Liveable Salary for Dublin?

LMellows

What sort of range are we talking here, for a single person with no dependants? I see graduate jobs starting at €23,000. That's €442 a week gross, I don't know how much after tax. How much are we talking for a year's rent in Dublin South, say a house share with 1-3 other people?

Is it doable? I'm guessing it would be quite a struggle.

Would be good to have a thread detailing the basic salary requirements to live in various places in the country.

Ann Landers

LMellows wrote: »

What sort of range are we talking here, for a single person with no dependants? I see graduate jobs starting at €23,000. That's €442 a week gross, I don't know how much after tax. How much are we talking for a year's rent in Dublin South, say a house share with 1-3 other people?

Is it doable? I'm guessing it would be quite a struggle.

Would be good to have a thread detailing the basic salary requirements to live in various places in the country.

Ample. Really don't know how someone with no dependents couldn't live well on that, even in Dublin.

CatFromHue

do a search on daft.ie and you'll get up to date info on rental prices in dublin. the other costs with living in dublin would be similar, abit higher but still similar, to the rest of the country.

Ann Landers

CatFromHue wrote: »

do a search on daft.ie and you'll get up to date info on rental prices in dublin. the other costs with living in dublin would be similar, abit higher but still similar, to the rest of the country.

This. Outside of rental expenses, cost of living is the same in Dublin as elsewhere in the country, in my experience.

LMellows

How much would a 23k salary be net? Roughly 20k?

Ann Landers

LMellows wrote: »

How much would a 23k salary be net? Roughly 20k?

Approximately 19.8k, according to this: http://www.deloitte.ie/tc/

Ray Palmer

You would be living a pretty lowly existence on that but that is part of being young and starting out. Expect to struggle for a brighter future

Tar.Aldarion

If you have no dependents, and are sharing that is easily a lot of money starting out for you as a graduate. 1654 pm with what 400 in rent and 50 in bills. Leaving 1200 for anything else, per month.

danthefan

Ann Landers wrote: »

This. Outside of rental expenses, cost of living is the same in Dublin as elsewhere in the country, in my experience.

Would agree with that, have lived in Donegal and lived in Dublin. Groceries and electricity and heat are the same price everywhere. When I was in Donegal I found myself spending huge amounts on diesel compared to Dublin, but you can rent for probably half of what you'd pay in Dublin.

Was looking on Daft earlier and you can share somewhere reasonable in south Dublin for €500pm, maybe less. So if you're somewhat reasonable with your money you should certainly be able to get by on €23k.

Larbre34

Really wish I hadnt read this now. That salary is roughly 33% of mine, yet the take home pay is 46% of it. I do understand how the tax system works but it still pi55e5 me off!

You wont have any Wolf of Wallstreet parties on that rate but youll be fine to live in Dublin if youre savvy with your personal bills, charges and travel.

Oh and, start a pension with the 1200 you have left over

Gael23

As an upcoming graduate I have been thinking about this a little. I dont think that in Dublin I could live off less than €20k gross and I dont drink very often so dont have huge socialising expenses

Ann Landers

ryanf1 wrote: »

As an upcoming graduate I have been thinking about this a little. I dont think that in Dublin I could live off less than €20k gross and I dont drink very often so dont have huge socialising expenses

Yeah, come to think of it, for a regular, moderate to heavy drinker (of which Ireland has many), 23k would be difficult to live on and save. I didn't consider that because I don't drink too often.

melekalikimaka

400 for rent is extremely cheap... you're looking at squats at that price, closer to 550 for a nice room in a reasonable area

MagicMarker

If you're sharing in the 'burbs 23k is plenty assuming you have no debts.

As Tar.Aldarion said you'll be coming out with over a grand a month after rent and bills, if you can't manage to feed yourself and socialise with that kind of money then you're doing something seriously wrong, in no way should it be a struggle.

