I Moved In With A Guy After Only 1 Month & Never Regretted It

I met his parents on the first date. One month later, we moved in together into his college apartment. We shared a bedroom, a bathroom, and a closet. We fought, we laughed, we grossed each other out, but most importantly, we lasted. Six years later and still living together (but in a house and not a small, dingy college apartment), I don’t regret moving in so soon, and here’s why:

1. I learned very quickly whether or not this would last. When you’re thrown into the fire, you learn very soon whether or not the partnership is going to work. It was incredibly easy living with him, so I knew that he was someone I could live with. That’s sort of important.
2. We became a team. We had to learn how to work together on everything from cleaning the apartment to bathroom schedules and grocery shopping. We had to work out sleeping times and when to set alarm clocks. Now it;s easier to manage our routines, but it was an important bonding experience.
3. We learned what it looked like to become dependent. This sounds weird, but when you first start living with someone, it’s hard to not have them included in every single part of your day. We became dependent on each other in an unhealthy way, but once we realized it, we were able to change it. I’m glad that happened in the early years, because it made the following years easier and we were both more comfortable with gaining some independence.
4. We learned how to manage money as a couple. This was the hardest thing to learn and we still haven’t figured it out. When you live together, you share bills. We learned each other’s spending habits and how to manage them together early on. Again, this made the following years a little easier as we started to make larger purchases together.
5. We learned what makes each other angry. It pisses me off when he leaves his underwear on the floor. It pisses him off when I leave my makeup on the bathroom sink. Knowing this has made us able to adjust our habits… sort of. At least we figured out how to deal with them, anyway.
6. We learned when to leave each other alone quickly. It’s important to give your partner space if they need it. These are good lessons to learn, because it will save you plenty of useless arguments.
7. We learned how to be there for each other. This was helpful to learn during the earliest stages of our relationship because later in the relationship, when serious stuff happened, we knew how to be the rock each other needed.
8. We became friends first. Living with someone makes that person more than just a significant other. When the romance and excitement of seeing someone every weekend fades, the newness of holding someone’s hand is gone and kisses become regular rather than nervous endings to a night, all that is left is friendship. And since we became friends before we truly fell in love, we are closer than we ever thought we could be.
9. We learned how to play. Playing with your significant other usually doesn’t happen until way later in a relationship when the comfort levels get deeper. Well, when you live with someone, the comfort develops a lot faster. Therefore, you play sooner and more often. And when you play sooner and more often, your relationship is a lot more fun.
10. Last, but absolutely not least, we learned how to have sex. I don’t mean the basic birds and the bees type of learning. I mean, we learned very quickly what made each other tick, and we learned what each other’s sex life required. Basically, we fell into a very successful sexual routine early on that has made the sex for the last six years, well, awesome.