Living alone is tough financially

[Addictedtofizzydrinks34]

If you have a mortgage or rent a home alone..maybe different if you're mortgage-free or perhaps only renting a room or something.
You have to make sure you can afford everything each month. If anything breaks/needs repairing, you foot 100% of the bill. All renovations are paid for solely by you.
You have to make sure you have money aside for various things.
Living alone has many advantages, but financially it's tough and I'm not sure I can do it for much longer. It's stressful unless you have a lot of savings I think.

@SugarandSpiceandAllThingsNaice no one is crying. It’s merely an observation. Obviously a family is going to be more expensive than one person. But there must be a backstory here because you sound really resentful about it all.

I’ve never had a big freezer.

Um, being single isn't always a choice!

It is more expensive, but more and more people are single person households, going up every year.
According to ONS: One-person households) are the second most common type of household, accounting for almost 1 in 3 (30%) UK households in 2022, 8.3 million households in total.

So there must be some benefits!

Then when you add in single adult with children households, single adult looking after elderly parents, households where 1 partner doesn't work for whatever reason (SAHP, illness, studying full time), a household with 2 working adults isn't necessarily even 'the norm.'

If you read my previous post you will see the example I gave is about my mother not seeing her food cost reduce much when she was widowed.

Whereas when the number of people dropped from:4 to 2 they could just buy half as much.

But you carry on with your vitriol if it makes you feel better.

I have all this plus nursery bills to pay so like a double mortgage 🙃

Did you not consider buying a bigger property shared with a friend or sibling,

Lol.

Did you?

Well there's 4 of us, so we share with each other? Are you really saying 4 people living in 2 rooms is the same as 2 flatmates sharing a 2 bed flat?

And we're not whinging about our housing costs, even when just ONE income was housing and supporting FOUR people (1 income for 1 person is much easier, surly you see that!)

If we felt hard done by, and wanted to save money from that one wage, yeah, we could have shared a property with another family, I guess. But we prioitised our privacy as many single people undetstqndably do. But we accepted that luxury came at a cost. So one income paid for all bills and all expenses for 4 people in a 3 bed property. Just having to pay one persons expenses in a one bed flat from that same one income would have been much easier...

There is no backstory other than I think it’s a bit too much whining. Yeah being single and not having a partner that makes more than you is a bit harder, but it is second best. It’s tone deaf considering the number of single parents and families with sole breadwinners who have it way worse.

Oh, then why can’t your mother just buy half as much too?

You cannot freeze everything. You are obviously thick as well as nasty. The only person crying on this thread is you!

Because. Not. Everything. Comes. In. Single. Portions.

As others have said, repeatedly.

Sugar and spice and all things moronic lol

Yes you’re right it’s really hard. 2 people earning a below average salary will live better than one person earning a great salary. All to do with how we’re taxed.

Perhaps you could consider moving your family into a house share.

After all, space for yourself is a luxury.

If you can't afford a house share, maybe the YMCA?

@SugarandSpiceandAllThingsNaice out of interest, how many children plus a SAPH were you supporting for 15 years?

(1 income for 1 person is much easier, surly you see that!)

Rather depends on the salary and the age of the people.

If you've got one high earning adult, one SAHP, two very young kids and an established mortage you'll probably be better off than a single person working in the public sector and paying rent.

Exactly. It’s all tone deaf whinging. Yeah ok I accept that single paying just for you is more expensive than in a couple where your partner earns same or more than you, but you’re still living good compared to most everyone else! I sympathise up until the point posters have tried ro make it out like they are so hard done by. Geez. Try being a single parent where you are paying for you and children. Try being sole breadwinner of a family where you are paying for you, plus another adult plus children.

How do we get to try these things? Is there a raffle? A theme park? Or what?

But do they have it worse 🤔 I'd be a lot poorer if I didn't have my kids as I wouldn't be entitled to any benefits. Just like a pp whose £800 a month worse off now her daughters an adult. Single people do get screwed over you can't deny that

But you and the adult you live with would be getting benefits, presumably? On top of your wage.

@Ineffable23

Agreed. Imagine sharing a bathroom with housemates who don't speak English.

I live alone. I don't really know any different. I do know I can't afford to spend lots on clothes or holidays, but it's not like I can't afford any clothes or holidays, I'll just more likely buy less or second hand, and go abroad for 5 days rather than 10 days. It would be nice to split bills, that would be a saving of £150-£200 a month.

I think for me it's less financial (although cost of a hotel room for one is annoying!) and more just having someone to be cosy with now and then.

I have a shared ownership flat which is nice for security - if I couldn't pay the rent for a few months they wouldn't kick me out (as long as there was a plan!). Also there's a residents WhatsApp group and we're a friendly bunch - lending out parking to each other and such. It doesn't feel isolated. I do have to pay maintenance which everyone complains enormously about but I don't mind as it means I never have to think about servicing the boiler or some major leak in a roof or anything.

The only other disadvantage (I had health situation which meant biological children didn't happen) is feeling like I wanted a career break but sabbaticals are more common now and so is people taking a few months off. I agree that being a single parent is potentially more of a hardship and harder work. Defo see that with friends.

I'm early 40s now and I think it gets easier when you start to count blessings.

Well, I had one husband and two children. Both with SEN.
Working in the public sector and paying rent.

Not a high earner with an established mortgage.

Of an older generation where we had
zero maternity pay or leave
zero childcare hours for free or subsidised
not eligible for child tax credit (NRPF immigrants)
no family/grandparents to help

I’m not bitter, I just think some privileged people don’t realise it is a privilege to have your wage only need to support little old you by yourself and no one else to be responsible for.

Ha ha ha ha ha
NRPF= zero benefits

I totally agree OP. The cost of living alone is so high and although it sounds like a luxury, it feels like a necessity once you reach a certain age. I know people who are in their 40s/50s and renting on their own but couldn't face sharing, which is understandable. Rent, bills, food - it's all pricey on your own. Houses are expensive to maintain and flats often come with high maintenance fees. All very costly.