1 in 10 Brits have £10 or less left of their pay after paying their bills

Research conducted on behalf of thinkmoney shows that one in 10 adults (10%) in the UK has just £10 left to get them through the month after they’ve paid their essential bills, such as food, rent or mortgage and travel.

However, while 10% of Brits struggle with less than £10 disposable income, at the opposite end of the spectrum, 14% of Brits have £500 or more of monthly discretionary spending money.

People aged 55+ were most likely to have £500 or more disposable income available to them (16%), with adults under 25 least likely (8%).

The national average people have left over after paying their bills is £187, with men having an average of £208 of discretionary disposable income, compared to women who have just £166. This is a marked drop of 17% over the past 18 months – in the same research in September 2013, the average discretionary disposable income was £225.

Regionally, 22% of people in the North East admitted to having just £10 discretionary disposable income each month – more than twice the national average (10%).

In Yorkshire, 19% of people claimed to have more than £500 a month left to spend as they please, five percentage points higher than the UK average.

Ian Williams, spokesman for thinkmoney, says: “Our research shows that the squeeze on people’s budgets has continued with discretionary disposable income dropping by 17% since 2013. For the 10% of people living with just £10 a month spare after they have paid their bills, every month is a struggle – it only needs a small shock, such as a car repair, to push them over the edge financially.”