I (25F) am debating moving out after living with partner (26M) of 5 years

Hi Reddit! Apologies in advance, it's a bit of a long one. Hoping my partner does not see this, as he is on Reddit but not this thread I think.

I (25F) have been living with my partner (26M) for about two years now. We have been together for 5 years since I was 19, through COVID, college, and after graduation. During that time we saw each other often, a week or two at a time during COVID (I had on-campus dorm during pandemic) and at least every weekend after uni was hybrid/in person. After college I moved home to live with my family for a few months while job hunting, and luckily landed a job in his city (we were ~500miles apart)! I moved in with his family for a few months and then we moved into our current apartment (2B1B), which his sister previously lived in and parents also own. Because of this, they've helped me out quite a bit financially with lowering rent so that it's more affordable for me. I have been presented with an opportunity to move out and live with a friend for a six-month period, and I'm considering it.

A bit about my partner: He's a great guy and takes care of himself, does all the necessary chores, but the living conditions make it a bit harder to be as organized as I'd prefer. In my opinion he used to be more independent but after moving in together I feel like he has become a little co-dependent. He likes to include me in his interests and hobbies, which I do participate in and enjoy, just not all of them, all the time. We plan and do mostly everything else together, so we've seen and heard one another at our best and worst. We're one of those 'when it's good it's great, when it's bad it's bad' couples (never physical! that is not ok). We used to fight more, but the last half year has been better. I'm not a fan of the way he argues, it's very much me vs. him rather than us vs. the situation, which I've mentioned to him but he's not convinced.

There are three main factors I'm considering when making this decision: dependency/independency, living conditions, and financial costs.

  1. When we first met and while I was in college I was much more creative and had more life to me. Since getting my job and moving in together, I've found myself feeling less and less confident in who I am. I come home from work and find myself in the same routine of sitting together on the couch, browsing his Youtube, ordering dinner, and then we go to sleep. I find that I struggle with getting myself out of the apartment to do things on my own, especially if he's there and doesn't want to go with me (moreso about hobbies and activities, not getting groceries and running errands). Now that in itself is my own problem and something I need to work on. I know this and he knows this, and has tried to help in the past, although his way of helping is just telling me "then go do it." We've spoken about it in the past and he has said that he will try to be out of the house more often as well (we go to work around the same time, he's always home before me), but that hasn't happened. I also feel like I am too dependent on having him to fall back on when I come up short, like slacking on chores. Overall I just feel like I need to learn to care for myself independently, instead of building my habits around our keeping our relationship at peace.
  2. The apartment we currently reside in is owned by his parents, and we have had previous issues where, when we would fight, he would tell me to move out. One time he was in the middle of kicking me out and his parents came and gave him a stern lecture. Since then he's learned not to force me out, but has asked "so when are you going to move out" in response to anger. This used to happen frequently, at least once a month, but the last 6 months have been smooth and he has not said that in repsonse to our fights. I can't help but still have resonating feelings about this, as he just brushes it off and claims he's learned. Aside from this, the apartment itself is in a great location, but the conditions are alright I guess...We share a small bathroom that has plumbing issues and poor ventilation, there is a lot of clutter we inherited from his sister's previous residency (some stuff we never use and I want to toss but he thinks it could be useful one day), there is one communal washer/dryer set and it is shared among the whole floor (and it constantly breaks), there is a gym which is nice but someone spread HFMD through there. and the ceilings are low and the lighting is poor. I casually voiced a few of these concerns to him and he called me ungrateful so now I just deal with it. He doesn't want to move until the place is paid off. The place I would move into has a large bathroom, in unit washer/dryer, high ceilings and a good amount of light. The amenities are nice as well. However the location is not as great as my current apartment and I'll likely have to deal with a little bit more traffic (although not unreasonable, just 10-15min away from him).
  3. Financially, moving into the new place would cost about 1.3x my current rent, which I can afford, but it'll be a liiiiittle tight. However, I am spending more than I would like to on eating out and ordering in all the time. I would prefer to learn some simple recipes to cook and cut down on takeout costs. He would also be paying more to cover my portion but he makes good money to afford it.

I've also come to the possibility of giving separate rooms a try. He feels hurt and betrayed, and that this is selfish and unfair to him, which is understandable and I can empathize with that. I do feel guilty for only giving a bit over a months notice. If we separated the rooms, I would also ask for drastic differences in living and organization, and I would push for couples therapy. We are also both living room people so my only worry is that a similar environment will make it easier to fall back into the same habits. If this does not work out then I can move out.

Am I rushing into this decision or overthinking this? Shall I give the separate rooms things a shot first before completely moving out? Why does it feel like I'm betraying myself if I stay? Anyone with similar thoughts or experiences?

TLDR: Thinking about moving out after living with my partner for 2 years

Posted Apr 1, 2026, 8:30 PM UTC

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