The cost of being single: more on bills, less on fun, and most of your financial resilience

• Singles are forced to spend 22% more on essential housing per person than their couple counterparts – despite living in cheaper accommodation.
• They also spend more per person on fixed costs like food (28%) and communications (32%).
• They spend 21% less per person on eating out and hotel stays in the UK (despite the single supplement in hotels), 13% less on clothes and shoes and 13% less on recreation and culture. 

• Even this leaves them worse off, with fewer holding enough emergency savings, fewer able to buy a home of their own, fewer on track with pension savings, and less cash left over at the end of the month.
• Overall, 49% of those living alone have either poor or very poor resilience – compared to 12% of couples

Figures from the HL Savings & Resilience Barometer, January 2025.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance, Hargreaves Lansdown:

 “The singles tax cuts deep. Despite making less per person than their coupled-up counterparts, they end up spending far more on the essentials, so they have to give up on an awful lot of the fun things in life to make ends meet. Even then it’s not enough, so they’re struggling with everything from debt to saving, buying a home, and pensions. It’s no wonder they’re more than four times as likely to suffer from poor financial resilience.

Fixed costs

An awful lot of the problem comes down to the fact that there’s nobody to split the bills with, so singletons have to cover their costs alone. The HL Savings & Resilience Barometer found that the essential costs of putting a roof over their heads (rent, mortgage, council tax and fuel) costs single people an average of £7,974 a year – whereas it costs couples £6,215 each (£12,430 combined) – so singles are spending £1,759 more each.

Communication, including broadband and landlines as well as mobiles, hits single people harder, because in many cases they need the same products as a couple, but shoulder the cost alone. They spend an average of £828 a year, whereas couples spend £628 each – so singles are spending £200 more each.

Food costs single people £574 more a year – thanks to not being able to bulk buy or get through family packs before the food expires. A single person spends £2,606 and a couple spends £2,032 each. Singles also spend £95 a year more on alcohol and tobacco (£447 a year, while couples spend £352 each).

It means these fixed costs alone set them back £2,628 more a year than for each member of a couple.

To make matters worse, they earn less to begin with. The average single person living on their own earns £23,708 a year after tax. A couple earns a combined average of £55,117. That’s not just more overall, it’s more each. It means these fixed costs are making a horrible dent in their finances every month. Their essential housing costs, for example, make up 34% of the income of single people and 23% for couples. It means they’re worse off on every front.

Nice-to-haves

As a result, they’re forced to cut back on all the nicer things in life. They spend an average of £689 on clothes, while couples spend £789 each. They spend £1,676 on recreation and culture – which includes everything from going out socialising to staying in and watching Netflix. Their coupled-up counterparts meanwhile spend £1,897 each. And they spend less on eating out and UK hotel stays – at £1,280 compared to £1,614 each for couples – despite the single supplement on hotel rooms. 

Falling short

And still this leaves them short. A single person living on their own has an average of £42 at the end of the month – after normal expenses, much less than half of the £383 a couple has left over. Single people are also more likely to be worried about their debt position: some 17% have concerns compared to 7% of couples.

With money so tight, it means they have less to put aside in savings. Financial advisers recommend you have cash to cover 3-6 months’ worth of essential spending in an easy access account, and 46% of singles fall short, compared to just 16% of couples.

They find it much more difficult to save for a property – not least because they’re having to cover the cost of the deposit alone. It’s one reason why singles are less than half as likely to be on track when it comes to home ownership (18% compared to 43%). And it takes a toll over the long term too, with less than a third (31%) on track with their pension savings, compared to almost half of couples (44%).

What can you do?

It’s incredibly difficult to make inroads into spending, especially when single people are clearly already taking more cost-cutting steps than couples. There are a handful of things that many are already doing, but everyone should try.

1. Make sure you get your council tax discount – single people get a 25% discount, which doesn’t seem like enough given there are half as many people living there, but it’s a start.
2. Install a water meter – usually if you have the same number of bedrooms as people (or more) you can save money, because otherwise water is priced by the size of the property. It also puts you in control of how much you use and pay for.
3. Consider including a parent as a second named driver on your car insurance. They can then use it in emergencies, and assuming they’re considered a low-risk driver, they could cut your premiums.
4. Make full use of the freezer. The answer to not having to pay extra for smaller food packets is to start meal prepping and freezing.
5. Share subscriptions with a friend – gyms and train companies offer couples discounts and railcards that aren’t just for couples.
6. Get all the help you can with buying a home – some people will buy with a friend and others will get help from friends and family. In either case, if you’re aged 18-39 and have at least a year until you plan to buy your first home, you can take advantage of the Lifetime ISA and get up to £1,000 a year from the government too.
7. Talk to someone you trust about money – the Barometer found that couples who make financial decisions together have better financial resilience than people who make them alone, so find yourself a sounding board.
8. Take advantage of any tax breaks you can afford – from pensions to ISAs. The tax system is stacked against you when it comes to everything from the marriage allowance to the inheritance tax exemption for couples, so take advantage of everything you can.
9. Try not to focus on what you can’t do – the aim is to cut any costs you can and free up whatever you can afford, then to put it towards your financial goals – whether that’s saving, paying off debts, investing, or a bit of everything. Just do whatever you can afford, as soon as you can, and you’ll start to make progress.”