I never had a problem with roomates in the past, nor am I particularly anti-social. But I always wanted to live alone. I guess because where I live, its more expensive to find a place to live by yourself vs renting a room in a house with
other people/sharing an apartment/etc. So by being able to live alone it kind of was a milestone for my life, that I had the freedom of being a total hermit if I so desired.
Currently I reside in an in-law apt next to (but not connected to) the landlord’s house. I don’t get people knocking on my door, in fact nobody bugs me unless I specifically ask them to drop by for whatever. I kind of thought I’d enjoy the peace and quiet of having a whole place to myself- Boy was I surprised!
I never realized how boring living alone can be. I have Mondays/Tuesdays off work, so many of my friends/family are busy when I’m free. While I’ll keep myself busy as best I can (walk the dog, run errands, etc) the personal downtime has been more dull than I anticipated.
anybody else have this happen? Or am I the only non-hermit who lives alone?
I lived alone for 3 years total, when in college. I liked it - the first year I lived alone, my sophmore year, my house was the party house, so I was never lacking for company, and work and school kept me so busy that I needed the alone time I did get at home.
Dating was better when I lived alone, I could have alone time with boyfriends. I don’t mean just for sex (though not having to worry about roommates hearing you through the walls is good). I mean just hanging around and watching movies or whatever without feeling like you’re hogging the shared living room.
After 25 years of single parenting, I LOVE living alone. A big part of it is not being responsible for other people though. I don’t have to make well balanced meals, or any meals at all! I don’t over see homework, or laundry and if there are dirty dishes in the sink, I know damn well who left them there! My kids always claimed they picked up after themselves, but turns out I’M not the messy one. Go figure!
I adore alone time, I like peeing with the door open, I don’t like having to compromise my space or what time of night I can listen to music, or bring friends over. Then I got married (I still pee with the door open). Boy, has this been an awkward three years.
I love it and will never go back. I can do what I want when I want, and never have to ask for permission for anything.
About a decade ago, I had a girlfriend move in. I hated it. The fact that she was ultra clingy made it worse. Suddenly my life was all about entertaining her. When she finally moved out, I felt lonely – for about an hour.
-When I play computer games, I get a little too into them. I’ll be like a sports fan watching a big game, yelling, whining, cussing, etc. When I lived with my parents it drove my stepdad NUTS and he was always pounding on my door telling me to stfu (understandable). I moved out and had roomates, and still did this. they didn’t complain, but I was mature enough to feel embarassment toward my behavior. At least now that I live alone I can be in my element if I want to.
-(TMI) loud sex. I’m not particularly loud, but I’ve had partners that not only were but were incredibly self-concious about the idea that someone other than me can hear them (newsflash, honey. the guy in the house five blocks away is probably calling 911 because it sounds like someone is getting brutally murdered in my house ) I wouldn’t have been able to have sex with these particular partners if i had roomates, because they wouldn’t be comfortable enough to do stuff like that if other people were in the house (and if that was the case, other people would ALWAYS happen to be around…murphy’s law and all that)
-Be as messy as you want to be. basically I can be a total slob, but if I don’t want to LOOK like a slop to other people i can scour the place so its spotless when they show up. Now, i’m not that filthy, but as some have touched on its nice not having to be nagged about this or that. I think I would wind up acting very passive-agressive if I had to live with a total neat freak (and i’m not even that messy of a person)
I’ve lived alone for six years now. At this point, I’m not even sure that I could be retrained to be civilized enough to live with another person again. I sit on the couch for every meal (sometimes with the TV on, sometimes with a book). My kitchen table only gets used when I have company. Like MeanOldLady, I pee with the bathroom door open. On weekends, I stay in my pajamas until late in the afternoon, or whenever I need to leave the house. Sometimes I eat ice cream for dinner. My best time for doing chores is in the middle of the night. I’ve been known to vacuum or run the dishwasher at 3am.
I occasionally get lonely, but I think the quiet bugs me more than anything. I have the TV or radio on for background noise a lot. I play a MMORPG, so I can always hop online and get some human contact that way.
Love living alone. Have been doing so for decades, really. Things get done my way, and I don’t have to put up with the annoying habits of someone else (even if that’s the only annoying thing about them). I don’t have to adjust my schedule to accomodate someone else.
And if I’m lonely, I can call someone over or go out.
Lack of cuddling time can be an issue… but also facilitates not having to rudely shoo someone from my bed so’s I can sleep.
I love having my own apartment. There are things I miss about having roommates (and I had great ones), but overall, I like not having to worry about what someone else wants and vice versa.
I’ve never been bored living alone. I’ve had roommates now (living in the basement of the house I own) for almost a year and we definitely do not hang out. The current dude is a friend from high school and we have a lot of the same friends, but we converse about 20 minutes a week. We probably “talk” more via text and Facebook than in person (we’re both kind about picking stuff up for each other when at the store).
I don’t mind having someone here. The last guy paid rent and the new guy does all the housework and the yardwork in lieu of rent. So both of those things are plusses. I also sort of like the idea of the house looking more “lived in” with another car in the drive. It’s just helpful as a single woman.
We only have one bathroom and that has surprisingly not been an issue.
However, the sex thing is what bothers me most. I like to be loud and his GF likes to be loud. I like to be able to roam around nekkid with my man when he stays over. My roomie and I are both as cool as we can possibly be about the situation…but it still bugs me that I have to be courteous to someone else 24/7 in my own home.
I like living alone. It is much neater than when I had roommates, for example. I do get lonely at times, though. Overall I like it. Besides, I can do all those weird things I like to do without annoying anyone else.
My favorite thing about living alone is not having to share my bathroom. I like my stuff out on the counter and spread out. Also not having to compromise on TV is great especially when all of the comfy furniture is in one room.
Occasionally, I miss having someone to make comments to, the dog doesn’t think I’m as funny as I do, and when I don’t have a dog it gets hard not having anything care if I make it home at the end of the day.
All in all I like living alone and it will take someone very special to get me to change.
Liked it for a about a month. I am six months into the experiment. Now I can’t stand it, especially when I’d rather be with someone special, and plan to be when the timing works out.
Going from living in a fraternity house on campus with 35 guys to living in an appartment by myself in Boston was a bit of an adjustment. Mostly because you didn’t have access to a huge pool of people where you can just be like “whats up” and then just go do whatever is going on at the moment. Living by yourself you have to make much greater effort to hang out with people.
Also, you can get pretty weird being by yourself for long stretches of time. You don’t have anyone around to be like “dude…what the fuck are you doing?!”
I’d been pulling all the weight in my long-term, live-in relationship, so when I finally ended it a couple months ago and my ex returned to his home state, I found myself with only positive changes. I’ve since completely reclaimed my space and freedom, both psychologically and physically. Couldn’t be happier. It’s especially welcome because my job is fairly demanding, and I felt I didn’t have any time or space that was completely mine. Now I do.
I don’t do things differently now, but knowing that I don’t have to care about anyone else’s feelings or preferences makes all the difference.
I started seeing someone new shortly after my breakup, so I haven’t been lonely. But while I’m always sad to see him go after a nice, fun evening together, for now, I’m happy he’s got his own place.
