Respondents to a survey from moneysupermarket.com said if their costs increased by another £100 it would become impossible to meet everyday costs.
In the last six months, some UK adults say their weekly outgoings have risen by an average of £54, and they are surviving on just £247 a month after all bills and outgoings have been paid.
However, with disposable income forecast to fall by a further £780 per cent this year, according to inflation figures from Deloitte, consumers finances look set to be stretched further.
The lack of pay rises continues to reduce disposable income, with 61% of adults saying say they haven’t had any form of salary increase in the last year. As a result, 77% of adults said they have to budget every month to make ends meet. This rises to 83 per cent of adults with children.
A third of adults said they would welcome a base rate hike and the higher returns on savings, but 25% remain concerned that a hike will be automatically passed on by mortgage providers.
If the base rate rises by 0.5% to 1% at some point this summer, moneysupermarket.com calculates the average mortgage monthly repayment would rise by £40 puttrng further prressure on many.
Clare Francis, personal finance expert at moneysupermarket.com said: “The increase in the cost of living is something UK adults have had to bear the brunt of over the last 12 months. The rising price of petrol and everyday basics such as food and energy have hit consumers hard, and at times it can feel like it is impossible to make any more savings when essentials are rising so steeply.”
