Roommates for the most part are an inevitable part of being a student, at some point you will have to have at least one. That is of course unless you have rich enough parents to allow for you to live in a private apartment for the entire time, or if you live at home I guess you just have your parents to deal with. 

For those of you who have to have a roommate at some point in your student living situation, I will have a series of posts regarding the various types of roommates you may run into, and how best to deal with them. Each type of roommate comes with their own challenges, and if you don't deal with them properly they may end up costing you more money than you are saving by living with other people, so beware. 

The Cheap Bitch - Definition is the roommate who will NEVER pay for anything. I personally had one of these, and she would never buy anything. It was a struggle to get her to buy $1 dish soap, she just felt like she didn't have to buy a thing. The problem with this type of roommate is that they will just use all of your stuff, never replace any of it, and it ends up that you are paying for all of their stuff as well as your own. So here is a few ways to deal with a cheap bitch of a roommate. 

1. Before moving in ask everyone to bring two of everything - This is an idea I heard from one of my friends. Before the five of them moved into a house, she sent out a mass email to them all saying to bring two of everything (dish soap, toilet paper, paper towel, garbage bags, kitchen bags, cloths, cleaning supplies etc.). This way everyone has to contribute at least a few things, and if the bitch goes cheap halfway through at least you got something out of them. 

2. Figure out who has what - Before moving in try to figure out who has the dishes, the couch, the chairs, and try to get everyone to bring something to contribute to the main areas such as the living room, dining room and kitchen areas. 

3. Write your name on your stuff - Sounds silly I know, but if you write your name on it, then when you catch the bitch pouring your laundry soap into the wash you can call her on it and she won't have the excuse of not realizing it wasn't hers. 

4. Keep your stuff in your room - Obviously you probably cannot keep everything in there, but the things that are expensive, or that you really do not want to share, keep away from everyone else. 

5. Get a lock on your room - If your room doesn't have a lock on it, I would go out and spend the $10 to replace your door knob with a locking one. In my house we all had our own locking doors, but if yours doesn't change it. Let your landlord know, but still change it. That way if your roommate has sketchy friends you don't have to worry about people stealing your stuff. 

6. Keep a list of who bought what - I would keep a list on the fridge of who bought what last. So for toilet paper there was a running list of who bought it last, so you knew who was up next to buy it, and then when it was the next person's turn you just reminded them, or pointed to the list on the fridge and say something like "If you want to wipe your ass tomorrow you will get toilet paper" or "If you want to have a fork to use for dinner you will get the dish soap this time"

7. Pool money to buy stuff - Alternatively you could also have a pooled fund of $10 a month from everyone to buy the stuff that everyone uses. That way you all contribute equally and buy the same stuff every month. This one might be hard to implement, but if you are all sitting there and one person says they don't want to contribute it will be pretty hard for them to say it to four against one. 

8. Tabasco in the Milk - So your roommate still isn't getting the idea that she can't just steal your shit, well make her never want to again. I'm not saying poison anyone, but putting something to make your milk taste like crap so she won't drink it, or a little bleach in your detergent, should help to deter your cheap roommate from using your crap. If she says anything then A. You know for sure who is using your crap and B. You can tell her straight up "Stop using my shit you cheap bitch"

That's all the tips I got for now, good luck with your cheap roommate. 

If you have any more good tips to deter your cheap roommate from using your stuff let me know!