Advice for shared living
I have a number of friends moving into shared accommodation next year. At the same time, I will be ending a number of years in the same, as I move back home in preparation for international travel. At this auspicious time, I elect to bestow a small portion of my accumulated wisdom on the matter upon the general populace.
Cleaning
Have a cleaning roster for the bathroom and lounge room. Even when all parties maintain the best of intentions in regard to keeping shared facilities clean, without a roster it won’t get done. You will become accustomed to conditions far more untamed than your familiar experience. Without a roster, the house mate with the lowest tolerance for filth will either take on the cleaning load themselves, or become an annoying reminder for the others. Neither is desirable.
Keep the kitchen sink empty. Dirty dishes are acceptable, as long as they are not required by others (think fry pans), and they don’t prevent others from cleaning (as a full sink does).
Food
If communal cooking is desired, keep a receipt bucket that is reconciled every now and then. Eating other’s food is acceptable as long as a usable portion remains and it is promptly replaced. Perishables past their use-by date are fair game unless explicitly marked – keeping your fridge clean and fresh!
Bills
Whenever a bill is paid mark on the bill your name and the date. Throw these all in to the one drawer/folder, to be reconciled regularly. Unless telephone usage is severely skewed (excessive long distance calls, for example), it is usually easier to just split this down the middle.
Mostly common sense, these tips have worked for the households I’ve resided in. Well, except the cleaning roster one. That’s something I really wish we had. Guess who the low tolerance guy was…
December 29, 2006 at 7:15 AM
Oh my god I agree with the cleaning thing so much.
We need to make a more specific roster in our house. Even I’ve become pretty lazy and last year I was the nazi. Or the nazi who really just did everything and suffered in silence whilest bagging the hell out of everyone on my lj. James does absolutely nothing though. However much nothing I said the Maddy’s did last year, James does more nothing.
A full sink of dishes still annoys me more than anything. It has happened to me so often that Maddy has made some elaborate meal before going out for the remainder of the night and just left a mile high pile of dishes in both sinks and I come out ready to make myself dinner, look at the pile, and most of the time just make myself a sandwhich and go to bed frustrated and hungry.
is the very first person to comment on your blog
January 01, 2007 at 10:43 AM
I have a feeling I’m going to be the low tolerance guy this year. Been a while since I was in shared accomodation, but there was a roster last time :-)
January 01, 2007 at 11:41 AM
Hey now! I’ll admit where the bathroom is concerned I’m pretty unruffled by a bit of mould, but the dirty kitchen is just as much your doing as it is mine.
Luke’s bad habit: – Leaving utensils in the sink for upwards of six weeks
Xav’s bad habit: – Forgetting what dirty dishes were his
January 22, 2007 at 10:42 AM
“Xav’s bad habit: Forgetting what dirty dishes were his”
I’m not blameless … do as I say, not as I do?