You say - I am willing to move in with you before marriage because it's important to you. However, you need to understand that if we are not moving toward marriage with a timeline of one year to become engaged (time of the lease) then I will not renew a lease with you and will move out and end our relationship (or whatever your perspective is).
If he tells you he is ok with this..... then the key is.... you stick with your timeline, but don't bring it up again, until it's time to renegotiate the lease. Then, if he asks if you are re-signing you say, not without an engagement. Let him decide if you will renew the lease.
Hmmm, you've been together 1.5 years? Personally, I would move in and just see how it goes! I moved in with my then-boyfriend after 1.5 years and it was great. We didn't have any adjustment issues or growing pains or anything. I wasn't "waiting" so I had no worries about a timeline, but he proposed 1.5 years later and here we are! It was important to us to be together for a while before living together, and live together for a while before getting engaged. I guess if you have different views on that it wouldn't work out so well, but based on my experience I wouldn't put any pressure on it, just enjoy living together!
@RunnerBride13: I was raised to believe that you don't live with a man unless you are married. so living together is a big compromise im making for him. I know my parents will be disappointed if we move in together without further commitment. So to me moving in together would be a big deal. Ive never lived with a boyfriend before and honestly, I never planned on it.
Im 27 and my SO is 36 I know what I want and SO knows this. I don't want to waste what's left of my twenties for somethings thats never going to come and then have to start Over.
@LoveWillLightTheWay: That's totally understandable! I'm 27 and my FI is 37 so I get it. I guess I never questioned whether my relationship was moving forward or that my bf wanted to marry me, so I felt no need to have a serious talk about it. If you aren't sure, then it sounds like you should just be totally honest with him. I think this is the best policy in general!
As someone who was VERY against living together, I have to agree with the previous posters. For my now fiancé, living together first was what made him propose. I met him halfway, agreed to live with him until the lease was up with the agreement that I will not renew the lease without a ring--not even a month to month situation. He proposed four months later :)
Go for it, give it a year, and take comfort knowing you have a very specific timeline in place. That way, you aren't a forever girlfriend! Stick to your guns, and enjoy living with him for awhile. It took me awhile to adjust to my FI's quirks and dividing up chores. Wedding planning is exhausting and stressful enough that I honestly cannot imagine trying to adjust to living together during that time period.
@LoveWillLightTheWay: I let my FI know upfront about wanting to get married. I was 30 when I met him and I knew I wanted to get married sooner then later but by no means was I in a rush. I waited about a year after we started dating before seriously talking about marriage. I essentially told him that I wanted to be engaged within 2 years of dating and married no more than a year after that. I think when you know what you want, you should just be upfront and honest with the other person. That way you will know one way or the other where the other person's head is at. And I wouldn't move in with him without a discussion about an engagement in the near future, why waste your time living with someone who doesn't want that kind of commitment. I think too many women move in with their boyfriends thinking that they will be more likely to commit and propose. That's why you should be upfront about it to him before a lease is signed. My FI and I lived together for a little less than a year before he proposed. So if you know what you want, tell him and it is up to him whether he accepts that or not. 
I just wanted to chime in to say I wouldn't do it. It's obvious you don't want to. I see you moving in feeling bad/guilty about it, that will likely put the stress on him to put a ring on it and that will kill the relationship.
Just my two cents.
@3xaCharm: Great advice.
A quick glance around the Waiting board (and relationship articles) will tell you that moving in together generally does not make it any more likely for your BF to propose and may even make it less likely he will propose since you are already "playing house." If it's important enough to him for you to move in together and getting engaged is equally important to you then you need to have a state of the union discussion before signing that lease. I agree with PP that you should give him a year to propose and then keep your mouth shut about getting engaged/married until it's time to renegotiate the lease. Definitely be prepared to move out at the end of the lease if he still isn't sure about proposing after a year of living together; if he's still not sure by that point then it probably won't ever happen.
@luvmesumhim: Second! @lovelylight99: Ditto!
I know a couple who moved in together on the grounds that they would be engaged soon; and, 6 mos. into living together, they were engaged. As long as you're clear about your needs/wants, I think that living together won't spell doom for the relationship.
For my own relationship, I stood my ground on not living together first. DH has not lived with anyone and thought that it was be in his best interest to see how well we live together. I, on the other hand, have been there and done that. The level of commitment you have to one another is what makes living together work; and, I needed that.
