DINKs vs. SINKs

[primer]

Why do some think single people have more money?

 

 

They don't. If they live alone, there is only one income and no one to share expenses with. Rent and mortgage are the same. Utilities might be less but not one-half. Insurance is the same, if not more. Property taxes are the same no matter how many people live in the house.

 

 

I think double-income no kids would be way better than single-income no kids.

[SevenCity]

Why do some think single people have more money?

 

 

They don't. If they live alone, there is only one income and no one to share expenses with. Rent and mortgage are the same. Utilities might be less but not one-half. Insurance is the same, if not more. Property taxes are the same no matter how many people live in the house.

 

 

I think double-income no kids would be way better than single-income no kids.

 

I agree. It's better to share expenses.

 

Also, dating is not cheap. I've spent more money being single than when I was living with my gf.

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

I wasn't aware anyone thought this way.

[d0nnivain]

It's the kids who are expensive.

 

 

My expenses did go up when I married. Two people were taking showers / using water & using electricity. I would eat small cheap meals at home. Now I make elaborate dinners, plus I bought all the extra appliances to make them. I travel more now that I have a built in playmate. I also only had my family to worry about for holidays & birthdays; now I have about 10 more people to buy for, his side of the family, their SOs & their kids.

[basil67]

I'm with CO on this. Who says that single people have more money?

[Shanex]

I was confused by the title and acronym. Dink is Vermont slang for an idiot.

 

To answer the question. I have no kids, being single I mostly spend on rent, food, drink and parties, oh and travels a time or two a year.

 

What if I lived with someone? Sharing? I dunno, never really done that but keeping a girlfriend cost more than being single, dating or not.

[carhill]

I did both and would opine, all else being equal, the DINK *should* be better off. However, at least in the case of marriage, there's the reality of joint assets and two potentially very unique patterns of handling those assets.

 

Owing to a far more robust, comparatively, social life while married, I had to learn how to travel cheap or free as opposed to when I was single and paid cash for everything since my social life was more limited and frugal when single, as well as more controllable since I didn't have to consider anyone else.

 

I can see positives and negatives with both. I think the coolest setup are the empty nesters who had kids young and developed their careers, kids are out of college and paid off and mom and dad are in their prime earning years and pulling down a boatload of cash and enjoying life to the full. House is paid off, vehicles bought for cash, retirement maxed, months of paid vacations, that's the life.

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

I was confused by the title and acronym. Dink is Vermont slang for an idiot.

 

To answer the question. I have no kids, being single I mostly spend on rent, food, drink and parties, oh and travels a time or two a year.

 

What if I lived with someone? Sharing? I dunno, never really done that but keeping a girlfriend cost more than being single, dating or not.

 

I've never lived alone with no kids, but I have lived alone WITH kids and the biggest difference I experience when it comes to money is now I have to pay 100% of the mortgage, electric bill, water bill, sewer bill, groceries, cable, internet.......

 

Kids or no kids, I don't know how someone could ever say single people have more money. It costs a lot to just keep a roof over your head and if you don't have a second income contributing to that, it sucks.

[primer]

Just before I created this OP, my coworker was telling me I should have a lot of money because I am single.

 

 

I told her there is only one income when single, no one to share expenses with. My property taxes, house insurance, etc. did not decrease since ex moved out. My electric bill did decrease approximately 15%. Heat will probably increase.

[Nilfiry]

This assumes that your partner will actually be working a good job with decent pay...which is obviously not always the case.

 

You cannot just simplify it to single people have less money than couples. Circumstances matter.

 

You can be single but live with your family or a roommate, so living costs are diluted among the inhabitants, which means more money in your pocket.

 

You can be single with a high paying job and little to no debt.

 

You can be married with no kids but both work minimal wage jobs

 

You can be single with no kids but have a disabled partner that cannot work whose disability pay barely puts a dent in the medical expenses.

 

You can be single with a spendthrift partner.

 

You can be single or married but be the spendthrift yourself.

