Pros and Cons of Moving in With Friends

Moving in with your friends and living together with them may seem like the perfect scenario, especially when you just graduated from college. Living with your best pals under one roof can be an exciting prospect, a seemingly fun period to really look forward to.

Undoubtedly, there are numerous advantages of moving in with friends – you’ll be sharing the living expenses and responsibilities with people you know well and can trust. And of course, nothing beats the fun of spending tons of time with your best friends every single day.

In a sense, moving in with friends can feel like a dream come true. However, living with a person 24/7 is very different than spending a few hours every other day with them. Therefore, before you make that important decision, you must be familiar not only with all the great benefits of moving in with your best friends but also with the disadvantages of such a crucial life choice.

So, is moving in with friends a good idea at all?

It depends. Read on to learn the pros and cons of moving in with friends so that you don’t make any haste decisions and end up regretting the move soon after you find yourself sharing the same living space with your buddies.

Pros of moving in with friends

You’ll be having so much fun with your pals and will be sharing with them the monthly expenses at the same time – seriously, what more could you want from life at that transitional stage in your life?

Shared living expenses

Most of the time, it’s easy to see why moving in with friends, or moving in with a friend, is a great idea, especially when you just moved out of your parents’ house for the first time. In such cases, you’re likely to have a limited budget so you won’t be able to rent a place entirely on your own.

However, when the rent, utilities, groceries, and other monthly expenses get shared among one or two friends, then you see the perfect opportunity to start your independent life in a new city – a good start until you can save up enough money or gain the financial freedom to move into a place of your own.

Sharing the living costs with friends will save you hundreds of dollars each month and will make it possible for you to live away from your parents – a brave yet necessary step in a person’s life.

Shared responsibilities

Another benefit of moving in with your friends is the appealing idea of shared responsibilities.

In the best-case scenario, you and your friends will share all the household chores fairly. In other words, peace and harmony in the shared apartment or house can only exist when everyone takes their responsibilities seriously, without any pathetic attempts at shirking.

You and your roommates should work out a weekly housework schedule that states clearly what each person should do on any given day. Not surprisingly, the trickiest part will be the distribution of the cleaning tasks. Remember that you should work together to make the whole living-together idea work, not work against each other.

Mutual trust

One of the best things about moving in with your best friends is the mutual trust among you. The thing is that you won’t be sharing a place with complete strangers who may turn out to be OK or not OK at all – you will be living together with people you know really well and individuals you can trust completely.

You trust your pals and won’t have to be constantly on your guard – on the contrary, you can just relax and enjoy their company without being worried that they may do something despicable – like lying in your face or stealing from you.

When you find yourself among friends, you should feel safe, calm, and comfortable as there are no serious risks involved in your life together as roommates.

Somebody to rely on

Living with your best friend, or friends, means you’ll seldom get really bored or extremely lonely as you’ll have somebody you can trust by your side.

But that’s not all – being with somebody you can rely on in difficult situations can sometimes mean the world. So, it’s never only the friendly company that matters, it’s also about the moral support you’ll get when moving in with people you know well enough to call your friends.

Being yourself

One positive aspect of living with your best friends is that you can be who you really are without having to pretend to be a person that you’re not.

You and your pals know each other well, so you don’t really need to worry that they may see a different side of you. You can’t always be cheerful, smiling, and happy all the time – sometimes you’ll be upset, sad, and miserable and that’s OK. Your best friends won’t try to judge you – instead, they will know you’re having a bad day and try to help you with whatever they can.

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Cons of moving in with friends

Moving in with best friends does sound like a dream come true… but things will very rarely be rosy throughout the spell of living together in an apartment or a house. Fights are never out of the question and sharing one and the same living space could potentially strain your friendship, as incredulous as it may sound.

Here are some disadvantages of moving in with friends:

Lack of privacy

You love the idea of spending as much time with your pals as possible – after all, it’s a lot of fun just hanging around, talking, sharing a meal, watching movies together, playing games, and so on.

But in reality, nobody can be in high spirits all the time and there will be times when you just want to be left alone with your own thoughts. However, during such lows, you may not be able to get the alone time that you need so much simply because your pals will be around, possibly trying to cheer you up in the wrong moment.

When moving in with your best friends, the lack of privacy in specific bad moments can be viewed as a disadvantage. Everyone needs their personal space from time to time, right?

Occasional awkwardness

One of the most important things to remember is that spending a few fun-filled hours a day with your pals will be different than living with them 24/7. Living with your friends will enable you to get to know them much better and it’s possible that you may not like what you see and get disappointed as a result.

Occasional uncomfortable and awkward situations are likely to occur during your time together – for example, when one of your friends invites their friends. And if their romantic partner is visiting, things could get really awkward in a hurry.

Chance to ruin the friendship

As mentioned above, moving in with your friends will help you to see them for who they really are and you may not like the result. Disagreements over small things or even fights over more serious issues may happen from time to time, which in the long run could jeopardize your friendship.

Often, it’s the little things that tend to be the most problematic – like somebody eating somebody else’s leftover pizza, or somebody simply forgetting that it’s their turn to clean up the bathroom.

And if nobody does anything to fix those seemingly small issues, then the dream of moving in with a friend could quickly become a nightmare.

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Questions to ask before moving in with a friend

Before moving in with friends, it’s very important that you find the time to discuss at length several important issues that always prove to be critical when living together under one roof.

Here are the most important things to discuss before deciding to move in with friends:

Budget. It’s not easy to talk about money with friends, but it’s something that you just have to do if you want things to go smoothly. Compare your budgets and talk about your spending habits. Determine how you’re splitting the monthly expenses (it should be fair for everyone) and what measures you will take if any of you starts to experience financial difficulties.
Cleaning. Of all household chores, cleaning has to be the one that everyone hates to do. And that’s why it’s crucial that you set a cleaning calendar and establish cleaning standards for your shared home. Try to come up with a chores distribution system that works well for everyone.

Sharing food. Food is an important topic to discuss when moving in with a friend. Talk about how you will manage the food – will you be doing the grocery shopping together or separately? Will you be sharing all the food or just common items such as the cooking oil?

Sharing stuff. Some people are very touchy when somebody else touches their own things, so make sure you understand where each person’s limits are. To maintain harmony, establish a rule that nobody should borrow anything from the other one without asking for their permission first. Sharing clothes and accessories may or may not work well, so talk about it first.
Shared spaces. Before you move in with your friends, discuss how you’ll decorate the shared spaces. What type of furniture does anyone own and will it fit and match the shared spaces of the apartment or house? Does anyone have any cool artwork pieces that can be used for decorating the living room?
Guest policy. It’s important to talk about the guest policy and establish rules that will make everyone comfortable whenever someone decides to invite over their friends. Who can visit? How long can they stay? Is an advance notice necessary? See how each one feels about organized parties and all the consequences of such planned events in the shared living space.
Problems. When moving in with your best friends, you just have to promise each other to speak up when there’s a problem as opposed to ignoring it until it becomes a serious issue that has the potential to affect seriously your friendship and your future plans to live together as roommates.

Moving in with friends sounds like a great idea with tons of benefits for everyone. Hopefully, it won’t only sound like a splendid idea, it will be just that. However, you still have to be extra careful since living with friends won’t be all sunshine and rainbows.

And if it happens so that your future roommates are suddenly too busy to help you move (what a great start to your mutual life together, eh?), then don’t hesitate to hire professionals to give you a hand when you need it the most.

Get a free quote from top-rate movers in your area and pick the offer that fits your budget and satisfies your needs.

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