MagicMarker

melekalikimaka wrote: »

400 for rent is extremely cheap... you're looking at squats at that price, closer to 550 for a nice room in a reasonable area

Squats? Maybe if you're looking to live in the City Centre, but if you're looking at South Co. Dublin then you can find something perfectly reasonable between 350-450 per month.

Ann Landers

melekalikimaka wrote: »

400 for rent is extremely cheap... you're looking at squats at that price, closer to 550 for a nice room in a reasonable area

In a house share, it's not cheap, you can get a very nice one for that. Maybe not in D4 but many perfectly nice areas, even on the southside.

Tar.Aldarion

melekalikimaka wrote: »

400 for rent is extremely cheap... you're looking at squats at that price, closer to 550 for a nice room in a reasonable area

That's not accurate, I've never even paid as much as 400 for a house share and my whole one bed apartment is 700pm a few minutes walk from O'Connell street.
Can easily go to a nice north or south side place for it.

Ann Landers

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

and my whole one bed apartment is 700pm a few minutes walk from O'Connell street.
Can easily go to a nice north or south side place for it.

In fairness, you are very lucky here. For 700 per month in the CC, you're generally talking crappy bedsit. Actually you won't get a nice one bed for 700pm anywhere in the city or suburbs right now. I'm looking for one at the moment. You're talking at least 900pm and usually a lot more.

Tar.Aldarion

Yeah i suppose it is as the rent hasnt increased, a few minutes meant 10-15 anyway

Ann Landers

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Yeah i suppose it is as the rent hasnt increased, a few minutes meant 10-15 anyway

No seriously, you won't be a decent one-bed anywhere in Dublin except for maybe Balbriggan or somewhere for 700pm. Rent is skyrocketing at the moment. Lucky you!

Gael23

€400 a month would be fairly average in my experience. In fact I would suggest you would need to budget that as a minimum for a decent place

danthefan

Just slapped house share, max €400 p/m into Daft, and got 259 results. I'm sure some of them aren't great but there's sure to be a few livable places too.

La_Gordy

I think 23,000e a year is not very livable, but would hopefully only be a short term thing. I live in the a 3 person flat share in the city centre (Temple Bar) and my rent is 550. If you live in the suburbs your rent is potentially slightly cheaper, but commuting isn't cheap. I was paying 100e a month for Dublin bus, although, you might be able to avail of the taxsaver scheme.

ImDave

I was on €1,550 net per month for two years in Dublin whilst on a graduate programme. It was tight, but I was sharing a two bedroom apartment with only one other, so rent was €550 per month, and another €80 per month on bills on average.

If you are careful with your money, you will be fine. Try the usual budgeting like shopping for groceries carefully etc. and you should have disposable income left for yourself.

Tar.Aldarion

danthefan wrote: »

Just slapped house share, max €400 p/m into Daft, and got 259 results. I'm sure some of them aren't great but there's sure to be a few livable places too.

There are always good places and there are places constantly put up. Most myself or gf were paying when we were sharing was 350. 400 would get you intoa lot of nice places.

La_Gordy wrote: »

I think 23,000e a year is not very livable, but would hopefully only be a short term thing. I live in the a 3 person flat share in the city centre (Temple Bar) and my rent is 550. If you live in the suburbs your rent is potentially slightly cheaper, but commuting isn't cheap. I was paying 100e a month for Dublin bus, although, you might be able to avail of the taxsaver scheme.

That's more the problem with paying that much rent on that salary, than it having to be tight in dublin. That's just choosing to have less money every month. As for travel, you can get a bike tax free and pay 0 to travel to work like I do. Commuting on a bus for 100pm is insane, as I quickly decided.

La_Gordy

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

There are always good places and there are places constantly put up. Most myself or gf were paying when we were sharing was 350. 400 would get you intoa lot of nice places.


That's more the problem with paying that much rent on that salary, than it having to be tight in dublin. That's just choosing to have less money every month. As for travel, you can get a bike tax free and pay 0 to travel to work like I do. Commuting on a bus for 100pm is insane, as I quickly decided.

