During your first year as a student, you will probably have the opportunity to reside on campus, in student accommodation.
This first year at university is great for meeting new people, getting to know your local surroundings, and having fun (while working hard, of course).
After making friends and getting to grips with your location, you might later decide to live off-campus and thanks to websites such as Axo Student, you should be able to find something decent.
To save money, you might also decide to share with the people you have grown close to. And that’s great… until it isn’t. You see, no matter how friendly you are with the people you live with, it won’t be long until the arguments start, and your individual bedroom doors start getting slammed shut!
It’s natural – living with other people is not always easy!
Still, some arguments can be avoided, and by adhering to the following suggestions, there might also be less chance of the doors in your rented home falling off their hinges!
1. Be tolerant of your housemates’ annoying habits
We all have annoying habits, and the people you live with will invariably have theirs. After a while, these habits will start to grate on your nerves, be it the loud singing of a person in the shower, the toe picking of the person sat next to you on the sofa, or the way your other student friend laughs when they’re watching something on the TV.
These aren’t major crimes, they’re simply quirks, so there’s no need to lose your temper with them. Go for a walk if you find yourself tensing up, and remember your own annoying habits before flaring up at a housemate.
2. Set up a housework rota
You don’t want to be Cinderella while your housemates go to the student ball, and you don’t want to be the person who leaves a fellow housemate in the lurch either!
With a housework rota, you will all know your household responsibilities, so there should be no arguments about who never does the washing up or who never vacuums the carpets.
3. Set up a shopping rota
Your fridge door might end up plastered with rotas, but if they save arguments, then so be it!
With a shopping rota, you will all take turns buying such things as bread, milk, teabags, etc. so there should be no arguments about who is and who isn’t contributing.
4. Set up direct debits for the rent
If you each set up a direct debit for your individual share of the rent, there should be no arguments about who has forgotten to pay each month.
There will also be no grievances towards one another, such as being angry at a housemate for spending her share of the rent money in the student bar.
5. Remember that you’re friends
Assuming that you are living with people you class as friends, remember why you like one another. There will be tensions when you live with one another, but as friendships is all about forgiveness and acceptance, you might reduce the need for arguments if you all remember this fact.
And continue to have fun with one another too. Student life can be hard, especially when coursework and exams are part of the equation, but by letting off steam together occasionally, stress won’t start to be the instigator of an argument.
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