Be clear on what you want and need from him and don't waiver. I agree with other PPs about waiting for about a year and leaving if nothing happens then.
@LoveWillLightTheWay: SO wanted to move in together before marriage and to be honest.. I did too.
We knew we were going to be married though.
However, I still chose to wait until we were engaged before moving in together. It's not exactly marriage, but it's a step closer and it makes me feel a bit better. :)
I think that would be a good compromise for you two.
I agree with @beachbride1216 Moving in together does not ensure an engagment. I know too many people that just got comfortable the way things are and felt no need to take the next step and get married. That being said, living together can work if you simply let your SO know where you stand on living together without being engaged and that getting married is not something you are willing to compromise on. Tell him your thoughts and a timeline and see what he thinks. if you were to move in with him, when would that be happening? Is there a good amount of time to get engaged before hand? If not then I agree with the others, give him a year and see if he proposes. If not, Find a place of your own.
BTW I completely get the whole not living together before marriage. My family did not support my choice to move in with my SO and my mom was very disappointed. Now she realizes why I did it and is okay with it
@luvmesumhim: I agree with this.
OP, I would not move in with him, especially since you still have reservations. I told my FI that I didn't want to move in with him until we were engaged; we ended up moving in together (in his condo) before that but by then we were so comfortable with each other and knew that we were going to get engaged and married soon that I felt 100% comfortable with it. My backup plan was to give him a year and if he didn't propose that I would move out, but soon after I moved in with him it was apparent that I wouldn't need the backup plan.
There are a lot of cohabitation and quality-of-marriage studies out there. The data tends to point to only cohabitating when the commitment has been made (i.e. engagement or close to it).
If he is unable to provide the commitment to you that you need, he shouldn't get the cohabitation he wants.
@LoveWillLightTheWay: I always told myself that I would not live with a man until we were married (just a personal choice of mine, no offense to people who move in sooner), so when SO asked me to move in with him, it was tough. I explained why I felt that way and he respected that. It is something that we discuss every couple of months and in the end, we did compromise. At one point I convinced myself that I wanted to move in together- he's saving for a ring and I thought if he paid half the rent and I paid half the rent, he could afford the ring sooner. I told SO we could move in together, and then my SO told me no! He said I had reasons for not living with him until we were married and he wanted me to be comfortable and he knew it wasn't what I really wanted deep down. And he was right, deep down I didn't want to live with him yet. I don't know if maybe you are in a similar situation.
Our compromise was that we would start living together when we get engaged. To me, that seems more like meeting in the middle than living together with a timeline for engagement.
From your previous posts, it really seems like this isn't something that you really want to do. You talk about feeling like you would lose control of your relationship, that not living together is the only thing you have left. I wouldn't move in with your SO until you are engaged- that seems like enough of a compromise to me and it is something you may be more comfortable doing. If you move in with your SO before you are ready, you may regret it or resent it later. It could work out if he does propose after you move in together, but what if he doesn't? Are you prepared to move in and then move out if he doesn't propose? I know this is a tough situation, *Big Hug*
@Anise: I agree. Glad tut worked out for you.
Most of the studies I read say it hurts the marriage odds
@HeartsandSparkles: I agree 100%. My advice would still be don't do it! But if she does I think wait until she's engaged. That's still tricky though cut still may come off as her pressuring him to propose and an engagement can last indefinitely. So she may not be any better off though it will probably give her better piece of mind.
i've gone dark on weddingbee since my then bf and i broke up about a year ago.
in short, i think living with someone can be a revealing experience.
backstory: ex and i got into our relationship in a not so uncommonly unsung tale of band guy meets waitress girl at quiet restaurant...
without getting into too much detail, back then i just really wanted to be married so as to end 'the game' and move forward with life. (i was 27 and he was 30). i was being tied down a lot by my parents' businesses and dating this rock star guy was my way of rebelling against everything/ my form of escape. i was educated from a presgious institution, had overseas working experience with foreign governments, but upon my repatriation to the US and its stinking ecomony, was forced to take on a waitress facade in our family empire.
red flags were going up left and right, but despite the madness, i just wanted to make my own decisions in life and so rushed forward with trying to get my ex to think/ talk about marriage.
he had no degree, and was shifting back and forth across the poverty line with his day job as a data entry person, leasing a room in his sister's & brother-in-law's rented house, and he was in neither the financial nor psychological/ spiritual position to think about marriage.
