Are cohabitating couples really happier overall than their married peers?
The Journal of Marriage and Family recently conducted a study which found that there are few advantages for married couples as far as psychological well-being, health or social ties, compared with unmarried couples living together. The study shows that while there are great benefits to marriage and cohabitation over the single life, these benefits weaken as couples depart the "honeymoon period."
I'm engaged to a man I have been living with for the past four years, and we're doing just fine.
After reading a recent study in Glamour which reexamined the long-propagated myth that couples who live together before marriage have a higher chance of divorce, I felt ridiculously triumphant, wagging my finger in a self-aggrandizing "I told you so" to society at large.
From sub-leasing to meeting the condo board, relationships and real estate have a lot in common.
In 2005, I briefly worked as a real estate agent in New York City, renting downtown luxury apartments to European pioneers, entitled college grads from Long Island, and investment bankers with trophy wives. The job, which I took merely as a means to support myself while pursuing more "noble" efforts as a rock musician, was truly f'ing miserable.
"Why should he buy the cow if he can get the milk for free?" doesn't exactly fly anymore.
Have you ever had your parent or grandparent say something like, "Why should he buy the cow when he can get the milk for free?" It's so dehumanizing and silly, but of course they mean well, and you can't completely blame them — that was just their mentality growing up. Moving in together before you were Mr. and Mrs. just didn't happen. Now, it's practically all that happens. And guess what? Turns out, it's not hurting all of us "cows!"
How you can make a smooth transition to moving in and living with your man.
The idea of wrapping your dishes in newspaper and watching your living room drown in a sea of bubble wrap has never been more exciting. You and your man finally took the plunge, signed on the dotted line, and picked up two sets of keys. After ages of trying to squeeze your entire wardrobe into one tiny drawer at his pad, the time has come to merge your most prized possessions into a new place. While it's doubtful your grandmother's china will coordinate with his college beer mug collection, here are five tips to get through the adjustment period and make it "home sweet home".
Breaking up isn't necessarily easier for unmarried cohabiting couples.
Cohabiting is often thought of as a test of sorts—a chance to see if a relationship will work long-term before deciding to walk down the aisle. But even if a couple chooses not to take the plunge, entering Splitsville isn't any easier. Cohabiting breakups echo with that tough little d-word.
How can she tell her boyfriend's parents that she doesn't want their cast-off couch?
Once you're sure you and your boyfriend are on the same page, let your boyfriend give his parents a list of items you've agreed to keep and a list you'd like for his parents to get rid of before you move in. For your part, you can send them a thank you note a month or so before you move in sincerely thanking them for the items you and your boyfriend have decided to keep.
How well do you really know this guy or girl you are about to marry. If you haven't asked these three questions, not as well as you need to. 20% of marriages end in the first 5 years, not because people fall out of love, but because they aren't asking deep enough questions to be sure who they are marrying will be a great partner for THEIR life. These 3 questions, will take you deeper, without scaring your beloved away!
Eddie and his boys move into LeAnn's house to save money.
Eddie Cibrian and his two sons are moving in with Eddie's girlfriend of two years, LeAnn Rimes, allegedly to save money since Eddie got laid off from CSI: Miami last month.
For some couples, moving in together only makes them want to move out again.
Over the weekend, my husband and I moved from our cramped, rundown, one-bedroom apartment near crowded Times Square in Manhattan, to a spacious, gut-rehabbed, state-of-the-art two-bedroom brownstone on a quiet, tree-lined street in Brooklyn. It was a long time coming, and in the weeks leading up to the move—the very first move Drew and I have ever made together—I wondered if we'd even make it to our first wedding anniversary next month. Few things in life challenge a relationship quite like moving does, but I'm happy to report we survived the hurdle.
Reese is ready to shack up with her Jake replacement.
Reese Witherspoon and her boyfriend of four months, agent Jim Toth, are ready to live together, according to an Us Weekly source. The source says Reese and Jim are "talking about moving in together" because they "don't want to spend any time apart." Oh. Well then. That means wedding bells, obvs.
