# am I managing ok?



## kim (27 Feb 2010)

*Age:*
28
*Spouse’s/Partner's age:*
na


*Annual gross income from employment or profession:*
€1884 per month after tax, and levies - 471 weekly

*Annual gross income spouse:*
*na*

*Type of employment:*
*Civil servant *


*Expenditure pattern: just getting by, find it hard to keep money from week to week and find it hard to save*


*Rough estimate of value of home*
160k maybe, mortgage is 696.12 per month fixed till 2013 at 5.35%

*Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc*
*no loans *

*Other outgoings – PM*
Bins- 22
Home insurance - 19.69
tv licence- 13.33
sky -24.00
health insurance aviva -59.17
life insurance- 45.70
car tax- 57
broadband - 29.95
pet insurance - 19.43
finance on TV - 56 until April 2011







*Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month?*
I try my best, at the mo its paid off

*Savings and investments:*
400 started saving 75 a week since Jan
*Do you have a pension scheme?*
Yes
*Do you own any investment or other property?*
no.

*Ages of children:*
Na
*Life insurance:*
*Yes*
*What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?*

I am better off than most I know but id like to be able to have some cash for myself once in a while, my savings usually go on fixing the car, esb bill or heating oil. I dont have any loans apart from my mortgage, weekly I get €471 thats €1884 per month and all my outgoings for the month add up to €1040 - €124 tax relief = €916 so I am left with (€1884-€916)=  €968 for the month divide by 4 and I have €242 per week to myself so saving €75 out of that brings it down to €167 for the week and out of that I have to get diesal and food, am I managing ok? or is there anything different I could do?


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## mathepac (27 Feb 2010)

Your wages sums don't add up :

471 * 52 = 24,492 per annum or 2,041 per month
1,884 * 12 = 22,608 per annum or 434.77 per week

So 471 per week in not the same as 1,884 per month, so may be you should look at your figures again.


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## Caveat (27 Feb 2010)

The PM figures for pet insurance, broadband and TV  seem high - are you sure they are correct?

Car tax seems mad - do you need to drive whatever you are driving?


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## RMCF (27 Feb 2010)

Caveat said:


> The PM figures for pet insurance, broadband and TV  seem high - are you sure they are correct?
> 
> *Car tax seems mad* - do you need to drive whatever you are driving?



My car taxk is actually more than the OPs !!

Mine is €177 per quarter, thats €708 per year if I pay quarterly, which I usually do.

I drive a 2litre car, like many folk in this country. But I do ask myself whether I need a sports car quite often !!

As for nearly €20 per month for pet insurance, I have always thought this is madness. If your pet gets ill, tough. Its an animal. Potential savings there imho.


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## calt (27 Feb 2010)

Civil servants are usually paid on a fortnightly basis so wages would be:

471 * 52 = 24492 per annum weekly or
1884 * 13 = 24492 per annum monthly/4 weekly


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## goingforgold (27 Feb 2010)

To be honest you seem to be managing fine and are in a healthy financial position. You don't have any silly loans or credit card bills to pay back. There isn't much you can cut back on apart from maybe Sky (replace with Free to air) and the pet insurance. Is it really necessary?

How big is your mortgage? Are you in negative equity?


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## chlipps (27 Feb 2010)

You seem to be managing very well. Few items as per other responses that you could review.. Note that you need to get out as well, so not sure if costs for same in your numbers above. Work to live and not live to work!


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## Caveat (27 Feb 2010)

RMCF said:


> My car taxk is actually more than the OPs !!
> 
> Mine is €177 per quarter, thats €708 per year if I pay quarterly, which I usually do.
> 
> I drive a 2litre car, like many folk in this country. But I do ask myself whether I need a sports car quite often !!



Fair enough - ours is only a little more but for two cars.

If you can afford to tax/run a 2L that's fine but the OP maybe can't.

I agree about pet insurance but if it is regarded as essential, €19 PM seems high. I'm sure I've it advertised for less.

€13.33 PM for a licence doesn't make sense - there has to be a mistake there. How much is a TV licence?

Sky? If anything is a luxury that is. 

Surely BB is available for less than €30 PM too?


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## mathepac (27 Feb 2010)

Caveat said:


> ...  €13.33 PM for a licence doesn't make sense - there has to be a mistake there. How much is a TV licence? ...


