To think it's expensive being single

[rainyinnovember]

Mortgage / rent is more expensive
Council tax
Entertainment
Bills
Shopping

Or am I missing something

Of course being single is more expensive!

That's why a single pension is more than half a couples pension and single JSA is more than half a couples.

Why are people talking about couples in 2 bed flats? That's just wasting money! If you area couple you have a 1 bed. For space one has the bedroom, one the living room. I found this much more spacious than bedsits and much less stressful than the sweet hell of house shares.

I agree it is more expensive.

Trying to find somewhere to rent at the moment. My preference would be a 1 bed flat, but they are all out of my price range (without even factoring bills)

Sharing in a larger flat, rent is cheaper, and bills (which are larger but not double/three times the cost) are split.

Bee the thing is, and I recognise this will vary regionally, but certainly here, the difference between flats and houses and one bed and two beds don't really vary so very much.

I found a one bedroom flat on right move yesterday for £110,000. Less than three miles away was a three bedroom house for the same price. Now conceded, the flat was in a slightly more salubrious area, but still in that exact location you could get a lovely three bedroom house for less than £200,000. Split between two people, you'd be paying less than for the flat.

In other words, person A buys the one bedroom flat and has a mortgage of £100,000 so let's say £600 a month. She has to pay council tax of £84 p/m, gas, electricity, Internet and tv licence.

Couple B have splashed out a bit and have bought a three bedroom house down the road for £180,000 and they have a mortgage of £160,000. Their mortgage is obviously more than person A's and is £900 a month but split between the two of them that's £450 each.

So with a more desirable, roomy property it's STILL more expensive for A to live in a one bedroom flat.

Recently I went away for a couple of days. Hotel room €73 per night - tariff included breakfast which would be €10 pp if purchased on its own . Very unusually, I'd planned to go with a friend who unfortunately had to pull out shortly beforehand. I was charged €63 for the room - the rate for single occupancy.

Anyone who seriously thinks holidays are cheaper as a single person needs to actually try booking one.

But but but

You can live in a bedsit

I agree with rainty that it depends on income level. I earn a fair bit. Being married was expensive (I had to pay a lot out to my husband on divorce and when married I would be paying for 2 (or more likely 5 of us including children ) to go skiing, rather than one). Now I am single I don't pay for two of us just for one of us (plus the children).

Sometimes I go away on my own (I will in January),. Obviously the flight is half the price compared to when married as I am just paying for me not two of us.

And of course rainy single people of whatever age all want to live like students

The B&B I'm in now - £76 for a double room including breakfast for 2 people. I was able to book a single room - £61 including breakfast. Of course it's cheaper comparatively to be travelling as a couple.

Being single is expensive if you have your own place and have only the one income - depending on the income obviously. Even harder if you have to support a child. And if you don't get maintenance, it can be incredibly hard.

Imagine you are single at 45, on a minimum wage job and no children / children have left. It would be very hard to get a mortgage on minimum wage. I don't think you'd get working tax credits. A council house? Have you seen the waiting lists - and a single person without children is low priority. So a house share? Not ideal at age 45 but there you go.

Apparently there are more older people in house shares now - probably due to divorces later on in life. What will happen as more people rent rather than buy when they separate later on in life?

www.telegraph.co.uk/goodlife/living/living-in-a-flatshare-in-your-50s/

This thread is just an example of why you can't apply generalities to individual circumstances. There are all sorts of reasons why it might be better financially for someone being on their own than in a couple, but in general that's not the case. If you assume that both people are earning average sort of money, the partner doesn't have a gambling habit etc then of course being in a couple will be financially better off.

The main thing though is that in general, most couples end up starting a family. Which obviously makes a massive financial difference.

It's hardly a surprise that in general the most comfortable setup in me experience is a gay male couple...

I must admit the idea of living in a shared house now sends chills down my spine. I never liked it, even when I was a lot younger.

I agree rainy It's a struggle being single and having my own place but I get by. That'll have to do

A bedsit or house share, I couldn't do it now I don't think

ego147
I can totally see how that could happen, however to reach 45 without having saved a penny is pretty irresponsible, I'm 41 and literally caught the tail end of the housing boom so 45-50 would have been in a position to buy a house in my local area for £30,000 .... If they didn't they really only have themselves to blame because they were at least 30 years old before it all went crazy.

We could draw a graph. As a single mother with no prospects you are much better off not living with your itinerant non working baby daddy (just let him pop round for sex). If you are most people (in the middle) it will be cheaper to be married and pool expenses and the hard labour of child care etc.

If you're prety well off as I am you revert to the very badly off situation - better off without the lower earner man.

I can totally see how that could happen, however to reach 45 without having saved a penny is pretty irresponsible

Given the fact that renting is the norm now, it's not impossible for people to be in that situation,

I've reached 55 without saving a penny, despite being well qualified, I've worked in low pay jobs because they gave me the flexibility to bring up my children (no family, no childcare, rural living eh?). The children have now left, so no tax credits, no benefits of any kind and a bit too late to upgrade to a full-time high paid job because my experience is lacking.

Last year I earned £9,500 (I just did my tax return, so I know). Old age is not going to be fun...and I've considered a shared house, would probably not mind it, but I think my co-habitees might take exception to my two noisy terriers!

To reach 45 without saving anything isn't irresponsible, it's more that if someone has always lived alone and been on a low wage then they will always have struggled.

Once your DCs have left school / home and maintenance stops (if you get any) , there will be some people who will suddenly find themselves not getting child tax credits, WTC and maintenance and who somehow have to support themselves - if they aren't in a couple. That's either going to be a mortgage or rent.

And if you've worked part time / not worked at your career as much because of DCs, then that's a hard situation to be in.

Ego that's why I save every penny I can if I earn £10 I save £1

Cool. And if you earn £7.20?

Then you save 72p
I am far from my mothers biggest fan but she landed back in the uk with 2 nine year olds and 3 suitcases fleeing DV. Had to retrain whilst on the dole, I'm sorry but yet again, if you've 2 arms, 2 legs and able to work you've no excuses, get your shit together

Nobody suddenly finds themselves in these situations, the tax credits people write to you when your child is 15 to remind you if they aren't staying in education your income is going to reduce by xyz amount. It's not a surprise !

No, but I don't think you are understanding that some people cannot save.

If you earn hardly anything but have ALL the housing costs, bills, grocery shop on your shoulders, you can't. Not always but sometimes. Regardless of what your mum says.

It's nothing to do with "what my mum says". I've seen with my own eyes the woman go from nothing, took her three years to train for a minimum wage job, she now owns - with a mortgage of course - her own house.

She's never earnt £30,000 in her life.

The bottom line is it is always possible to improve your situation, if you choose not to sorry but thems the breaks.
Guy I'm seeing at the moment is out the door at 4am, won't be home until 7pm tonight but he'll be retired at 40, not university educated, thrown out at 16 years old, It's all about choices.

Everyone cannot save.

In my first job I was left with zero every month. i had to use overdraft and credit cards to pay for essentials.

As anyone will tell you it is pointless to have debt and savings.

you pay off the debt first.