Can someone please tell me why everyone thinks it makes sense to live together before you're married because you're not sure? Aren't you, by choosing to live together, simply getting married without the ceremony? I've known more than a fair few people who have chosen this "half-marriage" option and ALLLL have ended up one of two ways: staying in a relationship way past its expiration date, or spending lots of money together, depending on each other financially then breaking up leaving one or both parties in financial disarray. The girls have the audacity to get mad at the guys for "not committing" when they haven't done so either. Oh, let's commit without really committing. We'll live together to make sure we gel as a couple. Haven't you already assessed your boyfriend/girlfriend's character by this point well enough to know if you want to spend the majority of your time with him or her? Honestly, I understand the financial stability and convenience that comes with sharing expenses with a significant other. I do. It makes perfect sense. What doesn't make sense to me, though, is why this is supposedly superior to retaining your independence before making the "official commitment." Excuse me, I'm not a girl you get to try out like that because you're not sure. Girl's, that's like saying, "Hey man, I'm not really worth sealing the deal over. Feel free to steal my youth and then leave me after 7 years we've spent deciding whether or not we love each other enough to actually be married."

I'm not saying by any stretch that I think people are bad or evil or stupid because they have decided to live together before getting married. I am saying that I think that it's ignorant to say that experiencing someone in this way is somehow the fail-safe for a path otherwise way to risky to take. I wonder if most people are starting their relationship off not with trust, but fear and selfish expectations that the other person will meet their needs.