# Help with Personal Finances



## Catering141 (20 Oct 2010)

*[FONT=&quot]Age: [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]27*
Spouse’s/Partner's age: *31*

Annual gross income from employment or profession: *€25,888*
Annual gross income of spouse: *€35,460*

Type of employment: *Private Sector[/FONT]
*[FONT=&quot]
In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or 
(b) saving?[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]Saving a little but left with €0.00 at end of month (just out of overdrafts)[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]Rough estimate of value of home: [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]Purchased for €205,000 in 2007, probably worth €150,000[/FONT]
*[FONT=&quot]
Amount outstanding on your mortgage: [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]€198,727.97[/FONT]
*[FONT=&quot]
What interest rate are you paying? [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]5.650% fixed[/FONT]
*[FONT=&quot]
Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc: [/FONT]*
[FONT=&quot]Car Finance = €255 per month (20 months remaining €5,100)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Credit Union Loan = €336 per month (€14,968.67 remaining)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Spouse’s Credit Union Loan €130 per month (€3,696.82 remaining)
*
Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? *Yes & don’t really use it.
[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]If not, what is the balance on your credit card?

Savings and investments:[/FONT]*
[FONT=&quot]Credit Union = €50 per month (I plan on paying off my outstanding loan once it is on par with savings – currently 11,305.10)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Credit Union Spouse = €20 per month (Will also use these savings to pay off outstanding loan once they are on par – currently €830)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]An Post = €100 per month[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]An Post Spouse = €60 per month[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]An Post Child = €40 per month[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Have another €1,600 in savings in AIB account[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Plan on taking 1,600 savings plus spouse’s credit union savings of 830 and hopefully, now that back on track with cash flow in house will have a couple of bob at end of month to add to it and get spouse’s credit union loan paid, then switch his 130 p.month from his credit union loan into my credit union loan and add to savings and get mine paid off and then pay off car finance loan last.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]An Post - Currently receiving 25% dirt free at end of 5 years so once year one’s savings have been deposited untouched for 5 years get 25% interest. Start again in year two etc.[/FONT]
  [FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]Do you have a pension scheme? [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]Yes through work they pay 6% of our salaries, we contribute nothing.*

Do you own any investment or other property? *No
*
Ages of children: *18 months old[/FONT]
*[FONT=&quot]
Life insurance: [/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]Yes - [/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]Net monthly salary[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]                                                           €4,226[/FONT][FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]Monthly Outgoings[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]Mortgage                                                                                                                    €930.02 (after TRS, €1,117.52 before)

Loan repayments                                                                                                        €721
  [FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]credit card bill approx                                                                                                            €0.00
ins Mortgage protection                                                                                             €32.00

Health Insurance (employer pays)                                                                             €0.00
Life insurance                                                                                                             €18.75

Home insurance                                                                                                          €38.88

Car Insurance (1 car)                                                                                                  €41.16

ESB                                                                                                                              €50

  [FONT=&quot]Oil                                                                                                                               €60[/FONT]

  [FONT=&quot]Bins                                                                                                                             €24.10[/FONT]
Internet                                                                                                                       €19.99

TV (including licence)                                                                                                 €94.00

Mobile Phones (*2)(recently cancelled bill)                                                              €40 (20 each)

Petrol                                                                                                                          €100

Creche                                                                                                                         €728
Groceries/food                                                                                                            €400-€450
  [FONT=&quot]

[/FONT]*[FONT=&quot]What specific question do you have or what issues are of concern to you?[/FONT]*

[FONT=&quot]My question is, do you recommend that we pay off our loans they way we have it proposed above?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Is there any savings account/scheme you would advise for small but regular savings instead of the An Post we have?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Do you see anywhere we can save on monthly expenditure?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]
[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We are recently married (3 month) so can avail of marriage tax credits next year. We were considering me trying to get part time in work or give up work altogether & try and work from home in the evenings (also a trained beautician). We don’t understand how to calculate which would be most beneficial for us cash flow wise each month. We would save with the crèche fees. How would the tax credits work? Would my husband take home much more after tax? Obviously we couldn’t afford to do any of this until the loans are paid off, but once these are gone (721) and the crèche (728) will be saved every month. This side of things I can calculate out, but how will we know how much extra my husband will take home and am I right in thinking that I can get a part-time job and earn 17,000 tax free as well?[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks in advance.[/FONT]


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## niceoneted (21 Oct 2010)

First off can I ask a mod to move this to money makeover and not close it as the OP has gone to a lot of effort to complete the template. 

Op you have your finger on the pulse and seem to be well on top of things. 

Only suggestion I have for you is to ask CU to cancel some of your saving off your loan as it is - this will reduce the amount of interest you will pay overall. I would suggest on asking for 8/9k of saving to be put off loan. 

I think you are on the right track otherwise as you appear to be using the snowball effect in clearing loans which is in my opinion a great way to clear them. 

With regards to the whole tax issue with us being so close to the budget I would wait to see what changes are ahead before making any decisions there. 
I would be reluctant to give up work unless your spouses work is guaranteed 100% which is hard to these days. 

Your child care is a fairly good rate compared to others. 
Well done on all the bills.


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## michaelm (15 Dec 2010)

You seem to be well in control of your finances.  The house insurance looks expensive to me (I'd think around €20/month would be closer to the mark) and the monthly TV bill looks crazy to me. Myself and my wife are not heavy users of mobiles so can run two for < €25/month: I top up my wife's by €20/month (€30 sometimes if there is a free bonus) and she gets free calls & texts to Vodafone (including me); I put €10 into my phone every 6 months; otherwise I transfer unused credit from her phone to mine using IOU Buddy on the Vodafone website.  

I'd suggest you get the Family Finance 2011 book after Christmas to help you better understand the tax implications of any work related decisions you may make.  You might pick up some other money saving tips also.


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## Sumatra (17 Dec 2010)

"Do you see anywhere we can save on monthly expenditure?"

1. Mortgage protection €32 a month. Outstanding balance €199k. - What exactly are you paying for? Is this more than just mortgage protection?

2. Life Assurance €18 a month - 18 month old child?  Who is covered and check level of cover and over how many years? Check death in service benefit?

€18 seems low and €32 seems high?


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