Damp dismal depressed - welcome to Ireland 2008

Edit: I remember going on some website and you enter your annual wage and it tells you how you compare to the world average. A lower than average Irish wage will put you in the top 4% in the world. If you earn a grand a year that will put you in the top half, Irish people just like to moan

That's pointless though, because it's relative to the cost of living. I think Ireland is a really expensive place to live for a lot of people. I barely have anything left every month after paying rent, bills and food so the fact I'm in the top 4% of the world doesn't mean I'm rich. My flatmate is from South Africa and said the wages there are low but at the same time, it's possible for a waitress or someone on a low salary to buy a house, whereas here it's damn near impossible. She's 33 with a good job and renting with strangers.

I lived in Spain for while and the salaries are low but the cost of living in insanely cheap. I used to go out with a fiver in my pocket and get several rounds of drinks and tapas. Cinema tickets were about 4 euro, a big basket of good quality food 10 euro, you could get a three course meal for a fiver. It was much easier to go out and socialise with hardly any money, whereas here if you're broke you have very little choice but to stay in and watch TV. I went for a burger and to see a film with a friend last night, the whole thing ended up costing over 30 euro! That's just ridiculous to me. I think a lot of normal activities are out of reach for a lot of people here. People say 'well you can shop at Lidl, not go out, walk everywhere, eat leftovers all week' but that's hardly a great quality of life is it? That's the point. In Spain you can live a lot better with a lot less money.