Five months ago, I bought my house (w000!) and I’ve been living on my own in it since then, bar two very fluffy cats.
Most people in their twenties tend to live with their SO, friends or even at home and I’ve been asked what it’s like a few times; I thought I’d run through a few pros and cons of living on your own.
The Good Bits
Space, space and more space. I have a whole bedroom worth of wardrobes and chest of drawers to myself, plus a spare room to put all the stuff I don’t know what to do with. My house is a two bed, so I can also have people over easily and not worry about sleeping space.
It’s exactly as tidy or messy as you want. 90% of the time, my house is tidy, swept and cleaned; that 10% it’s not is because I’m tired, busy, or simply can’t be bothered to tidy that day. It’s totally different when it’s just your mess, to when your glaring at your housemate for leaving a knife on the side. I guess it’s the aspect of control here that I like.
Never having to wear clothes. Midnight trip to the bathroom? No need for pants. Forgot your towel? No need for the naked dash. My bathroom door hasn’t been closed in ages, because I can wee and shower without worrying about someone walking in on me. Also, sex in every room without the fear or someone walking in. Yup.
Complete say in everything. The décor, cupboard organisation, which freezer drawer holds the vegetables, what setting the heating is on, what’s on TV… Living on your own is very satisfying if you have trouble sharing or think you’re right all the time.
You get out the house more. I do enjoy an evening in on my own reading or watching Dance Moms, but I love socialising so a lot of my time is spent out the house seeing friends, going for food or drinks, having a coffee, even going for walks. It’s so easy to get into the couch slump when you’re friends or partner live with you, because there’s no motivation to go out and see people; they are already there.
The Bad Bits
Costs; living on your own is expensive. Bills barely go down from sharing between two people to paying on your own, so you’re paying twice as much. Rent (or mortgage), food shops, tax.. All much more expensive when you don’t have someone to share it.
Chores, chores and more chores. The light bulb has blown? You better fix it. Bins need putting out? That’s your job. Paintwork needs refreshing? Get out the brush, bitch. I’m currently in the midst of a huge overhaul of my garden; digging up trees and weeds, laying grass at some point, making it look generally nice, and it’s so hard by myself. It’ll take twice as long as it would if I had someone helping me, and same with when I finally repaint my living room. Luckily, most jobs you’ll be able to rope friends or family in with little repayment (pizza and prosecco are my go to!).
Not having someone to talk to about the little things. My outgoing number of calls have drastically increased since living on my own; hungover discussions can no longer be done in bed with your house mate, funny cooking mishaps have to be texted or snapchatted. Even though I probably spend more ‘quality’ time with my friends than when I lived with them, it’s the lazy days watching crap on TV and eating mounds of toast together that I miss the most.
Lazy dinners; I love cooking, but if it’s just me, I can never be bothered to go something extravagant. I also can’t justify a takeaway by myself, so there are days when I just eattoast for dinner. Delicious, not nutritious. Having people round for dinner is a good fix around this though, and also bulk cooking on a Sunday means I normally have enough healthy meals to last the week.
Overall?
I love living on my own, but there are times when I miss having roommates (and money, haha). Going from living with people to on your own is quite a big shock, but once you’re over the “shit I am an adult doing adulty things” it’s hard to think about going back. That being said, one of my best friends who I’ve lived with in the past is moving in with me for a bit when she comes home from travelling and I’m excited to have a roomie again!