our first 3 months of dating was normal enough. then i started spending the night (to my parents' objection of course) but after a month or so of that, ex's sister warned that if the landlord were to know an extra person was living in the house, then they would raise rent. so, i became this dirty little house secret... then we decided to limit staying over to weekends only.
he constantly pushed for me to get my own apartment so then he could stay over and then we'd 'living together' in a more official sense but i'm glad it never got to that. in any case, there was too much going wrong with our relationship and we broke up. (and i got an awesome job offer moving me 400 miles away from home =D)
cut to present day - been living with my now-boyfriend since May 2012 (been best buddies since freshman year of college; roughly 10 years now). he's in my parents' good graces because they've known him since our undergrad days (we lived together junior & senior year) which is a giant plus. and he's financially/ mentally in the marriage scene with timeline before we're both 30 (within 2 years).
I would not move in with him. I am in the same position as far as not wanting to live with a boyfriend, I was raised not to do that and even as a grown woman I can see my parents were right about that. It has become so commonplace in today's society that it just seems like everyone is doing it and that it's no big deal, well it is a big deal and you have reservations about doing that before getting engaged so stick with them in my opinion. Yes, you technically just have a year lease, but how will you feel when the lease is over, you aren't engaged and you are trying to stick with your timeline and all of your belongings are there, utilities in both names, shared debts, property etc. I know engagements can break off but it seems less likely that an engagement would break off vs just a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship.
Nothing wrong with living together if bOth people want to, but I think it's a mistake in this case.
@LoveWillLightTheWay: To be honest I grew up being told by my family that if you move in with a guy he will never marry you.
Then growing up I came to see how stressful it is being newlymarried or engaged and starting off living together so i decided that living together before marriage was a better fit for me.
My SO wasn't sure about moving in before we were engaged but in the end he agreed.
To me it's a way in someways to spread out the excitement is that makes any sense.
I like the idea of living together and experiencing that (trust me it can be hard!) and then taking it a step at a time instead of all together. It's my worst nightmare moving in together and planning a wedding.
I hope this made sense to you!
I think the one year idea is very good! Just move in only if you're sure that you won't nag him about getting engaged everyday and also be firm about your choice. He has a year, it's plenty of time to save money, buy a ring and plan a proposal. Don't extend the time because a month before the lease is over he comes up with -oh but I need to save more money- or -I don't know what ring you like- and convinces you to stay. If he hasn't figured it out in a year just move out. If he is serious about proposing he will.
The bottom line I think is that if a man wants to marry you he will, wether you live together or not.
We talked. I told him I didn't want to be the girl that just lives with her bf forever. He asked if I rather we be married when we moved in. I said yes and explained that I would prefer that but I would move in if it was something he would like. Then he said if I preferred we be married or engaged when we moved in then we shouldn't do it. He didn't want me to do anything I was uncomfortable with. after our conversation he joked around how we could get a place together but each get our own room/floor so we could say we weren't living together.
I honestly don't know what to think. Two days ago we had a whole conversation about how to raise our future Children. Color me confused.
@LoveWillLightTheWay: Don't do it if you really want to be married. Living together is fine for some - older, previous married etc but don't settle for this sort of arrangement if it's not what you really want. If he's not ready for marriage yet you can keep on dating but keep your own place. You don't want to be locked in living with him without the benefits of marriage. You will start to resent him (and yourself) if you do. In the past no one lived together before marriage and everything worked out just fine. He can get to know you in a dating context - keep your own place, your independence and your options open. Don't settle for something that to you would be second best.
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I posted this a while ago.
http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/not-sure-if-im-waiting-asking-for-a-timeline
and this
http://boards.weddingbee.com/topic/got-something-shiny-for-my-birthday
SO and I are talking about moving in. at first I was very opposed to it and my SO couldn't understand why. I texted SO letting him know I was coming around to it Since it was something important to him. I just needed to lay out a few concerns. I told so I always thought I would marry fist then move in. SO is the other way around. Move in first, then marriage.
Tomorrow we are meeting up and having a talk. I'm my message to him I let him know that I didn't want to live with him years on end without knowing if marriage would be on the table. if we moved in and things went bust then we both knew what would happen. But what if things worked. I don't want be his girlfriend forever. I think I was very clear when I told him that I was afraid of moving in together as an alternative to marriage as opposed I a step towards it.
Bees this is where I need your help. How do let my SO know, kindly word, that I want a timeline for engagement after we move in together?