HOW TO BEAT THE SINGLE TAX

More of us than ever before are single, so why is it that it now costs vastly more to live alone than to share life as a couple? Liz Hodgkinson shares her experiences of this added cost and we look at ways to beat it

Life on your own shouldn’t be more expensive

It used to be said that two could live as cheaply as one. These days, this most definitely isn’t true; it costs far more to live alone than to share life as a couple, as I know only too well, having been single for more than 30 years. We’re charged so much extra for living on our own – from insurance, council tax and gym membership, right down to buying food items such as milk and ready meals – that it amounts to a tax on being single. Looking at a shopping list of typical expenditures (see below), new GH research shows that Britons pay on average £2,000 more if they are single than if they were in a relationship. Shocking, isn’t it?

How so? Take council tax, for instance. If you are a one-person household, you’re entitled to a discount of 25%. Big deal! If there was any justice, singles would be charged 50% of the full tax. If I was sharing my home with another adult and we split the council tax between us, I would be paying £800 less per year than I am now. Holidays are another area where single people are penalised, thanks to that infamous ‘single supplement’. For the luxury of your own room, you’re made to pay extra. Last year, I booked a tour of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos with a friend. We shared a twin, otherwise our holiday would have cost us another £950 each. When asked, travel company Kuoni said: ‘If you are happy to be paired up with another traveller of the same sex, this can be arranged, thus avoiding the single supplement.’ Sharing was fine for us because we are friends, but I wouldn’t care to be paired up with a stranger. Food shopping for one always costs more, proportionately, than for a couple or family. When it comes to perishable goods, we have to buy small portions at extra expense as otherwise we waste more money by throwing uneaten items away. One example: I can’t always finish a two-pint carton of milk at 80p before it goes off, so have to buy one-pint cartons at 50p each. Ready meals, too, are always more expensive in single portions even though there is a large market in meals for one. Gym memberships also cost more, as couples and families are offered discounts. It costs me £168 a year more for my single membership than if I was in a couple.

So what can this fast-growing army of singles do? There’s no good reason for charging the single weighting on holidays, so we must complain to companies that impose this. We must also campaign for the council tax to be 50% of the full charge for a single person household. And, when it comes to food, why not have a ‘singles section’ in supermarkets, where we can buy smaller quantities of items at no extra cost?

Before long, let’s hope enterprising companies will wake up to the fact that there is a market there and cater for us. After all, there are too many of us now to be ignored.

By 2032, over 40% of households in England are expected to be of single occupancy

TRAIN TRAVEL

COST? With a Two Together railcard, £30, couples get a third off train tickets each for a year, making a same-day return ticket from Brighton to London Victoria £15.80 per person, rather than £24 for a single ticket.

WHY? There are railcards for every type of group, from couples to families, but none for singles, unless they are aged 16-25 or over 60 (Senior Railcard). BEAT THE SINGLES TAX! You don’t have to be in a relationship with the person you’re sharing your Two Together railcard with, but you do have to start and end your journeys together to get the discount. It may be worth it if you and a friend regularly travel together.

FOOD

COST? Packaged food is aimed at couples and families – how often do you see a single chicken breast? Ready meals for one are readily available but are often more than half the price of those for two. For example, a Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Lasagne is £6 for an 800g meal (£3 per person), whereas a single meal is £3.50 for 400g.

WHY? Multipacks tend to work out as better value and most manufactures put this down to ‘economies of scale’. A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: ‘The cost of individual products is determined by a number of factors, including pack size, and prices can fluctuate up and down as a consequence.’ Although Tesco has increased the size of its single-serve range by nearly 40%, the products still often cost more than larger packs per gram. BEAT THE SINGLES TAX! ‘There are some smart ways to shop to keep the price down,’ says GH cookery editor Emma Franklin. ◆ Don’t let size put you off; most cupboard essentials have long shelf lives and are much cheaper proportionally than smaller packets. Buy bags of dried rice and lentils so that you can cook just the amount you need, rather than buying more expensive pre-cooked versions which generally serve two. ◆ Head to the market, where you can buy ingredients loose. Butcher’s and the butchery counter at supermarkets are also great.

TAX

COST? A wedding might cost a fortune these days, but there are financial benefits to tying the knot. The marriage tax allowance means married couples or those in a civil partnership can transfer 10% (£1,190) of their personal allowance between them. There are restrictions – but couples who benefit will be over £200 a year better off. Plus, those who are married or registered civil partners don’t have to pay inheritance tax on money or property left to them by their spouse.

WHY? A perk of being married! BEAT THE SINGLES TAX! Gifting your allowance of £3,000 a year while you’re alive is a good way to avoid paying inheritance tax – so long as you live for seven years after giving away the money or estate.

CAR INSURANCE

COST? Research by confused.com showed that a married woman aged 30 pays £197 a year less than a single woman with the same car and driving history.

WHY? According to comparethemarket. com, there’s evidence that couples and families drive more safely and make fewer claims than singletons! BEAT THE SINGLES TAX! Adding a friend or adult child as named driver on your policy could help you save – but, they must use the car or it is known as ‘fronting’ and is illegal.

HOME INSURANCE

COST? When comparing policies on gocompare.com, we found that a married couple can bag a joint policy for £167.35, just £83.68 each, whereas a single person would pay £173.78 for their own.

WHY? The reduced price is because there is a higher probability there will be someone in the home at any one time, reducing the risk of burglary and minimising damage from leaks, according to a Churchill spokesperson.

BEAT THE SINGLES TAX! There’s no way round this but there are other ways to save: never auto-renew, switch around a month before your policy ends, and pay annually rather than monthly for savings.

WILLS

COST? Mirror wills, so-called because the terms of one will largely reflect that of the other, will typically save couples £40.

WHY? ‘Doing mirror wills may not necessarily always be twice the cost of a single will as the content will often be very similar,’ says Marcos Kallou, council member for the Institute of Professional Willwriters. BEAT THE SINGLES TAX! Free Wills Month (freewillsmonth.org.uk) takes place twice a year (in March and October) and allows over 55s to write or update their will for free with participating solicitors. Will Aid (willaid.org.uk), which runs in November, is available to all and offers free wills in exchange for a donation to charity.

MEMBERSHIPS

COST? Virgin Active gyms offer a saving of around 25% off of one membership when a couple sign up to joint plan, used by people living at the same address.

WHY? Virgin said that it was ‘just the terms’ of their deal. We say, ‘Give more freedom so single people can save too!’ BEAT THE SINGLES TAX! Share the discount with a friend instead of a partner? ◆ A standard Netflix subscription (£7.99) can be watched on two screens at once, so share with a friend. The premium package (£9.99), lets four people watch at a time. ◆ From Kew Gardens to the Tate museums, some joint memberships can be shared with friends, so always ask. ◆ Puregym offers an ‘Extra’ membership that lets you bring a friend four times a month.

There are 7.7 million single households in Britain, more than at any time since records began