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Personal finances, ways to save money

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Comments

  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 23,193 ✭✭✭✭Tell me how


    Batch cooking and freezing the meals will both help with cutting down food waste and will also positively impact energy bill if doing it right although the over all savings cash wise might not be huge.

    Do you have an idea of how long it is likely to take to repay the bills you owe or are you just looking at a long term plan to save money? Would you have the option of renting a car quickly and at short notice should you need it? If so, and if doing it anything less than once a week, the cost might still be cheaper than owning a car, so is worth exploring again.

    Personally, I'd be reluctant to take in lodgers in a house with young children but obviously many guest houses do this.

    One or both of you probably could pick up weekend work outside your profession if you were flexible at working at things like stock taking or other type of gig economy type jobs.

    One final thing, it sounds like you're doing everything, you mentioned cutting out activities for the kids and yourselves first but keep in mind you have a life to live as well. Lots of people have to deal with debt for a period and its not necessarily a bad thing once it is manageable. It isn't worth burning yourselves out or forgoing anything that might be fun or entertaining for an excessive amount of time, but that's just a personal opinion.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,768 ✭✭✭notAMember


    You’ve started from the bottom up, stripping out the small unnecessary spends.


    Do the reverse also, work on optimising the big spends. Figuring them out can take some legwork but well worth it.


    Mortgage / house is likely to be one. You’ve said you are on a fixed rate, and rely on a broker, which sounds like an opportunity. Doing the mortgage yourself Vs the broker will most likely save you sone money. do you know your LTV ratio, the current value of your house vs how much you owe on it? This can make a huge difference to the rate. Look this up and consider paying a valued to revalue. Give them a good hint on what you need the value to be if it bumps your rate down. Know your BER also, there are discounts for green mortgages with a good BER.


    Tax. what aren’t you claiming ? Most people pay too much tax. Log into the revenue site and check your credits are right , the site is great these days. You can add your medical receipts, bills for working from home, all sorts.


    transport. Include everything. Servicing, repairs, insurance, fuel, tax, tyres , tolls. Would changing a car for electric secondhand suit you once you run the numbers? It made a massive difference for us. Could you drop a car entirely and one of you change to bike or motorcycle.


    Extracurricular for kids is also one you can optimise , depending on what it is. There are a lot of those sold to parents that the kids don’t really need or benefit from, they are more like entertainment.


    Shopping. Aldi and Lidl can be a false economy if you are drawn to the middle aisle of doom. :) Tesco delivery based on a list (with no top up shops) forces discipline if you over-shop or are influenced by marketing. It’s a timesaver too, shopping in person eats hours. time is something you can use to earn money.


    Childcare. Could you change this to a different model. You say you have room for a lodger, how about an au pair? It is not necessarily much cheaper but could give you the breathing room to focus on improving your career (as you said it’s lower paid due to flexibility) . More of a long term improvement. And it’s loads of fun actually, we met some lifelong friends in our lovely au pairs.


    holidays, look into home exchanging. When we became a family this worked well for us. Hotels, package deals etc are very expensive with kids. Exchanging can be mutually beneficial for families and a great adventure if you do some research. Accommodation is covered obviously, sometimes you can swap cars too, and Ireland is a very popular spot.


    Clothes. Learn how to repair and alter clothes can be really useful and cost saving with kids. The amount of torn pants is nuts. Letting something in or out, adjusting length can give good lifespan to clothes as they get older and wear things out faster than they grow out of them. Build a clothes network with your local community if you can. I get most of my kids clothes from a neighbour with older children. In turn, I pass them on again to one with younger kids.


    What else can you squeeze out of work, benefit-wise? Your health insurance is most likely covered, and you’ll be paying BIK on it. Get everything you can from it. Some of the plans have all sorts of things people never claim. Dental, health checks. some plans cover gym membership or classes or swimming lessons for kids. Massage, fitness trackers, chiropodist , all sorts of things. Know these health plans inside out. Get all your health in good nick in general, it helps with energy for everything else.


