Living Alone Vs Sharehouse

• 

  orangetrain on 16/01/2022 - 18:56

  +1

  If you have enough savings and income you could try buying a house?

  Otherwise best to share or live with your relatives

  • 

    james12 on 16/01/2022 - 18:58

    It will likely be a year-two years to afford a house/apartment. I would have stayed with my parents but don't know anyone in Canberra.

    • 

      orangetrain on 16/01/2022 - 19:00

      +1

      Do the one choice that saves most money.

    • 

      freefall101 on 17/01/2022 - 12:06

      +1

      if sharing for a couple of years is long enough to get to house buying territory, I'd just deal with it until then. That the house is kept tidy makes it sound like a half decent place to stay (I've had a couple of crap housemates in my time). Maybe invest in some noise cancelling headphones?

      Working and living from home alone will quickly drive you nuts too, so many of my friends and colleagues who lived alone have moved in with girlfriends/boyfriends over the past couple of years to have some company (along with save money). Especially if you have to move from a larger house to a smaller apartment. Plus working from the living room isn't that great, I worked all over the house for about a month before settling at just a desk all the time. Otherwise house life and work life clash too much.

• 

  Melencir on 16/01/2022 - 19:00

  +3

  How many people in the share house? You could try to look for one where there's only you and one other housemate - still save some, but at the same time have more space and privacy

  Otherwise it's pretty much what you feel is a priority to you at the moment. If you want to save for a house deposit, then it's sharehousing or living with family. If you value privacy and space more, then live alone.

  • 

    james12 on 16/01/2022 - 19:04

    There are four people in total. One of them is barely here. I did consider living with one other person but rent is more expensive with just two people. If i spend a tad more money can use it live alone.

    • 

      Melencir on 16/01/2022 - 19:09

      +3

      Ok, but keep in mind that initial costs when living alone can be high depending on whether the place comes fully furnished or not, and what kind of whitegoods or stuff you already have.

      It's nice to have the kitchen to yourself 👍 and bathroom hahaha

      • 

        james12 on 16/01/2022 - 19:19

        Yes that is true, will have to spend extra money to furnish the place.

        • 

          PeterA07 on 17/01/2022 - 09:21

          +1

          @james12: Bear in mind that it's not just the initial outlay: the ongoing costs of living alone are higher compared to living in a two-person household. Bills don't just scale up/down proportionally based on how many people are living there: e.g. the internet bill will probably be the same or close to the same, but you'll have nobody to divide the bill with.

          Personally, I enjoyed sharing with one other person: it really didn't have the same feeling as living in a "share house" with several people. As always, you want to ensure that the flatmate is compatible and has similar expectations.

• 

  Quantumcat on 16/01/2022 - 19:16

  +3

  I would prioritise saving. If you don't save fast enough, you may never be able to buy a house as prices will be going up faster than your savings.

  You will be able to live in a nicer place if you share, otherwise you'll be in a granny flat or crappy 1 bed apartment. If you don't like the people you're sharing with, just move to a different house. If you get along with the people in your house it is much nicer than being alone.

  If you do decide you want to live alone, consider looking at places in Queanbeyan as they are much cheaper but not that far from the city. And there are a lot of little units.

  • 

    james12 on 16/01/2022 - 19:21

    The people i'm with are nice and have no problems. Will look at Queanbeyan to see. Thanks for the advice.

    • 

      avoidfullprice on 17/01/2022 - 10:41

      When I first went to Canberra as a singley, I excluded Queanbeyan because I thought it was too far away. I regretted that - it is literally 15 mins to civic. Just have a plan if you intend to drink when you socialise in Canberra. There aren't any bus back to queanbeyan after sunset.

      Also agree with quantumcat - prioritise saving, even if that mean you find dirty dishes in the kitchen sink all the time. Have a noise cancellation headphone when your housemate needs honey time. Prepare for your roommate leaving mid contract and you have to take over half the rent. Names on rental contract is important to resolve dispute.

• 

  JimmyLmao on 16/01/2022 - 19:32

  You could potentially move to a bigger house, for example, 4 bedrooms with 3 people. So that 1 room acts as a study for the separation between work and life. It could be 3 bedrooms plus study/theatre. Any sort of separate room with a door that can block out the noise when working, and block out the idea of work when relaxing.

