Couples pay the price for being in a relationship, a recent study claimed. So let’s have it out, what’s more MoneySaving – being in a couple? Or being single? Ding ding ding…
A study from Confused.com says being in a relationship costs £2,340 more per year than being single. But where are these excessive extra costs coming from?
Does being part of a couple automatically mean you start splurging on lavish holidays – fewer day trips to Bognor Regis with a packed lunch in a plastic bag, and more private jets to the Caribbean to just ‘get away from it all’ with your beloved?
Or do you start spending more in the home, or on fancy food? I mean, who needs fish finger sandwiches and cornflakes eaten straight from the packet, when you could be lapping up truffles, oysters and caviar over a candle lit meal.
This is what I think – if you disagree, please let me know via the comments section below.
Going out and about
Couples: When you become part of a couple, you often inherit each other’s family, friends, hangers on and groupies. This inevitably means more nights out, birthdays, weddings, wine and cheese parties, house warming’s, dinner dos, and all the other elements of forced fun you’re expected to take part in with your other half’s familiars.
Actually, it doesn’t have to be all that bad, but it does add up in terms of extra expenditure.
Although there is an upside, gyms often offer special couples’ membership that’s cheaper than two singles, and when booking hotel rooms, the price of a double usually works out less per person than a room for a single soul.
vs.
Singles: Unless you’re a single person with no friends or family who never leaves the house or eats or moves, chances are you’ll be spending cash on your social life too, although you can probably be choosier regarding the events you go to, which makes it easier to budget for the ones you do attend.
That said, if you’re active on the dating scene the costs can rack up here, especially if you’re going on a lot of first dates and looking to impress.
Alternatively, some might just steer clear altogether, have a night in with a pot noodle, and save their pennies.
At home
Couples: Couples living together can split household costs – bills, cat food, rent or mortgage, food shopping and filling up the car. But they’re also likely to be using more utilities and eating more food than singletons, especially if they’ve got kids.
And where one person is out of work, it could end up costly with one of the pair supporting the other, or the entire family, both emotionally and financially.
vs.
Singles: If you’re single, you’re paying for all your outgoings on your own. But there’s also no one to stop you turning down the heating in winter and bunging on those three ugly jumpers your gran knitted and eating leftovers for a week.
So who’s the winner?
To conclude, I don’t think it really matters whether you’re attached or not – there are aspects of life to splurge or save on, whatever your relationship status.
So whether you’re splitting bills, or splitting hairs over what luxury toilet seat is going to provide the ultimate bathroom experience, ultimately it comes down to the fact that some people are just more MoneySaving than others.
What do you think? Join in the discussion on our forum, or by using the comments section below.
