Why A Chore Chart Is A Necessity When Living With Roommates

By Alyssa Laffitte

When living with roommates, it’s difficult to make sure everyone does their share in keeping the room (or apartment) clean. The solution to this problem is to create a chore chart. In this chore chart, you and your roommates can agree on who does which chores and when they do them.

A chore chart will make everyone’s responsibilities clear. There will be no arguments about who has which responsibilities, because they will be clearly spelled out in the chore chart. Also, a chore chart will ensure that not just one person does all the work. It’s way too easy for all the cleaning responsibilities to fall on one roommate, but that’s not fair! A chore chart will prevent this from happening. Finally, it will ensure that your place stays clean. If everyone does their share, there won’t be a chance for the place to get dirty. And you can easily make a chore chart, too. Here are a few reasons why a chore chart is a necessity when living with roommates.

It makes everyone’s responsibilities crystal clear

A chore chart clearly indicates everyone’s responsibilities: who must do which chores and when they must do it. Without a chore chart, it’s easy to argue your way out of having to do a chore because there is no way to keep track of who did which chore. Someone can easily say, “I shouldn’t have to do the dishes today because I did them yesterday,” even if they did not do the dishes yesterday.

However, when a group of roommates has a chore chart, everyone’s responsibilities are crystal clear. There is no room for argument. For example, no one can say that it’s someone else’s turn to do the dishes when it isn’t, because the chore chart will clearly dictate who needs to do the dishes. The chore chart will indicate that it is A’s turn to do the dishes, so she can’t claim that B should do them today. No one will forget what chores they need to do, and when they need to do it.

It ensures that one person doesn’t do all the work

Many times, when a group of roommates doesn’t have a chore chart, one person is left doing all the chores. Sure, it’s a good arrangement for the roommates who aren’t cleaning up after themselves, but it is extremely unfair to the one who is! In order to be fair and to have all the roommates do their equal share of chores, you should make a chore chart. The chore chart will equally assign chores to different people, so that all the chores can get done without putting the entire burden on one roommate. Chore charts ensure that one person doesn’t have to do all the work.

It will prevent roommates from becoming resentful toward each other

It seems silly, but when one roommate is constantly leaving messes, the other roommates could get irritated with her. If it goes on long enough, they could even become resentful toward her. A chore chart, if everyone respects it, will make sure that everyone cleans up after themselves, and will keep you all from getting irritated with each other. It will stop many fights before they even start.

It invites conversation about cleanliness standards

Different people have different expectations about how clean they want their place to be. When you and your roommates make a chore chart, it invites a conversation about peoples’ cleanliness standards. You will need to discuss how often things will need to be cleaned. Are all your roommates neat-freaks who want the room to be cleaned daily? Or are they okay with cleaning only on the weekend? (Okay, that’s a little exaggerated, but you get the point!) This conversation will help you understand your roommates better and will show you what to expect when you live with them.

It ensures that the place stays clean

Finally, when you have a chore chart (and if all the roommates complete the chores that are assigned to them!), your apartment or room will stay clean because you will be on top of your chores. Without a chore chart, it might be hard to keep track of when the place was last cleaned, and you don’t want that!

If you live with roommates, it might be tricky to keep the apartment (or room) clean. But if you and your roommates design a chore chart, it will make your lives much easier. For starters, everyone will know when it’s their turn to clean up. It also ensures that everyone chips in, one person doesn’t have to do all the chores by themselves. Finally, if you and your roommate follow the chore chart, it ensures that your place will stay clean. For these reasons, you and your roommates should make a chore chart. It’s quick, easy, and will save you from many fights and problems.