Is Living Together A Good Idea?

Couple living together If you’re in a serious relationship with your partner, sooner of later you may think about living together. You may want to spend more time with your new partner, and may think that this the next logical step to take. But wait, don’t rush into anything yet! While living with the person you love can be a wonderful thing, it’s not always a good option for everyone.

It is important to understand what living with your partner entails, and if you are compatible to take such a big step. Is living together a good idea? Or is living together a bad idea? To help you figure this out, I’ve listed some pointers below that will help you decide if you’re ready to make this move with your partner.

Good Idea – You’re Ready To Move In Together If:

You’ve experienced living together before for a prolonged period of time.
Having experience living with this person before can help give you a sense of what things will be like. Did things go well during this trial period? Or are there things you’re not sure you’ll be able to handle? Only consider moving in together if things went well during this trial run.
You’re in love, and you want to spend more time with each other.
If you’re deeply in love with your partner, this of course is as good a reason as any others to move in with each other. You will still need to make sure you fit the other rules as well however…
You both know your boundaries, and understand that living together doesn’t mean you have to do everything together.
Some couples tend to think that just because they are living together, they now have to do everything with each other. If this is why your partner wants to move in with you, this is a bad idea. You still have to have your own life outside of your partner, so you can get that down time and alone time we all need.
It would be mutually beneficial for you to share a house.
This could be for financial reasons, because it’d be easier to go about your day to day life, or because neither of you like living alone.

If you fit all of the above requirements, then living together could be a good idea. If you want to live together because any of the following reasons however, then you should seriously rethink your plans:

Bad Idea – You Should Wait Longer If:

You’ve spent a few nights together on holiday and begun getting on each other’s nerves.
If you couldn’t live with them for a few days on a lovely holiday, why do you think you’ll be able to take a life time of it during everyday life?
You argue a lot, even when you spend time apart.
While having arguments with your partner is something that happens in all relationships, if they are extreme in nature, you may want to put off the move until you can handle your disagreements better. If you don’t know how to stop fighting in a relationship, then living together isn’t a good idea.
You enjoy having your own space.
We all like our own space at some points, and sometimes in life you may not feel ready to share your space with another person. If this is the case, then don’t rush in to anything. If this is your life long partner, it will happen at some point. Just make sure you only go for it when you’re ready.
It won’t just be you and your partner living together.
While you might like their parents, I’m sure you wouldn’t want to live by their rules. If you’re living together in a house-share to save money, fair enough. But living with more then just the two of you as a long term solution isn’t ideal.

Testing If You’re Ready To Move In Together

If you’re still not sure if you’re ready to live with your partner, you may want to give it a test run. Maybe stay with them at their house for a few days, or have them stay at yours. Doing this for a few days over a month or two will give you an idea of how things will be, and get you used to spending a lot of time together. From there you can decide whether you’re ready to live together or not.