You could live ok if you weren't big into going out (bag a cans in the gaff), but unlikely to be able make any savings!

LMellows

I think worrying about putting money away in the first year of your first proper job is both naive and a small bit sad tbh.

I spend about 60-70 a week on food and go out a lot, although it would obviously be curtailed by a proper job and real life(!) so we're talking around 120 a week on living, plus rent and bills.

Gael23

LMellows wrote: »

I think worrying about putting money away in the first year of your first proper job is both naive and a small bit sad tbh.

I spend about 60-70 a week on food and go out a lot, although it would obviously be curtailed by a proper job and real life(!) so we're talking around 120 a week on living, plus rent and bills.

I agree with this. For the first year or two of your career you should just be concerned about having enough to live and not be worried about saving too much with the exception of a little for Christmas,Holidays etc

danthefan

ryanf1 wrote: »

I agree with this. For the first year or two of your career you should just be concerned about having enough to live and not be worried about saving too much with the exception of a little for Christmas,Holidays etc

I don't. You're always going to have unexpected expenses. If you can afford to put a little aside then it's a prudent thing to do. If you can't then you can't, fair enough.

Mrs OBumble

LMellows wrote: »

I think worrying about putting money away in the first year of your first proper job is both naive and a small bit sad tbh.

I spend about 60-70 a week on food and go out a lot, although it would obviously be curtailed by a proper job and real life(!) so we're talking around 120 a week on living, plus rent and bills.

And I think that not getting into a savings habit right at the start of your working life is mind-bogglingly stupid.

Among other things, if you get sick and cannot work , then it can take months for benefits to start coming through (assuming you're even eligible). So really the first savings goal is to set aside enough money to live on for 12 weeks or so, as a rainy day fund.

And the miracles of compounding interest means that if you start a pension fund very early in your working life, it will be a lot less painful if you wait until later.


Fair play to you if you want to keep retailers happy by spending E60 pwer week on food, and can afford to do so. But someone earning E23k isn't going to be living that kind of lifestyle.

LMellows

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

And I think that not getting into a savings habit right at the start of your working life is mind-bogglingly stupid.

Among other things, if you get sick and cannot work , then it can take months for benefits to start coming through (assuming you're even eligible). So really the first savings goal is to set aside enough money to live on for 12 weeks or so, as a rainy day fund.

And the miracles of compounding interest means that if you start a pension fund very early in your working life, it will be a lot less painful if you wait until later.


Fair play to you if you want to keep retailers happy by spending E60 pwer week on food, and can afford to do so. But someone earning E23k isn't going to be living that kind of lifestyle.

It's not about keeping retailers happy, it's about having a keen interest in cooking and good food. Believe it or not some of us prefer enjoying the present than constantly worrying about the future.

I'm not saying anyone should live recklessly, but if your income isn't high enough to support both saving and living, I'd rather sacrifice the former.

buytolet89

Single atleast 22k, in a relationship and paying bills around 42k

I'm on 24k now but i used to be on 40k and single

LMellows

buytolet89 wrote: »

Single atleast 22k, in a relationship and paying bills around 42k

I'm on 24k now but i used to be on 40k and single

Sounds like you're being taken for a ride in more ways than one :P

TouchingVirus

MagicMarker wrote: »

If you're sharing in the 'burbs 23k is plenty assuming you have no debts.

As Tar.Aldarion said you'll be coming out with over a grand a month after rent and bills, if you can't manage to feed yourself and socialise with that kind of money then you're doing something seriously wrong, in no way should it be a struggle.

Lets get a little more realistic here:

€500 for rent - The cheapest rent I paid was in a 5 bed house at €375 per room. It was a fair bit out the north side up near Santry/Beaumount. I heard the rent went up to €412.50 soon after I Ieft. I paid €500 for a city centre (Wexford St) apartment share with 2 others. I'm in a very nice house just out near Harolds Cross now and the rent is €600 or €575 depending on if you want an ensuite or not. The demand for the area was phenomenal.
€30 for a mobile phone
€100 for public transport for work & taxis/random luas trips
€400 for food
€100 for house bills - Bill prices are not really €50 a month unless you're sharing with 5 people. I totted up my average over the last few years for UPC+ESB+Heating sharing with 3/4 others and I get €100pm.

