Any good ideas to make/save extra money?

In terms of household bills check out bonkers.ie
It's a comparison site and will give you the best deals around
It will also compare any packages you currently have against others out there
And even better you can switch Online by filling in Online forms
Bonkers staff take care of the rest

Other tips stop eating and drinking out !! This is a killer

Bring coffee/tea to work
Bribe packed/prepared lunches etc
Those amounts every day can add up big time over a year
Shop online for clothes rather than In stores

We were in the same boat, with a new build 80% finished, no money left. We had to seriously curtail our spending to service a mortgage and short term loans, just so we could get the house finished to a standard to allow us to move in: So we shopped in Aldi. Didn't smoke, drink in pubs or gamble. Never went to expensive restaurants. No landline/broadband, or pay TV. Bring lunch to work. No buying coffee at work. Move our electricity/oil/car/house-insurance provider around every year. Continually check the second hand shops for quality clothes/furniture/books/toys. Run one 5 year old car and put up with that inconvenience. I think we were living off about 1100 or 1200 a month plus 1000 on the mortgage. And then ploughed every other penny into the short term loans to get them paid off first. Then started on the final finishes to the house interior. 7 years later, the inside of the house is finished to my satisfaction (not to my wife's) and the outside/garden of the house is still a work in progress. It was tough, but worth it...

Another thing I would suggest is to go online and look for freebies/samples of things you might need. There's posts on here, have a search around. There's also discount/bargain threads, which could come in handy for things you may need for your new home. I use the word need instead of want because wants are something that can be put on the back burner until you're in a better position 😀
Have you had any luck??

some tips here UK based but a lot of them work here too.


Experts' Top Tips

Richard Fenton's tips
1. Resist impulse buying by taking TIME OUT. Walk away for at least an hour or - even better - sleep on it. More often than not, you’ll realise you didn’t actually want or need it in the first place.


2. Switch your energy providers. It takes a matter of minutes but could save you hundreds of pounds over the year! Unbelievably, 60% of UK Households have never switched!

3. If you can afford it, pay for your car insurance upfront rather than by monthly instalments. They can add more than 10% to the price.

4. Make sure you read the small print on all your insurance policies. 33% of people admit that they never do – and 25% don’t even know what they’re covered for. Make sure you are only paying for what you need.

5. Never ever buy the first deal or offer you see. Always shop around – and not just with online purchases on things like insurance and utilities. You should even compare your weekly food shop with other supermarkets.

Sarah Pennells' tips
1 . Write a weekly meal plan before you head to the supermarket. Meal planning and writing a shopping list needn’t take long and will save you time and money in the long run.

2. Take your own packed lunch to work. The average saving for someone who takes his or her lunch into work, and avoids a trip to the coffee shop on the way in, is over £1,200 a year. That’s more than enough for a holiday!

3. When choosing your broadband package, always check how much you are using the internet. If you are using it just for surfing the web, e-mails and the occasional download, then a ‘light user’ or limited data package may be better for you. When it comes to speed – always check to see what the fastest possible speed is in your area before signing up to a broadband deal, or you could end up paying extra for a speed that your provider can’t deliver.

4. One good way to make money from your everyday items that are just sitting around at home is with shared contracts. In shared contracts you can lease your bike out to someone on a day by day basis – charging mileage and a portion of the general running costs. Or you can have what is called shared ownership where you co-own the bike with someone else and share the running costs – normally 50/50.

5. Make sure you are not paying for any memberships or subscriptions that you no longer use. A recent study revealed that almost half of those who no longer use their gym fail to cancel their membership!

Fergus Muirhead's tips
1. Make a budget. You can’t manage your money without one. Keep an accurate list of all of the money you spend for at least a month. And be honest with yourself. Count everything.

2. Go over all of your spending to see where you can make savings. That’s not the same as stopping spending. It’s about using your money more efficiently.

3. Set up a direct debit to transfer money to a savings account at the end of every month to help build up an emergency fund. Use an ISA to save on tax.

