Moving out of your parents’ home and into a house with friends is always exciting. You can’t wait to live with your favourite people. You won’t need to worry about travelling to visit them because they’ll be down the hall. You no longer need to argue over whose house to go to because you can simply meet in the lounge.

Moving in with your besties may seem like the best thing that’s ever happened to you. However, it’s not going to be as easy as you think. You’re going to be in each other’s space and that can often lead to conflict. So, here’s some advice to help you set some boundaries and keep on good terms with your new roomies.

Create physical boundaries

Your bedroom is now your bedroom and is to be treated as your personal space. Before you moved in together you probably spent a large amount of time in your besties’ bedrooms and would never even consider knocking or keeping out just because they’re not home. But now you have to respect their space and they have to respect yours.

Discuss the grocery system upfront

How will you budget for groceries? Who is in charge for buying what? What is considered communal and what is for personal consumption only? You may think that you can share everything like you always have, but you don’t want to get home and find your chocolate mousse cake is missing before you even got to have a bite.

Be upfront and communicate

Do not, I repeat, do not get passive aggressive with your friends at any stage. This will only lead to pent up anger and a massive blow out. You need to be honest and upfront at all times. You don’t like it when they use your shampoo? Tell them straight away. Don’t let bad feelings fester because that’s when you start to resent the people you love.

When in doubt, don’t touch their stuff

Sure, you used to be able to go into your friends’ closets at any point and pick out a new outfit, but that’s no longer okay. If you haven’t asked to borrow something, don’t touch it. If you can’t get hold of them and you don’t know whether they’d be okay with you using their laptop, don’t touch it.

Set regular “friend dates” outside the house

You need to remind yourself that these are your friends and you love them. It’s important to hang out outside the house to get away from all the issues at home and focus on your friendship. These are not just your roomies and it’s important you don’t forget that.

Moving in with friends can be tricky and it won’t always be like the stuff you see on your favourite TV shows. It will be difficult at times, but if you keep this advice in mind, you could end up having the time of your life. And if it is a success, you may even decide to buy a home together in the future.