The Intrigued Ideologist Just another WordPress Blog

TIP #1: Marking Your Territory [College Tips]

This is the first tip of several involving living alone while at college. I'll usually assume that you're either living with one other person, or many (as it is in my case). I figure sharing these little tidbits will helps others who are living in "the big world" (heck yeah!).

Problem: Your roommate(s) using your things (accidentally or on purpose)

Solution: Mark your territory. This way they won't confuse their food with yours (it happens) or so you can figure out WHO is using WHAT and flat out tell them not to (instead of nobody fessing up to the crime and you being left empty handed with no evidence to catch the nasty perpetrator).

Foods
*Mark all of your food (especially meats and other generic things). This is as simple as putting your initials on the cover/box/plastic.
*If your food are portioned (cookies, crackers, fruits etc.) you can easily count the number of portions left, or the number of portions eaten. If something is fishy, you know someone's eaten some of your stuff.
*Keep your pantry and your fridge area organized, so you can quickly see if something is missing or moved.

In the shower
*To know if someone used your shampoo/conditioner, you can clean the nozzle after you use it. If you go to use it again and the nozzle has shampoo or stuff around it, its obviously been used.
*If you can, keep your soap out of the shower and only bring it in when you're about to take shower. If you can't, when you're done using your soap, make a small engraving on the curved side with your nail. If its used, the engraving will be faded or gone completely.

In your room
*If you're lucky enough to have your own room, lock it at all times (duh).
*If you share a room with someone else, chances are the door will be open most of the time. To keep your things safe (money, papers etc), keep a small safe (anything that you can attach a lock too -- a school bag with small hoops in the zipper even) somewhere out of sight.
*If you own a computer, lock it every time you get up to do something. This is a good habit to have period. In Windows, all you have to do is press Win+L (windows key and then the L key) to lock your screen.

That's all I can think about at the moment. I'll edit this post if anything else comes up. Keep your shit safe people!

Out.