4. If you are in debt don’t pay the creditor who shouts the loudest. Pay the creditor who can do you the most damage if you get into really bad arrears.

5. Take control of your money. Get involved with the way you spend it and save it. Don’t let it control you.

Simon Read's tips
1. Talk about money: this is the best tip I can give anyone. The more you talk about money the better you’re likely to become at managing it. Talking about spending and saving is the quickest way to hear new ideas that improve your own money affairs.

2. Learn to budget, but have fun too: the key to managing money is to plan your spending. Make a shopping list and keep to it, for instance. It will help ensure you don’t run out of money before the end of the month. Be realistic about budgeting for all the things you like to do as well as need to spend money on.

3. Use cash: this is something I do every time I go out to avoid getting an expensive shock the next day. Ahead of a night out I decide in advance how much money I’m happy to spend and then only take that much with me and leave the plastic at home.

4. Check your statement: this can be an instant money-saver as having a good look at your bank statement can reveal the odd direct debit or standing order you set up a long time ago and forgot to cancel. An old gym membership, for instance, could be sucking money out of your account every month even though you stopped going a long time ago.

5. Invest in yourself: money management is not all about saving cash or just trying to get by. It’s also about helping you to plan for the future and give yourself choices.

Kalpana Fitzpatrick from Mummy Money Matter’s tips
1. Make use of cash-back sites for almost all your shopping online. You can get as much as 10% cash-back on everyday purchases whether it’s shoes, beauty products or even insurance policies and broadband packages. In many cases you can also get a lump sum. The cash-back can really add up to hundreds of pounds each year. You can put the extra cash towards a holiday, for example. Only ever use reputable cash-back sites.

2. Shop for your groceries online, especially if you can’t resist the buy-one-get-one-free deals or are hopeless at sticking to a shopping list or budget. You can see how much you’re spending and there’s no chance of you wandering into the special offer aisles. You will make savings on your weekly shop for sure – and you’ll also have a lot more spare time on your hands.

3. Have some money to save? Consider an ISA. The government allows you to stash away a whopping £15,240, tax-free and from April 2017 this will rise to £20,000. You can start saving from as little as £1.

4. Get a pension. If you are working and you have not joined your workplace pension, then you really are saying no to free money. When you pay into your pension, so does your employer and so does the government – so don’t miss out and don’t risk poverty in old age.

5) Did you sign up to half price broadband, TV or phone offers? Then note down when that offer ends and switch when it does. Once the special offer period expires, the full price you pay can be very steep – so you need to make sure you are continuously moving around to get the best deal. It’s easy to switch – you just have to remember to do it.

Andy Webb from the Money Advice Service's tips
1. Make sure your money is working for you while it’s in your bank. It’s amazing how many current and savings accounts pay almost nothing in interest. Luckily it’s easy to move your money to one which does.

2. Watch out for auto-renewal on most of your contracts. From insurance to internet, you should be able to get a better deal by negotiating or switching to a different company.

3. When you’re paying by card on holiday, make sure you pay in the local currency rather than converting it back to pounds. And change your money before you get to the airport. Both will get you far better rates and give you a little more to spend while you are away

4. If you struggle with maths, don’t think that you can’t get your money in order. There are plenty of online tools that will do half the job for you. If you know how much you have to spend, it’ll be easier to keep on track.

5. Talk to your friends and family about money and ask them for their top tips on how they manage their finances. If you’re really worried, there are plenty of free and confidential charities offering debt advice. You can find some of them here https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/tools/debt-advice-locator

Hi Julie, a great to save money is leaving the car at home and take your bike. Obviously, this depends on how practical this is for you. I've recently moved jobs and can cycle now. I should save about 120 euro per month by doing this.

