# Money is just gone every month....



## Generous (23 Dec 2008)

Age: 27
   Spouse’s/Partner's age: 30

   Annual gross income from employment or profession: 51000
   Annual gross income of spouse:24000

   Type of employment: e.g. Civil Servant,  self-employed 
Private sector

In general are you:
(a) spending more than you earn, or


   Other borrowings – car loans/personal loans etc: 11000

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

   Savings and investments: 5000

   Do you have a pension scheme? yes

   Do you own any investment or other property? 

   Ages of children: 7months and 7 years old

   Life insurance:no for me partner does.

Not a married couple we have been with each other for the past 8 years now.
Every month after getting payed I end up with between 3100/3300 in my account, I pay 1400 in rent every month, 50 for NTL, 200 to the credit union ( savings ) 277 for our car loan repayment, ESB average 200

1400/50/200/277 => 1927 - leaves around 1300euro's left.
We are trying to save for a house finding it absolutley impossible to save anymore than 200 Euro's per month as with kids something always comes up.

Doctor maybe once every two months 60euro's and medication 30 =>90E
Food shopping 200Euro's per week mix between lidl and tesco =>800E
Petrol 25Euro's per week => 100
1300 - 990 => 340 left for the month
Food in work say 35E per week =>140 Per month
200Euro's left.

I have no problems with paying all the bills, but something isn't right here.
Another thing that is really annoying me i'm a dad and with absolutley no entitlements what so ever, nor the possibility to take extra tax credits either.

My partner she only works part-time at the moment due to the small ones as previously she worked 4days a week.
Her bills are fairly chunky credit union loan of 7k left to pay off, and she will not consider looking for a new mobile phone carrier as she has been with o2 for 8 years and pays around 50/75Euro's per month.

Rang up the tax office several times before ignorant and very reluctant to provide any information.

Health insurance is another thorn in my side pay 185E per month for this via corporate sheme.

The only solution i can see is trying to get the missus back into full time employement again but the other end of the stick is childcare bills and in dublin they are in the region of 500Euro's per month to 1000Euro's per month for the baby and at this price its hardly worth her while going back to work fulltime again..

Sseriously considering packing up and leaving this country in search for a more comfortable life style, compared to rip off Ireland.

As i'm paying 1400Euro's in rent which i would have no problems in paying a mortgage instead but at the moment its dead money.
Living in this place for the past 2years 33600Euro's paid in rent..


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## NatNif (23 Dec 2008)

get Married and you will get your partner's tax credits then. which will increase your income if you are jointly assessed. basically you can earn 68k(Not sure of exact amts)on the lower rate of tax. so are only paying Higher tax on 7k whereas at the moment you are paying higher rate on 13k. so a saving of about 3k for the year.
Ok Relief's are here for 2008
so basically you would even be better off as you would be paying the majority of your tax at 20% only ie on 70800. see below reliefs

Married Couple - both spouses with income €44,400 @ 20% (with an increase of €26,400 max), Balance @ 41%

Ensure also that you are getting all your other tax relief.
Eg rent relief,
And all childrens benefits.

Then its a matter of cutting back, 
ESB seems high,
Cut out NTL.
No point in having savings when you have loans.
Bring in sambo's for lunch
get rid of NTL.
etc etc...


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## vandriver (23 Dec 2008)

You say that you pay all the household bills out of your wages.You also say that your partner earns €24000 gross.She would also collect €4500 per year in child benefits.What is she doing with her income?


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## Stapeler (23 Dec 2008)

Depending on you type of work you may be entitled to claim some flat rate expenses, Check out the Revenue.ie website. Also ensure you're claiming tax relief for bin charges, trade union subscriptions etc. 
As regards medical/doctors bills, check with your private health insurer. VHI level 2 options for example allows to claim back a large portion of doctors bills, optical bills and other medical expenses.


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## MeathCommute (23 Dec 2008)

Stapeler said:


> As regards medical/doctors bills, check with your private health insurer. VHI level 2 options for example allows to claim back a large portion of doctors bills, optical bills and other medical expenses.


 
If you have regular doctors or dental bills, you should sign up to VHI Healthsteps. It's a flat payment of around €160 per year. You can claim back a large portion of doctor's fees and also bills for dental hygenist visits etc. It might be worth your while once you do the maths on it.


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## Mr DT (24 Dec 2008)

You are in the same boat as main. You have good salaries and have managed to build up too much debt.

Start the new year with some priorities. Everything you do should focus on getting your debt down. You might have to work hard on this but it will be worth it in the medium term. Tighten your belt now.

I think "money is just gone every month" for most people and as jobs are lost this is why most people will be cutting back.

Hope it works out. Happy Christmas and all the best for 2009


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## z104 (24 Dec 2008)

I cut back to a basic TV package from 35 euro package to 20 euro package and I can honestly say I don't even notice the channels I've lost.  if you can cut back from 50 euro to 20 euro that's 360 euro a year.


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## Mpsox (24 Dec 2008)

re doctors bills, have you checked to see if you are entitled to a medical card

What I don't understand is if your partner is earning 2k before tax every month, + another 500 in child benifit, what is she spending it on if you are paying the rent and bills


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## DrMoriarty (24 Dec 2008)

Generous said:


> ...she will not consider looking for a new mobile phone carrier as she has been with o2 for 8 years and pays around 50/75Euro's per month.


Eh, 'reality check', as (I believe) the saying goes? 

Would she at least consider changing ?
€30/month would get her 
175 inclusive any network minutes 
100 inclusive any network texts


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## Flax (24 Dec 2008)

These posts are getting vert repetitive.

1. There is no point saving money if it means you are broke at the end of the month, and especially if you already have debt which is at a higher rate of interest than your savings.
2. Cut back on your NTL package.
3. Get your partner to start contributing financially. It is unreasonable of her to expect you to pay for everything.
4. Tell your partner to cop on and to move to a cheaper mobile phone package. She's being a very selfish princess at the moment.
5. Can you and your partner cut out any expenditure, e.g. lattes, cigarettes, alcohol, clothes, restaurants?
6. Can you move to a smaller house? 1400 sounds very expensive.


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