To think that life as a single person is generally more expensive?

[teaandcakeat8]

Had this debate at work today and thought it was interesting to hear others opinions.

I'm single and most of my colleagues are married/cohabiting. They argued that life in a couple is just twice as expensive but I disagreed.

Some examples:

Housing - mortgage/rent costs are generally halved in a couple

Council tax - a single person receives a 25% discount; this isn't 50%

Utilities - not necessarily halved for a single person - you still have to cook, have lights on etc

Holidays - usually a single person supplement which isn't half price

I've lived as a single person and part of a couple and generally I was financially much better off when cohabitating.

I don't argue that couples may have higher outgoings however aibu to argue that if you are single life costs 50% less?

*does not cost 50% less!

You are right however, being part of s couple where one person who is too disabled/sick to work is far more expensive.
No council tax discount, no second income, heating the house and using electricity and water in the daytime.

I've cohabited ever since I left home. It's definitely cheaper than living alone. The cost of the 1 bedroom flat that we rented at first when divided by two was less than some single friends paid for a room in shared houses and was obviously half as expensive as a single person renting a one bedroom flat. We were able to pool our savings and buy a house in our mid twenties. Arithmetic is clearly not your friends' strong suit.

Yep. Being single costs me a fortune. Problem is, you can never get people to see this and they think you should be jetting to European cities for the weekend.

I agree with you. I'm significantly better off with dh than I used to be on my own. Part of that is having had pay rises, but most of it is sharing costs with someone else.

Generally yes. But being single with dependants is the most expensive ime. One income to provide for 2+ people is tough unless you're on mega bucks.

Of course it isn't twice as expensive. As you say, if you are both in of an evening/weekend then you are sharing the cost of electricity etc.

If it wasn't cheaper then people wouldn't house/flat share.

I'm single my eldest DD is in a relationship, she used to say stuff like your collegues, then they split up for a while and it was a shock.

I can't stand Women, in particular, who have Partners that buy/pay for stuff, trying to tell other, totally independent Women how affordable life is.

I agree it is generally more expensive living on your own but it does have the advantage of you being in full control of where you spend any disposable income which can be difficult for couples if one spends thoughtlessly. Also obviously living with children is very expensive especially for single income households.

I agree. Being single is significantly more expensive than cohabiting.

single is more expensive than 2 earning on a couple.

However a family with only 1 person earning is way more expensive!!

Birds funny you should make that point as one of the girls (around my age) making the argument lives with her husband who I know earns at least 5 times as much as her and also bought their house!

I can't stand Women, in particular, who have Partners that buy/pay for stuff, trying to tell other, totally independent Women how affordable life is.

+1!!!!

A single person will always have more expenses per person than a couple as rent is doubled, council tax is more expensive and for utilities it costs the same to heat the house if there is one person or two people.

I guess I look at slightly differently, I don't see costs being split. All our money is shared so we don't split bills

But if you purchase alone you don't have to share the capital appreciation and can rent a room for additional income. Once I'd had a mortgage for five years I felt very well off.

I totally agree with you. My colleague is single and I am married. We earn the same wages and we have one dc. She doesn't have any dc.

She has a mortgage in the area we live, as do we.

BUT we have my husbands income too, which is a few £k more than mine.

She doesn't have a lot of spare cash and needs to plan and save for nights out, whereas we are in a really good position financially.

I've been both and I'm immeasurably better off in a couple.

I was better off when single - now I'm married and my husband earns more but we also have two children and childcare costs.

But of course, all things being equal (no dependents, both earning), it is more expensive to be single.

I actually disagree. I find when I'm single, my food bill is barely anything and entertaining etc is all the cost of just one person (ie eating out etc).

When I'm in a relationship I seem to spend half my week out doing activities / eating dinner in restaurants / away for weekends etc. Which costs far more!!

(I am comparing being single to being in a relationship though rather than living alone vs cohabiting)

Depends on circumstances. A family with a sahp and one wage or a couple where one person was sick and couldn't work woild find life expensive.

People with lots of free childcare in the form of family support may find life less exprnsive than those who have to pay for full time childcare, even if the person wiyh free childcare is a single parent and yhe ones who pay are a couple.
All down to circumstances.

Depends if both are working, dependents, etc.

Also, it can get very lonely being single.

Yet entertainment costs all add up.

I guess I look at slightly differently, I don't see costs being split. All our money is shared so we don't split bills

Ok fine then just think of it as your income being doubled... just as good!

Depends who you married.
My ex-(d)H was obsessed with taking more holidays/weekend's away than I could cope with, purchasing 'naice' cars, 'naice' food and every health supplement under the sun whilst feeling agrieved about the cost of running a home (read 'financially controlling').
Now single, 2 kids, and ticking along more cheaply 'not' going away and buying 'awful' better value food (ignoring seaweed sprinkles, manuka honey, and pots of protein supplements). Naturally I am appalling for not buying organic.

But if you purchase alone you don't have to share the capital appreciation and can rent a room for additional income

But the whole point is you need a much higher income as a single person to buy a 2 bed flat than if two of you are buying a two bed flat!