The 10 Commandments of Living With Your Significant Other
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Sh*t gets real when you move in with your significant other. There's no more sleeping spread-eagle in your queen bed, spending an entire Sunday shamelessly watching Real Housewives (without a fight over the remote), or holding in your poop until you get home because you'd rather die than poop at your boyfriend's. But wait! There are also tons of perks, and it's the ultimate way to find out if you're really compatible enough to last as a couple. If you're living with your lover, there are 10 commandments you should follow.
- Thou shalt be clear about finances. Before you move in together, you need to know exactly how you'll split up costs of living, which includes a lot. Aside from rent, utilities, and furniture, there are a million little things that you'll be sharing, like cleaning supplies and toilet paper. Whether you'll be splitting everything down the middle or one of you out-earns the other and will have to provide more, there needs to be an understanding in the beginning to avoid any fights down the road.
- Thou shalt never go to bed angry. The thing about living together is that if you have a fight, you can't go home, because you're already there. If you're fighting, always try to resolve it before you go to bed instead of angrily turning away and still holding a grudge when you wake up.
- Thou shalt not sweat the small stuff. He'll leave the toilet seat up. You'll drive him crazy with your makeup and hair products in the bathroom. But you'll soon figure out that you need to pick your battles, and these small annoyances shouldn't qualify. Everyone has little habits, and no one is perfect, so if you start bickering over every little thing and mess, you could end up causing a lot of unwanted stress and arguments.
- Thou shalt share chores and responsibilities. Laundry and dishes suck, and no one likes to do them. But adulthood means doing stuff that adults do, and living together means doing them together. Tag-teaming laundry, dishes, Swiffering, and cleaning the bathroom makes it so much more tolerable.
- Thou shalt respect each other's needs for time alone. Sometimes all you want to do is lock yourself in a silent bedroom with a good book and a glass of wine. That's OK.
- Thou shalt cook together. A huge perk of living together is that you'll save money on groceries, and it makes the most sense to buy food that you both like and can cook together. It's fun to have stay-in date nights where you find a meal you want to make, get the ingredients, and pop open a bottle of wine while you cook and eat together.
- Thou shalt not always wear sweats. You get real comfortable when you live together, and you definitely see things you've never seen before. But don't get completely lazy — pull out your best lingerie every once in a while.
- Thou shalt set boundaries and screen time. If only I could count how many times I've said (or been told), "Get off your phone." Just because you live together doesn't mean you should neglect the time when you really get to see each other and unplug from the craziness of life. You should promise each other not to spend every free night on the couch, mindlessly watching TV and refreshing Instagram. Mix it up!
- Thou shalt keep dating. Romance shouldn't totally stop just because you're comfortable farting around each other (it'll happen). When you live together, it's nice to do things like pick up each other's favorite foods, plan date nights, leave sweet notes hidden when you're not there, and, of course, not forget to make time for sex.
- Thou shalt have fun. Ultimately, living together is like having a sleepover with your best friend and lover every night! If it doesn't feel fun and enjoyable, that might be a sign to reconsider the relationship. Getting serious and living together means enjoying the little things, like binge-watching Netflix in your underwear, having a personal back scratcher at all times, and waking up beside each other every morning.