Tips on living in Halls

Im starting university in september and will be living in halls of residence. any tips on how to get on with the other people in your flat? particularly to do with food (how to stop others eating it, is it a good idea to all buy certain items together etc etc)

this is a good point, i need some tips too! is it just easier to buy all your own stuff? and do people actually seperate their fridge into different compartments??

we aint got the communal thing going on here, if someone offers to make you food yeh.. but for example I was speaking to a chick who said they have nights where one prson cooks everything. i dunno, our flat is close knit, ie. we're actually mates n' all like each other. if you need an egg, you take an egg n' say when they're around, the attitude 'what goes around comes around'.. only works if everyone has the same attitude though!

personally i think it'sa natural process, you'll realise what 'type' of flat you're gonna be.

I reckon getting a personal mini-fridge would be a good idea to store your own food.

And buy in moderate batches so you can keep our food fresh.

it didn't happen 'formally', it wasn't discussed. it's just easier if you know where your **** is. ie. i have the 2nd to top shelf in one of the fridges and the top/2nd top (can't even remember) shelf of the freezer. but again, if someone was to place an item on 'my shelf'.. i wouldn't move it, because i couldn't care less.

You're not usually allowed a mini fridge in halls. And in the next year when you move into the private sector, you'll quickly stop using it when you realise how much electricity you're using because of it...

Halls fridges often have a enough room to store everyone's stuff, though maybe at a bit of a squeeze. Remember, despite the horror stories, students aren't monsters! Most people will, like you, have to common sense to get along, to not use your stuff, and just have a good time in halls.

It really depends who you're living with. My flatmates don't really mix much; I talk to them when I see them, but only really ever socialise with one or two, and both the girls I live with are pretty antisocial anyway (and one of them is rude as well). But we don't nick each other's food, and I haven't heard of any flats round here where that's been a particular problem, except when some guys undertook the challenge to eat another guy's entire 1kg box of cornflakes, just to piss him off! Sometimes my flatmates can be a bit greedy with fridge and freezer space. At the beginning of term I spoke to one of them on msn (the rude one) and she was like, "Oh, I hope you don't need any freezer space because we're all back already and there isn't any! Ha ha ha!" so when I came back I just moved all the stuff that was in my part of the freezer because I'd brought food back with me that needed to go in and if they'd overbought I didn't see why it should be my problem. I think we'd all probably be a bit more considerate towards each other if we were all good mates, but that's just the way it goes, I guess.

Unfortunately, as someone who has lived in halls, I can firmly say that living in a communal environment also teaches people how to stretch their budgets by eating other peoples' food.

If you aren't lucky enough to becomes a "Friends-esque" unit with your new housemates, you do have to talk about arrangements for food, otherwise you will find you may never have any!!

Tips for halls;

*Sleeping tablets and earplugs if you actually want a good nights' sleep
*Be considerate, and tidy up after yourself, other you will really annoy your fellow housemates and eventually it will all come to a head and you will all end up screaming and shouting at each other for hours because of something really tiny
*Conversely, try and let things go that are annoying you about your housemates; if they are untidy, use your stuff without asking, etc etc etc, speak to them once, nicely and politely. If they continue to do so, speak to them again. If they continue doing it, move your stuff or whatever, but try to just let it go, otherwise you will end up with hostility, which just wont be worth it in the long run as it will ruin your experiences in halls
*Take nice little things for your room to make it feel more homely - a lamp and my favourite framed photographs were my essentials. Halls can look very bare and clinical so you'll feel happier if its' more comfortable for you.
*Get involved with as many people who live in your halls as possible - there will be loads of social events, especially in the first few weeks - then even if you sont end up being best friends with your actual housemates, you have plenty of people close by

Hope some of this helps!!

when i was in halls we each had a seperate shelf in the fridge but we also put in for stuff like milk and cheese and toilet roll, things everyone uses, and generally uses the same amount of. i agree with the fact that generaly people dont steal food - they wouldn wnat the others to steal their's. at the same time though, if you're cooking and you need an egg and you dont have one, theres no point going overboard and buying six when you could jus use one of your flatmate's and repay her in biscuit form or something. generally things even out and im sure you will have a fab time in halls!

