The cost of living alone.

Paying double just because you’re single.

In my opinion, Snow White had the right idea. I would also like to fall asleep for a very long time and wake up to a prince who wants to take care of me and split the bills.

The prince can even leave me eventually if he wants to, or sleep in another bedroom. I’d just like a month or two off from financial life duties.

I’m so tired. Where’s my poison apple?

It’s not that I’ve made a conscious choice to be single, I’m just single and that’s the way it is. I’ve been on my own for a very long time — an entire lifetime — and I’m definitely paying the price.

Being single and living alone isn’t some statement of liberation, it’s more like hell in terms of what it takes to get ahead in life. We can live alone all we want but it leaves us paying full price for the same things couples get to split. And it’s hard.

No disrespect, but when I hear about couples where one has lost their job and they’re struggling I’m like dude, if I lost my job I’d be out on the street. There’s no other person to fall back on and that fear can be crippling.

There’s no way to play catch up in the repetitive monthly cycle of bill paying.

Back when I was a single mother of a growing boy I made choices to make our lives a little easier. I’d rent larger, more expensive homes with extra bedrooms so I could take on roommates. This certainly helped with finances but it felt like an invasion of space and privacy at the same time.

One shouldn’t have to invite strangers into their home and learn to cohabit with them just so they can catch a financial break. But I did what I had to do so my child could play hockey, or go on field trips. I did what couples don’t have to do just to live how they get to live.

For single people, if we want a dual income we have to go out and earn both those incomes. That would mean putting in double the time but living a fraction of the life. There’s no satisfaction in that.

Now that my child is grown and I only have one mouth to feed, it’s not much different in certain respects. My needs aren’t high, my wants are very simple, but they’re still somewhat unattainable.

For example, I want a dog. But I can only afford to live in a little condo that doesn’t allow dogs. How is wanting a dog exorbitant in any way? Oh, but it is, because unless you can afford to live in a house with a yard, you can’t have one. And the dog would be neglected anyway because of all the work hours required to pay for the house with the yard.

It’s a ridiculous cycle, really.

My mother also wants a dog and she also lives in a home that’s not suitable for one. She has money but as a 71 year old woman trying to retire, does she want to pay more for housing at this point in her life?

She and I recently considered living together so we could both reduce our costs of living, and share custody of a dog. We ended up scrapping the idea because in reality, we have very different lifestyles and decided it wouldn’t be smart to become each other’s financial crutches.

In what world should two independent, single women HAVE to consider living together just to get ahead? Yet, it’s happening.

I have a single girlfriend who recently did allow a friend to move into her house, after her daughter was old enough to move out. We’re all women in our mid-forties, considering the roommate lifestyle just to be able to live a life we can enjoy.

We shouldn’t have to choose to give up our privacy and our space to afford a better life.

Referring back to Snow White, I don’t really want to depend on a prince, or anyone for that matter. It’s not who I am and I’m fully capable of taking care of myself and my bills. But I’d just like a break. Even just one month fully OFF of bills, to catch up and go pay for a professional massage or something.

I love my independence. I love that I’ve been able to indulge in so much travel over the years, but it all comes at a cost. You have to give up one thing in order to have another and it’s not very comforting.

There ought to be some “singles club” out there, where we all throw in $50 per month. That money would get pooled together and each month, one lucky single person gets the pot and gets to take a financial month off.

How wonderful would that be?

If you’re single trying to make it in this double-costing world, how do you get by? Do you have any creative ideas that help reduce the sting of a single income?

Do you want to be my roommate?

If you enjoyed this story, here’s my non-intrusive way of ushering you toward my newsletter. When you subscribe, I’ll know you’re cool with hearing from me once in a while.