People who are single or living alone are more than twice as likely as the population generally to say they could not cope with an unexpected bill of £850, an insurer’s research indicates.
More than half (58%) of adults surveyed who are single or live alone would not be able to cope with a surprise bill of this size, compared with 23% of people generally, according to the survey commissioned by Aviva.
People who live alone are typically spending more than £1,200 a month on fixed costs alone, before they can consider any discretionary or “fun” spending.
Savings are also squeezed, with more than a third (37%) of adults who live alone saying they do not save anything on a regular basis.
Among those who live alone and do save, four-fifths (42%) contribute to a cash Isa, the survey found.
According to the research, people who live alone spend just over £630 (£633.95) a month in total, typically on essentials such as food bills, utilities, council tax and transport.
When rent or mortgage payments were added, monthly spending for single adults rose to an average of around £1,100 (£1,143.16) per person.
And adding in other fixed costs, such as broadband, mobile phone bills, insurance and subscriptions, the total average monthly spend reached more than £1,200 (£1,230.91) a month on average – before spending on socialising, holidays or hobbies.
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Alistair McQueen, head of savings and retirement at Aviva, said the financial gap created by not having another person to share costs with “makes saving more difficult and it’s harder to bear the cost of any financial shocks”.
He said some steps people could consider to strengthen their finances, even when budgets are tight, include trying to aim for a realistic and accessible savings safety net to help cover unexpected costs, before focusing on longer-term savings goals.
People could also set up regular, automated transfers into savings from their monthly salary and review broadband, mobile phone subscription and streaming services regularly to help save money, he suggested.
Mr McQueen also highlighted tax-efficient Isas and free online budgeting tools on websites such as the Government-backed MoneyHelper service.
Censuswide carried out the survey of 2,100 people across the UK in March.