Total: €1130pm, leaves €520 per month for socialising, ents and unexpected expenses. So that's just €129 per week on a 4 week month or €104 on a 5 week month.

What if you've got a car too like so many people have? That could be:

€100 for car tax & insurance per month
€100 for fuel

That takes you down to €320 per month for socialising/ents/unexpected expenses which would be more given you've a car to maintain.

You'll not be starting a pension nor a huge savings fund on that wage and depending on what comes up under unexpected expenses and how much you like dining out, drinking and taking holidays you could very well struggle. The best part about being on such a low wage? It gets better.

Ann Landers

La_Gordy wrote: »

You could live ok if you weren't big into going out (bag a cans in the gaff), but unlikely to be able make any savings!

I worked in Cork for two years making 19.5k per year gross and I saved 200 Euro per month, had an active social life and nice digs, did plenty of clothes shopping and still had money leftover at the end of the month. OK, 200 isn't loads to be saving but it's not bad either. I don't smoke, don't have a car and walked/cycled to work during that time and I'm aware that does make a huge difference, but still.

The extra 4,000 to bring it up to 23k would be more than enough to cover the extra rent in Dublin.

Ann Landers

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Fair play to you if you want to keep retailers happy by spending E60 pwer week on food, and can afford to do so. But someone earning E23k isn't going to be living that kind of lifestyle.

I spent 50-60 euro a week on food, on the above-mentioned 19.5k salary.

donegal11

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Fair play to you if you want to keep retailers happy by spending E60 pwer week on food, and can afford to do so. But someone earning E23k isn't going to be living that kind of lifestyle.

Ah common €60 on is hardly extravagant between lunches and dinners, it's nothing especially when you don't have the benefit of sharing bills in a family situation/bulk buy, a loaf of bread or milk won't last the week(go off). If I go into a corner shop to buy the basics and break a €10/20 note I'll be lucky to have any change back, even going for a lunch/coffee with colleagues would eat through that €60 quickly.

Ann Landers

donegal11 wrote: »

Ah common €60 on is hardly extravagant between lunches and dinners, it's nothing especially when you don't have the benefit of sharing bills in a family situation/bulk buy, a loaf of bread or milk won't last the week(go off). If I go into a corner shop to buy the basics and break a €10/20 note I'll be lucky to have any change back, even going for a lunch/coffee with colleagues would eat through that €60 quickly.

Even with making your own lunch and shopping in supermarkets, 60 euro is easily burned through, I find, if you want to eat decently.

buytolet89

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

And I think that not getting into a savings habit right at the start of your working life is mind-bogglingly stupid.

Among other things, if you get sick and cannot work , then it can take months for benefits to start coming through (assuming you're even eligible). So really the first savings goal is to set aside enough money to live on for 12 weeks or so, as a rainy day fund.

And the miracles of compounding interest means that if you start a pension fund very early in your working life, it will be a lot less painful if you wait until later.


Fair play to you if you want to keep retailers happy by spending E60 pwer week on food, and can afford to do so. But someone earning E23k isn't going to be living that kind of lifestyle.

What do you live off grass and water? :rolleyes:

MagicMarker

TouchingVirus wrote: »

Lets get a little more realistic here:

€500 for rent - The cheapest rent I paid was in a 5 bed house at €375 per room. It was a fair bit out the north side up near Santry/Beaumount. I heard the rent went up to €412.50 soon after I Ieft. I paid €500 for a city centre (Wexford St) apartment share with 2 others. I'm in a very nice house just out near Harolds Cross now and the rent is €600 or €575 depending on if you want an ensuite or not. The demand for the area was phenomenal.
€30 for a mobile phone
€100 for public transport for work & taxis/random luas trips
€400 for food
€100 for house bills - Bill prices are not really €50 a month unless you're sharing with 5 people. I totted up my average over the last few years for UPC+ESB+Heating sharing with 3/4 others and I get €100pm.

