Are you in college? Heading off to college soon? Just out of school? Do you live with roommates? So do I (and I love ’em like crazy!). There are so many things that I’ll miss about my roomies when I graduate…laughing as we cook together, snuggling and watching movies, crafting, blasting music to compete with our neighbors’ bass, late night food runs…I just love them!
Sometimes living with roommates can be a bit tricky. I mean really, living with roomies is merging multiple personalities with varying morals and values, and different degrees of cleanliness and neatness into one crazy package. In order to live in peace and harmony, I believe there have to be systems in place.
At the beginning of this year, we made our apartment roommate-friendly. This meant assigning shelves in the pantry, labeling our cabinets so we all know where the dishes go, creating a useful laundry station, and discussing general apartment guidelines. I think it’s fair to say that living with my roomies this year has by far been the best since I’ve gotten to school! We’ve all figured the whole live-with-roommates thing out…at least we’ve learned over the past four years!
Take it from me, if you’re going to live with roommates, you’ll need to create systems for each of the following areas: doing the dishes, cleaning up the kitchen, taking out the trash, cleaning the bathrooms, and buying toilet paper and paper towels. Promise. Once you’ve created systems that work for you, you’ll be able live in peace.
Here’s the good news! I’ve created an array of free printables for you to download! The theory behind these systems is that daily chore duties don’t work. College students are way too busy for that! By being able to see who’s done what visually with x’s, there’s a bit of the guilt factor when you realize you’re not pulling your weight. It works every time!
First, a printable to keep track of who’s taken out the trash:
{DOWNLOAD}
Who’s done the dishes:
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Who’s cleaned the kitchen:
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Who’s cleaned the bathroom:
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And finally, for who’s bought toilet paper and paper towels:
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There you have it! Plus one more bonus printable to remind everyone to tackle the grossest job in the house! (In my opinion, at least!)
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Hope these printables help you live in peace, love, and harmony with your roomies! I also hope you have as many laughs with your roomies as I do with mine!
How do you organize your apartment? How do you make sure everyone pulls their weight?
This system makes much more sense than anything else I’ve seen so far! Marking how often you do it instead of trying to find the perfect “schedule” will really help people see how the balance is working. Thanks so much for posting it!
Glad I could help, Brianne! It certainly worked for my roommates and I! 🙂
xo,
b
Hey! Could you possibly put up just a blank printable that I could put other tasks on? Or tell me where you found yours?
Hey Jackie! There’s a download link in the post!
xo,
b
THANKS A LOT
You’re welcome! 🙂
xo,
b
Do you have a blank one that can be downloaded to put other chores on?
No, unfortunately, I only have pre-loaded ones!
xo,
b
These are great!! Is there any way you could make one for cleaning the living room?! It would be greatly appreciated!
Love the charts you made! I did the same when I shared a place with roommates just after college. In case any of your followers were interested, feel free to check out a very helpful chore chart solution I created at Roommate Harmony:
http://shop.roommateharmony.com/product/chore-chart