Poll of the Day > Is it financially practical to live on oneself in this day and age?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I must have these answers.
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live on oneself

My mistake. I had meant to put ``by oneself''. <<';
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only if you have a pretty decent job.

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The answer to this is tautological to me. It is if you can afford it. It's not if you can't. Fewer people are able to afford it and that's a bad thing but that doesn't tell me anything about whether one individual can or cannot

It can be, but you're going to be somewhat limited in where you live. It's definitely much easier to afford if you're living with somebody.

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I think the world would be a better place if fewer people lived by themselves

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i save hundreds of dollars a month by simply living on myself rather than renting an apartment

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It's always cheaper to live with others, so imo it's never really practical... or particularly safe, for that matter. If you have a medical emergency or something, it's better to have someone living with you.

Maybe if you're a well-to-do person who absolutely despises the company of others.

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Depends where in the world you are, or even where in America to some degree.

But yes, even with min wage in most places, you can make it work still, though barely, and it's best to rent a studio apartment (I'm guessing renting a room wouldn't count as living by yourself).

It's not easy, not as easy as it was in the past, but it's doable still, for now. Not sure how much longer that will be the case though. In my area you mostly won't get jobs paying less then $15 an hour, even entry level, and you can still rent apartments for around $1k (though the average is about 1.4k).

It's possible to both rent an apartment, pay utilities internet, spend about $200 a month on food and have some money left over if your working 40 hours a week at $15 an hour, but you won't be saving up much if anything in the process.

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CoorsLight posted...

Fewer people are able to afford it

That's at least partly because few people are fiscally responsible enough, and partly because a lot of people have very skewed assumptions about what is "necessary" and what's essentially a luxury.

Basically, a lot of people live far beyond their means, and would notice a significant difference in their lives if they started scaling a few things back. But that requires a degree of introspection most people don't seem to possess these days.
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Not for you, since you are a failure of a person, Eclair.


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It's practical sure. You'd have to make a lot of puzzle pieces fit though.

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For most people it wouldnt make economic sense to do so. Most people at least have roommates nowadays if they arent partnered. Some can afford to live in their own, and then there are a lot of people doing the whole van life thing which doesnt actually sound too bad.

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For some folk yes, for others no. I don't think a clear answer is going to happen here. You must do what's right for you.

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Depends on the people you would be living with. Four out of the past five roommates i had were moochers. In those cases it would have been more financially practical to be by myself.

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If you have a decent income and some financial sense, it's not difficult. Sadly, both are becoming far less common.

Whether it's desirable is another story...

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Been living by myself for almost three years now and Ive been loving it. Im definitely pretty financially responsible too though.

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SaltyAndSweet posted...

Most people at least have roommates nowadays if they arent partnered

Really? I would assume adults (out of college) living alone greatly outnumber adults living with a non-partner adult roommate

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Yes. But it depends on certain things. Like you monthly income and expenses (rent, utilities, food, etc.)... As long as you're making enough to pay for everything, that you can. I will say it's not always easy, but not impossible. Though, it better to have someone extra to help pay for things to help save some money...
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I bought a house for myself and my dog when I was 28 and I wasn't making crazy money. Didn't affect how much money I was saving on a monthly basis either so it made sense to have my rent go towards equity instead of nothing like it was when I was renting.

The only real worry was the unexpected costs that would be associated with owning a 100+ year old house, but the furnace was mostly new, kitchen appliances were in good shape, and most things were decent. Just never really know what is going on with the plumbing or that kind of stuff behind the walls and hope to god that nothing catastrophic fails.

Clench281 posted...

Really? I would assume adults (out of college) living alone greatly outnumber adults living with a non-partner adult roommate

Maybe it depends on where you live. Pretty much everyone in my town that doesn't live with a partner lives with a roommate... Though, the same could be said for my home town. And any place with a college or military base...
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Clench281 posted...

Really? I would assume adults (out of college) living alone greatly outnumber adults living with a non-partner adult roommate

Might be different in other countries but in the UK it's very popular to live with other people when a adult. With parents, partners, housemates and so on. I only know one fella that lives alone that's a adult.

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Clench281 posted...

Really? I would assume adults (out of college) living alone greatly outnumber adults living with a non-partner adult roommate

???

Really? You think that? Most people I know don't live all alone. It's inconvenient in various ways, unless they have to move for a job most people live with their parents until they get married. Then there are people who have room mates. I don't think I know a single person who lives all alone.

sounds painful unless you are a contortionist
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It seems you both are thinking of people living at home with their parents or other relatives, or living with their romantic partner.

I'm referring to people not in that situation: people that either seek out a person to live with (unrelated, platonic housemate), or they live alone.

I am saying the former is rarer than the latter.

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Census data shows that unrelated roommates would have to make up a pretty small slice of the pie

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Clench281 posted...

Census data shows that unrelated roommates would have to make up a pretty small slice of the pie

My personal experiences are all in the low income bracket.

My experience is in a college/military town where nearly everyone lives with someone And many with platonic roommates
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Clench281 posted...

It seems you both are thinking of people living at home with their parents or other relatives, or living with their romantic partner.

.. or housemates as I literally said.


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Clench281 posted...

Census data shows that unrelated roommates would have to make up a pretty small slice of the pie

It's pretty shocking that somebody living on their own is the head of the household.
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Revelation34 posted...

It's pretty shocking that somebody living on their own is the head of the household.

Huh? By definition they need to be considered head of household if living alone.

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Depends on where you live, and how much money you make.

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As seen below 42.4% of workers make 15$ or less in the US.
So the argument that some people are just not spending their money wisely, or should get a better job, doesn't hold water. There are only so many better jobs. 42% of the jobs pay 15$ or less an hour.

Many don't even offer 40 hours a week.

But even at 40 hours a week, that is $600 per week or about 2k after taxes.

Even with rent prices the way they are now, you can live off that, you just won't have money left over (just hope your actually at 15/hr and not lower).

It's certainly possible to do so, but you won't be saving up much money along the way, buying luxoury items etc. Way better if your stuck in a job like that to live with family if you can or have roomates so hopefully you can save up a bit and work towards getting a higher paid job.

If your part of the 42% though, it's certainly not your spending tendencies that are keeping you down.

<img src="https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-172a503ad7cbd9324141677cd6a00413">

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Certainly, it's better than a number of family setups, for one thing.

Clench281 posted...

I think the world would be a better place if fewer people lived by themselves

That sounds like single hate to me.
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Housing and rent where I live is off the charts. Pretty much everyone of my age lives either at home or with roommates

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The US is literally Midgar

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KarsUltimate posted...

That sounds like single hate to me.

You can live with people you aren't fucking. Friends, family.

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Clench281 posted...

You can live with people you aren't fucking. Friends, family.

Wives too. Zing!

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Clench281 posted...

Huh? By definition they need to be considered head of household if living alone.

Sarcasm.
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