My boyfriend and I have been together for seven and a half years and we’ve been living together for just over five years.

We met when I was a freshman at UCF and he was a sophomore. A couple of months after we met and unofficially started dating he transfered from UCF to FAU in south Florida (where he is originally from). For those of you not from Florida, there’s a 3 hour drive between the two schools. We would talk all day and all night via email, AIM (Skype wasn’t a thing then) and phone – and almost every weekend once of us would make the drive to see the other one.

We made the long distrance thing work but it was hard, so a year later I also transferred down to FIU also in south Florida. For a year I lived in the dorms with my best friend while he lived in a sweet two bedroom condo all by himself (his dad owned it and let him stay there). As you can imagine, I spent at least three nights at week at the condo with him to escape my tiny dorm room. After a year of that my friend became an RA and I officially moved in to the condo.

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You and your boyfriend have been discussing moving into together, and you’re probably excited beyond words. Before signing a lease and renting a moving truck ask yourself these questions:

Have you had the money talk?

Some say money is the root of all problems, and I would agree to some extent. Before you and your boyfriend move in together make sure you discuss these questions:

Have you and your boyfriend talked about shared finances yet?

• Do both of you have a good credit score? If one or both of you don’t, what will you do to improve it?
• If one of you does not have a good credit score, is the other one comfortable putting bills in his/her name alone if necessary?
• Do you both make the same amount of money? If not, will one of you be paying more than 1/2 of all bills? Are both of you comfortable with this arrangement? (Be sure there is absolutely no resentment – which can sometimes hide only to rear it’s ugly head in the middle of an argument).
• Will you open a joint bank account or keep separate accounts? If you will keep separate accounts who will be responsible for which bills?

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You and your boyfriend have talked (maybe even pillow talked) about moving in together. The thought has been hanging around for a while: it’s time to take this relationship to the next level.

Moving in together is exciting but requires preparation.

Just as an FYI, if the idea hasn’t been hanging around for a while because you just started dating… stop thinking about moving in together. Give the relationship time to grow. Once you sign a lease, you’re pretty legally committed to seeing this thing through.

Okay, so assuming you’re really ready to hit the next level of commitment. Here’s what you need to know to prepare:

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