Total: €1130pm, leaves €520 per month for socialising, ents and unexpected expenses. So that's just €129 per week on a 4 week month or €104 on a 5 week month.

What if you've got a car too like so many people have? That could be:

€100 for car tax & insurance per month
€100 for fuel

That takes you down to €320 per month for socialising/ents/unexpected expenses which would be more given you've a car to maintain.

You'll not be starting a pension nor a huge savings fund on that wage and depending on what comes up under unexpected expenses and how much you like dining out, drinking and taking holidays you could very well struggle. The best part about being on such a low wage? It gets better.

€520 per month disposable income is loads, how can anyone not live comfortably when after every expense they still have over 500 per month to do with as they please?

You've deducted car costs without offsetting the public transport cost, so that would bring them down 420 per month disposable income, not 320. I would spend half your amount on food, which would bring me back up to 620, and you could get a place no problem for 400 instead of 500, which would bring me up to €720 disposable income.

Like I said, in no way should surviving on 23k be a struggle.

freeze4real

I work in wexford and I earn just a bit over 23.5k.

Rent is 290 including bills a month
phone 25 a month
I spend 25 a week on food infact less. I cook my food, bring packed lunch to work. The amount iif money spent on lunches each day at work is ridulous. e.g 2.50 for coffee morning and anoter in the afternoon, add lunch another 5e so you looking at up to 50e per week. Thats a no no for me.

I go out once a while so I factor maybe 40 per month.
I cycle to work so transport money is low but I might use a taxi when its rainy or odd bike repairs.

I have 1000 per month going into savings account which I plan to increase by another 100.

While wexford and dublin might be different I have to factor in rent and transport cost as what will make my disposable income go down.

23k is tight but doable.

As a single guy spending 400 per month on food is ludicrous, you also need to save. You cant be eating with all your fingers. Although its your money you can do whatever you want with it but but a decent bit of money away.

Ann Landers

freeze4real wrote: »

I work in wexford and I earn just a bit over 23.5k.

Rent is 290 including bills a month
phone 25 a month
I spend 25 a week on food infact less. I cook my food, bring packed lunch to work. The amount iif money spent on lunches each day at work is ridulous. e.g 2.50 for coffee morning and anoter in the afternoon, add lunch another 5e so you looking at up to 50e per week. Thats a no no for me.

I go out once a while so I factor maybe 40 per month.
I cycle to work so transport money is low but I might use a taxi when its rainy or odd bike repairs.

I have 1000 per month going into savings account which I plan to increase by another 100.

While wexford and dublin might be different I have to factor in rent and transport cost as what will make my disposable income go down.

23k is tight but doable.

As a single guy spending 400 per month on food is ludicrous, you also need to save. You cant be eating with all your fingers. Although its your money you can do whatever you want with it but but a decent bit of money away.

If you're saving E1000 a month, things aren't tight! And things being tight with only 290 euro per months rent? Feck off.

60-70 per week on food is ~ 260-300, not 400, and it's not ludicrous at all.

buytolet89

freeze4real wrote: »

I work in wexford and I earn just a bit over 23.5k.

Rent is 290 including bills a month
phone 25 a month
I spend 25 a week on food infact less. I cook my food, bring packed lunch to work. The amount iif money spent on lunches each day at work is ridulous. e.g 2.50 for coffee morning and anoter in the afternoon, add lunch another 5e so you looking at up to 50e per week. Thats a no no for me.

I go out once a while so I factor maybe 40 per month.
I cycle to work so transport money is low but I might use a taxi when its rainy or odd bike repairs.

I have 1000 per month going into savings account which I plan to increase by another 100.

While wexford and dublin might be different I have to factor in rent and transport cost as what will make my disposable income go down.

23k is tight but doable.

