolutely nothing worse than hearing the moans and groans of another person feeling the pleasure of sex, especially when you’re in the next room trying to work out an equation due the next day. Just think how you would feel if your parents came to visit and you were giving them a tour and your housemate was groaning through the walls. Embarrassing right? If you’re particularly loud and unintentionally there are plenty of gag items which will keep you quiet and also spice up your sex life.
5. Be calm
If you have followed all these things but your housemate is the one who hasn’t, do not go knocking on their door screaming and shouting because that will just cause major amounts of tension around the house, also do not leave notes because they will be read the wrong way you intended them to be and your housemate will feel threatened. Instead, wait until you and your housemate are sat in the kitchen having a cuppa and just mention it, calmly, into your conversation, “Oh hey, when my parents last visited they heard you making love and it was so awkward for me, if you could maybe just keep it down that would be really cool” or “I noticed some of my milk was used, if you want we could go halves on a large milk from now on, it would save us some money and fridge space?” The calmer you are, the more they’ll consider what you’re saying and hopefully all will be well.
These are our top five tips for being a great housemate (or at least not being a terrible one) but there are probably many other things you can do to avoid them hating you. When you go to do something, just think, would you like it if you were in their shoes? If the answer is no or even maybe, it’s probably best to just leave it and don’t do what you’re unsure about doing.
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