To think it's expensive being single

[rainyinnovember]

Mortgage / rent is more expensive
Council tax
Entertainment
Bills
Shopping

Or am I missing something

[honkawonka]

You mean cohabiting. Unfortunately just having a boyfriend doesn't help towards the bills.
Being in a relationship is pretty costly imo too.

[GinAndOnIt]

I was thinking about this on my dog walk earlier actually. I was thinking about how I had no savings at all when I was single but in a high paid job, yet now I don't work but I'm in a couple, our savings are loads better.

I think it's because if you're a couple (living together) it's easier to be skint together. And staying in and watching tv is nice, whereas staying in and watching tv on your own when you're single and don't want to be, is a bit depressing, so you spend more money going out. I used to spend a lot more money unnecessarily on my appearance too, to make me confident enough to go out and meet people.

Plus, when you go to say, a wedding, as a couple, you share the gift cost. As a single person it's all on you. Same for travelling costs to visit family.

[Blumkin]

I agree! When I was single I lived in house shares, or rented a 2 bed flat with a friend as one bed flats would have eaten up a huge chunk of my salary and left me with very few pennies for the good stuff in life.

However my shopping bill was cheaper. I lived off a lot of cheese toasties and soup, as it never seemed worth the effort of cooking a proper dinner for me alone.

[rainyinnovember]

You're so right about being skint together being cheap(er).

I hadn't thought about gifts but you're right about that, too.

[Cocklodger]

How is being in a relationship cheaper for any of these things?
For council tax, you get single person discount, for example. I can see how some of these things would be cheaper, but not food/council tax/gas/electric etc.

[Cocklodger]

Unless of course you mean having someone to split the bills with, in which case YANBU. but you could still do that, house share/room mate?

[ilovesooty]

Holidays. Hotel accommodation costs a lot more for someone alone.
And you can hardly ever buy one of those Groupon type deals - they're invariably for couples.

[rainyinnovember]

So true ILS.

And CT discount is 25%. It's still cheaper split 2 ways.

[needsahalo]

How is being in a relationship cheaper for any of these things?
For council tax, you get single person discount, for example. I can see how some of these things would be cheaper, but not food/council tax/gas/electric etc

One wage rather than two? It's not rocket science.

[GinAndOnIt]

My food bill dramatically decreased as well somehow. I think I used to shop every few days for whatever I fancied because I could, but actually it ends up expensive when you buy specific ingredients for set meals all the time.

[Cocklodger]

See second comment(I accounted for that). Difference between living with a partner and having a boyfriend, you can still share with a friend though.

[Washbasket]

YANBU - the single persons tax is so bloody unfair. When I was single was paying 900pm for rent/bills in London to live in an average spareroom flatshare. Now I'm cohabiting it's only 600 quid all in for a lovely one-bed.

And you're right about the entertainment costs - going on dates costs a fortune in itself. Say you go on one tinder date a week, that's easily an extra couple of hundred quid + per month on top of your normal going out with friends budget.

[NuggetofPurestGreen]

When I went to weddings as a single person I only spent half as much on the gift! So that was okay.

Think big thing is sharing a room and not going out as often if you live together. That's what I've found to be cheaper.

[Washbasket]

To the people saying that sharing with a friend gets you the same savings as sharing with a partner - you have to get a two bedroom place with a friend rather than a one bed. Two beds are more expensive.

[Idratherbeaunicorn]

Yup
Lodger - you may get a single person doscount for council tax, but its usually only a saving of 25%, not 50%. The cost of running a house is generally the same if theres one person or two, maybe less water etc, but if you have the heating on, one person doesn't use less heat /light etc than two people.
Also, if you live together, you're more likely to share the cost of bills etc, so a £600 per month mortgage, plus bills etc would be shared between two people rather than being paid by just one person.
Also - the cost of cooking for one is just as expensive as cooking for two or more - you cant always buy just enough for one person, so you either end up eating ready meals or cooking lots that may not get eaten.

[QueenLizIII]

It is cheaper having everything split two ways.

I cant afford mortgage payments on one salary. It is why I still rent and sharing at that.

And yes, why isnt single persons council tax 50% instead of 25%/

[rainyinnovember]

It's easy to say share with a friend but it's not easy in practice is if.

My friends have their own places with children and husbands. Fair enough when you're younger I suppose.

[hungryhippo90]

Rainy in November, you need to take into account costs of being in a relationship.

The meals out, the costs of Birthday presents, costs of anniversary and Christmas present for that certain someone.
Date nights.
It can be just as expensive, if not more so to be in a relationship with someone. In my experience 50/50 doesn't really happen.

In my house, there's a few things that we have that only one side wants.
For example, I have Netflix, I don't want a TV licence or sky, I pay for Netflix which Is about £15 a month
He wants sky, so he pays for that and the TV licence.
He doesn't see the point in having home insurance, I do. So I pay that on my own.

He is in bankruptcy at the moment, so I pay the finance on the car....it's admittedly not so annoying as I've recently told him that I will drive it...and handed him the keys to a 20 year old Honda.
Nonetheless, I now pay two car insurances.

I also pay for cineworld unlimited cards, I wanted one for me, and one for DD. I couldn't leave him out.

These atheist a few instances of when costs aren't split down the middle, and in some cases cost more instead of make living cheaper.

[rainyinnovember]

You don't need to patronise me I'm in a relationship.

It's bizarre at best to take a general point and to twist it round to 'well you could be like me in a relationship with someone who is bankrupt' which is hardly representative of most of the population.

Bills being split down the middle don't really compare to 'date nights with that special someone'

[rumbelina]

Ha ha bullshit - mortgage and bills vs extra birthday presents and cinema tickets? Hahahahahahaha.

[OneFlewOverTheDodosNest]

100% agree OP - my biggest bug bear as a singleton was that buying anything fresh from a standard supermarket meant you were buying quantities for at least two people when you only need it for yourself. Plus the smaller packets (still for 2) were so much more expensive.

I used to make four portions of chilli at once but then trying to squeeze into the freezer was a nightmare, and I didn't really fancy eating it Mon-Thurs!

[butterfliesandzebras]

Cohabiting gets a lot more expensive than being single (or having a roommate) when your partner loses their job and you have to pay their share of everything too :p

But realistically, why wouldn't two people squeezing into a one bed flat or hotel room end up cheaper for each individual than a single person who gets twice the amount of space to themselves

Not sure I agree with all OPs examples either 'entertainments'? Meals out, cinema tickets, drinks at the pub etc are no cheaper for couples.

I also spend double the amount on presents that are from 'us' compared to presents I gave while single. I thought that's what everyone did!

[YelloDraw]

Yup housing costs re cheaper because you can live in a 1 bed flat and split all bills and Netflix and stuff. Cooking is more economical as well - oven on for the same amount of time for 2 people v 1, less waste of fresh ingredients etc.

Not sure anything else is cheaper?

You can go on holidays with friends, or some holidays like exudus let you opt into sharing a room and avoiding a single supplement.

[YelloDraw]

Oh ues as someone else mentioned travel costs - jumping in a taxi home is half price if you are going hoe with your partner. Paying for a car, insurance and patrol etc is half the price if yous hare a car rather than need one each.

[YelloDraw]

2 together rail deals