 

As you can see, the situation can vary vastly. I am single, and I have more money than most couples that I know with or without kids. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Shanex]

I've never lived alone with no kids, but I have lived alone WITH kids and the biggest difference I experience when it comes to money is now I have to pay 100% of the mortgage, electric bill, water bill, sewer bill, groceries, cable, internet.......

 

Kids or no kids, I don't know how someone could ever say single people have more money. It costs a lot to just keep a roof over your head and if you don't have a second income contributing to that, it sucks.

 

Its true. Its hard to save money even as a single childless every month tbh. I know people will argue whether children are expensive or not. They are. If you are a healthy couple making enough money, you could be fine. Someone alone with children? Whether a man or woman? Much respect.

[avgjoe]

Why do some think single people have more money?

 

 

They don't. If they live alone, there is only one income and no one to share expenses with. Rent and mortgage are the same. Utilities might be less but not one-half. Insurance is the same, if not more. Property taxes are the same no matter how many people live in the house.

 

 

I think double-income no kids would be way better than single-income no kids.

 

I agree with your thoughts. fixed overhead doesn't differ much among single / couple (if at all) and doesn't scale linearly by # of people in the household, but I think when people are talking about single person being richer, it could factor things like single person living with parents / roommate (lower rent). All else equal, single person has it tougher.

 

I think some people perceive singles to have more money because of the way their budget is allocated. They tend to dedicate more time on social life and traveling, eating out with friends, movies. Married couple are spending money in more inconspicuous ways, for example they may have a great home theater system with cable channels that most single people choose to opt out of, things like costco membership card, more money spent on hosting family dinner, generally more money spent on holiday gifts, etc..

[elaine567]

Well it all depends.

Single, highish income, small apartment in cheap area, frugal living, spends spare time watching TV -> oodles of cash.

vs

Couple, lowish income, larger apartment in expensive area, lavish life style, goes out socialising and eating out a lot, foreign trips multiple times a year -> no money and large credit card debt

[primer]

I agree with your thoughts. fixed overhead doesn't differ much among single / couple (if at all) and doesn't scale linearly by # of people in the household, but I think when people are talking about single person being richer, it could factor things like single person living with parents / roommate (lower rent). All else equal, single person has it tougher.

 

I think some people perceive singles to have more money because of the way their budget is allocated. They tend to dedicate more time on social life and traveling, eating out with friends, movies. Married couple are spending money in more inconspicuous ways, for example they may have a great home theater system with cable channels that most single people choose to opt out of, things like costco membership card, more money spent on hosting family dinner, generally more money spent on holiday gifts, etc..

 

 

 

You mean choices?

 

 

Kids are a choice too.

 

 

This is the same coworker that feels we have the same living situation because her husband works out of town a lot. No - not the same - I don't have someone else's paycheck getting deposited into my account.

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

Just before I created this OP, my coworker was telling me I should have a lot of money because I am single.

 

 

I told her there is only one income when single, no one to share expenses with. My property taxes, house insurance, etc. did not decrease since ex moved out. My electric bill did decrease approximately 15%. Heat will probably increase.

 

Yeah, that's pretty ignorant.

[primer]

Well it all depends.

Single, highish income, small apartment in cheap area, frugal living, spends spare time watching TV -> oodles of cash.

vs

Couple, lowish income, larger apartment in expensive area, lavish life style, goes out socialising and eating out a lot, foreign trips multiple times a year -> no money and large credit card debt

 

 

 

Well of course it depends on that stuff. Don't live a lavish life style if you don't have the funds.

[CautiouslyOptimistic]

 

This is the same coworker that feels we have the same living situation because her husband works out of town a lot. No - not the same - I don't have someone else's paycheck getting deposited into my account.

 

lol, oh boy. I hope this person never ends up divorced! She's gonna be in for a rude awakening!

[primer]

I know.

 

 

She is in her mid-40s. I believe she thinks this way because she never lived on her own. She went straight from Mommy and Daddy to provider husband.

