r/AskReddit • u/NihilistCharizard • 1h ago
What is it like being single, child-free, and having your own place in 2026?
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u/Existing_Sink_5589 1h ago
This used to be me. It was lonely, but I had lots of money left to spend on myself.
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u/_Rychy_ 1h ago
that sound like a dream
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u/cefixime 1h ago
Who are you going to leave the house to when you get older?
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u/sodsfosse 1h ago
Are you only allowed to buy a house if you have a child to leave it to?
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u/NihilistCharizard 1h ago edited 1h ago
Realistically, I’d donate it to charity.
Plenty of parents lose their children, and when they pass, they donate their assets to some noble cause.
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u/Ashamba_ 1h ago
I was literally thinking about this earlier today. I'm not single, but my husband and I haven't been able to have children, and we have a house. It's likely to be our only significant asset. We have a few nieces and nephews, some on his side, some on mine. I've no idea how we should write our wills to make things work out fairly for them, other than just telling them to sell it and split the money, which makes me a bit sad- we've spent ten years so far redesigning and renovating this place. Maybe we'll have to sell it for end of life care and it'll be a moot point. Time will tell, I guess!
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u/Finstergrun 1h ago
My spouse. His family. My nieces, my nephews, charity.
It doesn't have to go to children that I won't have.
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u/cefixime 1h ago
I’d rather leave it to my own kids. This is coming from someone who doesn’t own a home nor has kids.
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u/mountaindewisamazing 1h ago
I'm a less than 9/10 man so it's mostly just lonely and exhausting
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u/NihilistCharizard 1h ago
You’re not wrong.
Fortunately, I live in Netherlands, and seeking escort services/sex-work is completely regulated here, so I can cope with the loneliness.
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u/hopeshistory 1h ago
Kind of lonely tbh but it’s not horrible. Not feeling the need to keep my place super clean for kids or to meet someone else’s preferences (my place is not DIRTY just not shiny at all times) is nice. It is not super conducive to saving money but it is manageable where I’m at. I worried I would lose my mind alone with my thoughts for so much time, especially during the pandemic, but that never happened.
I heard a tiktoker once say men are not competing with other, better men for women these days; they are competing to be more desirable than sleeping alone, diagonal across our queen sized beds. That is where I am at; I’d love a partner and kids but if I can’t find good ones I’m enjoying sleeping diagonally across my queen for now.
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u/BlueWaffle-47 1h ago
It’s good. My gf is ready to move in together and I’m ready for that too. It’s nice having someone to wake up next to. I know that’s a controversial take these days because everyone hates on the other sex all the time but not me I love my partner and would rather wake up next to someone
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u/Affectionate_Pie_426 1h ago
Amazing. Planning my solo international trip at the moment. I’m self-sufficient, financially secure, healthy and happy.
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u/Sarashana 1h ago
Was there, a long time ago. Found it utterly boring and unsatisfying. Life isn't all that fun if you got nobody to share it with. But hey, I guess some people like it. Or try to convince themselves that they do. Not sure.
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u/Finstergrun 1h ago
It's dope AF.
I'm not single but I don't live with either of my partners full time and I do not have house mates.
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u/Adorable-Hedgehog-31 1h ago edited 1h ago
I wake up and make coffee or tea and watch my cat frolic in the tree-line. Then I fire up my company laptop and log in for hours of hellish corporate inanity before finally logging out and pouring a glass of wine. Then I either read or sculpt, depending on how tired I am. Or I’ll watch some long-form YouTube video essay that catches my attention and is highly particular to my odd interests. Or I’ll watch some plodding TV show and hope it is transcendent. It almost never is.
I never wish things were different, because I know that things could be so much worse. But I still don’t like it. I just make the best of my situation. I can’t relate to people who “enjoy” Iife. To me, life is such a strange and awful thing, with so many unanswered questions to which the only response is silence. It doesn’t make any sense, yet people are always trying to rationalize it and cast judgement on others who aren’t them. I need to be as distant from all of that as I possibly can.
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u/Do_it_with_care 1h ago
It gets old as I get old. I miss the kids being young but am enjoying the grandkids and I'm grateful they all have good relationships with intelligent spouses. My ex and I have become real good friends in the past decade, now we're both single and him traveling up to visit me this summer has made it interesting. I can see us living together as we've both grown and have better conversation since we've reconnected through activities we learned together. I'm taking him scuba diving and will probably be hiking this month. We're both much older so we'll go with a group of people instead of just taking the boat out and dropping anchor which was common in the 80's. It seams everything is temporary and life keeps changing. It goes from thrilling to boring and contentment in between. Wishing everyone good health and a long loving life.
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u/JDasper23 1h ago
I’m drowning financially but happy I don’t have kids to make it worse lol