Direct debit with An Post : (€13.33 X 11) + (€13.37 x 1) = €160.00


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## Caveat (28 Feb 2010)

Ah OK - thanks.  Thought a licence cost a fair bit less than that. (Yes, we have one but just never paid much attention to the cost - I would have guessed it was around €100)

Do the AA provide lower cost pet insurance? I think they might.  Depends on the pet I suppose too.


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## Papercut (28 Feb 2010)

If it’s an option, you could consider renting out a room – even if you could do that for six months you could use the extra income to pay off your tv finance, tv licence & car tax in full.

  I know this might not be an option depending on what area you live in, plus you would be sacrificing your privacy, but it is worth considering even for six months or so.


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## allthedoyles (28 Feb 2010)

goingforgold said:


> To be honest you seem to be managing fine and are in a healthy financial position. You don't have any silly loans or credit card bills to pay back. There isn't much you can cut back on apart from maybe Sky (replace with Free to air) and the pet insurance. Is it really necessary?


 

The statistics show that 40.3 % of individuals in Ireland  are unable to afford an unexpected expense in excess of € 800 , and 10% have a balance owing on credit card . 

source :


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## Vincenzo (28 Feb 2010)

You like many other public servants took the hit in the first of three hard budgets. Things are not ok.

The govt. Has said it needs another 3 or four billion in this budget coming.

I like many of my colleagues have stopped paying for aviva bupa vhi etc . 
Never mind pet insurance. 

Look for better deals/ cuts in costs of everything you pay for.

I would never pay monthly or quarterly for car tax . 

Sorry if I started off negatively but am just fearful of what's to come.

DCC employee.


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## dmos87 (28 Feb 2010)

RMCF said:


> As for nearly €20 per month for pet insurance, I have always thought this is madness. If your pet gets ill, tough. Its an animal. Potential savings there imho.


 
You clearly dont have pets - people who have pets do not see them as just animals. They become a member of the family, and just as you insure yourself you insure your family. Vets bills are quite high, even for standard injections and worming. If you care enough for your pet you insure them. I for one certainly wouldnt be without mine. Heaven forbid one of my dogs gets runover and I'm left footing a 5K bill (and all for the sake of 20e pm).

I would note to the OP - shop around. I have both of my pedigree dogs insured for 23 pm together on the one policy. If you have only one pet you should be able to get cheaper. 

Other than that, you are doing well  Try and up the savings to 100 per week - it builds faster for you and its not too much more that what you save now. If you fall short some months at least you know its there.


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## minion (28 Feb 2010)

You are not in bad shape at all.

One thing that sticks out is the Sky subs.
Try something like this.  Just plug out the sky box and plug this in instead.

http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/index.php/digital-boxes/bush-bfsat02sd


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## number7 (28 Feb 2010)

No Kids and no significant other, whats the life insurance for?

Between that and the pet insurance theres 1 k a year approx


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## Vincenzo (1 Mar 2010)

dmos87 said:


> you clearly dont have pets - people who have pets do not see them as just animals. They become a member of the family, and just as you insure yourself you insure your family. Vets bills are quite high, even for standard injections and worming. If you care enough for your pet you insure them. I for one certainly wouldnt be without mine. Heaven forbid one of my dogs gets runover and i'm left footing a 5k bill


 

how much is a bullet?


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## kim (1 Mar 2010)

Thanks to all for replies, I can understand why some think pet insurance is madness but I dont, vet bills are high, the reason the premium is so high is because I made a claim and if I switch insurers they wont insure me for an existing illness so Im stuck with the current one. thanks again to all


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## Mpsox (1 Mar 2010)

You should also do a full review of your tax affairs to make sure you are claiming for everything you can, remember things like many medical expenses and union membership are tax deductable @ you basic rate.

Other posters mentioned it, but your car tax seems very high, without knowing the mileage you do it is hard to give specific advice, but do you really need a high powered diesal

Other then that, you're not doing bad, indeed you are a good example for others to follow


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## InfoSeeker (1 Mar 2010)

We use petinsure (www.petinsure.ie) and monthly premium is just over 14 euro per month for a pedigree dog. If you go online and fill out a form for a quote then they give you an additional 20 euro off your annual cost. Therefore, nothing to lose to do this and see what the cost would be for you. If your quote was similar to mine, then you would save 60 euro for the year, not much but it all helps.


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