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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

If money was no object, would you live alone?

215 replies

SantiagoShaming · 18/12/2025 16:34

I love DP, but I also always loved living alone. We ended up living together because it makes economic sense, but having had this debate with a few female friends recently, almost all of us said we would actually prefer living alone and having two homes if money wasn’t an issue—even the married ones!

Plenty of research exists to show men are better off when living with women and women don’t benefit in the same way by living with men. Just interested in opinions. For me, it’s mostly about knowing the place will be beautiful, quiet, tidy, clean and that I can be alone if I want.

OP posts:
Holluschickie · 18/12/2025 17:38

GalaxyJam · 18/12/2025 17:37

I definitely don’t love my parents enough to live with them 😁

Oh me neither! Though I would like to have a granny flat for my mum or move her next to me.
My ideal setup would be to have me, DH, 2 DC and mum living next to each other on the same street.

blackrabbitwhiterabbit · 18/12/2025 17:37

Hell yes

GalaxyJam · 18/12/2025 17:37

Holluschickie · 18/12/2025 17:31

In my culture people who don't want to live with their parents are considered to not love their parents enough .😀
It's just my opinion.

I definitely don’t love my parents enough to live with them 😁

BumpyaDaisyevna · 18/12/2025 17:36

No way. Recently I spent 3 days alone in the house for the first time in probably 25 years. The first couple of days were great, I did whatever I wanted, but after that it got lonely and depressing without DH and the teens.

sammylady37 · 18/12/2025 17:34

I’ve lived alone since I was 21, am now 46. I will never live with someone. I love living on my own, having my own space all the time, the house being quiet & peaceful, as I left it when I return home, and not having to interact with anyone unless I choose to. I’d hate the idea of coming home after work and having to engage with others the minute I came in the door.

epicpaydat · 18/12/2025 17:32

Absolutely not. I love living with DH. He’s not a dick though.

currentlybrunette · 18/12/2025 17:32

No. I’d love a bigger house so we could have our own space within it but definitely live together.

AngelinaFibres · 18/12/2025 17:32

With first husband definitely. I'd be out of the door and into my own lovely house with a lovely garden the minute the money hit my bank account . Byeeeeee.
Second husband definitely not. He's lovely ,I can make the house however I want it and I have a beautiful garden I get to spend hours in in the summer. Life is better with him than living in a separate space.
If I lost him would I live with anyone else. Nope.

Autumvibes · 18/12/2025 17:32

No definitely not, I actually enjoy living with my dh

Holluschickie · 18/12/2025 17:31

In my culture people who don't want to live with their parents are considered to not love their parents enough .😀
It's just my opinion.

glendabrownlow · 18/12/2025 17:31

Yes. I lived alone for 5 years and it was one of the happiest periods of my life.

Zov · 18/12/2025 17:29

Kimura · 18/12/2025 17:24

No way.

Don't get me wrong, my partner and I love nothing more than having the house to ourselves for a few days (I'm actually enjoying that privilege as we speak - lovely stuff) but I'd hate to live alone permanently. I enjoy their company too much.

This. ^ Really odd to claim you have a loving relationship, and really love your partner/spouse, but you actually can't stand living with them, and would much rather live alone. Confused

As I said, it's just my opinion. I just don't understand it. People shouldn't be offended unless I have hit a raw nerve.

Seawolves · 18/12/2025 17:29

Depends. If I could live with DH again I would in a heartbeat

I don't want to share my home with any other man though.

aforasshole · 18/12/2025 17:28

Absolutely.

lifeonmars100 · 18/12/2025 17:28

I live alone and there are pros and cons, I do get lonely but always tell myself that it is better than being with some bloke that slobs around, does not help with running the house or cook. When I feel a bit sorry for myself I find that reading some of the posts on here from women living with horrible men cures me straight away.

echt · 18/12/2025 17:27

I’m widowed after a very happy marriage, live alone, and money is no object.

I’m very much used to having my own space and wouldn’t have a man under my feet for anything. It’s me and the dog.

Sneesellsseashells · 18/12/2025 17:27

Nope my husband and kids are my favourite people I love living with them. I will never live with another man though.

MO0N · 18/12/2025 17:27

I am in an LTR but we live separately, I dont intend to ever co-habit again.

AngryBird6122 · 18/12/2025 17:27

No way. I have been truly lonely when I lived alone, even spent Christmas day alone with a ready meal spaghetti. Never again. Plus I enjoy DHs company too much. I prefer being with him than being alone, although we do take time and space for ourselves too.

Zov · 18/12/2025 17:27

Holluschickie · 18/12/2025 17:22

I knew it would only be a few posts before someone came along to say how people who want to live alone don't love their partners as much as they love their partners! 😁
You will be shocked that I have been married 30 years and still love to travel alone

It's my opinion. I'm entitled to it. If someone does really love their partner/spouse even though they don't want to live with them, whilst I find it odd, then they shouldn't be offended. People should only be offended if I've hit a raw nerve... And travelling alone is hardly the same as wanting to live alone because you can't stand living with your partner. 🙄

Miyagi99 · 18/12/2025 17:26

Kimura · 18/12/2025 17:24

No way.

Don't get me wrong, my partner and I love nothing more than having the house to ourselves for a few days (I'm actually enjoying that privilege as we speak - lovely stuff) but I'd hate to live alone permanently. I enjoy their company too much.

You can still spend time in their company but it’s quality time and it’s not every day!

LoudSnoringDog · 18/12/2025 17:26

In my next life I want to come back as a spinster

Miyagi99 · 18/12/2025 17:25

Still live alone even after being with my partner for 15 years, I’ve realised I don’t like living with any other adult (children excepted) after a few goes.

Dappy777 · 18/12/2025 17:25

Yes.

I suppose the ideal would be a huge mansion and a loving partner who lived in a separate wing! Or maybe a large piece of land with three or four properties spread out on it, and partner and kids each having their own home. Then we’d come together for meals or to watch TV.

I loathe sharing a bed, a toilet, a TV and a sofa. I yearn for my own space. My idea of pure hell would be communal living. How people can endure it I just don’t know. One of the worst things about living in the UK is the lack of personal space. There are so many people jammed onto this little island that developers take advantage and build small. Most of us are trapped in these tiny brick boxes with a load of other tiny brick boxes squeezed on top of us. Frankly, given how small the houses are, and how little personal space there is, it’s a miracle so many marriages survive.

SantiagoShaming · 18/12/2025 17:24

@Zov We genuinely do have a great relationship overall and I think this perception of if you don’t want to be together all the time your relationship is somehow broken or less than is what I’m trying to get my head around. I don’t think that’s necessarily true. I love my DC, and Mum and my siblings and my nephews and nieces to bits, would step in front of a speeding bullet for every single one without a second thought, but I’d be happiest living alone vs with any of them too!

I also have a very peopley job and have to talk to people all day long and silence and solitude is a way of recharging, for me. So that may also contribute!

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