One wage in, not covering all monthly bills

[Wonderwoman]

Apply for a medical card. I was recently granted one and looking at the financial assessment sheet that I was given and slotting in the figures you have provided above it looks like you could qualify. That means you would receive a rebate of all income levy paid this year so far as well as a prsi rebate. It would also mean your take home pay would increase as you would no longer be paying the levy and your prsi would reduce. If I am wrong, you should at least get a GP visit card. None of the advantages above but at least doctor fees wouldnt be a burden.

 

[asmccart]

I volunteer with SVP and you are an ideal candidate to ask for our help, call their hotline and someone will call out to you. The will probably help with with bills and grocery vouchers. MABS are great however there is a long wait for an appointment, call them and get on the list (may take 8-12 weeks). Not a long tem fix i know, but might help over the coming months.

 

[wingnut]

Do get rid of sky - get a freesat receiver for about €50, hundreds of channels no monthly bills. You loose sky but get all the others (BBC, ITV Ch4 etc).

 

[steph1]

You seem to be spending a lot of money on animals. Do you really need to do this? It seems to me that if you get these animals put down you could save a lot of money.

My God I just cannot believe this post. The OP is stressed enough with the situation. I am sure the pets are a big part of the family. Pets get sick just like humans do. I think that post was in very bad taste.

 

[MandaC]

You seem to be spending a lot of money on animals. Do you really need to do this? It seems to me that if you get these animals put down you could save a lot of money.

I have just seen this. Absolutely disgraceful. And so unhelpful to the OP.

The quote "The more I see of man, the more I like dogs", springs to mind

 

[Steve D]

I cannot really understand why some people are annoyed at my advice. I was just being pragmatic...if you have to save money you have to look at all options. Pets would not be considered a necessity and in this case they are costing money which the OP cannot really afford. If you think that putting them down is not an option, then perhaps you could consider giving them away.

 

[truthseeker]

I cannot really understand why some people are annoyed at my advice. I was just being pragmatic...if you have to save money you have to look at all options. Pets would not be considered a necessity and in this case they are costing money which the OP cannot really afford. If you think that putting them down is not an option, then perhaps you could consider giving them away.

I dont think this advice is helpful to the OP. No decent human who loves their pet would consider getting it put down just to suit their finances. Rehomed maybe, but not put down.

I think your suggestion is cruel and in extremely bad taste - and unhelpful to the OP.

 

[pinkyBear]

truthseeker, I second your post.

 

[number7]

If you are serious about rectifying your financial situation then the costs associated with the pets are legitimate items for consideration however unpalatable the idea may seem.

I am not a pet owner so I probably dont appreciate the emotional attachment involved but I also dont think that the poster who suggested this cost be considered should be attacked for the suggestion.

I would also consider the quality of life the pets have with their ongoing illnesses.

 

[MandaC]

If you are not a pet owner then you would not understand why people were shocked at the suggestion to get someones pet "put down" because they were ill. A dog can more than "just a dog" to some people.

Any person is lucky enough to own a dog will know all about their therapeutic qualities and their ability to give unconditional love. My mam who was off sick for 4 years following an accident says her 2 little dogs kept her sane.

The point about quality of life is relevant, however, we don't know enough about the pets' illness to make any assumptions.

The Blue Cross will assist with Vets Bills in cases where people cant afford vets bills, if there is one near the OP.

 

[SteveW9]

that is a lot of money for animals what is it for?

 

[Joe Nonety]

B-I-L was in same situation. Had two kids who adored their two dogs but they had to prioritise costs and so the pets were offloaded to his cousins and at least that way his kids could still visit them. It saved over €1000 a year which was a fortune to someone is his financial posistion.
I would certainly consider medical insurance as more important than pets.
Without medical insurance a member of your family might one day have medical needs that you can't afford, and I'm sure the pets will seem trivial in comparison then.
For ESB, savings can surely be made, turn off lights in rooms not needed, switch to energy saving lightbulbs esp. for spotlights (saw lots of cheap bulbs in lidl catalogue), don't leave chargers plugged in - even when the device isn't attached as they still draw a current. Don't boil a full kettle of water for just one cup of tea. Don't leave any devices on standby such as sky box, tv, and cooker.
Not sure how often you have internet access, but use it to send free text messages when you've the opportunity.

 

[alaskaonline]

Life insurance - €86 per month

General outgoings
esb (50 a week),
phones 100 a month
Bin charges - €25 a minth
Sky - €30 a month
House insurance €25
Two car insurances - €90 a month
Petrol - approx €60 a week
Food - approx €70 a week
Animal insurance (needed) - €40 per month

I find Life Insurance way too much, too. See if you can cut it down by at least half. The company might not be happy but if it's only done for a year or two until your husband finds a job, it won't make a huge difference in 20 or 30 years time.

ESB - seems quite high to me, too - especially now in summer times. You didn't quote Gas so I presume you heat with ESB? How to save: A lot of people posted ideas here, I can only agree with them.

Phones - is that for two phones? Two mobile and a landline? Either way, a lot of phone providers have good offers these days where you can call certain numbers for free and/ or including texts. I pay around 50 Euro a month and I am texting an aweful lot (got free text with Meteor).

Bin Charges - quite high too. My last bill was 56 Euro for the Quarter. It used to be higher but since I recycle everything, I only need to put out the bin once a month.

Sky - also here, there a better offers out there at the moment. I pay 25 with UPC and got lots of channels, too.

Car Insurances - are two cars really neccessary i.e. do you both require each a car to get from A to B? Not sure if you stated if you live in a city or country side....

Food - I am shopping in Aldi (as it's closer than Lidl) and I pay about 50 Euro a week. I know that both, Aldi & Lidl have good prices but even here it's worth to compare. Some things are cheaper in Lidl than in Aldi and vice versa. I even found certain items cheaper in Dunnes and Superquinn (since they changed their price regime)

Animal insurance - it's quite a lot but for two dogs understandable. I get where one poster here comes from regarding "too much money" although he could have phrased himself better. One of the reason I gave my cat away was because I couldn't afford him any longer. My friend who lives on a farm gave him a happy new home - so I was lucky that way. It's not an easy thing to do but getting loans increased won't help you in a long run either....it's a hard one...

 

[cazmayo]

Hi there,

Mortgage Ins
I was paying 103 for mortgage ins, when I queried it I was told it was a level insurance, so it didnt reduce with the mortgage and thats why it was so expensive. So I priced around, I am now changing, its 314 if I pay upfront for the year!!!!! and then 65 per month thereafter. This is a huge saving!!!

ESB
I changed over to Bord Gais online saving 10%, really easy but no harm looking to see whats putting up your bill and becoming more aware (Im doing the same believe me) emersion being left on!! cut out tumble drier etc.

Phone
We got 2 mobiles no landline. 20 euros each, when the credit runs out we have unlimited calls and texts to anyone on our network. Very good deal.

you have animals, I have kids!!!! Not going there!

Ask your bank to go interest only for awhile.

Best of luck!!
Cazmayo

 

[shweeney]

cancel sky altogether - you'll still get all the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 channels as they are free-to-air, and you can get RTE via an aerial or the internet.

I'd echo other people's advice about ditching one of the cars - I suppose it depends on where you live, but if only one of you is working and you have no kids, I think most people should be able to get by with one car.