By now you've got a good relationship....otherwise you wouldn't be reading this far. You can your vegan have accepted each other. Your friends and family have accepted that you're dating a vegan. Things, in general are pretty darn peachy.

Then you start wondering if you're ready for the next step....Living Together!

Pretty scary isn't it?

In a word, yes. But not because you are moving in with a vegan. Any time you make a big change like this you will probably be nervous, that's normal...just don't let it scare you away from a good situation.

Now if you are moving in with a vegan there are some issues you need to discuss before you don't renew your current lease. Such as, will there be meat allowed in the 'fridge. If you have spent any time at your vegan's house you probably have avoided laying a slab o' ribs in the fridge. Since this is your house too you may be tempted to mark your territory in such a way.

My advice, don't. Have a discussion about what's acceptable and what isn't. I'm sure that if your vegan is going to live with you they have realized that there is going to be meat in the house, they've accepted it and are ready to move on. Don't flaunt it and move on as well.

Now the second issue still revolves around meat. That is the issue of kitchen items. There are those vegans who will not use anything that has been used on meat. You ate a steak off that last week, ugh!! You kept some bacon in that Tupperware last month, eww!! And so on. There are two roads you can take here. You can have seperate "meat only" items in the kitchen. The down side to this is that it's going to get expensive not to mention crowded in the kitchen if you have to duplicate everything.

Fortunately there is an easier path. When you keep/prepare/cook/serve meat, you wash everything that has/had meat on it. Don't use the same spoon to stir the vegan chili that you are using in the meaty chili. As long as your vegan can appreciate your efforts then this is the way to go. Just be sure not to leave a plate of meat juice in the sink over night.

There is a last issue that I'm not sure what to do about. What if you have a leather couch that you want to move in? That's a toughie, of course any vegan that'll let you keep meat in the fridge just might be flexible on the couch, ask them and let me know what you find out.

Everything else should just be your average ordinary relationship issues...and I'm not gonna get into all that. Once you've sorted out all the meat/leather issues you're on your own.