From water to broadband and council tax to electricity, Brits are faced with a constant stream of bills eating into their income.
Now, a new online calculator reveals how long you have to work this year just to cover your essential household costs.
Experts at AI money-saving tool Nous.co have revealed the typical earner will not break free until tomorrow.
The tool calculates someone's personal 'Bills Freedom Day' – the point in the year when they have earned enough money to pay for bills including energy, broadband, mobile, insurance, council tax and subscriptions.
The research shows a worker earning a typical salary, and living in a household with two adults contributing to bills, will reach their Bills Freedom Day on February 24, after paying just over £4,500.
The figures cover a household's monthly bills, but do not include rent or mortgage payments.
Single adults who cannot split the bills with another person can expect their Bills Freedom Day to fall even later in the year.
The analysis shows that council tax tends to be the most expensive bill, with a typical household paying £2,280 a year, or £1,140 per person.
Energy bills are the next most expensive at £1,758 for a typical household, or £879 per person.
Greg Marsh, chief executive and co-founder of Nous.co, said: 'It's pretty dispiriting to think that all the work you've done this year has probably disappeared on essential bills – and that's even before rent or groceries.
'Our latest calculator lays out the scale of the problem and shows people just how much of their hard-earned money goes towards bills like council tax, energy, phone and broadband.
'What's frustrating is that many households are paying more than they need to. Keeping track of renewals, tariffs and price rises is time-consuming and complicated – so most of us end up not doing it – and it's suppliers who benefit.
'We built Nous to take that hassle away. We typically save households around £500 a year, meaning your own Bills Freedom Day could arrive much sooner.'
Bills Freedom Day comes ahead of another round of April rises for 2026.
Average water bills are set to increase by £42, along with mid-contract price rises of £4 a month for broadband and £2.50 for mobile.
The average Band D council tax bill is expected to go up by £114 a year.
These rises combined are enough to entirely wipe out the benefit of lower energy bills from April, according to the analysis.