    See if there is anything else at work you can claim. Bike to work scheme, subsidies for working from home, discount cards, can work pay for your phones or internet if you apply. Look up every possible benefit.


    Education and getting you and/or husband a pay bump or bonus. You sound like you have time in the evenings, can you do any online course (paid by work) that would improve your job, get you a promotion, or get you a better paid job? Can your husband look at what else he needs to do to get more pay at work.


    Out of hours additional work. Small bits of extra work come along that you can get involved in if you apply. Census enumeration, vote counting. A few hours standing on someones market stall (keep that cash based) .


    Avoid multi level marketing schemes and pyramid schemes, those are scams.


    Bartering or skill swapping can be useful depending on your skills, when you have a house to maintain. Minding someone else’s kids in exchange for them repairing your roof. Swapping plants for baking. Sewing for carpentry. Painting for power washing. This is a good one for the kids extra curricular too. Trade music lessons for tennis lessons or language lessons if you or husband can teach anything.


    Last one, have fun with nature. There are things you can do that are educational, entertainment, healthy and cost saving. bring the kids blackberry picking, make the jam together. Irish fisheries have managed lakes where you can hire a boat for the day and keep your catch. For 30 euro we caught about 40 trout for the freezer, and had a great day out doing it.


    Build your village. For loads of these, being involved with your community makes a big difference. Volunteer for the parents group or tidy towns or coaching at the local club. Getting to know people, talking, building that community is so important with family. You will learn to trust your neighbours , build a network you can lean on, and that helps endlessly with some of the things in life that get very expensive without a community.


    Hope these were helpful!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68 ✭✭mmrs


    Some great advice on here so far.

    I found that tracking what I actually spend each month on bills on a google spreadsheet really helped me see where my money was going. I estimate how much I expect those bills to be each month for the year ahead. I split it in to regular bills (gas, electricity, mortgage, TV etc.) and annual once offs (Motor Tax, Insurance, TV License). I personally don't track my food spend as it's was too time consuming for me but I have a good rough idea of it.

    An overview like this can be an eye opener.

    I also note in a calendar when contracts end and I will shop around for a better deal. You can save some real money here, I found particularly with broadband & TV there's money to be saved. Even calling your current provider can provide deals.

    I try to avoid having Amazon Prime as it's just to easy to buy the little things you probably didn't need. I'll usually get it in for a month before Christmas.

    If you have Revolut you might consider setting up Vaults to save for things like Christmas/Birthdays/Holidays. I've started that this year and it seems handy.

    Really enjoy coffee so we got a decent home machine a few years back, that has paid for itself many times over. Now the occasional coffee from a coffee shop is a nice treat.

    Sounds like you've done a good job so far. All I'd add is to cut yourself some slack too, better to implement the new savings in a gradual consistent manner than go all out and find it all too much of a change. Best of luck.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68 ✭✭mmrs


    Just to add to this. Electric bikes are clearly legal, the state provides a scheme called Bike to Work which has an increased level of a tax refund for Electric Bikes specifically!



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,191 ✭✭✭screamer


    You should check if you working more part time and less childcare will save you anything. Use a payroll calculator like Deloitte to play around with the income to check. I find childcare is the most expensive, it’s twice the mortgage every month.

    other than that, make a budget and pay in cash. When we were struggling back in the recession, I used to have a budget for food/ fuel/ discretionary spend and every month I got paid I’d withdraw that amount and split it into weekly envelopes. Amazing how disciplined you become when you see the money dwindling, and know it has to last the week. Yes, it’s hard but it works for that short time when you’re broke.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,265 ✭✭✭Sunrise_Sunset


    Another thing I would add, but it's for when you do finally get all of these bills paid, is to build up an emergency fund. Most financial advisors would recommend 3-6 months worth of a bare bones budget. This would really help you in the future for any emergency bills or loss of income you may suffer.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,807 ✭✭✭✭Purple Mountain


    You can get a balancing statement for the last 4 years which could result in a refund from revenue.

