(TheLoop21) — Recession Roommates isn’t about maintaining virtue but making dollars and sense.  In late 2010, 29-year-old Virginia resident Tamaira Ogden looked at the rising cost of, well, everything, and decided a change was in the cards.  She sat down with her boyfriend of two years, Maurice, and together they looked at their finances. He was paying $1,100/month rent at his place; she was paying $1,400 at hers. Add in groceries, utilities, and household purchases, and they realized they were both just barely making ends meet.  Feeling confident about their relationship, they talked about marriage and plan to get married in 2012. In the meantime, they decided to move in together, opening a joint account a month later to begin to pay down debt.