As a single guy spending 400 per month on food is ludicrous, you also need to save. You cant be eating with all your fingers. Although its your money you can do whatever you want with it but but a decent bit of money away.

40e on a night out jesus you must be the live of the party, come on there is being smart with your money and then there is being a scab

Ann Landers

freeze4real wrote: »

I spend 25 a week on food infact less. I cook my food, bring packed lunch to work.

Even with cooking for yourself and bringing lunches to work, that is a ridiculously small amount.

buytolet89

Ann Landers wrote: »

Even with cooking for yourself and bringing lunches to work, that is a ridiculously small amount.

Here here i used to get 2550 per month and even trying to save 1300 was hard, don't know how that lad can when he's on 23k,

25e per week on food, you must weigh about 70kilos

bs2014

This is something I as a soon to be graduate in May has noticed and greatly angers me. Basically, one works there a**e off throughout school to get a decent leaving cert, the same in college to get a decent degree, whilst juggling these with measly part-time jobs at weekends to try make ends meet, and speaking for myself, and this ideology of when you finish college, you've made it in life, when it seems the complete opposite.

I personally think the pay for bright hard-working graduate is rather miserable, and while I don't mean to slate graduate programmes off, as many are beneficial, I do suspect alot of them are used by companys as a scapegoat to pay young graduates **** pay, work them to the bone as they are on fixed salaries. It nearly seems there is some kind of "salary fixing" among lots of employers, which leave graduates with no alternatives but to take the 20k salary on the chin.

Such salaries just are not just for the cost of living in Dublin. Rents are going up, from already expensive, and from what I can see with the rental market in Dublin, all the affordable places are complete dives, and any decent places(not mansions) are extremely expensive.

Personally, and I do accept this is a luxury, I own a car which I love and means the world to me, but even I consider how much of a waste and cost it is around Dublin. I as a soon to be graduate in May, someone concerns me the lack of salary opportunity when I enter the market in May, I am ambition and modivated, want to work hard and play hard, by that I mean save for my next car and save for a deposit on a house/pension, but it seems that will never be possible with the cost of living in Dublin.

From what I can see, it is the same groups of wealth property develops who are charging extortionate rents on properties they invested in, and in their professional lives, are willing to pay their lower graduates crap pay. These squeezing at both ends is just not fair, and I honestly believe it is something that the media will yet bring to light.

I imagine my post may cause some opposing views and again this rant is my own personal oppinion, I do accept, alot of what I said is not applicable to all people/companies.

Ann Landers

bs2014 wrote: »

This is something I as a soon to be graduate in May has noticed and greatly angers me. Basically, one works there a**e off throughout school to get a decent leaving cert, the same in college to get a decent degree, whilst juggling these with measly part-time jobs at weekends to try make ends meet, and speaking for myself, and this ideology of when you finish college, you've made it in life, when it seems the complete opposite.

I personally think the pay for bright hard-working graduate is rather miserable, and while I don't mean to slate graduate programmes off, as many are beneficial, I do suspect alot of them are used by companys as a scapegoat to pay young graduates **** pay, work them to the bone as they are on fixed salaries. It nearly seems there is some kind of "salary fixing" among lots of employers, which leave graduates with no alternatives but to take the 20k salary on the chin.

23k is a perfectly grand starting salary, especially as graduates basically know fúck all in reality. They can't do more than entry level positions.

Nobody owes you a salary.

Though I agree there should be a Dublin allowance.

buytolet89

bs2014 wrote: »

This is something I as a soon to be graduate in May has noticed and greatly angers me. Basically, one works there a**e off throughout school to get a decent leaving cert, the same in college to get a decent degree, whilst juggling these with measly part-time jobs at weekends to try make ends meet, and speaking for myself, and this ideology of when you finish college, you've made it in life, when it seems the complete opposite.

I personally think the pay for bright hard-working graduate is rather miserable, and while I don't mean to slate graduate programmes off, as many are beneficial, I do suspect alot of them are used by companys as a scapegoat to pay young graduates **** pay, work them to the bone as they are on fixed salaries. It nearly seems there is some kind of "salary fixing" among lots of employers, which leave graduates with no alternatives but to take the 20k salary on the chin.

