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Wales Online
Wales Online
Lauren Potts

'I'm in fear of the next bill' Being single in the cost of living crisis

Earlier this year, my gas and electricity bill doubled from £90 a month to £180. When it goes up again in the winter, the only cold comfort is being able to split the cost with my husband. But if I couldn’t, I’d find myself in a situation many single people are experiencing right now: the very real fear that life is rapidly becoming unaffordable.

Annie Slinn says her finances were manageable until she and other residents in her building received a quarterly heating bill for £520 each that is set to go up again in the winter.

“I remember receiving it and I just cried. I get that it’s hard for families, but when you’re the only person bringing in the income it’s tricky and it’s getting to the point where the bills are more expensive than my mortgage,” says the 26-year-old, who lives in a flat in Northampton.

“I’m thinking ahead [to winter] and I’m not going to put my heating on for as long as physically possible, until I’m freezing in my house. I’m living in fear for the next bill really.”

Sadly, life is cheaper when you're in a couple. The cost of housing, bills, food, holidays can all theoretically be halved if there are two incomes. At the supermarket, food is designed for households of more than one, with multi-packs and dine-in-for-two deals. When it comes to travel, hotel rooms are based on two-person occupancy and can be split, while a Two Together railcard makes train journeys cheaper.

Single tax

Being single in the UK amounts to spending an extra £630 a month, or £7,564.50 a year, according to data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), analysed in February by Ocean Finance. That same month, YouGov predicted that four in ten Brits expected their finances to get worse in the next 12 months but six months later, the ONS has already reported that a third of people are cutting back on essentials like food.

About half the population of Great Britain - some 24 million people - cut back on their energy use between March and June because of rising fuel costs. And that’s even before winter hits, when heating bills are expected to soar yet again. If you’re in a couple, you might be able to face what’s coming. But what if you’re single, living alone and the sole wage earner?

Annie has a full-time job in communications and used to live comfortably on her salary but says her disposable income has vanished - she no longer treats herself, does two food shops a month and relies on free Parkrun events and a £15 monthly cinema pass for entertainment.

“I think there’s an assumption that if you’ve got a decent job you’re fine, but what kind of life is it when you have to monitor how many food shops you do a month, try not to shower too much, not put your heating on?”

'You don’t have any backup'

ONS figures from 2019 suggest people aged 25-64 who live alone spend an average of 92% of their disposable income, compared with two-adult households who spend 83% of theirs. There’s very little help for single people to manage living costs, except a 25% council tax discount that Nicola Tanner says doesn’t go far enough to cover the cost of living alone.

She says the only reason she’s been able to shoulder the rising cost of living so far is that she recently had a promotion in her civil service role - but her situation will only remain tenable if it stays exactly as it is.

“You don’t have any backup when it’s just you,” she says. “All the costs are split when there’s two of you, or one of you can do extra hours at work. But when it’s you by yourself, all the utilities, the rent, it’s all on a solo income.

“Families do have it very tough for a variety of reasons but it’s like, do I count? I don’t want to encourage fights between groups or blaming people but [single people] are suffering a bit as well.”

Nicola has rented a property on the edge of an ex-council estate several miles outside Bristol city centre for seven years and “lives in fear of my landlord putting the rent up”.

“Rents have basically doubled since I got this. You can’t even get a shared room in Bristol for what I pay now and by the time you’re 37 you don’t want to live in a bedsit if you can help it. If I had to move somewhere where it was £1,200 a month that would be half my salary - you can live like that, but it’s not a sustainable way to live.

“You’re supposed to have savings and an emergency fund and to think about buying a property and that doesn’t seem realistic, it’s never going to happen."

According to the ONS, people living alone are more likely to rent rather than own a home and typically have have less money left over at the end of the week or month.

'£2 is quite important right now'

Marketing officer Megan earns about £12,000 a year and currently lodges in a houseshare in Liverpool, where she is financially independent. The 23-year-old says despite being brought up by her mum to budget, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to make her money stretch.

“I’ll budget and think I’ve got all the answers but I’m slowly moving money around trying to make ends meet at the end of the month in a way that I’ve not had to previously,” she says.

“I’ve noticed that when I go for a meal, I’ll get the cheap option; I’ll get water and not lemonade 'cause you're saving that £2 and that £2 is quite important right now.

“My money is slipping away faster, like I’ve got a pocketful of loose change and a hole that I can’t find to sew up. It reminds me of when your parents say “every penny counts” when they give you change as a kid and you think you’re rich - and now I need that change.”

'Price-up the situation'

She says she’d like to move in with her partner to help cut costs: “I’d be saving in a lot of ways, I’d be able to walk to work, we could plan and split the shopping, invite people around instead of going out.”

