We can't make ends meet!

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Would it work better for them if it was paying some capital?

If we knew what service he will have at retirement wed be in a better position to advise. If he has very little service he can take more down tax free at retirement which would help seeing that he isnt too far from retirement now. Hed gain on the 41% tax relief
 
shigllgetcha said:
If it is its being counted twice as the net pay is given as €3600 per month and then the AVC is listed as a deduction again after the net pay figure.
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The net of 3,600 is given by made-up-mrs-cornflakes... We don't know what that is net of. The IT article said there is 807 take-home per week and then a further pension contribution of 80 per week - we don't know what's in either.
 
shigllgetcha said:
Would it work better for them if it was paying some capital?
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Probably, but so far it's very unclear on just income and expenditure and everyone has made things a lot more complicated with pay scales, pensions etc, it's very hard to follow.
 
Bronte said:
Probably, but so far it's very unclear on just income and expenditure and everyone has made things a lot more complicated with pay scales, pensions etc, it's very hard to follow.
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Yeh without the full details its all speculations
 
rameire said:
€528 a week for bills.

what bills cost €528 a week?

or should that be a month?
or is part of that going into a savings pool for future bills?
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Sorry, I didn't explain that very well. We pay €528 a week into the Credit Union as part of a budgeting scheme. From that, they pay the mortgage, the electric, the gas and, the insurance.

So ignore that figure, as I have separated it out in the list of expenditure.
 
orka said:
The net of 3,600 is given by made-up-mrs-cornflakes... We don't know what that is net of. The IT article said there is 807 take-home per week and then a further pension contribution of 80 per week - we don't know what's in either.
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True sorry was taking it literally from this thread
 
Bronte said:
I

A 50K income. What is that net?
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That is irrelevant.€50k is the basic. His gross at the end of the year is about €65k.


I don't know where you are getting your As, Bs and Cs from. They are not on the payslip


Probably, but so far it's very unclear on just income and expenditure and everyone has made things a lot more complicated with pay scales, pensions etc, it's very hard to follow.
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I thought I had made it a lot clearer than my friend Kathy did in the paper. It's you who is complicating it with your As Bc and Cs, but they don't put any bread on the table.

I have done it monthly. I was confused when Kathy talked about it weekly. Now you are talking about it annually. That makes no sense.

Just in case there is any doubt.

My husband's gross pay is around €65,000. This includes overtime and allowances ( but not the living away from home allowance).

His gross pay results in a net pay after PAYE, USC, Health Levy and Pension Levy, but not the AVC is around €3,700 per month. Check it out yourselves if you don't believe me on taxcalc eu

I know what I get in Child Benefit - it's €588 per month.

The €500 in unsocial hours allowance is tax-free as well, although I don't know why.

So we get a net after taxes each month of

€3,6000 net pay
€500 unsocial hours
€588 child benefit
€4688 Total
 

He was about 20 when he started in Templemore.

He would like to stop at 55 when he will have had 35 years' service. Though, I can't see how he can afford to.

By paying the €350 into the AVC, we hope to get it back in a tax-free lump-sum when he retires. Isn't that better than paying tax on it now and paying that off the mortgage?
 

Thanks Mr Pale. I will look into this.

I think he can go at 50 but has to go by 57. (Is that not age discrimination? )

He is free to retire now, but we couldn't afford to. Anyway, I don't want him under my feet all the time - what with the 5 children lounging about when they are not at school or college. It's only a modest 4 bedroom house after all - not a palace. The two girls have to share a room.
 
Is the house in negative equity? Does your husband plan to work at a different job when he retires (I have heard that retired gaurds are in demand, but I don't know exactly )? How did he/you get a mortgage that ends 13 years after he has to retire?

ETA, just to be clear, I'm asking this because I think it's important to get a picture of your overall finances, not to blame or to be nosy.
 
While I cannot comment on your husbands salary, benefits, etc., I can help with whittling down the day to day expenses that you have.

First of all, start a spending diary. Every cent you spend or give to the kids, write it down. DO NOT LEAVE OUT ANYTHING. This is going to help you determine where your money is going, and where you can truly cut back. At the end of each day, look at the days outgoings and be honest with yourself; could I have skipped that today? Did I/they really need that fiver for lunch when they could have made a sandwich at home? etc. etc.

I come from a big household (one of 7 siblings) and so I understand the cost that comes with feeding a big brood. You need to be purchasing good value items that will stretch for you - potatoes, pastas - foods that fill while being relatively kind to the wallet. One of the biggest things to do is obviously to meal plan so there is no waste, and always use up any leftovers. And of course, switch to Aldi's or Lidl's to be kindest of all to your budget. This is where your role as the person at home comes in; you need to take control of this, and ensure your kids and husband take packed lunches with them every day - there should be no eating out costs and no money being handed to the kids to eat out.

Your child aged 18: Its time to get a job. I've worked in part time or summer jobs since I was 14 years of age, and its part of growing up. I contributed each week to the household financially (1/3 of my wage when part time, 100 per week when full time in the summer). I appreciate jobs are harder to come by right now, but they are out there. A friend was offered three part time jobs this week. Your Son (apologies if wrong here, I believe your eldest is male?) needs to do his fair part and its time to reduce the burden at home.

Your child aged 16: The same applies. A fine age to start a part time job if they can, and if not there are odd jobs, babysitting, grass cutting, etc. Get inventive.

