We can't make ends meet!

Dermot said:

. Given the messy way that this has been presented it is difficult to make an assessment.

We need accuracy or nothing at all.

Click to expand...

I agree with you, maybe Mrs. Cornflakes or Kathy Sheridan could reply. I guess the payslip is also confused by the fact that salary is being diverted to the Credit Union Bill system.

dmos87 said:

Your child aged 18: Its time to get a job.
Your child aged 16: The same applies. A fine age to start a part time job

Click to expand...

A big +1 to this. It will prepare them for working/paying their own way later in life and by handing up something to the household, even if it's a token tenner a week, it will prepare them for paying tax in the future too

Bronte said:

I'm very confused about the AVC.

Click to expand...

ajapale said:

Is your husbands enhanced pension option type (i) or type (ii) below?

(i) Purchase of notional service at full actuarial cost; (ii) union-sponsored AVC scheme

Does your husband intend availing of the early retirement options availiable to members of AGS / Defence Forces (but not in the broader C/P service)?

Click to expand...

So was I and Mrs C has said she will look into it

Mrs Cornflakes said:

Thanks Mr Pale. I will look into this.

Click to expand...

I suggest that Mrs C seeks indepentent advice fromm knowledgeable professionals when reviewing this aspect of their expenditure. Such advice from disinterested professionals with a working knowledge of Public Service Superannuation schemes (and the AGS subset in particular) is very difficult to come by. Mrs C could have a look at AAM's public service pension subforum to get an idea of where to look.

I have complicated things by trying to simplify it for you all.

My husband's gross salary varies from month to month based on allowances and overtime. Last year it was €75,000 due to lots of overtime - (Obama and the Queen were a life saver for us. )

According to my budget, this year he will earn around €65,000 gross taxable pay - it was about €49,000 at the end of Sept.
This would give a net of around €44,400

He pays €4,200 in AVCs, so the net is reduced as follows:

Normal Net: 44,4000
AVCs -4,200
tax relief on AVCs +1700
Actual net: 41500
= 3,450 net per month.

I had worked it out at 3,600 earlier, so I wonder if there is a mistake in my calculations. A big lump goes out to the Credit Union to pay our mortgage and other bills like that, so it's confusing me now.

The Key Question is this though.

With net salary and unsocial hours allowance and child benefit, I have around €4600 a month.


Left for food, transport, clothing, footwear & other: €2,100

How can I be expected to manage on this?

What happens if his allowances are cut in the next budget?

It they means test child benefit, will it apply to us?

Mrs C can you confirm that your husband is on the pre 95 salary scale (modified B rate prsi and associated superannuation deductions)?

"Sergeant B = sergeant paying ‘B’ rate PRSI (the majority)"

[broken link removed] is some information on the AGS superannuation scheme from the GRA.

Is your superannuation deduction on the payslip 2.5% + 1.5% (Widows and Childrens) = 4%?

Firefly said:

A big +1 to this. It will prepare them for working/paying their own way later in life and by handing up something to the household, even if it's a token tenner a week, it will prepare them for paying tax in the future too

Click to expand...

Its more to fund their own lifestyles - trendy clothing they want, phone credit, etc.

At their ages I was uncomfortable going to the bank of mum and dad for costs such as that, and I was told swiftly if I wanted extra I would have to work for it. It has done me no harm whatsoever, and what I worked for was appreciated more.

Mrs Cornflakes said:

You can see that my husband is paying €21,000 a year to bail out the bondholders.

Click to expand...

I can't see that at all

Mrs Cornflakes said:

Left for food, transport, clothing, footwear & other: €2,100

How can I be expected to manage on this?

What happens if his allowances are cut in the next budget?

It they means test child benefit, will it apply to us?

Click to expand...

This to me epitomises the disgraceful sense of entitlement that people seem to have.

No-one is "expecting" you to manage on €2,100 per month.

If this is your income, and you do nothing to change either income or expenditure, then you MUST manage. That is a fact; not someone's opinion or expectation.

callybags said:

If this is your income, and you do nothing to change either income or expenditure, then you MUST manage. That is a fact; not someone's opinion or expectation.

Click to expand...

On that basis, can the O.P. comment on their thoughts on telephone bill being excessive - and clarify electricity expenditure?

I asked the OP a question where has the €10,000 loss in gross earnings occurred between this year and last year and this has not been addressed by OP. Does your husband do shift work?.

The €2100 that is left over every month is what alot of people have before they pay their mortgage and bills.You need to cut your cloth to suit what you have left.Get rid or cut everything that can be.You will have to make sacrifices to get your self back on track.Times are tough for everyone.I would rather have a sunday roast than have my phone,but maybe thats just me!!

Mrs Cornflakes said:

My husband's gross salary varies from month to month based on allowances and overtime. Last year it was €75,000 due to lots of overtime - (Obama and the Queen were a life saver for us. )

Click to expand...

