Cost of living is £1.5m

FOR most of us, it remains a lifelong struggle to stop the money we earn in one hand disappearing straight out of the other. Now a survey has put a price on the cost of living.

Researchers have worked out that the average spending of each adult during their lifetime is £1,537,380.

And it is not the luxuries of life on which most of this money goes, but on rather more humdrum expenditures such as keeping a roof over our heads and paying the taxman. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there are also wide regional variations in our spending patterns.

The biggest share of anyone's lifetime expenditure is on basic essentials such as shelter, food and clothing - at £552,772, 36% of the average spending.

But the second largest expense goes on tax, with £286,311 - or 18.6% - to cover various taxes including income tax, council tax and many others ranging from VAT to stamp duty. Third on the spending list is leisure and luxuries such as holidays, eating out, sports and hobbies - an average of £236,312.

Essential travel, including going to work and getting the children to school, is the fourth most expensive part of life, accounting for £137,126 of average lifetime spending.

The figures, published by the Prudential insurance company, were estimated by asking more than 2,000 adults where their money was spent, using the same categories as the Office for National Statistics. The total was calculated by working out the average annual spending, at current prices, across the full age range and multiplied by the average life expectancy.

The research offers a breakdown based on region, family income and gender. Not surprisingly, those living in London face the biggest outlay.

The figure for London is put at £ 2,043,950, with Scotland at £1,499,375, northern England at £1,489,416, southern England at £1,465,975 with the Midlands and Wales put at £1,405,677. Londoners spend £45,000 on staff, such as cleaners and nannies, which is six times more than the average from the rest of the UK.

The Prudential's report also uncovered a yawning gender-spending gap, with men's cost of living (£1,717,118) 21% higher than women's (£1,363,729).

The Prudential's Angus Maciver said the organisation conducted the study to confront people with the huge sums they need simply to live.

'Personal debt is at an all-time high and more people than ever face poverty in retirement. We conducted this survey to understand where all the money goes and highlight the need for financial planning,' he said.

'Many people assume that once retired they will only live another ten years and merely have to save enough to cover this. The reality is they will live more like 20 years, which results in hundreds of thousands of people sleepwalking into financial strife during retirement. We all need to be aware where our money goes and perhaps where we can trim costs.'

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