Living Alone or with Flatmates?

GUEST AUTHOR: Eylul Basok, Spotahome Student Ambassador

Having moved around quite a bit I have had different accomodation experinces. I have lived alone, in a dormitory with several people, shared a single room and currently, I am living in an apartment of six people.

After all these experiences, I have been able to measure and understand what the best option for me is. First of all, there is no correct answer to this but if you are aware of the pros and cons, you can understand which option will work best for you without having to move all around the city like like i did.

Reasons to have flatmates:

You won’t be lonely:

After coming home from university, you will have someone to talk to about your day, gossip about the new guy/girl in class or complain about the weather. You will always have someone to have dinner with. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to be together all the time. If you respect the privacy of your flatmates, they will also respect yours. The key to living together is to define boundaries and know that you’ll get what you give.

They will cheer you up:

When you’re having a bad day or feeling a bit down, you just need to step out of your room and there will be someone around thge house ready to share a glass of wine with you and listen to you. At the end of the drinks, you are most likely to be having some ridiculous fun or having a party and will forget why you were sad in the first place.

Less responsibility:

You don’t need to keep track of the bills every month. Even if you forget to pay something, your friends will remind you. Another positive point is that you won’t be left without toilet paper even if you forgot to buy some the previous day, there will be someone else to hopefully remember to do so. It may seem like keeping track of money each one has spent is difficult, but there are so many applications, like Splitwise where you can record expenses and it will show who owes how much and when.

Save money:

I know you’re thinking you can't afford to live alone so you’re sharing the house but believe me, I know people who can afford it but still prefer to live with flatmates just because of all the reasons listed above.

Depending on how much privacy you want or need, you can choose to stay in a single room in a shared apartment or even share a room. In this case, your roommate will be one of your closest friends. Nevertheless you should be aware that if you have different time schedules or if you are very sensitive about noise when sleeping, this option could turn into a nightmare.

Reasons to live alone:

You’ll have more privacy:

This only depends on you. If you can’t stand the idea that there will always be someone in the house or if you are the kind of person who finds happiness in silence, than you should definitely live alone. You can’t control the time your friends will be in the house having party or playing the guitar when you just want to stay alone and quietly read a book.

Of course if you are living with other people you will not always have an ensuite bathroom and therefore the shared bathroom will not be always free and ready to use when you want it. If you live alone, you will never wait in line for the bathroom and you can take a shower as long as you want!

No arguments:

Think about the time you used to live with your parents. There was always something to argue about. And now think about living with people you’ve never met before. Of course some arguments are unavoidable, but when you live alone, you are the only one in the house who is in charge of everything so it is all up to you.

Clean only your own mess:

Well, no one will be there to clean behind you but also you won’t need to clean behind your flatmates. If you use the pan at night and don’t wash it, it will still be dirty the next morning, no one will have washed but you wont have to deal with other peoples pots and pans invading the sink.

I hope this will help you make the best decision!

Now that you have decided if you want to share a flat or live on your own all you need is to find the a perfect pad. Spotahome has all the options to match your preferences in terms of accomodation.