It's Bills Freedom Day! Brits work until Feb 29 just to pay household bills

Today (29 February) is 2024’s Bills Freedom Day, the date a typical earner works until just to cover their household bills.

All the take-home pay a person on an average salary has earned up until this date in 2024 will go on household bills – even before accounting for mortgage payments, rent or food, according to the latest research by Nous.co.

The analysis found that the average person will pay £4,561 this year for essentials such as energy, council tax, water, broadband, mobile phones, insurance and entertainment subscriptions.

That amounts to 16 per cent – or 59 days’ worth – of the average British worker’s annual take-home pay of £28,245.

This means that Leap Year Day, Feb 29, is the first day of freedom after all the bills have been paid this year, with every penny Brits have earned up until now going on bills.

Cost-of-living champion Greg Marsh, CEO of Nous, said: "It’s depressing to think that all the work you've done this year, all the money earned so far, has been entirely swallowed up by your bills.

"And Bills Freedom Day is getting later each year. Energy bills are still 50% above their pre-pandemic levels, and mobile and broadband costs are spiking too – partly thanks to unfair mid-contract price rises.

“What makes it even worse is that almost all of us are paying far more than we need to on our household bills. 

"Keeping on top of contracts is a huge headache. Suppliers know this, and use it to take advantage.

"Luckily there are solutions that can help, like using the power of AI. At Nous, we can save a typical household around £500 a year on their bills, meaning less of their wages vanish just to pay the bills."

About Bills Freedom Day

According to the Office for National Statistics, the average annual salary in the UK is £34,963.00, which amounts to annual take-home pay of £28,245. 

Based on a household with two adults sharing, almost £1,000 per person will go on energy bills, another £1,000 on council tax, £400 on mobile, and almost £300 on broadband.

When you add in the average cost of water bills (more than £200 a year), insurances (over £1,100 a year) and subscriptions to services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Spotify (totalling more than £200 annually), household bills come to an average total of £4,561 – the equivalent of 59 days’ take-home pay.