18 Passive-Aggressive Gift Ideas for Your Terrible Roommate (2020)

You know, like when your roommate is constantly "forgetting" to pay the bills, leaving clothes all over the floor, and stealing your food from the fridge.Instead of treating your roomie to another coffee gift card or pair of slippers, why not get them a gift that'll double as a hint? Healthy communication is fine and dandy, but so is a self-help book, an oversized robe, or one of the other recommendations in this list.Be sure to check out our many other buying guides, including our favorite tablets, 25 gifts under $25, and gifts for PC gamers .Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-Year Subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). A snack subscription like this one will deliver them a special box of munchies every month, which should help deter them from scarfing down whatever you were looking forward to eating during your next Netflix binge (or give you more time to conceal your stash of chips).For more options, check out our guide to the Best Snack Box Subscriptions.They say go big or go home, and these massive sticky notes are about as big as they get. It can also convert into a handheld vacuum to clean up small areas like their trash-strewn vehicle footwell or the inside of their closet.If you have doubts your roommate will ever vacuum, even with this upgrade, then you should treat the house to a robot vacuum cleaner. These robot vacuums are our favorite.If your roommate likes to leave every single light in the house on, for hours, even though nobody is in the well-lit rooms and the electric bill is shamefully high, a good smart bulb kit can help. You can't force your roommate to clean up after themselves, but with this you'll be able to waste less time doing it yourself. The ceramic blade retracts automatically for safety, and the ergonomic design makes it easy to break down box mountains into a much more manageable size.This tool has become essential in dealing with my packages, and it's so easy to use that if you're somehow tasked with breaking down roomie's trash again, you'll be able to do it quickly. Note that subscriptions are cheaper than buying a pack individually, but you'll want to check on your account every so often in case you need to skip a month or cancel.It's hard not to love your roommate's cat, but the litter box odor is another situation entirely. Maybe some of the lessons will even stick around.Another popular self-help title, Make Your Bed, might be a better option if your roommate is as straight-laced as they are slovenly.WIRED is where tomorrow is realized.