Roommates

Roommates: you can't live with them and you can't afford an apartment without them.

Sometimes people get lucky and they end up rooming with random people who turn out to be the best and sometimes you get random people who end up being the worst. It is all a luck of the draw.

If you find that you have people who want to live with you: awesome! Don't fuck it up.

Here are some 20-something tips to not making the people you live with your enemies:

Have a sit down

Take a moment to sit down with all of your roommates and create a list of things each person doesn't like. This should consist of things in the apartment and NOT of each other. For example:

Problem: "I don't like when the dishes pile up"
Solution: "Okay, how about we all do our own dishes within 24 hours of being used."

Problem: "I don't like when people eat my food."
Solution: "Neither does anyone else."

Once you have a list of things each roommate would like to avoid in the apartment, then you can continue on to...

Compromises

If there are some problems that your roommate has that you don't, make a compromise with them. Example:

Roommate A: "I don't like the smell of weed."
Roommate B: "I love smoking weed. But if it bothers you, I can smoke it in my room."

A: "I want to have my boyfriend spend the night sometimes."
B: "That's uncomfortable for me. I would like to meet him BEFORE you invite him over."

A: "Please don't walk in my room when the door is closed"
B: "I will knock first. Who knows that you are doing in there..."

See! Look how well these two letters are getting along!

Togetherness Time!

Set a time once a week (or biweekly) to hang out with each other. Find a common interest and let yourselves bond. These people are going to be living with you for 9-12 months and everything runs smoother if they are your best friends and not your mortal enemy. 

Other

If there is a common area in your apartment/dorm, make sure it is free of your clutter. No one likes walking around pants and socks that have been lying in the living room for God knows how long. This especially goes for any food type containers; plates, cups, take out boxes, etc. Do NOT leave these sitting around. They get gross and gnats appear and then they take over your life. 

If one of you wants to throw a party, ALWAYS tell the roommates about a week beforehand. Sometimes they will be all for it, other times they will not. You don't know what is going on in their lives and if they need some quiet time when you want to rage, go do it somewhere else. Everyone should have the right to have quiet time in their own apartment while party time is rare (unless your roommates are party-ers than take the opposite of this advice).

 And remember, sometimes they are going to do things that bother you and that's okay. If it is something that they can physically fix, don't be afraid to tell them. Just don't be a bitch about it.