All excellent pieces of advise..
i would add also join your local library its free and then order books on understanding money/saving/budgeting/investing etc
so you can get a solid grip of how you can make money work for you..
Also 2 podcasts that i listen to regularly are Dave Ramsey and The minimalists
these two have helped me understand money, possesions and not to care what other people are doing and thinking..
Dave Ramsey will tell you to live like a monk because thats what you have to do to get the life you eventually want

Also you said you had a car, is it a fairly new car? do you pay finance?
could you sell and get a car worth a few thousand euro from a garage with a warrenty..
and have a few thousand to put into the house..
Everyone i know that needs money has a nice car on finance.. because they have the
"i deserve complex" which i have had myself.. i had a lovely Audi that cost me a fortune everytime
i had to get something replaced, although diesel, it wasnt economical. so it just cost and cost.
my partner and me have one car between us cost 2300 volswagon polo 1.2 litre.. got it from a garage and its a great car
i pay her 30 euro every week, this includes my half of the tax, insurance, sky, internet and bins.
Also once i started doing a proper budget everything became much easier, so if your not already get out your a4 pad
put down yer income per week and then all the bills.. then figure out the needs(food,esb,repayments,etc) pay them first
then figure out the wants(sky,internet,entertainment etc) and the most realistic thing is to try somehow to cut down prices on these things or more unrealistic but not impossible cut them out altogether..

stage 1 is under my belt, budgeting and saving, i dont have many options for stage 2, increasing income,
well im going to college next year and eventually i sould be on a much better number then im on now but that wont be for years.. i have looked into e commerce but im pretty computer stupid and ive read louds of good and bad reports about this form of income, dropshipping, amazon fba etc look that up, but honestly ive no idea if its profitable now.
do you have a fenced in garden out the back, if so maybe there would be some need for dog sitting in your house or theirs.
Do you have any particular skill you could tutor at your/their home or online
i work evening shift and ive applied for 2 hours a day 6 days a week in the morning cleaning,
would you do parttime cleaning, babysitting etc

If you do find something profitable let us all know;-)

Julie,
I’m not sure that I can add anything to what’s been said above but I just wanted to say hang in there!

We were in the same position as you 10 years ago and we got there. Ya we lived like monks for a while, but it was worth it. I have a couple of suggestions:

1) don’t do up the entire house before you move in. Do up just enough, eg a kitchen with a tv and some chairs, a bedroom and a bathroom. Most people will change the decor after moving in anyway, and you’ll have more money for that when you’re not paying rent.

2) do all of the building work now. It’s a false economy to think that you’ll build a garage or add a conservatory later. My block layer told us this when we were building, best advice ever. It cost me less than €500 to put the conservatory on when building, ok that was 10 years ago but you get my drift!

3) DO NOT put in an expensive kitchen, this is especially important advice if you plan to have kids. . Mine is wrecked now between roller skates, bikes etc (its Ireland and they can’t always play outdoors). I’ll be changing my kitchen next year, but that’s also because my mortgage will be paid off next year! Between frugal living and hard work we have managed this, but if I had it again I probably wouldn’t! I haven’t had a holiday outside of Ireland and UK since we moved in... but we made the decision and stuck with it.

4) don’t pay for someone to decorate! Do it yourself if you can, you’ll most likely change all the colours within a year anyway.

5) move in as soon as you can. If there’s just two of you and you’re willing to rough it for a while do. You’re more likely to pot around doing jobs when you’re living there rather than getting into the car and driving to and from a site. As soon as we had electric and running water we moved in. We only had a plastic table and chairs and a camping stove but it was part of the adventure

6) don’t skimp on insulation, it’ll save you hundreds each year. And really think about your heating. I haven’t turned the heating on in our house in years, we have a solid fuel stove that heats the whole house (but I work from home so am here all day to keep it going), look into what’s practical for you. Ask around.

7) enjoy it! You’re building a home not just a house. The sacrifices will be worth it. Don’t scrimp on everything in life, you have to live too. We don’t drink or smoke anyway so it didn’t bother us not going out, but if you’re sociable people don’t cut it out completely. We always had sky with sports channels. That 60 Euro a month was our whole months entertainment and we didn’t really feel like monks

Best of Luck!

Sign up to: Irish Opinions. They email you surveys every couple of days and reward you with money which you can request in Tesco vouchers. They are repetitive and dull mostly but they quickly add up. Once you reach €10 you can get the gift card sent out to you.