  If sharing the kitchen is a little problematic, perhaps talk with your housemates and come up with some sort of schedule (certain days, certain times, etc.) I know it's not exactly "use the kitchen when ever i want to" - but it might help? :) - The same housemate should not expect to be able to use the kitchen to cook dinner at ~7pm every single night. Meal prep.

  Communication is key. Your housemates might not realise that they're bothering you, and would likely be willing to make some adjustments if only they knew.

  To help with your decision making process. It sounds a little cliché, but just base it on your happiness. If you're generally happy where you are right now, then you may as well stick with it for the sake of saving faster. If you're pretty unhappy most days, then I think taking a bit longer to save up but living a happier life makes sense. Money is just a means to an end after all. And life is just one great big balancing act.

  • 

    Jolakot on 16/01/2022 - 19:55

    Seconding moving into a bigger place, 6 people splitting $1200/week for an 8 bedroom mansion is a far better deal than 4 people splitting $800/week for a 4 bedroom house

    Found that the actual amount of people is pretty irrelevant compared to the amount of free living space each person can have, especially once you get into places that have 2+ living areas

  • 

    james12 on 16/01/2022 - 20:15

    It is very tough to get a share house with a spare room let alone getting a bedroom. Competition is very hard to even secure a share house house. That is a good idea to talk to the roommates about scheduling times for the kitchen. I did think about meal prep but don't have much freezer space. Did consider buying a small freezer just for myself. I've been having mixture of being happy and unhappy here. Definitely will consider if i am unhappy most days better to just get my own place so I can do well at work and be happier in general.

• 

  AustriaBargain on 16/01/2022 - 20:04

  +8

  Living alone is better. Living with other people is stress and loads of share house horror stories out there.

  • 

    Hardlyworkin on 16/01/2022 - 22:22

    I lived in a dozen or so share house through uni and mainly overseas and my experiences are much different. I enjoyed my time and saved a bunch of money. Though they are not for personality type I guess. I could have lived alone, I preferred being the interactions of being around people. Lockdown might be a different story though!

• 

  Craicdealer on 16/01/2022 - 20:23

  +4

  I think your sharehouse pros should be longer. I've lived in many share houses in my twenties, all very different. A big pro is all you get to experience that you learn from just by being there, never mind when you are older (as I am now), you look back and think about the craziness. You have stories to tell! You don't say how long you have shared houses for but if you can stick it out another few years, I think worth it for your ultimate goal. 24 is very young and you should be enjoying life and having fun. I love my own space now but am so glad of the experiences I've had. Living in a sharehouse certainly teaches you respect, compromise and thought for other people and how important it is! I don't think Novak ever lived in a sharehouse :-). All the best to you.

  • 

    james12 on 17/01/2022 - 22:50

    It is a different experience now which I wont get later on. I kinda feel like to stick with it so i can relax even more later on.

• 

  Triamble on 16/01/2022 - 21:04

  +2

  I much prefer living alone.

  Is getting out of Canberra an option? It's bonkers there; you're paying the highest rent in the country to live in an illuminated sheep paddock. Melb rent is much cheaper, and offers a lot more for a 20 something. At the moment you can live in Carlton or Collingwood for less than you'd pay Tuggers or Woeden.

  • 

    james12 on 17/01/2022 - 22:50

    I moved to Canberra due to a job. Was from Melbourne.

• 

  huggsymersh on 16/01/2022 - 22:09

  +2

  "Share house Pros…

  ….Common areas are always clean"

  I don't think you realise how lucky you are at the moment if this is the current state of your share house!

  But yes, it's a balance of pros and cons. But your current share house does sound pretty good.

  The longer you do share housing, the sooner you will have a deposit for your own place, if that's your main priority.

• 

  bobbified on 16/01/2022 - 22:31

  Biggest factor to me is money.

  I think what you've mentioned above about your priorities says it all already. If that's the case, try and bear the ins and outs of sharing for a couple more years and then get your own place with the extra money you save.

• 

  Tiredman on 17/01/2022 - 11:24

  Save and invest as much as you can when you are young is my advice. Unless sharing homes will wreck your mental health.

  • 

    Euphemistic on 18/01/2022 - 18:19

    This. Share house is a great opportunity to save $ on rent. If it’s good, then you save. If it’s not good then mental health should be a priority and spending more on rent will be worth it.

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  ihbh on 17/01/2022 - 14:54

  How easy is it to bring someone home for intimate time in a share home? I suppose a pro is you can have a relationship with other housemates.