But instead they’re having to “price-up the situation” and whether it’s doable, which in itself is a rather unromantic catch-22.

“You’re supposed to want to live with your partner if you want to but instead you’re having to go through finances and saying ‘this will benefit me moving in with you’,” Megan adds.

Oliver Lindsay says having a flatmate would dramatically reduce his housing costs in Shetland where he has recently moved for work, but it wouldn't help with the "rampant" rise in fuel prices he's encountered.

[That has] definitely left my finances being drained at a far quicker rate - only a few months ago it would cost me about £37 to fill my tank, now it costs me £80 if I'm lucky.

“You burn through immense amounts of fuel [living here] because there is nothing within walking distance, even if you just need a pint of milk you’re often looking at a ten-minute drive unless you live in the main town.”

Oliver described the housing situation on the Scottish island as “utterly desperate” and is facing a rent bill of at least £550 a month for a one-bed which would be a “steal”. On top of that, he estimates paying “well over” £100 a month for energy, as well as paying off debts to a previous energy company of £75 a month.

“I am very concerned [about winter], I only get paid so much at the end of each month,” says the 25-year-old, who makes about £19,000 a year as a reporter at a local paper.

“Energy is also more expensive in Shetland than most parts of the UK and the weather gets a hell of a lot more miserable. So the idea of being stuck in the house due to bad weather and worrying whether I can put the heating on is really quite upsetting.”

Charlotte is also dreading the colder months and has been coming up with ways to save money. She earns more than double what Oliver does and is still worried about being able to afford to cook and heat her flat in Clapham, where she’s paying almost £,1200 a month in rent.

She’s already given up her car to save on petrol, insurance and parking permits, eats her food cold, and is considering getting a part-time job on top of her full-time role at a local authority.

“I shop a lot in Iceland and I try to eat a lot of rice but even that you’re cooking on the gas, so I was thinking of getting a microwave to see if that costs less than running my oven,” says the 31-year-old.

'Middle-class families pushed into poverty and working-class families pushed into destitution'

“I had a friend staying last week and she was doing so much cooking and I’m going to have to ask her when the next bill comes if she can contribute. I made meatballs in sauce the other day and I’m having that for the next four days and I’m eating that cold cause I’m worried about how much the gas is going to go up by.

“I don’t have a window in my bathroom and I always have to use the light so I’m considering getting a solar-powered light as my living room is sunny, so I can use it in the bathroom to keep costs down.

“I’ve never had to think about these things. It’s a really scary time - it just feels like you’re constantly having to not live the life you want to live.”

Charlotte knows there are people in far worse situations than her and says she is worried for people on lower incomes.

“We live in one of the richest countries in Europe and no one should be struggling to pay bills. It’s awful. None of us should be in this position and I feel like we’re going to see a lot of middle-class families pushed into poverty for the first time and working-class families pushed into destitution.”

'Addition support' on its way?

HM Treasury has previously detailed a raft of measures it says will support struggling households during the cost of living crisis, which includes the Department for Business’ £400 grant to help with winter energy costs.

A spokesman said: “We know that rising prices caused by global challenges are affecting how far people’s incomes go, which is why we are providing £37bn worth of help for households which is being phased in throughout the year.

“Eight million of the most vulnerable households will see £1,200 extra support, provided in instalments across the year, and everyone will receive £400 over the winter to help with energy bills. That’s including a record fuel duty cut and a National Insurance cut worth up to £330 a year for the typical employee.

“We are making necessary preparations to ensure a new government will have options to deliver additional support as quickly as possible.”

Universal Credit is also available for those with less than £16,000 in money, savings and investments. But for those who earn above that threshold, the maths is troubling. Household budgets are soaring because of higher energy, food and fuel costs at a time when wages aren’t keeping up with inflation - in fact, the ONS reports that the “real value” of pay has fallen by 3%.

When you combine that with the simple logic that single people face an additional financial burden by virtue of being alone, it’s easy to see why this perhaps overlooked group is struggling.

MoneySavingExpert recently released a cost of living guide featuring more than 90 ways to cut costs, including investing in a heated blanket, using a slow cooker, getting free water-saving gadgets and applying to a local authority Household Support Fund, a run of which is due to start up again soon.

Annie says she’s fortunate her dad could support her if needed but knows not everyone has that luxury. The answer isn’t as simple as living with someone else, although she’s aware of how much better off she’d be financially and mentally if there was someone to share costs with.

“Thinking about the extra bits I could have if I lived with someone and that reassurance if anything happened with my work that they could bear the load, it would be nice. I feel like all I do is work and I can’t even enjoy myself. I’m hoping it’ll get better.”

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