Pros and cons of living with roommates

Living on your own for the first time can be liberating. Finally, you can live the way you want and come and go as you please without your parents telling you what to do or asking you where you’ve been. It’s one of the many steps you take when you start shifting into adulthood and finally make some of your own decisions.

But sometimes, depending on how your residence is set up when you move out to university or college, or whether or not you can afford to live off-campus, you may have to live with roommates. Rooming with some new people can also be a great experience, especially when you move to a place where you don’t know anybody; it can be comforting to know that there is someone else who may feel just as lost as you.

But like with anything, there can be negatives when you start to live with other people. Even if you get along with your roommate or roommates personality-wise, there are some things, like habits, that you can’t change.

Below we talk about some of the pros and cons of living with roommates.

Con: Cleaning isn’t always communal thing.

Everyone lives differently and some people are more organized than others. So if you are more on the side of being particular about things, you have to remember that not everyone is like you. With that being said, it doesn’t mean that the person or people you are living with shouldn’t respect your boundaries either. Have a conversation with those that you live with and see if you can all come up with a happy medium that encompasses all of your living personalities.

Pro: Rent is usually cheaper.

This doesn’t apply to people living in residence because if you pay for a double or single room, there is a set fee, and then the price of the meal plan was added on top of it. But when you live off campus or are moving out for the first time post-secondary, living with other people can come in handy because the total rent is just split up between two or more people, and it can be so much easier on your bank account.

Con: Everything is shared.

Not only are you sometimes sharing things like appliances, but you’re sharing the actual living space. Someone is already in there when you want to use the kitchen to meal prep for the week. Someone hopped in before you when you tried to shower in the morning. You want to watch reality TV; someone is watching sports. When you live with people for a while, you start to figure out their schedule and if you know roughly when people get ready in the morning, when they usually make their dinners, and so on, then you can use the bathroom and the kitchen outside of those times. You can also have a conversation with those that you live with about each other’s schedules to help everyone get along smoothly.

Pro: You can end up having a best friend.

This is the best. There’s always someone to hang out with, share your frustrations with, and share hilarious things that have happened to you. You also have people to go out with on the weekends. It can enhance your life and make the week fly by because you’re not dreading coming home from a long day at work or school. Even if it may be temporary, who knows, they can become lifelong friends.