Is Being Single Cheaper?
The first thought with having two people in a household is the double income. Wouldn’t I love to double my income! But not so fast. Let’s break this down a bit.
Kids are expensive. That’s something I know nothing about. So for this post, I’m excluding the cost of raising children, which quickly makes a childless life cheaper, assuming all other factors stay the same.
A couple who shared their journey of getting rich online had a saving rate as high as 70%. During their time to FIRE, which stands for Financial Independence Retire Early, they not only worked full time but had side hustles. For example, they bought real estate, renovated it during their free time, and sold it for a profit. They encouraged everyone to have multiple sources of income.
Being financially independent and retiring soonish sounds appealing, but I’m not willing to trade off 100% of my lifestyle for ten years so I could stop working after that. Common tactics for FIRE include moving to a cheaper place or country, downsizing the home, selling the car, and saving 50% to 70% of one makes.
I have one full-time job and spend my free time writing, not making money. So, this post is based on a comfortable and reasonable lifestyle with just one income.
Let’s discuss personal finance in three easy categories: income, spending, and saving, or the time and effort I’m willing to put into making money, what’s needed to support my desired lifestyle and spending habits, and my net packeted take-home to save or invest for the future.
Most of my spending goes to home, food, travel, books, and massages. (Yes, books and massages made the list.) I don’t have a car and try to limit new clothes, or any other material belongs. My hobby is writing. (I’m calling it a hobby because I spend a lot more on it than I make from it.) My single life is not considered super cheap or frugal. I fall closer to the average.
The better question is whether I live the life I want and have leftovers. I’m happy I can do almost everything I want and save a bit for retirement. If one doesn’t have enough, it won’t ever feel cheaper.
As a single, there is no one else to share the load. If I decide to pursue my writing as a career, I’m still responsible for heat, gas, groceries, etc. I work and always have. This is step one of having enough.
I’m selective about what I spend, dining out and meeting friends, working with a matchmaker, or paying for dating apps. Dating is an expense that couples don’t have. Step two to having enough is only to spend the money I have. I have a couple of big expenses and a list of things I don’t care for—for example, hair cuts and highlights. I get mine at Super Cuts once or twice a year. Done.
Having someone is not always rosy and two times the spending potential either. The pendulum can swing both ways, having a combined lifestyle more frugal or extravagant. Compared to the couple I mentioned earlier, my lifestyle wouldn’t be cheaper than theirs. But that’s the edge case. Compared to a typical man, typical expenses that I don’t have are going to sports events and hobbies like golfing or skiing. Or flying first class. Or relying on a car heavily.
Single life would be cheaper if having a “he” who couldn’t support himself, and I needed to cover for him. When dating, I always want someone who can support himself.
Of course, there is the princess scenario where the man makes a ton of money, and I can do whatever I want. That is also an edge case.
There is a spectrum in lifestyles. But simply put, if incoming is more than outgoing, that’s good news. To balance the equation, being single feels more manageable because I have complete control.
So not sure about cheaper, but simpler, easier, and enough (for me).