Introduction
According to Mark Roemer Oakland, moving in together with your partner is a big leap in your relationship. Whether you’ve dated them for a few months or are about to tie the knot, you may need to work out a lot of things before this big change. Let’s check out a few helpful tips for couples moving in together.
Tips & Tricks
- Sort out legal matters – If you’re moving in together before tying the knot or don’t plan to get married, you should consider drafting and signing a cohabitation agreement. This arms both you and your partner with financial security for dividing assets. While happy couples don’t like to consider unfortunate events where their relationship doesn’t work out, it’s important to have some insurance in the form of a cohabitation agreement.
- Get on the trial period – If you haven’t stayed over at your partner’s place before, give it a try by staying at the other person’s place before moving into your new home. Think of it as a trial period where you share the space with your partner. Even staying a week over at the other person’s place would force you both to have a discussion about lifestyle changes including daily routines, cleaning methods, meal prep, and more. This trial period lets you know if you’re prepared for this big change.
- Start budgeting – Before you start packing boxes, talk about your finances. This helps you set aside money for the move and gives you a chance to discuss savings, bills, and monetary expectations. Opening a joint account, creating a mutual bill payment system, and being honest about your budgeting practices and goals will make the first few months in the new home go much smoother.
- Make an inventory of your belongings – When you move together, you have to take your belongings to the new home. However, things from two apartments would not fit in a new home for two. That’s why you need to check your belongings and make an inventory for the same. Match the checklist with your partner to choose the better blender, the newer couch, and the bigger TV, and sell or donate the rest. If you have a large guest room, you have a hoarding space for things you don’t need.
- Maximize living space – If you’re a young couple working in a major city, real estate prices wouldn’t be kind to you, and you may be able to only afford the rent for a nice studio apartment. In that case, you need to maximize the available space. Downsize as much as you can and try furniture with hidden storage, strategic open space multi-purpose room layouts, and try to not go overboard on the decor.
Conclusion
Mark Roemer Oakland suggests that you use the above-mentioned tips when you move into the new home. The goal is to extract enough alone time for both of you so that you have a healthy relationship. If you’re on the same work schedule, you’ll always have plenty of time to spend together.