8 Financial Benefits of Being Single

If you're visiting from the Carnival of Personal Finance #272 – Yogi Berra Edition! over at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, welcome! It's a bit crazy around here right now because I'm hosting a huge back to school series of giveaways. It's a lot of fun, but all of the fun really fills up my blog! Look around and get comfortable. I'm still posting my "regular" stuff amidst the giveaways, so you can find that here. Feel free to enter some of the giveaways if you want as well!

This will be the first part is a short three-part series of Financial Benefits of...

And today we will discuss the financial benefits of being single. While it is true that it is cheaper per person to live in a relationship, there are financial benefits of being single. Here is a quick list of those:

1. You make all the financial decisions. Yes, this can be viewed as stressful, but it is not as stressful as having to consider someone else in your financial decisions. You can decide what you want to do with your money as selfishly as you want to do so. If you want something, you don't have to consult with anyone else.
2. No need to change anyone. If you are naturally a saver, you don't have to convince someone to be on the same page as you and curb their spending. If you are naturally a spender, you don't have to justify your purchase to anyone but yourself.
3. No need for life insurance. Unless you just have a large estate that you want to leave to a nephew or something, there is no need to invest in term life insurance if you don't have to worry about taking care of anyone if you die suddenly.
4. You don't have to carry another person's liabilities. That's right. You don't have to worry about the late payment on someone else's credit card or the tax fraud they might incur or the possibility of being sued because of their actions. It's all about you.
5. You don't have to ask permission to go to the ATM. That might be harshly stated, but if your spouse is the one who pays the bills rather than you, you might have to check with them before spending to make sure there aren't plans for the money that is currently in the bank (as in, the bills are all due tomorrow).
6. Health insurance is WAY cheaper for one person than for two. And especially cheaper than for a family. YIKES!
7. Single person = Single living space. Once again, I know it costs less per person to share a living space, but the smaller the space needed, the less the rent. And if two people does not equate to two incomes, it is cheaper to live being single. Same goes for utilities.
8. You can deal with a smaller car. Yep...those SUVs and vans and full size family sedans cost more, cost more to insure, cost more to fuel, cost more to maintain. So if you aren't required to have one for the room, you can get by with a much cheaper ride.

Obviously, regardless of your marital status, you must gain responsibility and accountability for your personal finances if you are going to rule them (rather than letting your money control you). However, the above reason as just a few ways it is financially beneficial to be single.

Do you have any to add?

Photo credit: sundstrom