We live in a world that is designed for couples. In fact, increasingly seems to be designed for couples with 2 children. Why, even this week Sainsbury's have unveiled their 'feed a family of four for £50 a week' campaign. You only need to watch a few minutes of TV advertisements to notice that the perfect families portrayed there almost invariably have a mum and a dad and 2 children. But what, I cry, about the childless singles? Everybody turns their attention to how difficult it is for a family to manage these days, but I argue that, to be honest, it is much harder for the singles in this world. We have one income with which to make our way in the world, one income paying the mortgage, all the bills and council tax etc. Yes, we have one mouth to feed, but as buying the house is pretty much the biggest thing that we ever do, doing it alone is tough. I have been single for a few years and I am not sure that finding a partner should really be something that I base on easing my financial situation. I have been fairly lucky, because of my age, I was able to buy a house before things went to crazy and sell it for enough profit to generate decent deposits, but I do wonder about people leaving university now with a loan to repay rather than a deposit to save for. How can they ever afford a house by themselves - especially here in the South.
Anyway, this blog is not really about singles and house prices, but really my way of making my single life possible financially. Yes, I hope to one day have a partner to share things with but I can't wait for that day without making plans for the possibility that it may never happen.
That is one of the reasons why firstly I am relocating to the north - a mortgage free existence is the eventual aim - and also one of the reasons why I am wanting to learn how to live with less - less household and food bills.
Are there other singles out there who aren't super earners and who struggle in this way? I would love to hear how you manage. It would be great to learn money saving tips from others to add to my collection.
Just found your blog, and have enjoyed reading all your posts, and find myself agreeing with what you have to say! - Looking forward to future posts =)
ReplyDeleteGlad you are enjoying it. Thanks for the comment. X
ReplyDeleteAren't there just! I'm younger than you, at late 20s, and I don't own my home, nor will I for some time if ever! Without a super-salary (not happening for me), buying alone is currently really unaffordable. Especially in the South as you say. A couple of years ago I seriously considered buying a property. It would have been a case of buying something which was not in a good state, stretching myself to the max on the mortgage, and buying a 2-bed so I could always let out one room and rely on the income from that. And that with a sensible deposit! I decided against it in the end, and carried on renting. It would have been incredibly stressful to stretch myself that much on a mortgage, and there were any number of things which could go wrong with the places I was looking at /could have afforded. Unfortunately I'm not a DIY genius, and while happy to learn, I would not have been confident in fixing my own plumbing!
ReplyDeleteHow lucky that you didn't end up stretching yourself and buying before the property crashed out. That would have been so very unlucky. As it is, my flat is worth 10000 less than it was worth 3 years ago (the one above it which is identical sold for that in 2008) But at least is worth significantly more than I bought it for.
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