Such salaries just are not just for the cost of living in Dublin. Rents are going up, from already expensive, and from what I can see with the rental market in Dublin, all the affordable places are complete dives, and any decent places(not mansions) are extremely expensive.

Personally, and I do accept this is a luxury, I own a car which I love and means the world to me, but even I consider how much of a waste and cost it is around Dublin. I as a soon to be graduate in May, someone concerns me the lack of salary opportunity when I enter the market in May, I am ambition and modivated, want to work hard and play hard, by that I mean save for my next car and save for a deposit on a house/pension, but it seems that will never be possible with the cost of living in Dublin.

From what I can see, it is the same groups of wealth property develops who are charging extortionate rents on properties they invested in, and in their professional lives, are willing to pay their lower graduates crap pay. These squeezing at both ends is just not fair, and I honestly believe it is something that the media will yet bring to light.

I imagine my post may cause some opposing views and again this rant is my own personal oppinion, I do accept, alot of what I said is not applicable to all people/companies.

Just because some young people aren't doing well doesn't mean every young person in the country is in the same boat, I'm 23 have a career left school at 16 never did my leaving and am quite happy at where i am and what I've done my friends included alot of them left early and started working straight away are debt free, have property,few holidays per year nice car etc.

You can't beat experience personally i don't believe in college unless you are working in that sector and you are 100% sure it will benefit you, I'm studying part time but that's only because my employer is paying for it and it will benefit the company

My advice to anyone is after school work for a company in your desired career sector for free for 6-18 months( possibly work a part time job to keep afloat )

Experience is king, if i was an employer i would hire a hard worker with experience not some college kid with no real life experience not saying you fit that category but in the harsh reality it is the truth for the majority of college students

Mrs OBumble

Ann Landers wrote: »

Even with cooking for yourself and bringing lunches to work, that is a ridiculously small amount.

Rubbish.

When I was unemployed we (couple) were spending on E22.50 per week each on groceries, that's all groceries not just food. I've loosened the purse strings a lot since I've been on real money again - that's what's taken us up to E40 per head per week.

And we ate well, even when unemployed. Healthy food is actually cheaper if you put a small amount of work into it (eg a fortnight's porridge from Lidl costs less the one euro, a bag of dried fruit to make it more interesting costs another euros and lasts for ages). And it does help to look at the supermarket's cheap shelf every day or two. But ultimately it comes down to buying stuff at the best prices, and being price rather than brand conscious.




If someone is spending over E50 per week on food, then it's utter rubbish that they cannot afford to save or have a pension plan. And getting into a savings habit, even if it's only a small amount, is incredibly important for anyone just starting work no matter how little they earn.

bs2014

I totally agree with you. I think this country has too much an emphasis on getting people into university and its somewhat seen as the "right way to go in life". With the greatest respect to you, and fair play on your achievements, but theres a stigma in Ireland which frowns upon people who dont go to third level education and enter work. There is a wave of people in third level who have never worked, and don't want to work, and thus deserve to not benefit the fruits of life. Yet, my experience is quite broad, I worked in two different retail environments for 6 years and spent 14months in a head office role aligned to my college degree, yet, when I enter the work market this summer, I ask the question, what better off am I compared to the dosser who has winged his way through college.

guernica

I'm the same MrsOB I spend between €20 and €30 a week on groceries/food - not including some weekend food (takeaway/dinner out/bought lunch) but for everything else (bring breakfast and lunch to work, dinner at home).

I was on €26k a few years ago and was fine for money (and was paying €650 rent at the time) - I would have gone out for drinks once or twice a week and had enough money to go on a holiday etc. So I think you'd be okay - I don't think prices have really gone up in 5 years have they? Except maybe utilities but I just lived with one other person so was splitting everything only two ways whereas if you share with 2 or 3 others you would be paying less.