I assume the two eldest have mobile phones - and I can see you have a Phone cost of 170 per month. I have to assume that the mobiles are covered under this. Please expand for me if you can, as to the cost of each persons plan, and how you come to this amount - does it include a house phone? If you have your children on Bill phones, end this now. Having a mobile phone as a teenager is a decision they make and they should fund themselves - i.e. purchasing credit from their own money. There are great prepay plans out there. Its time to get tough - we are in a recession and you are struggling to feed your family.

Do you have Sky? What about Broadband? If so, what costs/ plans?

What about cars - one or two in the household? If its two, how necessary is the second? You mentioned you moved closer to schools in 2005 and so a car should not be needed for school runs. Look to sell the second car and cut down insurance, tax and petrol costs.

You outline education costs of 300 per month for uniforms, et al. This is a very high costs, and while you have 4 children that need to be dressed and sorted for school, you need to get the most out of uniforms where you can - mending, sewing, you know the drill. I know in terms of cutting costs on uniforms, buying shirts in Penneys or Tescos in the colour the uniform requires saves an awful lot and theres not a big difference. If you have girls and there are tights needed (as we had), Penney's do packs of 5 black dernier tights for 3.50. Tights don't tend to last long for girls and I know in my local I would spend at least 3.50 for just one pair in an emergency.

Also take a look into the schools Book Rental Scheme if there is one - when I was a teenager and working, I covered my own costs for my own books through this scheme. The books had to be maintained in good condition and given back at the end of the school year, but it saved my parents a few hundred euros without a doubt. It only cost me about 40 euros at the time - that's the cost of one science book now. I don't know if its in every school, but definitely ask in the secondary schools.

The most obvious thing here is that you yourself need to get a job. Part-time, full-time, childminding, anything to bring money into your home. Your youngest child is 10 years old, and there is no minding anymore. I cannot understand how you are at home when your children are almost raised and can help out with household chores that you would have been doing when they were younger. You have time now to work, and a financial requirement to do so. Age has nothing to do with it. My mother works part time and childminds and is very happy doing so and is older than you with all of her children grown. Look for part time work in a local supermarket, or if you do want to remain in the house, look into childminding to boost your weekly income, or ironing, there's lots you can do. Have you any skills that can help the household financially? One example, an Aunt makes amazing crocheted baby blankets, excellent quality. She sells them to a local boutique who in turn sell them on to the public and it boosts her income.

Finally, a big household clean out of any items ye don't want or need, and head to a car boot sale to flog the lot. Unused DVD's, Games, Books, Baby clothes, dolls, toys, everything and anything. You'll be surprised what you can make and you can enlist your youngest two to help you with it.
 
ajapale said:
yes orka I copied and pasted the wrong post 95 scale instead of the pre 95 scale. Ill fix this later today.
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I think your scale is correct and he is a post-95 garda - the IT article says his base is 51,084 as a year-6 sergeant which is the post-95 scale (not quite as it should be 51,034 but way closer than the pre-95 scale). This also explains the pension contribution he is required to make (c. €3,500 pa) which pre-95 gardai don't have to make.
 
The €170 pm for the phone is ridiculous. I have a broadband package unlimited downloads, free calls to landlines and limited mobile calls free for less than 50 euro pm and wife and I have mobile packages which we get by on for €20 euro each per month.
 
Mrs C, Do you need a land line? The fixed costs associated with land lines are very high.

A word of warning about Lidel and Aldi: Sometimes they present good value but not always. I find Dunnes have great value on some items you just have to be "price aware". Always check the unit price of goods. And keep himself away from the tools and gadgets on the specials days iat the German Discounters! True enough the bread can be cheap in the german discount stores but some of it is grey, dry, tasteless with bad best before dates and may end up with food being wasted. Check out the thread here on Lidle and Aldi.


aj
 

Surely he's pre-95 if he's eligible to retire?
 
I think a forensic examination of your spending is required - with the emphasis on the necessities. I have to say it looks as though you are spending a lot of money on non-necessities (extras, clothing, health insurance etc.) and maybe a little of the 'cast a cold eye' is needed here. While I empathise with your situation, I can't reconcile this with your problems. Sharing a bedroom with a sibling - that's not a major downer. Cutting down on your phone bills - that has to be a priority. Get rid of the landline, get rid of Sky or UPC if you have it - do a forensic check on all your regular direct debits, standing orders, and cross a line through any which are not life-threatening. I have to say that I'm gobsmacked by the audacity of not being able to live comfortably on the salary that your hard-working spouse brings home!
 
I have re read the whole thread and Mrs Cornflakes contribution to the thread is not making things clear. She states last years gross pay was €75000 an this years is €65000. Can she state where the €10,000 less in earnings evaporated. Remember there are 11 more weeks left in this year. Given the messy way that this has been presented it is difficult to make an assessment. Can we have a gross pay up to and including week 41, the total tax deducted, the total pension contribution(excluding the AVC), the universal social charge in other words all the compulsory charges by Government. This will all be contained on the counterfoil for week 41. Then we can start somewhere to look at the situation without disputing figures. We need accuracy or nothing at all.
 
chrisboy said:
Surely he's pre-95 if he's eligible to retire?
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Hes pre 95. Guards can retire at 50 and must retire at 57.

Pre 95 public service employees pay reduced modified prsi rate and a slightly higher superannuation contribution than their Post 95 colleagues. The post 95 public servants pay full rate prsi slightly lower superannuation and when they come to retire their pension will be reduced by the amount of the COAP which they can claim by virtue of having paid full rate prsi. This arrangement is called integration or coordination.
 

I'm very confused about the AVC. Is this an extra pension contribution your husband is making to have an increased pension. (called an Additional Voluntary Contribution) I also think your figure of 3700K per month is incorrect for this. Can you double check.
 
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