Moving In with New Roommates

May 29, 2018 | By Sarah AuthorMy First Apartment

Living with roommates is a rite of passage for many first apartment dwellers and a great way to make moving out on your own more affordable. Often, you get together with friends, find a place, and all move in together, but what do you do when you find the perfect place that already has roommates…

Should You Date Your Roommate?

January 25, 2018 | By Dana AuthorMy First Apartment

If you are thinking about dating your roommate, think really hard about it. It is a big step. My advice: in most circumstances you should not date your roommate. Consider the impact on other roommates If you have other roommates, you should not date your roommate, especially if another roommate is also interested in you.…

What Type of Bad Roommate Are You?

January 6, 2018 | By Dana AuthorMy First Apartment

“Good roommates are all alike; every bad roommate is bad in their own way.” Here are some of the most common types of bad roommates. We’ll tell you how to avoid becoming one as you start looking for your roommate share. Everyone’s Mom Are you the roommate that acts like everyone’s Mom and tries to make sure…

Creating a Great Roommate Gift Giving Experience

December 8, 2017 | By Dana AuthorMy First Apartment

What should you do about roommate gifts? It depends. If your roommate is your best friend, then it’s easy. You know what they will like, and you’ll get them a perfect gift. It gets trickier (and more expensive!) if you live in a group house with many roommates, but there are ways to make the…

BLOGGERS WANTED!

March 1, 2017 | By MFA Editors AuthorMy First Apartment

Some of our blogger team members are heading off to graduate school and big new jobs, so we are again looking to add new writers to our team. Apartment Hunter Blogger: You are just starting to look for your first apartment and want to share the experience with our 250,000+ monthly readers. You may be a 2017 new…

Roommate Gift-Giving: A Complete Guide

December 10, 2016 | By Alex AuthorMy First Apartment

This post by Alex, first published in December 2012, has everything you need to know about successful roommate gift exchanges. Here at My First Apartment we love the holiday season – it’s a time to get together with old friends, it’s a time to reflect upon the year gone by, and it’s also a time…

Roommate Intervention: What to Do When Landlord-Designated “Tenant in Charge” Fails Duties

October 20, 2016 | By Anna R. AuthorMy First Apartment

In almost every group housing situation I’ve lived in, there is usually one tenant that handles the majority of the responsibilities. They act as the liaison between tenants and landlords, they handle collecting the rent, and they tell the landlord if there are any issues with the apartment. How the “tenant in charge” decision is…

Sharing a Kitchen with Roommates When You Have Special Dietary Restrictions

June 9, 2016 | By Sammie AuthorMy First Apartment

If you have an allergy or special dietary needs, living with someone (or worse, multiple people) who eat what you cannot and sharing a kitchen with them, isn’t just a challenge, it is a flat-out risk. I recently made a clean break with gluten for medical reasons. This was only two weeks prior to moving into…

From the MailBag: “What to do when your roommate doesn’t follow the house rules?”

February 23, 2015 | By Audra AuthorMy First Apartment

Having a roommate (or two or three) can be a really great experience. Roommates can turn into great friends, if they aren’t already, and they can make your time in a shared apartment a really fun journey. And, being able to split the rent with someone else is an awesome bonus, if we do say so…

5 Perfect Holiday Gift Exchange Ideas

December 9, 2014 | By Sarah AuthorMy First Apartment

It’s HEEEERE! Holiday time is officially here because Thanksgiving is done with. Need some ideas for a budget-friendly gift exchange with your roommates? Ugly Christmas sweaters on now, below are the BEST options for a gift exchange on a small OR large scale. WHITE ELEPHANT / YANKEE EXCHANGE 1. Start a Facebook Invite for your…