[avgjoe]

o I was gonna say something similar to that, but I also think that price index that couples see/feel are not the same as single people. I feel like often times, since it has been awhile since married people have been single so we lose touch of how much things really cost as single. I was talking to a single friend the other day about how much his mobile phone monthly charge is and my jaws dropped because this is certainly not how i remember my bill before as a single person.

[Chilli]

Hell yeah , when l think now of the money we coulda put away when l was married ,,, talk about cringe. !

 

lt is damn hard being single l fully agree but in the long run, in time , gonna take time buttttt, l think l might end up better off.

 

l'd still much prefer two incomes though or one and a half or whatever.

[Els]

You mean choices?

 

 

Kids are a choice too.

 

 

This is the same coworker that feels we have the same living situation because her husband works out of town a lot. No - not the same - I don't have someone else's paycheck getting deposited into my account.

 

Huh. That sounds like some couples I've heard of in China - apparently a bank there once advertised that their bank accounts allow the man's paycheck to be deposited directly into the woman's account without the couple needing to make the arrangements themselves.... they thought it would be a selling point.

[Art_Critic]

I certainly had more cash flow when I was single, being married doesn't affect cash flow much but having a child is pretty expensive..

 

We are still a SINK family though as my wife is a SHAM and has no income to contribute to the cash flow, not saying being a SHAM isn't important but I using the reference to cash flow not what she provides for the family.

 

When I was single I put more money in my 401-K than I do now but the cash flow needed to be increased after my Son was born so that was one way of increasing it.

 

Honestly from my perspective the cost of utilities is what I see as what hurts my cash flow more than anything.

170 for phones and 200 for TV and internet...400 for power in the summer.. the cost of food has risen 3 fold in the last 7 or 8 years... etc etc etc and my paycheck hasn't grown in parallel so there is less money in the budget to do things than there was years ago...

But those utility companies sure have enough bottom line to fill their stock holders pockets

 

We are going to become cable cutters soon....

[No_Go]

I've been in a SINK and DINK situations The best IMO is SINK - alone (in contrast to SINK with leeching partner)

 

1) SINK (alone): my utilities are next to nothing - no cable, low electric bill etc. Food expenses: super low. I'd never bother cooking for myself - a pint of ice cream and I'm done with the dinner . When I was renting - I could rent for dirt cheap because I needed a very little space. With the mortgage is different but still - if strapped with money I'd just rent out my lower level (no need of family room with no family, right? ).

 

2) SINK (with leeching live-in partner) - ugh, food bills skyrocketed - he wanted to cook for us (with my money). Electric and water bills skyrocketed. He wanted space - we rented bigger apartment - I paid of course. He also wanted to be entertained - since Im not a clown I had to get cable and take him out. I lost thousands and thousands

 

3) DINK (with working live-in partner) - supposedly lower living expenses because we would split 50/50. BUT: higher utility bills, bigger place (of his choice ), food - this guy would eat cooked food every night and insist of going out to eat 2x a week at least - I'd spend 3x if not more on food compared to my single times. And oh, the "lovely" entertainment, presents for him and his whole family etc. I'd say it was at least 50% more than scenario 1).

 

Now - if I find a modest dude who is not a money sink - maybe 3) can be close or better than 1).

[central]

Currently a SINK. Kids are grown and on their own, wife is preparing to return to work after a long illness, and working to get several books published. So, hopefully DINK again soon, but we're close to retirement so it may not matter. Maximizing my 401k contributions and our IRAs, but our cost of living is modest, so we have good cash flow for enjoying life. Our largest discretionary expense is travel - 6 weeks this past year, and 5 planned for this coming year.

[Els]

IME, the absolute most expensive relationship-related situation is being in a LDR, lol. You still live separately and pay all the costs you usually would when single, in addition to insane travel expenses! LDR couples nowadays are luckier in that VOIP is mostly free - but 10 years ago most LDR couples found that their phone bills were astronomical, too.