You spend a bulk of your time with your significant other. He or she is the best part of your week, and you guys just get along so well. You've been on trips together, you spend multiple days in a row together, and maybe you already kind of live together: he or she has clothes at your place, you conveniently have your own toothbrush, etc. While those things are great for building a relationship and getting to know each other, nothing compares to completely, 100% moving in together and sharing a space. One room, one bed, two people and two peoples' things. Scary, right?

Now, I don't really scare easily (except for confrontation and spiders), but the decision to move in with my boyfriend was still something I had to think about. I've never thought about moving in with a boyfriend in the past, so it was kind of a big deal when I realized I wanted to. Some of the things I thought about were: who's furniture would we use? Would all of our stuff even fit? Could we survive seeing each other even more than we do now?

With all these thoughts circling my brain, I did what I always do when I can't make up my mind. I asked a few friends about it. One of my closest friends, who's been living with his girlfriend for a few years told me to just ask my boyfriend about it. Then, he asked me, "Do you trust him?" I answered, yes, of course. "Well then, you guys will be fine." I realized that a lot of my concerns about moving in were small things that we could get past and figure out, and the real question was, Am I ready to take this next step with this person?

Yet, there's still a big debate of whether or not people should move in together while they are just dating and not married. I'm not really sure what the other side argues besides the fact that two people can move in together and end up breaking up, making it really awkward and resulting in someone having to move out. My boyfriend's mom's concern stemmed around us being in school and not being able to prioritize school before each other. I completely understood her reasoning when she talked to me about it. So far, we've done a pretty good job at prioritizing, and I'm happy to say we are great! There have been a few disagreements and small spats here and there, but overall, it was the best decision I've ever made.

Every couple is different, but here are my reasons as to why a couple should move in together when they are ready:

You save a lot of gas and time. Usually, moving in together means saving gas and time driving to see each other. It makes a HUGE difference. It's an added bonus too if the place you guys move into is close to both peoples' work, school, friends and family.

You also save a lot of money, especially by doing groceries. Sometimes, when you drive to go see your boyfriend or girlfriend, you're already so tired that you end up just wanting to eat out or grab some food on the go. Living together gives you the opportunity to do all your groceries together, eat healthier, and learn to cook more!

You break bad habits and learn how to function healthily with another person. Most people get married or decide they want to spend their life with someone, and you can't really do that if you don't function well sharing a space with them, especially if you have a few bad habits. It's nothing to be ashamed of; everyone has little things they do that are annoying to others. My boyfriend leaves his wet towel on the floor 85% of the time, and apparently, I'm really bad at replacing the toilet paper roll. Living with your significant other gives each other the opportunity to call each other out on little things like that, which ultimately helps you become a better person.

You really get to know this person. You may think you know someone, but have you ever lived with them? In the time you live with someone, you figure out whether or not you ever want to live with them again. My thought is that i's a little too late to realize you can't stand living with someone when you've already married them.

You learn about growing up and become an adult. My final reason is going to be the whole growing up and learning how to adult spiel. We're both 22 years old, turning 23 in a couple months. We're technically adults, but in a way, we're still babies. There are so many things we don't know yet, and I think that moving in together will make us more knowledgable. We'll learn things form each other just by being in the same space. We'll make decisions we've never had to make before, at least not with another person. Most importantly, we'll learn compromise, teamwork and respect.