Moving in together too soon can put a complete stopper on some budding relationships. You don’t want to be resorting to cohabitation agreements, or even separation or divorce, in later life.
So, for some moving in together advice, including some ideas on what to expect, and some tips to get it right, you came to the right place. Are you ready to take the plunge? Find out, here…
What You Should Know Before You Move in Together
Before you make your mind up to move in with your significant other, it’s important that you know what to expect. After all, there are both good and bad factors that make up this big life step. Some of these include:
The Good Stuff
- It’s so great to be able to come home to your favourite person every day.
- Having someone to share practical, financial, and emotional burdens with will be great.
- You’ll be able to sleep next to your best friend every night.
- Once you make it through this, you can make it through anything.
- This may be the perfect time to get a pet.
- It’s likely that you may notice quirks of your significant other that you never noticed before.
- Now, you’ll have to put up with your SO’s clutter and bad habits.
- You may start to miss your own space.
- There will be times when you’ll want to get out of the house to take a break.
- Your ideas of “clean” will probably be very different from each other.
- You may argue a lot at first.
- It’s likely that your lifestyles will have to change to fit around one another.
Signs You’re Ready To Move In With Your Significant Other
So, now you know the good, the bad, and the ugly, you’re prepared for the worst. That said, how can you tell that this is the next step for you and your partner? After all, this is a huge step, and may not be for everybody. So whether you are looking to move in together or looking for houses for rent in Ibiza on my-rental-homes.com, then I have a checklist for you below.
- You discuss your future together often
- Your relationships is based on open communication and honesty
- You don’t expect to change one another
- You aren’t in a toxic relationship
- You’ve been together for a good period of time
- You’ve already had “the big argument” and get through it
- You can discuss each other’s finances together
- You have no secrets from one another
- You like a lot of the same things, most importantly, TV programmes
- It’s becoming inconvenient not to live together
- You spend most of your time at one of your houses anyway
- You have your independent, separate lives from each other
- You work best together, as a team
- You actually enjoy spending time with each other
- You are dating exclusively
- You both agree to move in together without persuasion
- You know each other’s boundaries
- You get on with each other’s friends and family
- You have a clear vision of where you’ll be together in the next few years
- You are both willing to compromise for one another
10 Top Tips for Moving in Together
If you’re already spending a lot of time with your significant other, moving in together may seem like the obvious next step. In most cases, you’re probably right, but to avoid any unprecedented mishaps, here are some tips to make the transition as smooth as possible
Spend a Lot of Time Together Beforehand
When you finally move in together, it’ll be strange; you’ll likely have never spent this much time together before, and it’ll be the true test of your compatibility. So, one of the key tests to make sure you’re ready is to spend an extended period of time together beforehand.
A great way to test this is to go on holiday with one another; being stranded in a country, with just each other, for at least a week or so is the ultimate test. Alternatively, and a much cheaper option at that, is to spend a fair bit of time at each other’s’ homes. This way, you can get in those all-important “practice runs” before you take the plunge.
Have a Joint Clear Out Together
Before you move in together, you need to take stock of all your belongings as an individual. Spend a weekend going through your things and making an inventory of everything you own. This way, you can be sure to get a place big enough for everything.
Or, if you really have too much stuff, you can work together to have a clear out. By making a list of everything you have, you can get rid of anything you have two or more of, and can decide what you really need as a pair. This should help to avoid any arguments on moving in day when you’re trying to get everything in its place.
Discuss Money Beforehand
Before moving in together, it’s very important that you have an honest conversation about money. Neither of you want to be picking up the slack for one another, so it’s really smart to get this chat out of the way in advance. Some areas you might want to discuss include:
Are you good with saving?
What’s your monthly income, and how much do you usually have leftover each month?
Will we be splitting rent evenly (this will probably be gauged off of the previous answer)?
Who will be responsible for managing the house finances?
What are our future financial plans, and will you require any monthly savings to be put aside?
