MSE Poll: How much do you spend each month on household bills?

MSE_Scarlet

Poll started 11 April 2023

This April is set to be like no other, with costs going up in most areas. This week we want to know how much you spend each month on household bills (for example, energy, council tax, groceries and so on – but excluding rent or mortgage) and how much they've increased by since this time last year.

Click here to vote in the poll.

Did you vote? Are you surprised at the results so far? Have your say below.
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Thanks!

JGB1955

Your survey is flawed - you're suggesting that someone can live for less than £50 a month, all bills (including food) taken into account?

Hebblethwaite

It would have been helpful if the poll had listed exactly which bills/costs to take into account. Given you included groceries, I've also included transport costs but no idea if I was supposed to. Should people include clothing costs? They aren't bills, but could be considered household costs just like groceries. What about white goods? They are household costs but not bills, except maybe you would still count them as bills if you pay them off over several months? Given all this uncertainty, I'm not sure you can really compare one person's answers with anybody else's!

jasdev

Bad poll, sorry. You're neglecting changes in behaviour in response to rising costs, and missing a distinction between rent and mortgages (service charges - should they be counted or not?).

I changed my grocery shopping habits as tax changes ate into my take-home pay, and so my total "household bills" fell from April 2022 to April 2023.

While other fixed costs have increased, some substantially, these have either been offset by my reduced grocery bills or because I didn't count them (for example, service charge. This is something I'd consider a household bill, but if you're telling me to exclude rent, I'm going to exclude my service charge on my mortgaged property, because rent should include the service charge paid by your landlord.)

tastyfish

Really badly designed poll, was it conjured up last thing on a Friday afternoon when someone realised you needed a poll?! Talk about a vague and ambiguous question. ‘Household bills’? I’m assuming that also includes tv, mobile, broadband, fuel, water but who else is? And does it include car/home insurance, breakdown, MOT, home emergency cover, music subscriptions, contact lens and magazine subscriptions? There’s a list there for you for starters. What was the purpose of this incredibly unscientific poll?

al4x

Poll is poor. 
Didn't know what bills to include. 

I used
Council tax
Elec/heating 
Water
Food (as it was mentioned) 
Broadband
Don't have a TV licence 

Because I'm on a 3 year fix for electricity/gas took out in October 2021 (fixed until 2024 @ 22p/unit elec, 5.1p/unit gas) my bills haven't gone up. 
Food is the big riser for me. Probably 75 extra a month. Bit on CT and a bit on water. So probably 100-125 ppm.