The dorms can be a blast for incoming freshman at a university, but the real excitement comes when you are all set up to live in an apartment or house for your remaining years in college. No quiet hours, no RA’s, no packed elevators when trying to get downstairs, and no random fire alarms in the middle of the night sounds pretty good. However, there are some very important tips that you must know about living off-campus before you jump right into it. From experience, this is what I can tell you to do when living off-campus to make your life a whole lot easier:

 

  1. Find responsible roommates

 

I put this as my number one on the list because I believe that it is by far the most important. I am a great reliable source for this tip as well because I live with both responsible and irresponsible roommates. Trust me, having roommates that never clean up after themselves and don’t pay their rent on time is going to drive you absolutely crazy. The first couple of times it happens you can maybe brush it off and say “it’s alright”, but after that it’s just like, “come on man!” Find responsible roommates that aren’t going to put so much stress on your life, and are going to complete the tasks that they need to get done in the house.

 

  1. Get to know your neighbors

 

Some people are going to think that this is kind of a weird tip for living off-campus, but trust me, it will come in handy. Not only is getting to know your neighbors a great way to interact and socialize with other people, but it gives you someone to go to incase of an emergency or if something goes wrong. For example, if your roommates aren’t home during the winter and you need your car jumped to get somewhere, it will be easy to have immediate help from one of your neighbors (this happened to me).

 

  1. Grocery shop in bulk

 

I know when it comes to college you never want to see a hefty receipt after making a purchase, but you will want to when grocery shopping. If you don’t see one after a grocery shopping trip when living off-campus, then you messed up. Buying groceries little by little only means that you are going to be making several trips back and forth from Walmart within the year, which means a lot of gas. Make sure that you buy enough food and beverages during one trip that will cover you for the next 3-4 weeks. Otherwise, you are going to be saying to yourself all year, “Ugh, I need to make a trip to Walmart for groceries.” Don’t let that happen.

 

  1. Keep the kitchen spotless

 

After a couple of days in a row of using pots and pans for cooking or a weekend of hanging out with friends, the kitchen is bound to be a mess. If you ever notice any sort of mess in your kitchen when living off-campus, take care of it immediately or make sure someone else in your house does! A sink full of dirty dishes will attract fruit flies. Filthy kitchen floors will draw in disgusting odors. Stained countertops takes a lot of scrubbing labor. Bottom line, treat your kitchen like it’s the greatest place in the world, and at the end of cleaning, LIGHT CANDLES!

  1. Lock your bedroom door before leaving the apartment/house

 

If you really care about the items that are in your room or have anything valuable that you do not want damaged or stolen, I highly recommend locking your bedroom door when leaving the house. Even if you really trust your roommates won’t touch anything in the bedroom, still lock it. Roommates always love to prank each other and have fun, so leaving that room open may give them an excellent opportunity to strike. If you are living off-campus and leave your room unlocked when you leave, don’t be surprised if you come back and there is a soda gone from your fridge or your bed somehow made its way to the basement. It may sound crazy, but I urge you to listen to my advice!

 

 

Listen to what I am telling you, and your off-campus experience will be a whole lot better! Just remember to find responsible roommates, get to know your neighbors, grocery shop in bulk, keep the kitchen spotless, and lock your bedroom door before leaving your apartment or house. These tips are going to help you along the way. One last message to you fellow Warhawks: Living off-campus can be stressful, but the entire experience is something that you are always going to remember! Enjoy it!