# expecting pay cut in July, cannot manage now on current wages



## ironman (1 Jun 2013)

Age: 42
Spouse’s/Partner's age: n/a

Annual gross income from employment or profession: *40,660 less pensionlevy of 2,310 = 38,350  *
Annual gross income of spouse

Monthly take-home pay *2,428*

Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant, self-employed *civil serv*

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or *yes*
(b) saving?

Rough estimate of value of home *100,000*
Amount outstanding on your mortgage:* 40,000*
What interest rate are you paying? *tracker, monthly payment 350*

Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc *cred union 400pm*

Do you pay off your full credit card balance each month? *yes*
If not, what is the balance on your credit card? 

Savings and investments: *I try to save 10pw for Christmas*

Do you have a pension scheme? *yes*

Do you own any investment or other property? *no*

Ages of children: *18, full time student*

Life insurance: *no*

My net pay each week is €507 (€607 less 100 deducted for credit union loan). I have kept a record of my outgoings for April and May and I've spent more than I earned.  My only " luxury" in the 5weeks of May was 1 Chinese takeaway (for myself and child) and 1 meal out for myself. In April I got 2 fastfood takeaways.  I also treated myself to 1 bottle of wine for €6 in the 2months!  I feel working full time they're the least I deserve after a hard week.  I'm shopping in the cheap supermarkets and that's cut down my grocery bill a lot.  I'm expecting a pay cut in July and I really don't know what else I can cut back on. My gross salary looks good on paper but it's hardly enough at the moment to pay my bills.  I consider myself very careful with money, I know exactly where my money goes and its not on unnecessary items. 
Breakdown May
                Wk1		wk2		wk 3		wk 4			wk5
Food -       120		135		75		73			96
Bills -           77		324		20		365			45	
child-         35		25		110		30			110	
Househld     23		134		31		-			-	
cash	      10		25		20		20			50	
savin           20		20		-		25			20	
misc	     25		23(charity)	-		48(sunglass)		-	
annual      215(bday)	130(hhchg)		-	195(carserv)    160tvlic     
toiltr	     36		-		9		40			-	
cloths	       -		30		-		38			-	
petrol	      46		-		-		30			-	
meal/takawy	20(t)					25 (m)			-

(the "child" expenses include pocket money of €25 pw, travel tkt, clothes, toiletries etc) 
(the "cash" is the actual money I have in my purse and is spent on things I don't have a record of)


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## STEINER (1 Jun 2013)

Hi,

just a small thing to clarify first....

is your monthly nett pay €2,428 ie annual = 12 X 2,428 = 29,136.  weekly = 29,136/52 = 560.31 per week?


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## STEINER (1 Jun 2013)

ironman said:


> Age: 42
> Spouse’s/Partner's age: n/a
> 
> Annual gross income from employment or profession: *40,660 less pensionlevy of 2,310 = 38,350  *
> ...



I am sure that with a bit of tweaking your spending here and there you can improve your situation.  Your mortgage is grand, only 350 per month.  How long in years on your mortgage left?  Also, how much is your CU loan for and how many years?  I think your food bills are still too high for a 42yo and 18yo.  Bills too high also, presumably heating?  Cut out snacking etc

Just by way of example, my wife and I have a combined monthly nett income of ~ 2,100.  Our mortgage is 1,200 a month.  Petrol is 260 a month, plus all the usual bills. We can afford to go out occasionally.


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## emeralds (1 Jun 2013)

your food bills seem huge for two people...


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## ashambles (1 Jun 2013)

Is this paycut expected in July a fear or something you know will happen? If it's just a fear what's the point in worrying about it until it happens?


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## The Ghoul (1 Jun 2013)

607 or even 560 per week net seems like a lot for single public servant on 40,660 gross. I'm also PS, my gross is about 14,000 more than yours and I end up with only 629 per week net.


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## becky (1 Jun 2013)

ashambles said:


> Is this paycut expected in July a fear or something you know will happen? If it's just a fear what's the point in worrying about it until it happens?



My understanding is there is no pay cut for those on less than €65,000 but weekly hours will increase by approx 2 and 1/2 per week.


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## Luternau (1 Jun 2013)

The charity donation (€23) seems like a straight saving-is this every month?


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## ironman (1 Jun 2013)

becky said:


> My understanding is there is no pay cut for those on less than €65,000 but weekly hours will increase by approx 2 and 1/2 per week.



Thanks for all the advice.  Looks like my union will be rejecting haddington rd agreement so gov will impose pay cuts for my grade.


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## ironman (1 Jun 2013)

The Ghoul said:


> 607 or even 560 per week net seems like a lot for single public servant on 40,660 gross. I'm also PS, my gross is about 14,000 more than yours and I end up with only 629 per week net.



I'm a single parent so paying about €48 less tax than a single person.


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## The Ghoul (1 Jun 2013)

ironman said:


> I'm a single parent so paying about €48 less tax than a single person.


Should have thought of that - thanks for the explanation and apologies for prying.


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## jprender (2 Jun 2013)

I know you consider your child to still be a child, but this child is now 18.   
Over the last 5 weeks, the "child" expenses have been about 60 per week.

As a full time student, it's tough, but I think a part-time job is called for if it can be found.    About 8 hours a week will replace the handouts that you are currently giving.


