So, you moved into a new place. Congrats! Having your own place can be a big commitment, but the benefits are totally worth it.
It’s often less expensive than spots on campus, and you have a lot more free reign with what — and who — goes inside.
However, even if you know your roommates, there is bound to be at least one irksome issue during your lease.
Here’s when you should talk to your roommates about potential issues in your place.
You’re going to want to talk to your roommates about something that is bothering you if you can see it becoming an even larger issue in the future. If the consequences are threatening to your health or safety, do it. If leaving the issue to fester could be very costly, do it.
Let’s say, for instance, you live in a house with three other roommates and your lease does not allow pets. If you got a cat or a dog, you would have to pay a little more in rent each month, and you have all decided that isn’t something you’re interested in. You’re allergic to most cats and dogs anyway, so that is all fine.
Then one day a stray cat wonders onto your porch. You all ‘aww’ at the cute orange fur ball while it remains safely outside your home. You even laugh it off when the cat enters your home after you leave the front door open too long.
It’s so fun and whimsical! A stray cat in your house for just a few hours.
Then it’s not just a few hours. It’s days. The cat stays overnight. Your roommates buy cat food. They put out bowls of water. The cat hides under your bed sometimes. You’ve never seen it poop.
The whole time you don’t say much. Maybe a passive comment here about being upset the cat feels entitled to your house, or a remark there your allergies have just been so bad recently.
One time on your way to class, you daydream about the possibility of taking the cat to the animal shelter and telling your roommates it must have run away, but the idea of asking your ex-boyfriend to use his cat carrier seems too degrading so you don’t.
Before you know it, the cat has introduced fleas to your house. You find yourself paying $50 for your share of an exterminator’s fee even though you never wanted the cat in the first place.
Here is where having a conversation with your roommates would have been completely reasonable and even saved you a chunk of money.
It’s better not to raise the issue when the cat-astrophic semester is over, and you decide to live with most of those roommates again.
Sure, the flea thing was weird and bad but they were mostly clean and, in general, took pretty good care of the common spaces.
So without a stray cat to introduce drama into your house, your roommates may turn to very mild inconveniences.
They start leaving the kitchen cabinets open — always the same three. It’s so small, but it annoys you to no end.
Each time you enter the kitchen you feel the cabinet doors pointing at you like poison arrows. It’s like you go to school with Matilda and Miss Trunchbull just sentenced you to timeout in the Chokey.
With small things like that it’s better, I think, to let it go. Sure, it bothers you, but it isn’t worth having a whole conversation about it. It isn’t going to hurt you physically or financially in the long run. Settle for closing the cabinets just a little louder than normal — but not loud enough to alert anyone — to get your frustrations out.
