Moving back to Ireland after 13 years abroad -- please help me estimate the cost of living

C

Curly Wurly

Registered User
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Hello All,

I have been abroad for 13 years but may be moving back to Ireland on a full-time basis later this year and realize I don't have a good grasp on the cost of living.

We are a family of four:
  • Wife and myself are both early 40s
  • Child A is 9
  • Child B is 7
We own our own house in Ireland which is fully furnished and ready to live in, and have no mortgage or debts.
We would not need to pay for childcare.

What would be the typical COL for such a family considering things like:
  • Private medical insurance (we are all in good health)
  • Groceries
  • Clothing budget
  • Extra-curriculars for the kids (for example, karate)
  • Subscriptions & utilities (BER A2, 4-bed detached with air-water system)
  • Petrol considering 500km per week
  • Life insurance
  • Motor insurance & tax
  • Eating out once or twice per week
  • European vacation once or twice per year
Thank you,
 
  • Private medical insurance (we are all in good health) - will your employer provide? A decent plan BIK will be around 2/2.5k net cost to you. Most don't offer dental but is is available, particularly as you come to orthodontics age, watch waiting periods when signing up.
  • Groceries - 1k a month including work lunches
  • Clothing budget - this is so variable - kids will make up a lot of it, if you have family to pass down items then it will be on the lower end of 100 a month, higher end???? remember that you will probably need a kit and shoes for each activity!! We operate on the we fund basics, kids pay for the higher end portion out of their birthday/Christmas money as an example. Good life lesson!
  • Extra-curriculars for the kids (for example, karate) - budget around 2400 for the year to cover school holiday camps etc - even if you have family taking care of them the kids might want to do camps. This would cover the likes of karate, tennis etc but I would say not horse riding. More important on this is can you facilitate the drops and collects? Be sure to build a network of other families as everyone tends to share the load. If you have time resources, volunteering at some of the activities can help you to get to know people. Or if money is more available than time, there is always the opportunity to sponsor kit etc.
  • Subscriptions & utilities (BER A2, 4-bed detached with air-water system) - Living in a smaller, older house so will let others comment. If you don't already have it, take a look at solar. Now that you are starting from scratch, really review what subscriptions you need.
  • Petrol considering 500km per week - Have you considered EVs? Commute via public transport so again will let others comment. That is a long weekly commute. Is there any chance for remote working once you are settled?
  • Life insurance - some should come with employment. All depends on your income ie is it single income or shared income family? You will probably need to understand COL before you can decide on appropriate level.
  • Motor insurance & tax - will let others comment. But are you penalised for not having a no claims bonus? This might be an issue for a couple of years
  • Eating out once or twice per week - I would say 80 for a Sunday lunch, 150 for a meal for two, without babysitter. Takeaway runs around 50 for a family of 2a 2c.
  • European vacation once or twice per year - 10k and see what you can do for that. Would cover a week skiing and a couple of weeks in the summer.
 
Presuming you have 2 cars €65k per year will do you a good quality of life which includes a 10k holiday spend.
Thats fully inclusive of things people often miss out (depreciation on cars, setting aside proper house maintenance money for when it's needed.) There's a breakdown below of how I get to that number in a 3 child family. Clearly there's a lot of lines below that you could easily spend less or more on due to personal preference/ level of kids activities etc but it gives you a starter.
 
