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MoneySuperMarket says people in the UK reported having an average £725.15 left each month after bills and other essential outgoings, £175.76 less than in October 2025. Its survey also recorded lower reported after-tax income, while spending absorbed a larger share of income. The figures are survey averages, not a measure of every household’s finances.
People in the UK reported having an average £725.15 left each month after bills, housing costs and other essential spending, £175.76 less than in October 2025, according to a MoneySuperMarket survey reported by This Is Money. The figures point to pressure on household budgets as essential costs rise and reported monthly after-tax incomes fall.
MoneySuperMarket’s Household Money Index found average reported monthly spending of £1,477.85 across 31 household bills and everyday outgoings. That was lower than the £1,657.67 respondents reported in October 2025, even as the amount they said they had left over also declined. The comparison reflects survey responses at two points in time, rather than a tracking of the same people’s accounts.
Respondents reported average monthly income after tax of £2,203 in the latest survey, down £355.58 from £2,558.58 in October 2025. MoneySuperMarket said bills and everyday expenses accounted for 67 per cent of reported income, compared with 65 per cent a year earlier. The source attributes the index to a recent Opinium survey of 8,000 adults across the UK.
The report also describes a shorter-term change between July and October 2026: average monthly outgoings rose by £23.31, from £1,454.54 to £1,477.85, while reported after-tax income increased by £2.50. MoneySuperMarket calculated that respondents consequently had £20.81 less left after costs than three months earlier. The source links rising food and energy costs to inflation and the war in Iran, but provides no breakdown showing how much of the reported change came from each factor.
Less Room After Essential Bills
The figures matter because they suggest less room in household budgets for discretionary spending or unexpected costs. MoneySuperMarket reported that people were cutting back on subscriptions, streaming services, gaming and gym spending to manage costs. The survey does not establish how widespread each response is, but it illustrates the choices some households say they are making.
Reported averages also conceal differences between places and households. In MoneySuperMarket’s city comparisons, London had the highest monthly outgoings among the locations measured, at £1,703.60, but also the highest reported amount remaining after costs, £898.90. Norwich had the lowest reported remainder, £428.43, and outgoings equal to 77 per cent of income. These are city-level survey estimates, not guarantees about an individual resident’s finances.
For families with children, rising bills can affect everyday decisions as well as optional spending. Charlie Shardlow, a 30-year-old sales manager in Stafford, told This Is Money that she had avoided putting on the central heating because of the possible cost, while wanting to keep her two young children comfortable. Her account is an example from the report, not evidence that all households have made the same choice.
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Pay, Prices and Tax Thresholds
The report places the survey alongside wider pressures on earnings and prices. It says wages rose by 3.7 per cent over the past year, compared with inflation of 3.5 per cent, leaving only a small difference between the two rates. Those figures do not describe every worker’s pay or household costs, and the article does not specify the underlying wage measure.
The source also says the government left income tax thresholds frozen after the Budget. The personal allowance threshold is given as £12,570, unchanged since 2021. When earnings rise while thresholds remain fixed, more income can fall into taxable bands, or earners can move into a higher band. This effect is separate from changes in food or energy prices.
Other estimates cited in the report offer a longer-term picture but use different measures. The Resolution Foundation said typical working-age households could see disposable income fall by £1,050, or 3 per cent, between now and 2029. The article also cited an Asda Income Tracker estimate of £262 in weekly discretionary income for the average household in July to September 2026, £9.34 above the same quarter of 2025. These figures cannot be directly substituted for MoneySuperMarket’s monthly survey measure.
“We’ve been holding off putting the central heating on because we’re conscious of how much it could add to our bills.”
— Charlie Shardlow, speaking to This Is Money
Survey Limits and Cost Drivers
The £725.15 figure is a survey average, not a government statistic or a direct calculation from every UK household’s income and bills. The source says Opinium surveyed 8,000 adults, but does not provide the fieldwork dates, the full questionnaire, the margin of error or the detailed method used to calculate the average amount left over. It is also unclear whether the same respondents took part in both comparison periods.
The report does not separate the contribution of food prices, energy bills, housing costs, income changes or other spending to the fall in the reported remainder. Nor does it provide enough detail to determine how representative the city estimates are or how results vary by household type. The separate wage, tax and disposable-income figures use different sources and definitions, so they should not be treated as one combined measure.
Further Household Data Needed
The immediate development is a snapshot of reported budgets, rather than a forecast or a new policy announcement. Further MoneySuperMarket index releases would show whether the reported remainder changes in later surveys, but the source material gives no date for another publication. Readers should also distinguish future survey results from official inflation and earnings releases, which measure different aspects of household finances.
The Budget’s frozen tax thresholds remain part of the policy backdrop described in the report; no change to those thresholds is announced in the source. The next useful comparisons will be whether incomes keep pace with household costs and whether the survey’s reported spending share moves. Until more detail is published, the £176 decline should be read as a change in a survey average, not a prediction for every household.
Key Questions
What does the £176 figure measure?
It is the £175.76 fall in average reported money left each month after bills, housing costs and other essential spending: £725.15 in the latest MoneySuperMarket survey, compared with £900.91 in October 2025.
Did household spending rise over the year?
Not in the survey’s comparison of October 2025 with its latest figures. Respondents reported average monthly outgoings of £1,477.85, down from £1,657.67. At the same time, reported after-tax income fell by more, which helps explain why the average remainder was lower.
How much of income went on bills and everyday costs?
MoneySuperMarket said these costs used 67 per cent of reported income in the latest survey, compared with 65 per cent a year earlier. This is an average from survey responses, not an estimate for every person.
Does the survey prove energy and food costs caused the full decline?
No. The report associates higher food and energy costs with pressure on budgets, but it does not quantify how much each cost contributed to the change. It also reports lower average after-tax income, and the survey does not isolate the effects of individual factors.
Source: thisismoney.co.uk