As I am in catered halls, I don't need as much food as others in self-catered halls, but I still need to buy stuff.

I have a mini fridge in my room, in which I keep milk (if I buy it), orange juice and yoghurts etc, other things I either keep in my cupboard or in the freezer.

I haven't had incidents of people taking my food, but one guy on my corridor says people have, although no-one really gets on with him anyway.

Do make the effort to socialise with your flat mates and get to know them etc.

That is exactly what it is like in my flat. But they are disgusting. They do steal food, and their dish cloths haven't been washed since semptember (i keep mine hidden, i don't want them to be dirty, and i wash them all the time). If they put food on my shelf, i'll move it, it is my space. They aren't very nice people anyway.

I live in catered halls and share a pantry with 27 people. Cos we only have to cook sat and sun nights the only things i really have in the fridge/freezer are bread, milk and marge but my bread always gets eaten, even if you put your name on it. Its well annoying if you come back from a night out and fancy toast and its all gone. We're supposed to do our own washing up too but most of the time the plates get left. I hate to be stereotypical here, but it is pretty much the guys who steal food and dont wash up. I dont leave any cutlery/plates etc.. in the pantry because I know it'll get used and then not washed up. Its just something you have to live with for a year until you get to move out.

That's a lovely idea, but unfortunately when you look in the fridge and realise you have nothing that you want to eat because someone else has taken a fancy to it, you start to see the logic of keeping food separate.

Put half of your cutlery in the kitchen, and half in your room.

This year our kitchen has proven to be a veritable Bermuda Triangle for forks...

I have problems with bread and milk. When I'm the only one to have any, and when I want to make a sandwich and a drink, I find my cupboard's been raided by someone and the bread's either gone, or the supply's dwindled. It's really annoying.

You just need to suss out your flatmates in the first few days.

I live with 10 people. 2 of whom im very close with and we pretty much share everything.

The mini- fridge in your room idea is good for stuff you just want to keep to yourself. I have bought a 13 litre lil fridge of e-bay. It retailed at 65.99 and I got it for 28.99 including p&p. I have seen loads of cute cushions and throws in matalan so may buy some to take for my room.

-Buy a large tupperware box

-Paint it with various watercolour paints in black etc to make it look filthy dirty, line the inside with scrunched up tinfoil with little bits of green plastic or scouring pad or whatever on it...

-Stick a label on the lid and stain it with paint, coffee, etc.

-As you may have guessed, the object is to make the tupperware so disgusting no-one will look in it, so you can store your cheese, butter etc. in there safely...

-The other thing is buy your milk and then make sure other people see you drinking it from the bottle- no-one will want to "borrow" any then.

-Other ideas- find a large old butter tub that's well out of date, and then hide your normal butter tub inside it. This works well with containers of various sorts- I mean, you could wash out an old milk bottle and decant your milk into it so it looks out of date...

Sneaky, but it saves your food! As, unfortunately, not all halls-mates can be as nice as others.

The first halls i lived in, six people shared a little kitchen and fridge, and every night someone would go in it and switch the fridge bloody off! So frustrating, not to mention expensive when no one realised!

And if your flat mates bug you just open this site, turn your speakers up and leave it on for half an hour. http://www.legit.dk/

I like these tips.. I'm gonna do this

And I was planning on bringing my minifridge.. you cant fit much in it, but I was gonna keep things like alcohol next to it, then turn on the fridge and store them if I know Im gonna need them in an hour, and dont want them in the communal fridge! I do that at home, but dont turn it on much, so electricity couldnt be much of an issue, hopefully

It's the oposite here, well for the washing-up part anyway. After 2 semesters we've just about got them trained though.

