So you’ve flown the nest for uni, your mum’s gone mad buying you kitchen utensils at Ikea and you’re totally psyched to meet your new flatmates. It’s going to be like one giant sleepover, isn’t it? You’ll instantly like each other, stay up all night talking about that hot girl/guy you saw down the hall, and send Snapchat selfies to your friends back home of how amazing your new life is. Sounds perfect, right?
However, much as we love a fantasy, reality is often a little bit different. After all, unless you’ve made the (sometimes not so) wise decision to move in with friends whose bad habits you were already fully aware of, you’re basically living with complete strangers – a potential recipe for disaster if ever we heard one. HOPEFULLY though, hopefully your dreams of new BFFs will come true, if you follow our top 5 rules for harmonious living.
1. Clean up after yourself
There’s nothing worse than living with someone who leaves hair in the plughole after a shower, piles dishes in the sink as if the Fairy Liquid fairy is going to come along and wash them, and doesn’t see the areas outside their bedroom as anywhere they might want to hoover. Equally, being nagged about crumbs you’ve left on the worktops or having someone mop beneath your feet just to make a point, is damn annoying. The solution? Find a happy medium! Always clean up after you’ve cooked a meal or taken a bath, make sure you do your fair share of dusting the living room, but don’t expect constant OCD standards of cleanliness either. After all, there’s studying to be done and shots to be downed… Who has time for hospital corners?
2. Be considerate of clashing schedules
You’re feeling smug as you roll out of bed at 7.30am for your 9am lecture. For the first time in your life, you’re not only going to make it to uni on time, but you’re going to make it there EARLY. That is quite the achievement. But wait… Someone’s in the bathroom… They’re taking a shower… How can this be?! You’re the only one with a 9am lecture, but you didn’t count on your flatmate’s hair appointment now, did you? While many would argue that you have priority, since it’s uni you’re off to, good hair is like, totally vital to your mental wellbeing. Basically, the solution here is communication. Make your flatmates aware of any early morning plans and peaceful living shall be yours. The same applies with having friends round and planning to use the living room all night – ask first, please.
3. Chip in for the loo roll
And the bread. And the milk. If you share all of these usually communal everyday essentials, make sure you contribute to the kitty, or take your turn to pay for them. Hell hath no fury like a flatmate scorned, especially when said scorn involves being constantly left out of pocket. Agreeing an amount to chip in each month, preferably kept in a jar in the kitchen, will keep these problems
at bay.
4. Don’t start dating your flatmate
This one’s self explanatory, really. Your eyes meet across a bowl of Coco Pops, you hook up after one to many Bamboo vodkas… However this occurs, dating your flatmate is often a recipe for disaster. Not only is there a chance that you’ll break up, badly, and not be able to live in the same place anymore, but you’ll also make the rest of your flatmates feel sick with your nights in, private jokes and general smoochiness. Just. Don’t. Go. There. Unless you really like them and can’t live without them. We’re not going to stand in the way of that. You are Jess and Nick from ‘New Girl’. Congratulations!
5. Don’t move your other half in
If your betrothed lives outside of the flat circle, well done, we salute you. If you insist on having them round for dinner every night, let them sleep over and use the shower the next day, we’ll change that to a two-fingered salute. Your flatmates might be cool with this, or they might just be saying they’re cool with
it, and secretly harbouring resentment against your 2-for-1 living. If they really must be all up in your space, make sure they follow rules 1-3 and pay for one of the utility bills, to save any knife-slipping incidents from the most highly-strung of your housemates.
The Worst Thing About My Flatmate Is…
While we don’t encourage negativity here at Scotcampus, we’ll do/ ask/say pretty much anything for a laugh, so decided to ask some anonymous friends what the worst thing about their flatmate is. Read their responses and ask yourself, “Do I do any of these things?” If so, we probably spoke to your flatmate, and you’re really frickin’ annoying. Sorry!
Scotcampus: “So, what’s the worst thing about your flatmate?”
Anonymous Anna: “The smell of her feet when she takes off her Converse in the living room and she hasn’t been wearing any socks all day.”
Bashful Bob: “I have 3 flatmates. All of them are really hairy. Our plughole is permanently blocked.”
Cheeky Charlie: “His girlfriend.”
Disdainful Delilah: “They never replace the toothpaste when it’s done. Ever.”
Empathetic Emma: “I know sometimes I end up in the wrong place when I’m drunk, but my room DEFINITELY isn’t the toilet, and neither is the fridge.”
Find your perfect flat at www.scotcampus.com/student-accomodation
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