Set Up a Joint Bank Account
One really great tip, which should be discussed during your conversation in question three, is setting up a joint bank account. This may seem like a crazy step, but it could actually lead to less arguments in the long run.
This card can be used for all the outgoing payments you share, including bills, rent, WiFi, mortgage repayments, food, and the like. Once you both have access to the account, you should agree on a monthly contribution for each of you. Whether this is an equal amount or not should be based on how much money your house requires to run properly, and your income.
Once you’ve decided on a number, you and your partner can each deposit the agreed amount of money each month, after getting paid. Then, if you set up all your monthly outgoings from this account, you can then keep your leftover money for yourselves! This should minimise arguments and allow each person to spend their leftover money as they please.
It’s Important to Keep Your Own Space
In an ideal world, it’d be good to have a room each to spend some time alone, and keep some of your belongings. That said, this is a luxury that many of us can’t afford, so it’s important to designate space for each of your belongings.
This could be as simple as some drawer space in one of the rooms; discuss whose area is whose and stick to it. This will help to avoid any arguments, prevent you from losing things, and give you that space to spread out a bit.
Make Sure to Maintain a Life Outside the House
Now that you and your partner live together, it’s likely that you’ll be tempted to stay in most nights. That said, it’s important that your whole life isn’t consumed by spending time together. So, making time with your friends outside of your house is crucial.
Meet your friends for brunch at the weekend, or stay after work for a cup of coffee or a beer. Whatever you and your friends enjoy doing, make sure to make time for them, rather than heading straight home every night.
Divide Up House Chores
One of the most recurring problems you’ll probably face is who does the chores and when. To save the hassle of these arguments, one of the best solutions is to set up a rota. This way, you can make sure each of you is doing your bit.
Maintain a Channel of Open and Honest Communication
Honesty is absolutely the best policy for any healthy relationship. Making sure to be honest about work, finances, friends, and events is super important, especially when you live in each other’s pockets.
Even when it comes to knowing one another’s plans for each week could come in handy. So, set up a calendar somewhere in the house, be it a paper calendar or a virtual one, so you can make sure you are both in-the-know about when you’ll be in the house together.
Keep Going on Dates
Although the courting and honeymoon phases are well and truly over, that doesn’t mean you should stop treating one another! So, make time for date nights every so often, and surprise each other to keep the sparks flying.
Be Prepared to Compromise
Finally, you need to be prepared to compromise. Now, you can’t have everything your way, and you’ll need to learn that it’s best to decide on everything as a team, rather than as an individual. If you can get this right, then you’ll be on the path to success.
Have You Made Your Decision?
Still unsure about whether you and your partner should move in together? Well, the main indicator is whether you’ve been thinking about it together for a while, and still want to. As long as you have no burning doubts in your mind that this is the next step for you, then go for it! More information about immigrating to the UK you can find at immigrationsolicitorslondonuk.com.
Have you had an experience moving in with a significant other? Whether it was a good or a bad experience, we’d love to hear your story in the comments below!
*Collaborative post
Finally, you need to be prepared to compromise. Now, you can’t have everything your way, and you’ll need to learn that it’s best to decide on everything as a team, rather than as an individual. If you can get this right, then you’ll be on the path to success.
Have You Made Your Decision?
Still unsure about whether you and your partner should move in together? Well, the main indicator is whether you’ve been thinking about it together for a while, and still want to. As long as you have no burning doubts in your mind that this is the next step for you, then go for it! More information about immigrating to the UK you can find at immigrationsolicitorslondonuk.com.
Have you had an experience moving in with a significant other? Whether it was a good or a bad experience, we’d love to hear your story in the comments below!
*Collaborative post
Ooh some really good pointers, the quirks are definitely noticeable hahaha but we just went for it after a few months and all is well quite a few years later x
ReplyDeleteThese are some great tips for when you are moving in together. We moved in together quite quickly and thankfully it worked quite well.
ReplyDelete