Bills, bills, bills

The average British family is destined to pay out almost £1 million on household bills over the course of a lifetime according to new research, with one in three still not shopping around to find the best deals.

The average household is paying £18,114.54 a year on usual outgoings like rent, insurance and utilities. That means a staggering £941,956.08 between the ages of 18 and 70.

Gareth Kloet, spokesman for Confused.com said: "Bills are an unfortunate fact of life and very few of us really stop to think about how much we're paying out each month.

"This latest set of figures really brings these costs into focus. When you see just how much it all adds up to, you can start to see how much you can save when you shop around to get the best deals."

Rent or mortgage payments are the biggest drain on finances, costing on average £6,182.28 every year.

Households stand to pay out a staggering £1,476.84 a year to secure their worldly goods through insurance for their home, contents, the car plus life assurance.

A further £1,167.52 goes to cover the essential utilities of gas, electricity and water.

With people turning to credit to afford the lifestyle they want, plastic fantastic Brit spenders can expect to pay £2,790.60 a year on loan and credit card repayments - a lifetime total of £145,111.20.

Over half (55 per cent) of those surveyed admitted that they are struggling to make ends meet at the moment, and alarmingly 17 per cent admit to burying their heads in the sand in the face of mounting costs and hoping it will all go away.

It is not all bad news, in light of the recession a savvy 67 per cent state they regularly shop around and an even more promising 83 per cent have switched companies to get a cheaper deal.

Gareth Kloet from comparison website Confused.com added: "Many people now have less money so it makes sense to spend a few minutes on comparison website to save money by finding the right financial products at the right price.

"Saving money on the regular bills you have to pay can mean not having to cut back on the fun things you enjoy.

"Using Confused.com is free and easy and a perfect way to prevent household bills getting the better of you."