Average Relationship Timescale

[admarlow]

I know there is no real answer to this question, but what do people think is the AVERAGE time people are togeather before they,

A) Live togeather

B) Get married?

[kazzee69]

To be honest I think it depends on how old you are and what your financial situation is. Me and my boyfriend have been together 5 years next Feb but only moved in together last March. We just couldn't afford it before (still can't now). But for about a year and a half before March my boyfriend had moved into my parents house with me. But I think if I had had my own place when I met him or visa versa then I we would have been living together alot sooner. My cousin has her own flat and she moved her new boyfriend in within 6 months! I think thats a bit too soon. But then my friend has been with her boyfriend for 6-7 years and she lives with her best friend now but has only just moved out of parents home and she is scared to mention to her boyfriend that she wants to live with him!

[caza72]

personally i think you should live together before you get married, and the sooner the better, as people tend to think as soon as you get married life is going to be a bed of roses and if you havnt lived with them before you might end up hating them. so getting to know someone can be nice if they just stay over for a few nights a week and you still have your space, or you take the plunge long before you name the day for the wedding, my mother said test and try before you buy, and i totally agree with that.

[Englishbird]

3 years is the turning point as an average.  People either move in/get married - or split up.  Purely as an average - doesn't mean you should or will.

[boobesque]

me (25) and my bf (20) moved in togehter after going out with each other for 4 months, people assume we knew eachother for a while first but we met in the january, got together in march and moved in here in june, still together and planning our wedding!

my mum also met and married my stepdad in 6 months and they have been married for 19 years.

if its love you cant put a time on it

[Lindylou]

My 'significant other' and I met and married within six months.  And that was 34 years ago.....

[orange-gnome]

I (24) met my fiance (34) got together about 2 hours later spent a week together (we met on holiday in rome), he then went back to NZ I also came home to England, we e mailed and called each other for 3 months then I went over there and moved in with him. We got engaged 4 months later, 3 years on we are living here together, planning our wedding.
I don't think therer is an average.

[natalie_1982]

I was with my boyfriend for 7 months before we moved in together, I moved in with him at his dad's house as we were saving for a place at the moment.  He asked me to marry him a year after we had been together.  We have now been together for nearly three years and are currenty looking for a place of our own.  I think you should move in with your partner before marriage too, (and with their in laws if poss cos anything after that must be a breeze!)

[Mistopheles]

I lived with my ex for 10 years, engaged for 9, never got round to getting married. Living with my partner for 3 years now, and talking about getting married - maybe next year. Moved in with my ex after about 1 year together, moved in with my current partner about 3 months after meeting.

[mattie]

My (now) wife and I had been living together for 14 years,  before we got married last year, and have a 5 year old daughter.

She wanted to get married, I didn't see the point, but having done it I am pleased that we did.

[smudge]

We met in Sep '63 & married in Sep '64 - so in our case it was just one year! I don't think there is as an average - it's up to the individuals.

Good luck & enjoy the future.

[luckystrike]

We met in 1998, got engaged in 2000, bought our first house and moved in together in 2001, and got married in 2003.

[Otrere]

I was with my ex for 11 years, lived together for 7 years. Never got married, never engaged and no children - thank goodness! Just rented a house together. I'd never have wanted to have got wed or had kids with him.

Met my hubby and bought a house a year later, had a baby a year later and got married a year later.

You're right, there is no real answer to this question.

[Trillipse]

whenever you find yourself losing patience, think really hard. do some internal grinding and stop the natural flow of selfish anger. works a treat for prolonging relationships that would otherwise be needlessly foreshortened.

However. Some should be snipped. So Sod 'em.

 

good luck.

there will be an average, but avoid it...