Can I Afford to Live Alone?
The honest price of solo living: rent, utilities and essentials against one income.
Living alone is freedom — and it is also one income carrying everything. This calculator compares your full solo costs (rent, utilities and the essentials you pay for yourself) with your income.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Monthly income (net), Rent, Utilities & internet, Other essentials alone
- What you get
- Solo costs share of income, Left each month, Affordability score (0–100)
- Formula shown
- Yes — every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only — always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the Can I Afford to Live Alone?
- 1 Enter Monthly income (net)
- 2 Enter Rent
- 3 Enter Utilities & internet
- 4 Enter Other essentials alone — Food, transport, insurance you now pay solo.
- 5 Press Calculate. You get Solo costs share of income, Left each month, Affordability score (0–100), and every intermediate step stays visible under “How is this calculated?”
- 6 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result — that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
A small flat on $4,200 a month
$1,000 rent, $150 of utilities and $500 of other essentials.
You enter
- Monthly income (net)
- $4,200.00
- Rent
- $1,000.00
- Utilities & internet
- $150.00
- Other essentials alone
- $500.00
You get
- Solo costs share of income
- 39.3%
- Left each month
- $2,550.00
- Affordability score (0–100)
- 100
Solo costs are $1,650, or 39% of income, which just stays inside the 40% threshold and scores 100. It leaves $2,550 a month for saving, debt and everything else.
A one-bedroom on $3,200 a month
$1,450 rent with $230 of utilities and $700 of essentials.
You enter
- Monthly income (net)
- $3,200.00
- Rent
- $1,450.00
- Utilities & internet
- $230.00
- Other essentials alone
- $700.00
You get
- Solo costs share of income
- 74.4%
- Left each month
- $820.00
- Affordability score (0–100)
- 14
Solo costs reach $2,380 — about 74% of income — and the score falls to roughly 14 even though $820 a month is technically left. That leftover has to cover saving, irregular bills and anything unexpected, which is exactly what the score is warning about.
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Frequently asked questions
What goes into “other essentials alone”?
The costs that were shared before and now are not: groceries, transport, phone, personal care, and any insurance you now pay yourself. The point of the field is to capture the fact that living alone means paying a full rent, a full internet bill and a full food shop on one income. If you are moving out of a shared home, take your current share of these costs and roughly double it as a starting estimate.
Why is the threshold 40% rather than the 30% housing guideline?
Because this covers more than housing — rent, utilities and essentials together. The score is 100 while solo costs stay at or under 40% of income, then loses 2.5 points for every point above, and drops to 0 if the costs exceed income entirely. The higher threshold reflects that solo living concentrates more of your basics onto one income, which is precisely the trade-off you are evaluating.
What is missing from the solo-cost picture?
The one-off cost of starting out — deposit, first month in advance, furniture, kitchen equipment, connection and installation fees — and any regular saving you want to keep doing. The calculator also assumes your income is steady, which matters more when nobody else is contributing. If you are comparing solo living with a shared flat, remember that the shared option usually also brings lower utility bills per person.
A high score means I can afford it — how should I act on that?
Treat it as permission to look further, not as a decision. A score of 100 means the monthly numbers fit comfortably by this rule of thumb; it does not mean the deposit is available, the lease terms are fair, or the location is right. Run the same figures with a slightly higher rent and a slightly lower income to see how much margin you really have — if a 10% rent rise pushes the score to 0, the cushion is thinner than it looks.