How To Live On Less

MrKeane said:
You pay arrears if you don't claim the car was off the road. You should have declared the car was out of use for the couple of months it was out of tax.
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It wasn't of the road...it was just sitting in the driveway.
What you're advocating is a crime. Some of us actually believe in paying our fair share. There are valuable tips within this thread but some of the stuff is despicable. No matter how much or little money is involved, why lower yourself to that level?
 
I'd gladly pay my fair share if everybody else does, but when I see Eastern Europeans in my neighbourhood driving for years without tax why should I subsidise them?

A much fairer system would be to levy motor tax on petrol - that way the more you drive the more you pay. It would also waste less of the guards time dealing with it.
 
MrKeane said:
I'd gladly pay my fair share if everybody else does, but when I see Eastern Europeans in my neighbourhood driving for years without tax why should I subsidise them?
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Maybe they're having this exact same discussion on Aski Abouti Roubles right now and saying if Mr Keane paid his motor tax so would we?

Seriously, you can't generalise about non-payment of things like motor tax or social welfare fraud...we as a nation are as bad as anyone.
 
Maybe I am wrong but from what I can see its a lot easier for the Gardai to catch Irish people for non payment of motor tax than a foreign national with a foreign reg. car. There was a French lad working with me for years, doing the same drive to work every day as me and he never paid Irish motor tax in his French registered car. If I was out of tax for 6 months I would definately get done by the guards.

This is why a levy on fuel would be a much fairer system ,the more you drive the more you pay.
 
MrKeane said:
If I was out of tax for 6 months I would definately get done by the guards.
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Not if the large number of out of date tax (and insurance, and NCT) certs displayed in my last neighbourhood is anything to go by. There was one stretch of road I regularly walked where it was a challenge to see any in-date tax disc.

MrKeane said:
This is why a levy on fuel would be a much fairer system ,the more you drive the more you pay.
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It's not why, but I do agree that a levy on fuel could be a better mechanism (including VRT in it, too): it would accord with the "Polluter Pays Principle", provide a further incentive for people to think about both the amount and the manner of their driving (as good driving practice, with steady speeds, and smooth acceleration/deceleration is generally less fuel hungry). Roll on €2+ a litre!
 
MrKeane said:
This is why a levy on fuel would be a much fairer system ,the more you drive the more you pay.
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Fairer perhaps for city dwellers, who incidentally cause most congestion, but less so for their country cousins who don't enjoy the same public transport options either.
 
Fairer perhaps for city dwellers, who incidentally cause most congestion,
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unfair remark really given the amount of people commuting to dublin from varoius different counties..
Also I think you are steering off the point of the OP...
 
ubiquitous said:
Fairer perhaps for city dwellers, who incidentally cause most congestion, but less so for their country cousins who don't enjoy the same public transport options either.
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Going waaaay off topic here but if the country was planned a bit better with less one off housing and greater density in villages and towns etc. public transport would be far more viable, efficent and frequent!
 
MrKeane said:
Going waaaay off topic here but if the country was planned a bit better with less one off housing and greater density in villages and towns etc. public transport would be far more viable, efficent and frequent!
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yeah, great solution alright for those (like myself) who have lived all their lives in the country.

Btw, show me how to improve density in my own locality where there are 2 villages 3 miles apart each with 1 pub & 1 shop; 3 primary schools (both established in the 19th century), equidistant from each other and each about 2 miles away from either village; and 2 Catholic churches (both established in the 1910's & '20s), 1 of which is adjacent to one of the schools, and the other which is situated about 1 mile away from one of the villages and 3miles from the second village. Not to mind a third Church (Church of Ireland) whose history dates back to the 14th century which stands out on its own, near one school but a number of miles from all the other facilities in the community. All this in a locality of about 300 households with zero employment (apart from farms and about 5 people working in pubs & shops) where the nearest jobs are in the county town about 10 miles away.
 

you can only tax a vehicle in this country if it has an irish registration plate, if the 'foreign national' has not been required to register their vehicle here they can't tax it. and your vehicle can now be seized for no tax after 2 months. are you going to advocate syphoning other people's petrol as a way of saving money?
 
dont forget to hang your tea bags out on the washing line ! lol
 
Dunnes Stores Beans - Large can is cheaper than medium can

Large 420g can at 40 cent (95.2 cent per kg)
Medium Can 283g for 49 cent (1.73 per kg)
 
KathScan said:
Dunnes Stores Beans - Large can is cheaper than medium can

Large 420g can at 40 cent (95.2 cent per kg)
Medium Can 283g for 49 cent (1.73 per kg)
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No different to Coke I guess, I bought 4 litres (2x2L) for €2.99 but 2 x 500ml bottles often cost €3.00!
 
I think the best way to save money is to sit down and do a budget. You can buy a budget planner for a few euros over the internet and it is money well spent. You should record all your spending on a daily basis for a few months, it's a real eye-opener.
Make a list before you shop and don't shop when you are hungry, you will invariably buy items you don't need.
Pay bills as soon as they arrive. For utility bills, you can pay a little every week, which lessens the blow when the bill arrives.
Buy second-hand whenever possible. Items such as bicycles, toys, game consoles, furniture can be bought for much less. Check out the Buy & Sell website.
Shop around for car insurance, home insurance, mortgage protection insurance etc. There are substantial savings to be made.
Pack lunches for yourself and your children instead of buying.
Do switch credit card companies and transfer balances to avail of zero interest rates,
Check the MABS website for a budget planner and other useful tips and if you think you need help negotiating with your creditors, contact them for advice. They will intervene on your behalf of help you to do it yourself.
 
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