Smiling lovers, bouquets of flowers and love greetings. Valentine's Day can create melancholy even among hard-core singles. Even if you don't necessarily think about finances on Valentine's Day, you also realise that living in a single household is more expensive than living in a couple's household. But at least in this aspect, an analysis of data from the Federal Statistical Office by the FinTech company Raisin (WeltSparen) provides comfort: being single is not as expensive in everyday life as one might think.
Why singles should pay more for living expenses
According to the Federal Statistical Office, there are almost 41 million households in Germany. 17 million of them, or almost 42 %, are single-person households - people living alone or singles. They only earn their own living, but cannot share the costs, for example for internet or heating. In the supermarket, they are the ones who, in case of doubt, tend to choose the smaller packaging size and have to pay proportionally more. According to the prevailing opinion, they should thus have to spend significantly more per capita on their living expenses than childless couples.
In terms of income, singles are ahead, albeit by a narrow margin. On average, German single-person households have a net income of 2264 euros. Couples without children can fall back on a net income of 4,496 euros. Per capita, however, this is only 2248 euros and thus 16 euros less. But how much money is left at the end of the month after expenses? Do singles really fall by the wayside financially? Data from the Laufenden Wirtschaftsrechnung of the Federal Statistical Office provide the answer.
How much singles really pay
As expected, rent and energy costs account for the lion's share of expenditure - 704 euros on average for each single household. Couples spend 1,127 euros - that's just 563 euros per person, 141 euros less than singles. In percentage terms, however, couples save above all in the category of post and telecommunications. Whereas single people save 52 euros, couples only save 74 euros in total and 37 euros per person. This is a saving of 15 euros, which is significantly more than a quarter.
The values of expenditure for the category food, beverages and tobacco products are balanced: 234 euros are incurred in single-person households, couples spend exactly twice as much. Monthly expenditure on leisure, entertainment and culture is also roughly the same: 304 euros in total and 157 euros per person compared to 148 euros for single people.
For some other items, singles even get off much more cheaply than couples. Single people spend an average of 170 euros per month on transport. Surprisingly, couples spend 200 euros per person, which is about 30 euros more.
Conclusion: Additional costs yes, but less than expected!
Both singles and couples end up with a lot left over - on average
Wie fällt der Vergleich insgesamt aus? Auf insgesamt 3117 Euro belaufen sich die privaten Konsumausgaben kinderloser Paare im Durchschnitt. Damit sparen sie im Vergleich zu alleinlebenden Singles durchaus Geld. Pro Kopf kommen sie auf 1558,50 Euro monatliche Konsumausgaben, während Singles mit 1658 Euro genau 100 Euro mehr bewältigen müssen. Bei Weitem nicht so viel wie oft erwartet. Stellt man die Pro-Kopf-Ausgaben den jeweiligen Haushaltsnettoeinkommen gegenüber, bleiben Singles 606 Euro pro Monat und Paaren 689,50 Euro am Ende übrig.
The following applies to all: Don't let money lie around without interest!
Katharina Lüth, Chief Client Officer and financial expert at Raisin, summarises and advises: "Being single is not a disaster from a financial point of view either - the additional costs are manageable. Which life plan one ultimately prefers is up to each and everyone - Valentine's Day or not. But one thing is true for everyone, singles and the forgiven: money in an interest-free current account is dead money. A reasonable buffer so that you don't slip into the overdraft facility is sufficient here. Every euro above that, however, should be invested in a call account or, even better, a time deposit account, so as to benefit from the increased interest rates on savings."
Anke Dembowski is a financial journalist and author of various investment fund-related and other financial books. She is also a co-founder of the "Fondsfrauen" network.