The 5 Biggest Things That Living With A Partner Before Marriage Taught Me About Relationships

Depending on who you ask living with your partner can be a huge NO NO. Some people say it’s terrible for many reasons, religion, romance etc but I personally couldn’t fathom marrying someone I’ve never lived with. Some said that I’ll begin to really learn more about my partner when I live with him. The little things I never saw before that I will inevitably hate and little things I’ll love. Living with someone every day of your life is a lot different than staying with someone Thursday night through Monday morning.

1. You learn each other’s habits.

Typically, there’s one neat and one messy person in the relationship—just how neat or messy differs with every couple, but the only way to figure out which roles you play, you pretty much have to live together first.

Additionally, you’ll learn each other’s living habits. All of the little things you may take for granted about living alone, like leaving the toilet seat up, cleaning the hair out of the shower drain, or staying up late to watch TV, you now have to share with your partner.

2. You learn to divide chores.

Simple tasks that you once did on your own to keep your household afloat will now have to be divided between the two of you, such as grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry, taking out the trash, etc. If both of you work, then you may split the household chores.

3. You learn how to compromise.

When you live alone, it’s your way or the highway, but when you live with someone else, you’ll need to compromise. This typically means meeting in the middle so that both of you feel heard and respected.

4. You see each other at your worst.

When we date and fall in love, we idealize the other person, but when we live with them and see them daily we tend to have a more realistic understanding and of them. We see the good and the challenging and that is the real lifelong experience earner we will have.

5. You learn how to budget and spend.

No matter how you decide to split your expenses, be it 50/50 or any other arrangement you see fit, coming to an understanding of how to spend and save is an important pre-marital step. Since money is one of the top three things married couples argue about, it can be good to get a sense of what you are committing to in this arena. You can see whether you are able to discuss money together, set goals, and work together around it.

Living with your partner is way more fun than living with a roommate! It’s not as bad as some people try to make it seem. You’ll definitely get annoyed at times and learn things that you’ll probably hate for the rest of your life but it’s not that serious!

Everything is pretty much the same as before we lived together except now I come home to him every day and I get to have a sleepover every night with my best friend.