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## ironman (2 Jun 2013)

Sorry meant child as in My Child, had her name in original document when I was keeping track of expenses so just replaced it with the word child.  I don't physically hand her €60 every week. That includes monthly bus tkt and jacket/pair shoes bought in May. It doesn't include her educational expenses or clothes as I didn't spend any money in May on these expenses but will have to in Aug/Sept.   She gets about €25 into her hand and uses this to buy phone credit (€20 once a month), lane swimming (€5 one night a wk).  She has sent out loads of cv's, applied on line for hundred's of jobs and has never got one interview.


Net pay is 607 x 4wks = €2,428 but €100 is taken out of my wages for credit union loan.  I will try to reduce my credit union loan as this seems to be the biggest weekly  outgoing.

Charity donation of €23 pm but its the only charity I give to as I always say no to ones calling to door/street collectors and don't feel guilty as I give monthly!!


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## Knuttell (2 Jun 2013)

ironman said:


> Charity donation of €23 pm but its the only charity I give to as I always say no to ones calling to door/street collectors and don't feel guilty as I give monthly!!



You are handing over €276 a year to a charity despite starting a thread *expecting pay cut in July, cannot manage now on current wages*,at this point every penny should be accounted for.

Charity begins at home and this would be the first thing I personally would axe if I were struggling financially.



> Bills - 77	 324	 20	 365	 45



What are these bills for?They total €831 a month? which is pretty high.

Also as previously mentioned your food bills are quite high for just two people.


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## Janet (3 Jun 2013)

I was thinking that a teenage boy would eat a lot more than some people think (I am consistently amazed by the amount my nephews can put away) but since it's a girl...  

I think you need to at least explain to your daughter that money is going to be tight and probably that her pocket money is going to be cut.  20 per week on a phone seems like a lot although I'm clueless when it comes to data plans so maybe it's not.  My brother uses 20 per month and since that gets him free vodafone-to-vodafone calls and texts, it easily does him for the month (most of the main people he'd be contacting are also on vodafone and the rest of the credit goes on all the rest).  But even if the cost is a reasonable one for a data plan, to my mind that's still something of a luxury and she might need to cut back on it.

If she doesn't manage to find a job, maybe you could put her in charge of running the food budget (a lower one than you have now) and producing the food during the summer holidays.  If she has time on her hands she can go searching for bargains, have plenty of time for cooking from scratch and all that.  Any chance if you presented something like that to her as a challenge, she'd get into it?

You've also got 125 of cash dripping out of your purse every month.  Did you do a further breakdown of where that is going?  I've found trying to have no-spend days incredibly difficult but very rewarding.  It's amazing how quickly those one and two euro purchases add up.


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## Bronte (3 Jun 2013)

I think there are two problems here. The CU loan and budgeting. 

How many years left on your mortgage. What is the interest rate on the CU loan, how much is it for and how long is left on that.  Also what savings in the CU are backing it up.  

Budgeting properly should mean that any big bills that arrive, such as a car service etc, that you already have that month put away.  In essence you should 'save' from you income any annual cost that might arise, and when it does, you pay it out of this 'savings' account rather than current spending.


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## idkwatmi (4 Jun 2013)

ironman said:


> Thanks for all the advice.  Looks like my union will be rejecting haddington rd agreement so gov will impose pay cuts for my grade.




I don't think it will go by grade but rather if you are earning over €65,000 a year which you dont appear to be.

Just to add it may mean a delay on your next increment (but I think this only applies for a 3 month period if that)


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## breathe (7 Jun 2013)

25 euro a week pocket money is very high, even though it includes phone credit.  I would suggest 10 euro a week to be more than enough. The other alternative would be to continue with the 25 a week but your child would need to budget this herself for toiletries and clothes, etc which in turn will teach them good budgeting skills.


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## partnership (7 Jul 2013)

You won't face a pay cut but your increment will possibly be frozen for the 3 years.  If you are at the top of your scale then you can give back annual leave rather than lose pay.  To be honest I expect all the unions will row in rather than have it imposed.  They are not going to go on strike over it on their own.  The other thing that is high is the credit union so I would renegotiate with them to pay it over a longer period of time.  Also keep track of every little thing you spend, even if it is a paper or milk that will tell you where the cash goes.


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## MrEarl (7 Jul 2013)

Hello,

Just to echo what others have already said:

- Cancel the monthly charity payments immediately.  With due respect, you simply can't afford to be giving to charity on a regular basis and certainly not at the current rate.

- Credit Union Loan needs to be reduced, go and speak with them and ask them to reduce the monthly payments. Granted, you may have to pay a little more interest, but it will take some pressure off.

- Food bill appears a little high.

- Your 18yr old needs to get a job. Assuming you live in a city or large town, there are plenty of jobs offering a few hours a week for those willing to get their hands a little dirty (packing shelves for example) or work unfriendly hours in pubs etc.

While I entirely respect that you are trying to do all you can for your child, but I don't accept there are no part time jobs to be had unless your in a very rural location .... it's time to let your child (or maybe tell your child to ) get a little job for themselves.

Also, you mention monthly phone credit.  Am I imaging things, or do I often see the likes of Tesco Mobile Phones offering 100% free on all credit top ups ... if I'm right, could this also help save a little each month ?


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## sadie (7 Aug 2013)

You don't mention Credit cards. Do you have a large credit card bill that you are also paying back.
Have you a very expensive TV package?
€48 for sunglasses is a fairly expensive pair of sunglasses.


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