Tips for Moving in Together After Marriage

Finding a soulmate to love unconditionally, having a pleasurable romantic relationship with them, and then tying the knot with that same person can be easily classified as one of the best things that can happen in your life.

Yes, the future looks brighter than ever just because you know that you’re going to be truly happy while living together with your spouse.

And yet, life isn’t all beer and Skittles, and there are numerous things to consider before moving in together after marriage.

There are so many questions to ask yourself, fears to be faced, expectations to be met, issues to be resolved, challenges to be overcome, doubts to be dealt with and anxiety and stress to be taken care of before and shortly after you move in together with your partner so that you can finally begin to enjoy your new exciting life.

Here’s what questions to ask before moving in together after marriage:

Where Will You Live?

One of the most important questions that you and your spouse need to answer unanimously is where you will live.

It’s inevitable – sooner or later you will have different opinions and disagreements about certain issues. Sometimes what you want and what your loved one wants will be two different things. And at such times, how you go about resolving such issues will be crucial for the strength of your union.

Thus said, the first such testing situation may come up while you’re trying to decide where and how you want to live.

Depending on the status of your unified family budget, your set lifestyles, and your personal preferences, it’s important to figure out whether you will feel more comfortable living in a house or an apartment, and whether you will ultimately buy or rent the property.

There are pros and cons to each choice, of course, so you need to weigh your available options really carefully.

If you don’t have a child yet, take the foreseeable future into account and think about how things will change once your son or daughter enters your happy world.

If your family budget is tight, then consider the best and most affordable option under the circumstances – one of you moving in with the other.

This strategic move will surely save money, time, and effort, but it may not work out in your specific case due to its possible side effects. It may take years before the person moving in could feel comfortable again, and not a guest in a strange place, while the other partner might feel as if their personal space was invaded.  

Either way, it’s best if you have a lengthy and honest discussion with each other, talking about your fears, doubts, and worries about your future family home. Throw in your current financial situation and the right path to take will soon reveal itself.

If you do decide to get a place of your own, will the home be in the same city or would you rather move to and live in another part of the country?

There are a number of factors to consider before you reach the best decision for both of you, the 3 major ones being:

• Job opportunities: advancing your current careers or eyeing realistic prospects for new and promising jobs in a new city can and often will end up being the deal-maker or the deal-breaker;
• Property prices: even if your finances forced you to narrow down your property choices, your family budget will probably improve with time, and then, after a few years’ time, you could consider a move to a bigger and better house or apartment;
• Proximity to family and friends: despite the fact that your future together may seem brighter in another part of the country, you or your spouse may not be ready to leave behind dear family members and good friends. Thanks to modern technological advancements, the world has shrunk and you can still keep in touch with your loved ones, but it’s just not the same, is it?

Regardless of your informed decision to either let your roots go deeper in your hometown or transplant them in a new city, you’re going to need to prepare for and survive a residential move.

And after the overwhelmingly joyous emotions that your wedding had left in you, the last thing you would want to go through is a chaotic and tense relocation to your new residence.

A stress-free move into your new home would surely come as a big plus, wouldn’t it?

How Will You Move Into Your New Home?

Another thing you should know before moving in together after marriage is how exactly you will move into your new house or apartment.

Your safest bet for a smooth and trouble-free moving experience is to let a reliable removal company handle the most difficult relocation stages for you.

In the same way you are an expert in your professional area, professional removers have considerable expertise in handling residential moves.

Most removal companies are really good at what they do – the experience they have gained through the years and the speed and safety with which they pack, lift, carry, load, unload and unpack household goods is something that will relieve the stress of moving in together and give you the required time and welcoming peace of mind to deal with other immediate and urgent tasks.

What, Which And Whose Household Possessions Will You Take?

Our tips for moving in together after marriage continue with some useful pointers on one of the most urgent tasks you need to take care of before the actual relocation.

