Dear Orlando,

My girlfriend and I have been dating for almost a year. She lost her job in October and had to take a lower paying job and she recently suggested moving in together to save on bills, rent, etc. She’s my girlfriend, and I love her, but I’m not sure I’m ready to do the live in thing yet. What do I do?

Yours,
Like Living Alone for Now

Dear Like Living Alone for Now,

A year is cutting it close in terms of moving in so I can see where you’re coming from. What if you guys move in together and realize you hate each other? However, I think you should take a chance and move in with her and see what happens. If you REALLY love her, you should want to be with her and experience what she’s like in her own space, not just when she gets decked out in strappy dresses and going-out makeup to meet up with you for cocktails. Sharing a space with someone can teach you so much about the complexities of her personality and enrich your relationship immensely. If you never take that leap with someone you’ll never know how deep your connection can be and then you will be alone forever and you will die miserable, a skeleton melting in the sun holding a bottle of tequila. Alternatively, if you do decide to condemn yourself to a life of loneliness and heartache and you still want to live alone, you have to be really tactful about telling her you don’t want to move in together. Say something like “I really want to be with you and live together someday, but I want to make sure we’re ready before we do it.” This will make her like you more and then maybe she will want to have sex with you. And then everyone will be happy, right?

Love,
Orlando