Adding up how much it costs to live these days.

It is a final demand that will come as a shock to most of us  -  we will pay out almost £1million to cover essential bills during our adult lives. Currently we pay an average of £1,541.91 for gas, electricity, telephone, mortgage or rent and food. This equates to £18,502.86 a year, or £962,148.72 between the ages of 18 and 70. According to the price comparison website confused.com, which questioned 3,000 people, the annual figure has risen by £642.12 in the past 12 months, up by some 3.5 per cent.

Given that millions of private sector workers have suffered a pay freeze or reduced income due to a cut in hours, the rises are putting a real squeeze on living standards. Just this week it emerged BT is putting up landline call charges by 10 per cent to counter the effect of customers switching to mobile or internet calls. And despite gas and electricity bills being lower than a year ago, suppliers stand accused of failing to pass on the full benefit of falls in wholesale prices.

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