Your student housing for second and third year uni is probably sharing a house with friends, and you want a happy house, right?
But everybody is going through a lot, and most of you are doing big life stuff for the first time! It still seems silly to let common student house bust ups be the end of a beautiful friendship, so we're here to help.
Here's a look at some common sources of student house friction so you can make an action plan to stay mates with your house mates.
Everybody in your student house will have different standards and everybody's definition of clean and tidy is different.
Chat with your mates in advance about what tidiness and cleanliness levels you expect. If you only do dishes when they start evolving new forms of life, it might not be a great idea to move in your mate who lives their life on CleanTok, not matter how well you get on.
If you're already struggling, all is not lost. There are amazing apps like Sweepy, Cleaning Checklist and Tody which not only help you keep track of cleaning, but help you share the load and remember what needs to be done. You don't need cleaning cluttering up your brain when there's coursework to do!
You all need to eat, and if you're on a budget you're probably going to do a lot of your own cooking. Multiple house mates making three meals a day (and snacks!) can add up to a lot of mess and a lot of drama, fast. Here's what to do:
At the end of the day, this is really the only advice you need to keep the peace in your student house share. People aren't mind readers. Don't make assumptions about what people want, or about their intentions. Ask them first, don't assume bad intentions, and give them a chance to explain. It's usually not as sinister as you'd think!
Make a promise to yourself to try and face your flatmates with any issues in person rather than creating a group chat war. Everything gets blown out of proportion in writing where you can't read tone, and emojis can be read fifty different ways. People tend to be more reasonable face to face.
More than half of student renters have issues with noisy flatmates. Don't be that person, please!
If you know you snore, or have a tendency to be up late, splash out on some ear plugs for your house mates. It might be worth pitching in and buying a box of them for the whole house to use if somebody is working late or having friends over, but someone else has an exam.
Keep the group chat up to date when you need quiet time, personal space or to be up super early. It's not reasonable to get upset with people if they don't know what you need!
That's what a Fused student bills package is for. Life in your student house is probably the first time most of your house mates have had to sort your own finances. It's not easy, and some people will be more cost conscious than others, for lots of reasons. It's no wonder that student household bills are a huuuuge source of bad vibes.
'Why have you got the heating on? It's not free you know, wear a jumper!"
"Whyyyyy do you spend 40 minutes in the shower?! Do you know what that costs?"
"How did you afford that? You still owe me two months' broadband..."
Nobody is good at anything the first time they do it. But it's easy to forget that when you're all struggling with tight budgets, and bills become a huge source of headaches and drama, fast.
You can solve all of your utility bill worries with a student bills package. You can get a quote right here from Fused. You'll get Unlimited Energy as standard, and heaps of amazing speedy broadband and TV options, so everybody gets exactly what they need, as you need without stressing about the cost.
So getting an Unlimited Energy package will save you from house mate drama and bill stress too.