Living with roommates can feel like the best of times and the worst of times.
If they're your friends, it's awesome to spend so much time together.
If they're not your friends, they seem gross and weird and inconsiderate. *Note: this can also happen with friends.
Some of these hacks are legit, some are jokes, and some are borderline unethical. But, don't worry, someday you'll have your own place.
If the tea bag trick mentioned earlier doesn't work for you, just attach some dryer sheets to a fan or AC unit. It'll mask the bad smells for long enough that you can pack up and leave forever.
I admire the effort here: one slice of pizza does, somehow, break down into four smaller slices. This isn't a bad solution if you're down to the last slice and you want to be fair to your roomies. Then again, you could just eat the whole slice.
Turn them into a ready-made firepit! I think that's how the saying goes, anyway.
This one is actually legit. I pulled this one off with my roomies years ago and the last time I drove by the house, our washing machine firepit was still there.
I don't know where to buy these baggies, but I want them.
My (vegetarian) roommates used to steal my food all the time. My solution? I stopped being a vegetarian and made sure all of my leftovers had meat.
You need silence, but you can't afford noise cancelling headphones (if you could, you wouldn't have to live with roommates). Fortunately, sound-dampening headsets are pretty cheap and they tend to work well with standard earbuds.
When the time for talking is over, you need a decisive solution. A can of compressed air will fire a toothpick pretty far. Just sayin'. I mean, make sure to avoid their eyes, but also make sure they know that you mean business.
...and you probably have the misfortune of parking right next to them. A pool noodle on your car will help protect it from their carelessness, and might even shame them into becoming a slightly better driver.
It always seems like no one wants to pitch in for communal necessities like garbage cans. A little bit of creativity, though, and you might not need that stuff to begin with — so long as you're prepared for weird looks from your guests.
If you and your roomies exist on a diet of frozen pizza (ahh, to be young again...), it's absolutely necessary to rearrange the toppings. This facilitates easy cutting and ensures that precious pepperoni doesn't get mashed into the void between slices.
Living with careless roommates isn't always a pleasant olfactory experience, and you can hardly expect them to get their act together. Take things into your own hands with this solution. It's hands-free and totally stylish!
This one actually works (well, it did for me and my roommates). Plug a coaxial cable from your TV into the screw of your light switch. Even without a cable subscription, it'll basically turn your whole wiring system into a giant antenna.
Find a lowkey mini headphone jack extension, lowkey put it into your roomies' electronics, and lowkey enjoy the fact that they can't figure out a way to blare their music at 2 in the morning anymore.
Sleeping on a crappy inflatable air mattress is a time-honored tradition when it comes to shared living spaces. When it's time to pack up and go in a hurry, just use a dustbuster to suck the air out.
No joke here — just an awesome, simple solution for transporting your hang-able clothes. As a bonus, you don't even need to put them back on hangers when you get to your new place.
Student housing sometimes feels like a small step up from living in a slum.
If your mean landlord/slumlord has locked your thermostat and you want some of that sweet, sweet air conditioning, just attach a cup of hot water to the thermostat. No more fights!
You could just do the dishes, but you know what? Unless they're yours, someone else should do them. No one likes looking at a messy sink, so aesthetically pleasing choices like this just make sense.
