Hacks: Roommate Chore Tips That Will Keep You Sane

We’ve written about the best ways to minimize Roommate Drama. First we really suggest that all roommates Create a Roommate Agreement. this will help you avoid having a terrible roommate experience.

Some of the hardest roommate issues are about divvying up the chores.  USA Today offers up some suggestions in 4 tips to handle chores with your roommates | USA TODAY College:

Whiteboard: If the first option seems too randomized for you, you and your housemates can write up chores on a whiteboard and each pick things you wouldn’t mind doing (or at least, things that wouldn’t kill you). Some people really enjoy routine, so if you all agree to keep the same chores for a month or even the whole year, you can try and set it up like this.

On the whiteboard, there should be a column where you can sign off when the task is complete. This way, everyone in the house will know what has already been done and what still needs to be tended to.

The best way to set a “due date” for the chores would be to make everyone complete them by Sunday at midnight. This way, you don’t have to tell others what to do because they know they have the whole week, and having the whole weekend guarantees they will find some time to get things done between homework and studying.

Then, if they don’t complete their task(s), you will have to establish a repercussion. Maybe they get the majority of the chores the following week or something like that. Everyone should agree on the consequence of not finishing the chores and agree not to argue back if they drop the ball.

Give incentive: Remember when your parents would promise you a dollar if you mowed the lawn or washed the dishes? Who says incentives for chores don’t work on college kids too? You and your housemates could set up a system where some chores earn more points than others.

The housemate that gets stuck with the worst chore that week (like cleaning out the gutters, for instance) could get treated to Starbucks or something else by the other housemates. This will be a fun and fair way of rewarding one another.

This could also work if you need someone to cover your chore for you if you have a lot of homework or have to go out of town. Since it wasn’t their chore to begin with, they can earn double the points and you can pay them back in the form of your choosing and not feel guilty about missing your chore.

The rewards don’t have to be limited to treating the person either. You could make a system where the nastier chores (those with higher points) mean you have less chores to do. So, if you pick simple things like dusting the lamps, you will have more chores during the week than the person stuck scrubbing the bathrooms.

If anyone in your Davis apartment is handy, we really like making a chore wheel (see right).

There are a bunch of apps to help roommates keep everyone’s chores on track.  If chore battles become too much for everyone maybe you should Outsource Your Chores to The Internet with These Handy Services.