    Note, sometimes you might have a repayment to make.

    To thine own self be true



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 93 ✭✭cfingers


    The first bullet point is what makes electric bikes legal. They can't be powered by electrical power alone. The motor on a legal electric bike (one that you willl buy in a bike shop) does not operate unless you a pedaling. You will see bikes in Dublin that have been altered to move without pedaling. These are illegal, but these are not the what OP was talking about.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,340 ✭✭✭Thoie


    Have you submitted a Med1 for the last 4 years of medical expenses? You can get tax back on any GP visits, consultants that you've paid for. If you have the receipts you can do it online.

    A quick google shows that my terminology is outdated (it's no longer called Med1), but the 20% relief is still available:


    https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/income_tax_credits_and_reliefs/taxation_and_medical_expenses.html



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,807 ✭✭✭✭Purple Mountain




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  • Posts: 2,645 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I was in the same situation and got a second job in a restaurant two evenings a week. I get 100 euro for the two shifts, plus some tips, plus a meal each shift. This works out at approx 300/350 a month after tax and I use the two free meals as our weekly takeaway. It's tiring but I actually enjoy it and plan to quit when my debt is done.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,788 ✭✭✭ztoical


    I think several people have asked OP how long do you plan on the deep cuts for? Certainly its worth keeping some as habit as its amazing how we spend money without needing to but if the outstanding debt will be paid in just a few months I'd throw everything at it and get rid as there's nothing worse then having a debt over your head. If its going to take much longer then I'd be careful about cutting back on everything as you'll soon ware yourself down and can lead to stress and rows.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2, Paid Member Posts: 3,671 ✭✭✭Tork


    Agreed. You've well and truly cut everything to the bone and I hope you get out of this financial bind soon. I think if I was in your shoes I'd be looking for a second job as well. It might not be a viable option but from a psychological point of view, bringing in extra cash is nicer than hacking and slashing. Shops, restaurants and takeaways are looking for staff all over the place so it's a good time to be job hunting.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,555 ✭✭✭Ave Sodalis


    Just to add, perhaps look at asking your employer for shop local vouchers as part of your wages. They can give up to €500 in vouchers tax free. They can't be used in Lidl/Aldi, and what they can be spent on depends on the town. However, my town includes oil companies, tyre companies, pharmacies, butchers and the local discount store.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 823 ✭✭✭Liberty_Bear


    Ive noticed CU loans mentioned.


    OP Talk to MABS about your situation , they have some great pragmatic advice.


    I used the CU before to clear credit cards and an over draft and restructured my debts. Then used the balance of my CU shares to clear it about four years ago so now debt free. It is slightly less expensive than banks interest loan wise I think or believe but have a look. Made sense for me to just have one payment a fortnight going out



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,720 ✭✭✭Charles Babbage


    There may be merit in alternating your weekly shop between Aldi and someone else. They all have particular items that are good value or on sale, including Dunnes if you use the vouchers.

    Hia.ie for the medical insurance.



  • Posts: 471 ✭✭ [Deleted User]


    You need to plan out your entire month on what your going to spend and stick with it, down to the last euro.

    I find Revolut extremely handy on transferring money for the week. If I go over board and find myself broke at the weekend its noodles for breakfast lunch and dinner or might allocate myself an extra fiver to buy some mince and nothing more to make spaghetti bol.

    Its the only way you will learn to stick to budget.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 378 ✭✭PaoloGotti


    I have done this since I started working full time at 21 yrs of age:

    Excel spreadsheet with approx 10 category columns: Rent, Savings, Groceries, Dining out, Misc etc

    Row for every pay day (fortnightly for me).

    Bottom row has a fancy index formula to give percentage of total spend each category is.

    I have literally logged every cent I have spent in this spreadsheet in the past 15 years.

    Take up this data logging approach and you will never seek financial advice again.



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