By now, your focus must have shifted from your memorable wedding ceremony to the much more mundane chores of everyday life, like planning and organizing a move to your new mutual residence, for example.

First and foremost, you’re going to have to figure out what to do with your and your significant other’s possessions.

Having lived as independent individuals before you met, each of you must have accumulated all the essentials needed for comfortable living – furniture pieces and other furnishings, kitchen appliances, utensils, etc.

The problem? You won’t have enough space in your new home for duplicate household items, and chances are that you probably won’t need two of everything either.

Will you really need two functional washing machines or two large dining tables in your place?

Therefore, the solution is to go through your accumulated stuff together and sort it out carefully.

The sorting process itself will probably be painfully slow but it must be done at all costs. Besides, this is the perfect time to demonstrate how efficiently you both work as a team.

Some sorting decisions will be relatively easy (old problematic fridge vs. brand new fridge) while others will truly test your decision-making abilities (family heirlooms of relatively equal monetary and sentimental value).

Be ready to make reasonable compromises, and respect and accept your spouse’s emotional attachment to a specific item just as they should be willing to do the same for you.

In order to prevent any highly undesirable escalations in materialistic trivialities, discuss things openly with your significant other and explain calmly why you insist on keeping whatever it is that you want to keep.

After you have finished sorting all your possessions, you will have a few good options for getting rid of the stuff you have decided to leave behind.

Give away some of your duplicate or unwanted items to friends or family members who happen to want and need them, give some or all your no longer-needed possessions to charity or give your moving budget a financial boost by selling them.

Here’s what more to talk about when moving in together after marriage.

How Will You Manage The Family Budget?

Smart family budget management is the key to moving in together.

Make sure you talk about how your shared budget will be handled before the bills start piling up. It’s time for you to realize that the rules of the game have changed and now you must adjust accordingly.

Have in mind that blatant mismanagement of your joint finances when moving in together after marriage could really hurt your relationship and change it for the worse.

Recently moved-in newlyweds fighting over money is not an uncommon sight, so take the necessary precautionary steps to avoid unpleasant situations.

Besides the obvious financial issues that await you (paying up your moving debts, assessing the current financial situation, opening new bank accounts if you moved to a new city, and so on), decide which one of you will bear the burden of managing the family finances (the person who’s more thrifty, of course!).

Ideally, you’ll both share the financial burden and keep your shared family budget from going into the red.

How Will You Keep The Peace in Your Home?

One of the reasons for unhappiness after moving in together can be directly contributed to the failure to keep the peace in your post-marriage home. And this is the right time to remind you of the best family peacemaking technique ever invented – compromising.

Knowing how to compromise will do wonders, especially in tense situations.

It’s the selfless ability to put yourself in the other person’s position, to view things from their point of view, and be ultimately willing to give up something you hold dear or deem important (an idea, belief, or possession) in order to keep the loved one happy and satisfied.

However, compromising alone won’t make much sense if you fail to distribute the household chores and share each of your responsibilities in general in a fair and sensible fashion.

Also, everyone wants some private moments from time to time, so be mindful of that fact and do your best not to invade your spouse’s personal space when they need it the most.

Top 5 Moving Advice For Couples Moving In Together After Marriage

Finally, we offer you 5 carefully selected tips on moving in together after getting married.

1. Learn in advance how much your relocation will cost you by getting an accurate moving cost estimate;
2. Start the moving preparations as soon as humanly possible to keep the notorious moving stress at bay. Also, in order to best organize your pre-move time, create a moving calendar, populate it with prioritized tasks, and keep your relocation progress in check;
3. You just have to keep the communication channel open and remember that almost all marital discords can be resolved through frequent discussions and honest conversations;
4. Show your best patience and understanding as unpacking and the consequent home arrangement process could bring about a dangerous wave of differences in opinions and tastes;
5. Last but surely not least, never forget the three “C”s of blessed marriage: communicate, compromise, and collaborate.