Moving in Together: checklist, tips and mistakes

When couples move in together, they might face a bunch of struggles. We made a checklist with tips, tricks and common mistakes that can happen when couples start living together.

If you take our advice to heart, nothing will stand in the way of your happiness while living together.

Moving in Together – the checklist

1) The right time to move in together

Each couple has to decide this for themselves, as there are no set guidelines. Couples who have just fallen in love often want to move into a shared home without really knowing each other. This is definitely the wrong time to move in. Take your time and take it slow. Get to know your partner first before making the big move.

2) What are your expectations?

You should openly and thoroughly discuss your expectations with your partner. Be clear about each other’s expectations and be aware of what the other person hopes to gain from this relationship. This is the best way to live happily together in your shared home.

3) Where to put your furniture

Turning two households into one isn’t always easy. Renting a storage unit can help with this and provide the extra space you need. In the storage facility you can store the furniture for which there is no space in your shared apartment, but which you don’t want to throw away either.

4) Cleaning and tidiness

This is where the fun in many relationships ends when one partner first experiences how messy the other actually is. Empty pizza boxes, dirty socks and whatever else you find on the floor. Make it clear who is responsible for what and set well-defined rules that both partners should follow. Under no circumstances should housework be automatically assigned to the female partner.

5) Tenancy agreement

Legal issues should be defined too before you move in. Therefore, agree on who signs the lease contract and who pays for which costs.

6) Alone time is important too

When couples live together, there can be moments when one of the two feels pressured and is looking for a place to have some alone time. Having a separate room for can help a lot. If you are looking for a place to store furniture, Self Storage from BOXIE24 can help.

7) Registration & insurances

When moving into a new apartment, there are some things to do besides actually moving in. Obviously it is important to register both of you at your new address. Setting up a forwarding order with the postal service for the old address is not a bad idea either. Moreover, you and your partner should consider whether you want to combine some insurances to save money.

8) House-warming party after moving in together

When you have finally settles and are happily living together, you should celebrate. Friends, neighbours and all the people who helped you moving the hard-working movers will be happy to admire your new home.

Moving in together: common mistakes

When you are on the adventure of “living together”, be sure to avoid the following mistakes:

• Partner ≠ roommate: In an apartment building, you live with strangers and sometimes friendships develop out of this. But when you move in with your partner, things change: in the first few months of a relationship, most partners avoid showing their worst side. Once you live in an apartment together, it should be clear to you that not everything will remain as it was when you just met each other.

• Disagreements: Every relationship has its battles. However, when you live together, there is more time to argue about things. Whether it’s about spoiled food in the fridge or other issues: talk to each other, it helps!

• Misunderstandings: When sharing a home for the first time, many misunderstandings often arise. As everyday life settles in, you suddenly find yourself using more phrases with the words ‘always’ and ‘never’. Two words which you should definitely avoid. Because no one really gets anywhere with nasty accusations.

• Respect each other’s privacy: when you still lived alone, no one cared if you wanted to have your peace and quiet. But in a shared apartment, you have to think in terms of ‘us’ and ‘we’. Eventually, everyone needs some time to themselves, and you both need to respect that.

Tips and tricks for moving in together – here’s how it works!

Move in on a trial basis: if you live together on a trial basis for a week, you can find out if this works for you or not. If not, you can save effort, time and money.

Looking for an apartment together: at some point there will come a time when you need to look for the right apartment or house together. Make sure you do this together so you both get a feel for what the other person likes. It is fair that both have about the same travel distance to their workplace.

Divide the costs: To keep an eye on the costs, it makes sense to split all living expenses when moving in together. An expense account, a fun account, an account for unforeseen events and an investment account makes it much easier to organize everything. With the four accounts, everything important to you and your shared future is covered. For example, you can pay the storage rent for your storage box from the expense account. And don’t worry: the cost of self-storage is often much lower than you might think.

Time for hobbies: you don’t have to be together all the time, you should also spend time to your hobbies. Otherwise, a certain dissatisfaction will quickly set in – for both partners. Your hobby equipment – be it fishing gear, ski equipment or surfboards – can be easily stored at BOXIE24 while you don’t need it. Storage rental is very easy, creates space in your new home and saves you the costs of renting a garage.

Find rituals: new rituals bring new harmony. Find your rituals and stick to them! For example, you can go for evening walks, watch crime scene investigation together on Sundays or enjoy a wellness day in a thermal bath every other weekend. These regular rituals will bond you even closer and help you enjoy living together.

Schedule your time: You don’t necessarily have to schedule all your time together, but some coordination makes life easier for both and saves time. Because if you work out when to do laundry or cook dinner together, there will be no disagreements and you can complete tasks together a lot faster.