Just take a shotgun, that way no one will **** with you and you'll be sure of your own shelf in the fridge.

thats all good advice. its kind of weird when u first go there cos u dont want everyone thinkin u r cheap, or a dikk if u know what imean. its just that i consider it unfair for people to use your things without telling you. but then u dont want to appear like the party pooper or something. personally, am planning on showing faith at the beginning and then see what am going to do. i have a weird taste when it comes to food so i hope that this will draw people away. i can cook very very well so i dont mind if people buy me the things i need and i cook for them if i have time.

If you can cook good food everyone will worship you and offer you their food to cook, plus you can charge them money and they wash up! I'm an exploitative cook.

Seriously though, if anyone steals your food just spit in their milk. Politely tell them what you have done and they will not steal again.

I live ona floor with 25 people, i'd say its generally a bad idea to leave bread/milk/butter/eggs/cheese in the fridge as they WILL go missing.

However if you leave something that looks decent, people don't tend to take it. because its actually good. Most people will take a bit of milk or an egg but few will take a load of mince or a pizza.

Then there are one or two thieves that occasionally steal nice things.

I'm catered though, so don't tend to cook anything fancier than toast.

The food "sharing" goes on in most halls and you know yourself whether you'd have a problem with people nicking your eggs, milk etc or whether you're laid back enough to be "yeah no problem" about it. I can't stand it so I don't put much stuff in the fridge any more tho that means someone takes over my shelf as well as their own a lot of the time lol. The best way to get to know them is to suggest a night out/in right when you all move in so you can get to know each other (we had a taco night lol) and you'll get a feel for them pretty quickly.

The only tip I can offer is to make sure you leave your door open and are sociable on the first day, there's some people I know who were only just making proper friends at the end of last term because they'd got left behind by not being especially sociable during the first few days when cliques and groups are formed (at least for a while).

my cousin is at Kent and she is always complainin about how unclean the people that live on her floor are. they even eat sitting down in the hall corriddor. i wont be very good living in halls as i am always moaning. hehe:P

I think if there's a problem with food stealing in my halls, i'll go on little raids of revenge - not counter-attack stealing, but perhaps a more 'war of attrition" style, long term counter-offensive, such as repeatedly boiling the culprits eggs, then putting them back in the packet. Toast all their bread and put it back in the bag, etc.

MEDIC!!

i think most arguments start over toilet roll, milk and bread. the best way to enjoy halls is to become very tolerant and laid back...these things dont cost that much money, in the end.
also a good tip to stop people using your pans/crockery is to leave them dirty, and wash them up when you need them.
i would also purchase some earplugs, and establish boudaries over loud music playing early on.

^^ the thing is that earplugs dont really work

I've found that too. You need factory ones, which I can't use cos of my earwax

Right, this thread is making living in halls sound really bad. Surely it can be a good experience as well?

I've never had a bad experience and have enjoyed my first two terms throroughly . Unless you go to bed at 7pm every single night then the noise thing isn't really a problem, never encountered food theft either .

No bad experiences for me yet so far.
In my flat last year and in my house this year we all have a shelf each in the fridge, 1 cupboard each, and just cram anything else into the freezers.
Anything 'special' that I don't want to be seen by others, let alone eaten, such as fancy chocolate I just hide in my room. No problemo

what are factory earplugs? never heard of that:P

Earplugs used by people who work in factories with loud machinary, you can buy them I think from certain places. Though as I said, I think its going a bit over the top .

oh God I must be so thick. thank you Casey. why did you get a warning? tsk tsk!!!
yeah but those earplugs must be awful - very uncomfortable:P

I loved living in my flat in my first year - we were all friends, and if we'd run out of something we needed, then all we had to do was ask each other for some until we had some of our own to repay them with.

10 years on r u still in touch with your flatmates?? Im scared I wont get along with mine and end up hating halls