If you're paying for cable\sat tv\broadband+tv bundle, stop cancel your contract at first occasion and get netflix subscription\android box or even Saorview box. I personally gave up on owning tv and access media only via PC. Saves you TV licence as well.

When you know in advance that you will need something, create saved search in appropriate category in the free section of Adverts.ie. Don't be too detailed in your search results and tick sold to see if there was anything there recently that matched your search terms.

Buy refurbished electronics, they often are barely used and in case of big name vendors will have better quality control then retail units. Never buy on the spot, always compare prices (pricespy, shopsavvy), check if there's any discount on Amazon with discount finder. Check ebay.ie and co.uk for auction that end on bank holidays, religious and national holidays. Serious bidding starts usually just before it ends and there are serious bargains to be had when people are out and about. Keep or flip, it's up to you. Always use sniping service for auctions to avoid overbidding in the heat of the moment.

If you can, get cash&carry card. Use it to bulk buy your staple foods.Rice? 20kg bags. Lentils, pastas, oats, beans, honey, vinegar, marinated vegetables, canned food, sugar, salt, nuts in the shell, peppercorns (get a mill), coffee beans, toilet paper, batteries (better yet, get charger and rechargeables), detergents (if you can score industrial ones, even those used in shops like Centra, Spar, even better), etc. Do not use paper towels, cut old tshirts for a cloth. Will last longer and recycling is great for the planet.

You mentioned you have a house, not an apartment. What about setting vegetable patch? Tomatoes, ground cucumbers (gherkins), strawberries, lettuce, radish, carrots, peppers, parsley or parsnips grow really well in Ireland. Want to grow more or have longer season? Greenhouse can be build cheaply with some piping and construction plastic sheet.

Can't grow in the garden? Grow your own herbs on the windowsill. Regrow from literally scraps onions, avocados, ginger root, celery, lemongrass, garlic, sweet potatoes, pumpkins and more.

Can you plant some fruit trees? You do not need many, if you plan kids down the line, they will love it. Apple, pear, cherry, plum, meyer lemon should easily grow here. Are there any wild orchards in your area? Raid them for your pantry.

Do you know your edible mushrooms? Mushroom picking is very popular pastime in Poland, combining great views, hikes and free food which is easy to preserve and will enrich almost every meal. Befriend some Poles, they will show you the way.

Preserve overflow produce - look into marinating vegetables and mushrooms, pickling gherkins, making jams, marmalades and syrups from fruits, drying fruits and mushrooms. Food dryer should become your friend.

You can turn almost any fruit into great homemade wine that will enrich any gathering with friends and family.

You can start limiting your grocery expenses almost immediately with these tips, and even turn it into profitable venture, however keep in mind you will have to be HACCP certified. If you want to go that route, give yourself a year or two before you will gain some expertise.

just to add to the options.. If you have any skills in any area then perhaps think about making a short course and try to get it on websites like Udemy and charge a fee for it. https://support.udemy.com/hc/en-us/articles/229605508-Getting-Started-How-do-I-Create-my-Udemy-Course- . This will help you reach a wider audience than just tutoring in your locality.

Do you need help with labour finishing the house. If you have any non skilled jobs try getting volunteers from Workaway. For 6 month each year we take volunteers to do house and garden maintenance and help finish building our house. They live with you, you give them food and accommodation and they give you about 25 hours labour a week. Most of ours have been French but they can be from anywhere. We normally take them in two's to be company for each other and for four weeks at a time. Long enough to get specific jobs done but short enough so that if we don't get on then they won't be here long. You need to register with workaway.info but it is free. Lots of Irish people using it for free childcare and I reckon the majority of hostels/campsites/guesthouses using it for free staff.

As well as survey companies I use shop and scan. I scan all the barcodes ony shopping and the info gets uploaded to a marketing company. I leave it load up and in the sales I have about €100 to spend in Woodies.

When I was stuck for money in college I use to do some freelance writing, made about €25 euro per article for about 2 hours work max. Sign up for websites such as upwork.com or peopleperhour.com.