Moving in together with your significant other may seem like a great idea. However, there are definitive complications that arise when two people who are in a relationship move in together. Although it may take some getting used to, the main goal is for you two to be able to make it work out. The last thing you want is for the experience to ruin your relationship, so there are a few steps you need to take in order to prevent arguments. In this article, you are going to learn some important tips for moving in together with your significant other.
Discuss financial situations
The first step to ensuring a pleasant move-in experience with your significant other is to talk thoroughly about your financial situations. Money is one of the main contributory factors to arguments in a relationship, so talking through this beforehand can help prevent conflicts. When it comes to talking about your individual financial situations, you need to talk about things like spending habits, bills, income, and money saved up. Talk about each others previous financial habits and discuss both credit profiles. Make sure each of you know the hiccups (if any) on your credit reports and have a plan how to fix them. After you discuss these things, you need to make a plan that determines how the two of you are going to pay for things like living, food, and entertainment. Also make sure to start or continue to save a portion of your income each and every month.
Learn to compromise
Learning to compromise is another big part of moving in with your significant other. When you live with someone else, it is no longer just your home. Now, the home is the both of yours and you will have to learn to adapt to this. Not only will you need to learn to compromise with money, but with many other things as well. For example, the two of you might have totally different eating habits. One of you may want to eat out every night, whereas the other may want to cook and eat in every night. In this situation, the two of you are going to have to compromise so that you can eat together. Maybe this means eating out sometimes and staying in other times, but you are going to have to figure out a way to make the both of you happy. Compromising is essential so that the move-in can work out. Valuing your partner’s space can be one of the most frustrating things to come to understand. However, once you get good at it, they in turn value your space and time. It then becomes a beautiful marriage of two people learning to live their lives together.
Make things fair
When it comes to making things fair, this typically deals with money. While the two of you do not need to share every cent that you earn, you will be sharing a portion of your money. When it comes to paying the bills, it is fairer to divide them up based on income rather than just split the bills in half. For example, if one of you earns $50,000 a year and the other earns $100,000 a year, then the person who earns more should pay a larger portion of the bills. While this may not seem fair to the one making more money, it is the right thing to do when you move in with your significant other. This way, the lower-earning partner will not feel stressed about money, especially if their higher-earning partner has enough income to live comfortably. To those high income earners out there, just understand its a bonus in life to make more and pay more.
Respect personal boundaries
Another important thing to make sure that you do when moving in with your significant other is to respect each other’s boundaries. When it comes to respecting each other, this includes things like money, food and even basic desires. Basically, you don’t want to make things seem one-sided. You need to make your sure that your significant other feels as if they have equal input in the final decisions that are made. If your significant other feels a certain way or has different opinions than you, that is perfectly fine. Respect what they have to say, but feel free to share your opinion as well. The two of you need to work together in order for this all to go smoothly.
