Fixing Your Living Arrangements As Newlyweds

Starting out in life is always exciting. However, after the wedding, it’s crucial to focus on the practical aspects and make significant progress.  Fortunately, this post can help. It explores how you can fix your living arrangements, even if you live in a place where housing is less affordable than you’d like. 

Talk About What You Want From Your New Home

The first place to start is to talk about what you and your partner want from your new home. Collaborating on this is always the best policy. At the very least, you want to think about if you’ll be urban, suburban, or rural. You also want to figure out if you’re renting or buying.  If you’re any of these things, always use an estate agency. Informal agreements with vendors are never a good idea. 

Declutter First

Next, you’ll want to declutter your existing households before combining them. Two people’s junk is usually worse than one person’s! Don’t bring two versions of everything with you. This approach will just annoy you. (Who the heck needs two dining tables?) 

Instead, determine which possessions you plan to bring and which you intend to sell or discard. If you can be strategic, that can also help. For instance, if you both have new blenders, you could keep one as a backup.

Discuss Your Budget

Next up, you’ll want to discuss your budget. Please consider how you might allocate everything. 

Healthy couples just share their money when they live in the same household. However, you could come up with other approaches, like spending what’s proportional to income.  Ultimately, you want to ensure that you have the work and finances you need to pay for the mortgage, rent, insurance, and upkeep. These items can be costly, so always double-check that you have the income to cover the expense, based on your lifestyle. 

Most mortgage lenders will guide you through the process, asking about your income. However, you will also need to consider separately whether you can afford the house you want, based on the other things you’d like to include.

Choose A Space That Fits You

You should also choose a space that fits you both, like a home office or a cosy reading nook. Don’t be afraid to compromise, as you might both want different things. 

Partners often have quite different requirements from homes, so that is always worth bearing in mind. One person shouldn’t feel like they are unnecessarily sacrificing for the other.  Fortunately, builders construct the majority of properties with two or more people in mind. That means that you’re much more likely than you think to find something that meets both your requirements. 

If you’re struggling, come up with lists of things you both want and then only look for properties offering them. For example, you might want a shed, dressing room, downstairs bathroom, and a garage. 

Merge Your Styles

This next point is a little more complicated. The idea is to merge your styles when you move into a new home so that neither person feels overwhelmed by the new interior décor.  The best way to do this is to take a few items from each of your current lodgings. This tactic means that each person has points of familiarity and doesn’t feel overwhelmed by the other. 

Choosing shared pieces with a neutral background is a prudent approach. Then, once you get used to living together over the course of your married life, you can experiment more. 

Figure Out Personal Space

Of course, while you’re in this process, you also want to think about how you’ll manage your personal space. If you’re both extraverts, this part won’t matter as much. However, introverts always need time alone. 

Therefore, look for properties that allow you to carve out areas you could use. These include attics, basements, garden rooms, outbuildings, and home gyms. Even gaming spaces can be ideal for alone time.  As you live in the property, you’ll find that these spaces bring all kinds of benefits. You may feel more harmonious and less tense and enjoy the time you spend with your spouse in the kitchen or living areas more. 

Establish Household Roles Early

Another pro tip when fixing up your accommodation arrangements is to choose household roles early. You want to know who is responsible for what. 

If you’re a laid-back couple, then this part doesn’t matter as much. However, if you’re maintaining accountability, you’ll need to divide responsibilities.  For example, you could have one person do the cooking and the other process the bills and yard work. You could also have someone who does the vacuuming and the other person who cleans the toilets. 

When you set things up like this, you make resentment far less likely. Plus, you get to live in a nice, clean, and organised house. 

Update Legal And Financial Details

During a move, you will also need to update your legal and financial details. For example, if you’re both renting, you’ll want to ensure that both your names are on the lease. You’ll also want to update your address for your driving licence and other documentation. 

Add Something Personal

If you can add personal items from your wedding Photos, artwork and mementos play a critical role in helping you both settle into your new lives.  During this process, be patient and flexible. Usually, you won’t have everything figured out in the first week, as it is something that takes time. 

If you can communicate openly about your challenges and laugh them off, then that’s always helpful. Being generous to each other makes it less likely conflict will emerge or something will go wrong with your finances. Remember to take it slow; it’s not a race.