I've been nervous to post this, even though it definitely relates to personal finance and I know I could get some good advice on it. But, I'm swallowing my nervousness and sharing:
BF and I are planning to move in together when his lease is up July 15th. :)
He is going to move in to my place, since my lease goes until January. Right now he lives two blocks away, which has been great. We used to live an hour apart, so it was a good transition to live close by but still have our own space at first. Lately though, we've been spending pretty much all our time at each other's places and after talking about what we want and where we're headed, we think cohabitating will be a good step for us.
I vascillate from being really excited about living together and then being really nervous. I'm probably most nervous about messiness. I am not a neat freak, but I do like things orderly at home. BF is...the opposite. We talked about it and he says he is like that because he has a bachelor pad and he doesn't care. Once we live together, since he knows it's important to me, he says he will put forth more effort. We shall see.
Obviously this is a great decision financially. That's not why we're doing it, but it's a perk we can't ignore. I will save $445 in rent per month, based on the agreement we came up with. We will share utilities, which will be nice too. I think I'll end up spending more on groceries, but that's the main area I can see increased spending. We were going to rent a storage space for some of his bigger furniture that won't fit in my place, but then I talked to my mom and she agreed to let us keep it in her garage for a while. :) I'll also be getting rid of my TV, and possibly my whole TV hutch/entertainment center, since BF's TV is much nicer and won't fit in my hutch.
As I'm sure all my readers know, this event coincides with the month I will have my car all paid off. So, as of August I will be saving approximately $1,000 each month compared to what I spend right now! The other night I couldn't sleep because I was playing around with different scenarios of how I will handle that extra money in my head! Like, literally, I had to force myself to stop it because I was going crazy! But, it feels great to know that I will have so much more freedom in my budget!
We've spent a lot of time talking about how things will work and even wrote down some of our agreements in a notebook so we can remember what we agreed to. But, to anyone who has ever moved in with a BF/GF I'd love your advice! I've never lived with a BF before, so this is new territory for me.
As a side note, part of why I was nervous about sharing is that I have some dear friends who read my blog who I know will not agree with my decision. But, I feel good about my choice and I want to live my life honestly, so I am putting it out there.
Hey! I've been reading your blog for a while and congratulations! I did the same thing about a year ago (except I moved across the country against my parents' will...oops) and it has worked out great! Just know that there ARE going to be some bumps in the road but you just have to work through them. In case your curious as to how it all turned out, I'm back on great terms with my parents, and we're getting married this year! :) Good luck!!
ReplyDeleteHey! I just started reading your blog, but so far I love it. Are you in Long Beach, Long Island or in CA?
ReplyDeleteEither way, Congratulations on you and the boyfriend!! I'm 26 and have been living with mine almost a year now. We're so happy. The only advice I have for you is to talk money and goals often and MAKE A WEEKLY MENU!! I know it sounds crazy, but we were spending almost $200 a week on groceries, because we were just walking up and down aisles and throwing whatever we wanted into the cart. If you take about a half hour every week to take inventory on what is in the pantry/fridge/freezer or leftover from the week before and make a menu, you can cut your grocery bill in half. We make a list saying, "We have steak in the freeze that we never made last week, so on Monday, let's have steak." This way, we only buy what we need.
I just started a personal finance blog myself. I thought it would help me be more accountable. I'd love if you'd take a look! Thanks!
www.twentytwomonths.blogspot.com
Congrats! Living with someone is great. Just exercise patience and stay organized. It looks like you already have a plan, so if you are both on the same page, it will work out well! And don't forget to budget for fun. Invest in the relationship too! Love your blog..
ReplyDeleteI moved in with my boyfriend last year a month before we got married. in that time i was able to pay off my car which was fantastic! the most important thing is that you have to do what is right for you and your bf. there's has to be a goal in mind though when moving together. hope your financial goals line up. good luck:-)
ReplyDeleteThe best piece of advice - make sure you both are on the same page when it comes to money. That was the downfall in my relationship with the current BF. We broke up briefly because of it (and other issues) but now we are getting on the same page. Plan budget meetings.
ReplyDeleteMy SO moved into my house about nine months ago after we'd been dating for three years. Some advice:
ReplyDelete1. Be on the same page with money. Know each other's capacity to spend and be conscientious of it.
2. Don't buy things "together". Not for awhile at least. Should something happen and you split, it's easier for one person to take the couch and the other the TV rather than splitting hairs over the worth of each.
3. Take a serious look at what furniture you decide to store. We ended up Craigslisting a lot of stuff, because will you really still want that couch after a few years of non-use? We decided to take the cash instead.
4. Focus on the money saved. My SO and I used it to take a fantastic trip together and also to help max out our Roth IRAs. It helped us keep the benefits in mind as we were still figuring out how to work out the "I need alone space" bumps.