Though recent studies have suggested that people in relationships generally enjoy better health, with men encouraged to visit a doctor by their wives one of the many reasons for this, new figures suggest that being single may also have its benefits.

Unlike the lifestyle of a young, urban single portrayed on stylish TV shows or in glossy magazines, a significant proportion of people on their own will not spend all of their free time wining and dining other singletons or jetting off for city breaks on the spur of the moment.

Instead, as new research from the financial website Fool.co.uk has highlighted, single Britons are just as likely to spend a Friday evening lazing in front of the TV as their happily-married counterparts are and, given that they don't have to splash out on birthdays, anniversaries or spontaneous gestures of romance, many are, on average, financially better off.

In fact, the website's study concluded that the average single Briton spends £281 a month on rent and bills in comparison to the £500 spent by those in a relationship.

In addition, singles spend an average of £12.06 and £22.85 a month on cosy nights in and dining out respectively, in comparison to the £20.63 and £39.50 forked out by those who are one half of a couple.

This means, therefore, that a singleton has an average of £255 extra disposable income a month and, given that this cannot always be spent on nightclubs and takeaway meals for one, this represents a serious opportunity to build up a financial nest egg.

With this figure in mind, David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool, explained: "With a person who is single, if he or she puts away the £255 of savings they make every month into an investment that is earning, say, eight per cent, which isn't that unreasonable at the moment, then after about ten years that person would have a pot worth £47,000."

Furthermore, leaving this pot of cash alone for an additional 30 years will generate a fund of around half a million pounds just prior to retirement.

Whether or not this is adequate compensation for dying alone at a younger age is debatable, though the figure once again highlights the benefits of long-term savings, particularly at a time when consumer confidence in the state of the economy is at a relative low

These findings may be of particular interest to the Welsh, with the study revealing that 42 per cent of adults questioned there are without a partner, the highest proportion in the UK.