Family of 4, 2 teenagers, 1 dog and no mortgage so in a reasonably similar position to yourself.
  • Groceries and household goods- easily under €800 per month if you are prepared to shop around a little, reduce food waste etc. No idea how anyone could spend €1k a month on all of that to be honest
  • Clothing- bear in mind you will probably have to factor in school uniform costs for this.
  • Extra curriculers. Work on the assumption of €50-€100 a year, per child per club in membership fees, depending on sports. There are a lot of good options out there that are not overly expensive, GAA for one, Music Generation as another. Cul Camps are quite cheap but a lot is going to depend if you are using them for sports or for child minding
  • Petrol, all depends on the car, power and fuel type but typically you'd be looking at €50 a week on that mileage.
  • Car tax will depend on the car type and engine type. Big diesal gas guzzlers are expensive but our Kia Sportage is only €210 pa
  • Don't forget the TV licence (€160 pa I think)
  • Eating out, again depends on where you go. You'd get 2 courses for 2 people with a drink in a country town for €70-€80 in a pub/restaurant. If you want to go to Adare manor or the k club, double it. Most places have kids menus.
  • Boradband and cable TV is not cheap, depending on the need, (multi room etc) then budget €100 per month minimum, and that is without any streaming services.
  • Mobiles are also not cheap but there is competetion out there, budget €40-€60 per month per phone unless you want to go PAYG
other things to consider would be
  • Schools will normally charge a "facility" fee for things such as photo-copying so budget €50-€100 per child for that. Not compulsory but you will get chased for it. Check if the school is also doing a book lending service so you don't have to buy the books. Also more and more primary schools are offering free hot lunches these days.
  • Car Insurance will be the big challenge without an NCB
  • check to see if/how you claim childrens allowance
  • Bank charges, ball park €100 per annum + €30 stamp duty on any credit cards.
 
50-100 a year! That's great value but not even our GAA costs that little for kids membership, let alone ongoing costs.

OP you can probably find the costs of your kids current interests you want to keep up by searching online. Then when you get settled and they make pals they will ask for more I am sure. Just to give indicative, we will pay roughly per child with some sibling discounts where we can get them to go together, Dublin prices.

Tennis - 15 per week for group lessons during term time
Scouts - 200 a year for term time plus incidentals during year for trips, then kit eg hiking boots, wetsuits, waterproofs
GAA kids membership - 160 a year plus kit and incidentals (boots, helmets, shin-guards, one away trip a year)
Swimming - 120 for a set of ten lessons - schools often organise this too, v handy to have it part of the school day
Drama - 80 for a set of ten classes plus incidentals for shows trips etc - this is a very inexpensive one, there are plenty more expensive
Camps - trending to 100-120 a week for four hours a day during holidays. This is the pack em in style, anything with less numbers or eg horseriding is around the 200 mark. Cul camps are excellent value at 75 per child, including the gear which lasts forever.
Library - Free to users! One of our most wonderful resources, plenty of events, kids book clubs, lego afternoons, online apps, huge selections of books, magazines etc. Seek out your local one as soon as you can.


And we say no to plenty! But support where they have an interest, even if short lived and we do use it for childcare at their age. And we always try to source kit etc second hand but given how fast kids grow it is sometimes a new purchase.
 
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My local GAA club is free for u18s to be playing members. I know the alternative club at the other end of the parish is 2 adults + as many kids as you like for €180. If your club is charging €200 per child per annum then you're getting gouged but I've a feeling I can guess the Dublin club in question so is doesn't surprise me. My kids are also in the local hockey club, €125 for both for the year.

+ 1 on the library, great for audio books (Borrow box) as well for free
 
I think I pay about €8 a month for my phone with 48. I did buy the phone outright. It uses the Three network so as good as most. Before that it was €20 with Three.

It is a type of PAYG I guess. More a month to month contract. Unlimited everything.
 
Oh we are not one of the more popular clubs! Our sponsors are small businesses and our facilities are in their infancy. But after a partial refund from health insurance, I do actually consider it good value, we get two training sessions a week in hurling and football plus a match for that, plus some very dedicated volunteer coaches who run sessions even when many other clubs are not active eg during COVID, over summer etc. It keeps us away from more expensive sports and seems to be popular with the teens too so hoping for a bit more longevity

Sorry also just looked it up, I had the figure above for 2 kids. Now edited to 1.
 
By switching most years, I never pay more than 40-45pm for 1GB fibre broadband.

I pay 15pm for unlimited calls, SMS, plenty of data with Post mobile.

I think it's 18pm for new customers now.
 
Depending the options you chose, I would say that an annual budget for a good quality of life would be around 55 to 65k. My expenses are closer to 55k with 2 teenagers (10k+ travel budget).
However, we wouldn't have some of the expenses. Our take out/eating out would be probably only every 2 weeks (so about 150 per month), our phones are 40 per month for 4 phones for unlimited packages and broadband only €40/45. Our education costs would be higher has in the past years we had grinds as well as now university fees. On top of health insurance, health expenses can be high (a poster spoke about orthodontics treatments - +/- 4 k per child in our case over the past 5 years).
 
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