The Cost of Being Single (not single mums, proper single)

michaels

Check out whipcar.com

Badger_Lady wrote: »

Sharing a car would be nice. I'm constantly switching from being a car owner and back again... it's much easier/cheaper to commute into work by train or bike, but I could use a car big shopping trips or holidays. The tax, MOT and insurance on my own is just too harsh to justify it! Just imagine if I could be the named driver on someone else's car and use it when needed... even better if he'll come and help me carry the Tesco bags! And share my holiday.

I have thought about proposing a car share with one of my single neighbours... but that's pretty weird.

Malcolm.

PasturesNew wrote: »

The Cost of Being Single (not single mums, proper single)

If you take a fictitious scenario of a single living in a 1-bed flat, on about £15k, they take home £1000/month.

£500 Rent on a small 1-bed flat, !!!!!! neighbours
£ 75 Council tax
£150 Bills
£100 Food
£100 Transport to work
====
£925
Leaving £75/month for everything else in life: clothes, holidays, social life, learning, Xmas, stuff

Now a couple, both on £15k - takehome £2000/month

£700 Rent - fabulous 2-bed, modern shiny place with a lovely balcony, or a 2-3 bed house in some areas
£100 Council tax
£200 Bills
£200 Food
£200 Transport to work
====
£1400
Leaving them £600/month for everything else in life - and - somebody to do it with.

On this "back of a fag packet" calculation, the couple will have 8x the disposable income of the single.

If they all work at the same place, then they probably won't even be friends with the single person because they're boring and never want to do things, like going out/eating out, etc... and they don't want to visit their tiny flat as it's a bit shabby and their place is so much more fabulous. In fact, if they are all working in the same place they probably just saved another £100/month as they're sharing their lift with each other to get to work

It's money - and - lifestyle that's better.

Wow! If it's difficult for one single person, imagine two in the same house, twice as bad!!

MissMoneypenny

Really2 wrote: »

She may not have a full stamp, she did have some years of to have children. But that kind of loops back to the thread a bit:) But AFIK she has a full stamp and was claiming a full pension before my father retired, I will ask this weekend.

Your mother would have needed 39 qualifying years for a full pension. I'm don't know if she would qualify for home responsibilty years (the years she looked after children up to a certain age) as I don't know when HR came in. When she worked, she would have needed to pay a full stamp and not a married womans stamp.

I've picked all this up from reading the Pensions board, so I hope it is correct, although it does appear to be from what I read on that link I gave today.

It will be interesting to know what your mother says.

michaels

Weird, I am married and yet despite having a SAHW I still do all of the below...

Jacey53 wrote: »

Does anyone else find that being single is more time-consuming?

I have to do all the cooking, cleaning, housework, shopping stuff and all the gardening, car and house maintenance stuff too. My married sisters share the jobs with their husbands. They also have someone handy to help with flat-packs etc - I end up balancing things precariously on a pile of books etc
If I am doing jobs round the house I don't have essential tools handed to me, or regular cups of coffeee supplied.

carolt

You want to have words with her indoors, you do.

neverdespairgirl

PasturesNew wrote: »

Now a couple, both on £15k - takehome £2000/month

£700 Rent - fabulous 2-bed, modern shiny place with a lovely balcony, or a 2-3 bed house in some areas
£100 Council tax
£200 Bills
£200 Food
£200 Transport to work
====
£1400
Leaving them £600/month for everything else in life - and - somebody to do it with.

2 singles rent and share a 2 bed flat, then they both have cashola left over?

PasturesNew

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

2 singles rent and share a 2 bed flat, then they both have cashola left over?

That wouldn't actually give the singles any personal space, any quality of life - unless they were both people people, who shared lifestyles and interests.

Imagine being doomed to renting with strangers for your entire life.

People often think single means "young, carefree, fun". But after there are the Knitting Years, when you want to keep a cat.

No privacy, can't have your stuff around, other people using your stuff maybe if you leave it out, can't enjoy a living room when you want, to watch TV you want there, because the other person likes other things, so you spend your time in your room watching your own TV. It's not quality.

Single is for life, not just for awhile.

Jacey53

michaels wrote: »

Weird, I am married and yet despite having a SAHW I still do all of the below...

That's not good - you can be an honorary single when you are doing the household chores.:)

I hope there are other things in your home you both share;)

I guess that like any generalisation mine is not applicable to all.

PasturesNew

Also, that advice you often get about going out, "don't go home alone" ... so, what, pick up a stranger while I'm out to bring back until the morning...? How does that work then?

If you're out, even with friends, somebody has to be the last one home ... alone.

So that's another cost as you're more likely to be in a situation where a taxi is your safest option (rather than walking home alone), whereas a couple either take the risk of walking home together, or share a taxi/cost.

neverdespairgirl

PasturesNew wrote: »

That wouldn't actually give the singles any personal space, any quality of life - unless they were both people people, who shared lifestyles and interests.

Imagine being doomed to renting with strangers for your entire life.

I'm not. rent with a friend / cousin / sister etc.

Couples don't have their own space either.