Single Parents House Sharing

Ann84

Hi,

I am a share parenting mum, i share custody of my daughter with her dad so only have her for half of the week. I am seriously struggling to pay rent for a house for us as it is just me. I have been looking around at options of a smaller house but even smaller houses and appartments within what i can really afford are not good standard (well not for a child!) or in undesirable locations.
I have been doing research and have seen that in other countries such as Oz and UK, single parents are now grouping together to split rent and for the company i suppose!
I am basically wondering if anyone has any experience of this in Ireland, i am based in Cork city area and would be interested in any feedback on this.
I wouldnt like to live with a complete stranger without children as i think it would be difficult, so thanks for your thoughts...
All appreciated!!

Sleepy

If it's just the two of you, you really should be looking at apartments rather than houses. Desirability of location is something most of us have to deal with at the moment, could you look at somewhere outside of Cork city? I wouldn't have thought a 2 bed apartment in a commuter town can hardly be that unafffordable?

There's merit to the idea of sharing with another single parent but lots of considerations:

How will you get on with the other person?
How will your daughter get on with their kids?
How to deal with the children's perceptions of things not being fair when they're being brought up in the same house as another child who receives different parenting - more/less sweets allowed, different punishments etc?
If you only have your daughter for half the week, do you really want someone else's children in your home when you might like to relax and enjoy the 'downtime' or get all those jobs that get put on the long finger when she's there done?
etc.

Personally, I'd rather face a longer commute to work / créche / school or find one of the less undesirable of the not quite so desirable locations in the city or it's suburbs.

Ann84

Hi,

Thanks for your response, i have been looking at commutor towns within 30-40 mins commute of the city and to be honest, the prices do not fall as dramatically as you ( or i would have thought)!
If the price was right, i would make the sacrifice but as it stands, i only have my daughter half of the week and she has to go to bed at 7:30, i do not like the idea of not seeing her any of the week nights i have her as i only see her every second weekend as i finish work at nearly 6 as it stands!!
Compromises have to be made but i would be more willing to house share, if i could find someone interested than my daugher less for the sake of 100 quid a month!
Not to mention that her dad lives in the city, she is in creche near the city, starting school in the city in september and the further apart we move, the more difficult it becomes, so i definately think house sharing is a better option!
On the not getting on with peopel etc, im pretty easy going and am only looking to share with someone in a similar position, i would imagine i cant be the only person in this boat in this day and age!!!
Parenting is different even in households with same parents and children of different ages, different rules always apply!
I dont expect any other person to parent my child for me, but if they have different bedtimes, rules etc (it'll be put down to age etc...!! )
It does work in other places, it a relatively new concept here but it could save alot of people alot of heartache and stress, well, it could me anyway!!!
Rent is a waste of money when there are so many other costs involved in raising a child!