Lauriebell82 Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 hi guys..question for all of you who are living together. As many of you know, my bf and i are moving into an apartment together (a whole new apt) in May when i graduate. We are beginning to talk about what kind of apartment we would want. My bf suggested a two bedroom apartment, since both of us have a ton of stuff and we would have more room. The other issue is that i have all my furniture from my apartment, so it would be much easier to put my bedroom set in a guest bedroom. But i'm wondering if that would jsut be a waste. 2 bedrooms are more expensive as well. My bf is going to make a lot more than i will, so the more expensive rent would hit me harder then it would him, he knows this as well. I lived with a SO when I was in college, however it was a college 1 bedroom apartment which was already furnished, so we didn't have our own furniture or anything. I'm also in a position where I may have to put some of my furniture in storage because my bf already has tons of furniture to put in an apt. We are going to start looking at apartments soon. But I'm just wondering for all the couples out there if you feel that 1 bedroom apartments are enough for you (space, storage, ect) and for those who live in 2 bedrooms, do you really need all that space?
Star Gazer Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 DEFINITELY get the 2 bedroom. Y'all need SPACE... space for your sh*t so you're not on top of each other, and space for you to "retreat" to for personal time, if only to chat on the phone with a girlfriend or read or book or something. It's worth the extra money, IMO.
allina Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 My bf and I live together in a 2 bedroom apartment and I say that you ABSOLUTELY want a 2 bedroom place. We use one room as our bedroom and one as an office/extra room that holds all our books, a desk and a desk top. I cannot imagine having only one bedroom and having to cram everything in there. Especially with 2 working professionals you'll want a spare room for any work materials and a work space.
Pyro Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 I don't live with my SO as of yet, but the plans are in the works as we speak. Two rooms is definitely a good way to go. Depending on if you have alot of stuff, the extra room will be very useful. We plan on getting a second room and using it as an exercise room.
norajane Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 DEFINITELY get the 2 bedroom. Y'all need SPACE... space for your sh*t so you're not on top of each other, and space for you to "retreat" to for personal time, if only to chat on the phone with a girlfriend or read or book or something. It's worth the extra money, IMO. I agree 1000%! When my ex-fiancee and I lived together, we had 3 bedrooms - he used one for his drafting table and other stuff, while I had my desk and a sitting area. I would have gone insane without it, almost went insane even with it. These days, I live alone and would never get a place without 2 bedrooms. I work from home often and need the office space.
Walk Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 My fiance and I lived in an incredibly small 1 bedroom apartment for a year. Its do-able. We found a two bedroom apartment that's not much higher priced then the one bedrooms around here, and its a good apartment amanzingly enough. We've been here several years. I like having the second bedroom, but since I graduated I haven't used it much, except for storage. Just curious, but why are you giving up your furniture when you move in with him? And will that create any resentment for you if you have to get rid of your stuff in order to live with him? Personally, get an apartment that's affordable enough that one person could cover the rent and bills if needed. Then use the rest of the money to save up for a house. I'd rather be slightly cramped in a 1 bedroom, without the worring if one of you loses your job you'll both be on the streets. But that concern might be caused by the extremely high unemployment in my state. Get an apartment with a washer and dyer in it. I'd trade that over a second bedroom any day of the week.
pajamaman Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 i live by myself in my 3 bedroom house. more space the better.
Walk Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 i live by myself in my 3 bedroom house. more space the better. Do you actually use every room? Or is that more like a status thing for you? Or do you just like having the option available if you did have a need for it?
pajamaman Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 nothing status about it. it is more of an investment and having to show that my hard work is paying off. used to rent and watched my hard earned dollars go to waste. actually, owning a home is very tedious with lots maintenance and yard work. beside my bedroom, i am using one other room as a music room. i like living in my own house. if i don't have to, i rather not live in an apartment at all.
Lyssa Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 I'd definitely go for a 2 bedroom apartment only because I have a lot of things and I'm pretty sure BF has his stuff too - that is if and when we move in together. And also, you can have some alone time in the other room like SGazer suggested.
