The high cost of housing means more people are being priced out of not only owning a home but also renting alone. The share of adults 65 and over looking to rent with a roommate has tripled in the past decade, according to the listings site SpareRoom.
“They’re not the biggest group of roommates, but they’re by far the fastest growing,” said the site’s communications director, Matt Hutchinson.
SpareRoom finds that roommates in general are skewing older. Young people are living with their parents longer, unable to afford moving out or simply trying to save up. Meanwhile, more people in their 50s, 60s and older are unable to make it on their own.
350 bucks a year
What about heat, electricity, internet, video games, cable TV, streaming services, books, water, sewage, human food, and dog food?
I have heat and AC and internet. I quit playing video games a while back. I will long on to Star Trek Online once in awhile and fly my ship around but that is about it. I have plenty of books and food. No dogs but the cats in the neighborhood are taken car of. Some of them even made it in the house. I do wish I had someone to come in to clean but the prices have gotten out of hand. I do what I want and go where I want. I come home feed the cats and doomscroll for a while. Sometimes I watch Youtube videos on Forgotten Weapons or some Tolkien channel I am subbed to. Since my divorce 15 years ago I have learned to be comfortable alone. I have not been on a date in 14 years and don’t plan on ever going on one again. Any friends that I have had have either died or shown themselves to be MAGA. I am sure that one day they will find what is left of me sitting in a chair and I am fine with that. They can stack me on the comic book collection that my nephews do not want and send me off to Valhalla.
If you add music and occasional roleplaying, this would also be a pretty great retirement for me. Hopefully my gaming group won’t go fascist on me.
Well played! I hope you enjoy many years of contentment.
Solar + heatpump + septic tank + water cistern + garden can handle or offset several of those, but not all of them. High upfront costs for the above, but they all pay off in the 3-10 year time frame.
Food banks can provide both types of food you list. Internet may be low income plans or asking a neighor for wifi access. Piracy + vpn can replace streaming. Libraries can fill the gap for other entertainment.
There are individual/community options for all of the above if you have some money at some point or ar least engage with the people around you.