For those of you under 25 and living with your S/O..

For those of you under 25 and living with your S/O...

How long were you together before you moved in together?

Do you find that things are more often than not 50/50?

For example: bills, cleaning, home improvement, cooking, and so on.

When problems arise regarding these things, how do you deal with it?

Do you have any rituals for "together time", like movie nights, etc?

My boyfriend and I are moving into our own apartment after being together for nearly 6 months. Granted, we have been living together since the two month mark, but with friends also.

So it will be just us in our own apartment as of June 1st!

My boyfriend and I were together for 9 months before we moved in together. Things are pretty much fifty-fifty with us. We just tend to compromise. Like I do the dishes, and he does the laundry, usually. We always use the computer together, hehe, and play games on it. It's not really a ritual though.

Why is age relevant to the question?

Because the older you are the more rational and calm you are with each other?

ha!

No oldsters. Gross!

This is a fervent hope of mine please don't destroy it.

She doesn't have to. Experience should do the job quiet well.

Can someone please ban this age-ist.

who cares?

How friendly!

my name says it all!

Seriously, someone asked a pretty harmless question. Why the hostility?

just teasing

Somebody needs a sense of humor.

Actually the point I wanted to make is that it's probably more conducive to the OPs concerns to have answers from a broad range of perspectives. Older people might have the advantage of experience and know what works best.

The only advice I can give, from my limited co-habitating experience is don't try to cook meals together. The kitchen always seems like the place where the worst fights happen. Of course I'm a food snob, so...

Also a plethora of readily available weaponry in the kitchen.

Is this a myspace chain letter?

Thanks Morgan.

I said under 25 simply because I'm 22 years old.

Mainly, I'm asking for the experiences of those who may be where I am in life; I don't have a high paying job, I have student loans to pay off, and I don't have a lot of relationship experience. Most of my friends are just out of school or almost there, worrying about paying off $40,000 loans. If anything, I think being under 25 and just out of school without the help of Mom and Dad is one of the most stressful times in the first 50 years of a person's life.

Does this have an impact on co-habiting with people?

Such are the questions I'm posing.

The opinions of those who started living with their S/O younger than 25 who are now older than 25 are still valued, of course.

I was just using it as a reference point.

my husband and i moved in together after two and half months of dating. it used to be he pays for a grocery trip then i pay for one, and he paid for the both of us when we go out to dinner (since he made more money). but since we got married and i quit my job he pays for everything. of course now we hav a joint account. i've always done the cooking and he does the dishes after dinner. as far as laundry and cleaning, i have to assign him jobs, otherwise he would NEVER take the initiative. men, you just have to tell them what to do, and if they think its fair, they'll do it.

Well, I'm right at 25, but I feel like throwing my .02 in there.

How long were you together before you moved in together?

About a year. I spent a lot of time over at his place before then, but it didn't happen full time until after I graduated high school. Yeah, we've been together a loooong time.

Do you find that things are more often than not 50/50?

Depends on your idea of 50/50. When I worked, he helped out with the housecleaning stuff. Now that I stay at home, it is my 'job' But we still help each other out. I type up stuff for him at work, and he does laundry and the dishes upon occasion. The important thing is that when you need help, to ask for it. Don't just assume they know what you need. It may be glaringly obvious to you, but not to them.

When problems arise regarding these things, how do you deal with it?

When I was younger, I pouted. He kept silent and tried to take the burden on himself to save me the trouble. Now, we try really really hard to just be up front and say 'I think we need to watch the budget this month, or I would really like a little help around the house, I'm really swamped and feel like I'm getting behind' The most important thing is to bring it up when you aren't angry about it. Instead of throwing his dirty socks that you found under the coffee table at him and screaming IM NOT YOUR FUCKING MOM, PICK UP YOUR SHIT!!!!, wait a few minutes and approach it in as mature a way as possible.

Do you have any rituals for "together time", like movie nights, etc?
Not really. You may actually find it more important to make time apart from each other.

I'm gonna throw in a little advice that doesn't come with a question. If you haven't already, prepare a budget. Make sure that you are both aware of where money is going each month for bills, and that you both sit down together and make the bills out, balance the account together, etc. I made the horrible mistake of letting my husband do all of that alone for a long time, and never knew what a burden it was on him to be the one that always worried about bills.

This is so true. We had roommates when we were first together and it was so much smoother when we got our own place.