Author Lauriebell82 Posted February 13, 2008 Author Posted February 13, 2008 Just curious, but why are you giving up your furniture when you move in with him? And will that create any resentment for you if you have to get rid of your stuff in order to live with him? Personally, get an apartment that's affordable enough that one person could cover the rent and bills if needed. Then use the rest of the money to save up for a house. I'd rather be slightly cramped in a 1 bedroom, without the worring if one of you loses your job you'll both be on the streets. But that concern might be caused by the extremely high unemployment in my state. The reason why we are going to use his furniture is because it is much nicer and newer then mine. When my parents moved out of their house a few years ago into a townhouse they gave me left over furniture that would have gone to storage. So all my furniture is old. He has the exact same kitchen table as I do, because I gave it to him to use when my parents moved. And his bed is a queen and mine is a double so we are going to stick my bed in teh guest room along with his desk and computer so it can be kind of like an office/guest room. I'm going to bring some of my furniture like my end table and tv stand, not sure what i'm going to do with my couch and chair yet. I might just end up selling it because they are very old. I don't really mind giving up some of my furniture because his is so much nicer!!! Thanks for the advice everyone, we are def. leaning towards a 2 bedroom even though they are more expensive. It sounds like everyone is saying the extra money is worth it though. We don't know exactly how we are going to split expenses yet, we talked about it a little bit, like splitting the rent, cable, internet, and utilities. How does everyone split their expenses?
maynicholas Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 My old BF & I lived in a 3 bedroom apt. We had our bedroom and then we each had a 'playroom' for our stuff- mine doubled as the guest room. I made more than him so I thought that I should pay more in rent since it was my idea to take the big place (and I got the bigger 'playroom'). It worked out well at the time. It was nice to have a place to go when we each wanted to some space.
lexi29 Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 I dont currently live with anyone but I lived with an ex and you definately want the 2 bedroom apartment! It is nice to have a place to put your extra stuff and also just the space to get away from eachother once in awhile. As far as expenses, it was my exes apartment and he made way more money than I did so he paid rent and I bought groceries and paid some of the utilities. Most of my friends who live together split the rent according to who makes more money (usually the guy does but in one case my female friends makes a lot more than her bf so she pays the majority of the rent and he pitches in and pays other bills.) It is whatever works best for you.
hotgurl Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 I say go with the 2 bedroom. You can use it for a study or a guest bedroom.
blind_otter Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 Shouldn't your expenses be split according to how much you make, rather than just 50/50? Anyways - I also agree that 2 bedrooms is the way to go. It's nice to have a bedroom to hide it when you fight, rather than being forced to sleep on the couch.
melodymatters Posted February 13, 2008 Posted February 13, 2008 As somone who has moved A LOT, big, small, own, rent, w/ a bf, without, I have found that hanging on to old furniture is a waste of space and money if you store it. You are young and upwardly mobile, so don't be afraid to let go of the stuff your parents gave you. I have found gorgeous stuff in craigs list, the newspapers, and even thrift stores, and even new stuff at a "rooms to go" type place is pretty affordable. If you have anything you love, keep that of course. And yeah, more than one person, you need a 2 bdrm for all the reasons people mentioned above. My guess is you will be splitting everything down the middle, so don't agree to a place you can't afford, or satellite, or anything YOU don't want/Can't afford/or can live without.
Author Lauriebell82 Posted February 13, 2008 Author Posted February 13, 2008 Shouldn't your expenses be split according to how much you make, rather than just 50/50? Anyways - I also agree that 2 bedrooms is the way to go. It's nice to have a bedroom to hide it when you fight, rather than being forced to sleep on the couch. Well, I don't mind splitting the rent, mainly because even though he is going to make more than I will, he has a lot more expenses then I do (car payment, student loans, ect.) so actually I will probably have more left over money at the end of the month then he will. And plus we aren't married or anything so I don't have a problem with that. Actually living in an apartment together is going to save us both a ton of money. Now things like groceries and boyfriend will probably pay more for because he eats signficantly more than I do. If it was a really really signficant discrepancy in salary (like right now) then yes I would def. have a problem with splitting the rent 50/50!!!
Author Lauriebell82 Posted February 13, 2008 Author Posted February 13, 2008 As somone who has moved A LOT, big, small, own, rent, w/ a bf, without, I have found that hanging on to old furniture is a waste of space and money if you store it. You are young and upwardly mobile, so don't be afraid to let go of the stuff your parents gave you. I have found gorgeous stuff in craigs list, the newspapers, and even thrift stores, and even new stuff at a "rooms to go" type place is pretty affordable. If you have anything you love, keep that of course. And yeah, more than one person, you need a 2 bdrm for all the reasons people mentioned above. My guess is you will be splitting everything down the middle, so don't agree to a place you can't afford, or satellite, or anything YOU don't want/Can't afford/or can live without. Yeah, my bf and I agreed that we would find a place that is affortable for BOTH of us. I probably won't put any of my things in storage, most likely I will just sell things that won't fit in our apartment.
Recommended Posts