Dermot said:

I asked the OP a question where has the €10,000 loss in gross earnings occurred between this year and last year and this has not been addressed by OP. Does your husband do shift work?.

Click to expand...

I think she addressed it here.. No overtime this year.

I have a relation who is a Dublin based Garda Sgt and while he said that there is a reduction in overtime hours it has not disappeared altogether. He was discussing this " Cereal case" with me on the phone last night and he was not impressed with the attention that it was bringing on their pay. During the discussion he said that he would earn about €67500 gross without overtime. This would include weekend allowances, night duty. rent allowance and other unsocial allowances. He has no other special allowances. He is about 25 years in the Guards and 7 years a Sgt.

Tax credits : -€4,850

Click to expand...

One small point re your husband's tax credits: is he entitled to claim the 'stay at home spouse' credit for yourself? As I compute it, he's getting credits for married status (worth €3300) and Employee credit (worth €1650) to give €4950. If you are not working (as appears to be the case) and have children under 18 in education (per your first post you do) I think he could also claim the additional credit worth €810. It could be worth checking out- see .

Mrs C,

I appreciate that this must be difficult for you as it has been for the sympathetic journalist and the MABS advisor.

The pay and pension structure for pre 95 civil and public servants is indeed complicated but not impossible to unravel. Perhaps some of the other posters here on AAM can shed some light on the pay roll calculations for pre-95 civil and public servants?

At the very least I think it would be usefull if your discretionary and non discretionary pension contributions could be identified.

I think its to fair to state that your prsi rates and benefits are as follows:

Class B


Subclass B1
First €26 weekly income 0.00%
Next €26.01 - €1,443 0.90%
Balance 4.00% People within Class B

• Permanent and pensionable civil servants recruited prior to 6 April 1995
• Registered doctors and dentists employed in the Civil Service
• Gardaí, recruited prior to 6 April 1995

Class B benefits

• Widow's, Widower's or Surviving Civil Partner's (Contributory) Pension
• Guardian's Payment (Contributory)
• Limited Occupational Injuries Benefits
• Bereavement Grant
• Carer's Benefit

Im some what confused about your superannuation contribution. Is it 0% for your husband and 1.5% for spouses and children? Again perhaps others on this board might know.

aj

Sorry can the mods explain whether Mrs Cornflakes is a wind-up or has definitively been identified as the "wife" of the Garda Sergeant in the Irish Times article.

This is a pointless thread otherwise.

It's not a wind-up but it is made up (there have been a few references to that) - on the main cornflakes thread there was a suggestion that someone might do a mock-up of the garda's wife's situation so that posters could offer constructive suggestions rather than general rants. It seems like that wasn't clear to all posters though...

First of all, I’m sorry you are in this position. I know things could be a lot worse, but it’s bad enough, and it’s a horrible feeling to be trapped with no way of changing things.

CURRENT PROBLEM: your (family) income is less than your expenses. To solve this, you need to cut expenses and/or increase income. One thing I am not clear on, is your mortgage interest only or are you repaying it? If it’s interest only, how do you plan on re-paying the capital?

INCREASE IMCOME:
- Invite the Queen and President Obama back again.
- Petition the government until they reverse the paycuts and extra charges like the pension levy and Universal Social Charge. You can try this, but in the “current economic climate” I think you are not going to get anywhere.
- Get more money from your parents. You mention that they are on a pension. I don’t think this is a runner, but it seems to be where you are getting the extra money at the moment when things are tight.
- Stop AVCs. Financially it makes sense to put money into these, but there is no point in this when you cannot afford to eat.
- Get a job (as a SAHM). Since your youngest is 10, you should be able to get a full time or part time job. You may not have thought you would have to do this, but I think you have to consider it.
- Get the children, particularly the 16 and 18 year old to get jobs and contribute to the running expenses of the family.
- Take in language students during the summer, or for 5 days a week (digs) during the college term (presuming you live close to a college).
- Get a full time lodger, this is tax free income under the rent-a-room scheme.
- Sell unused DVDs, electronic goods, old phones, take clothes to places that give you cash for them etc. etc.


DECREASE EXPENSES:
- Look closely at what you (as a family) are spending on clothes, food, heating etc and cut down or move to a cheaper provider.
- Sell the house and move to a cheaper one.
- Sell a car, getting some money in and cutting down on running expenses.
- Sell the TV, getting some money and getting rid of licence fees and any UPC or cable fees.
- Move the kids to a school with cheaper fees/uniform.


In the case of the 18 year old (I am presuming this is the child who got into a good course this year). If your parents offer money I would say no. Can you talk to him/her and explain that you would like to pay, but you just don’t have the money. It is probably too late, but could they accept the course, defer for a year and pay the fees themselves next year?

IN THE FUTURE:
3 years from now. You say your husband wants to retire at 55. At that stage your kids will be 13, 15, 17, 19 and 21. Are you expecting to be paying two sets of college fees at this stage? Unless something happens, I can’t see how you can’t afford this. Talking to other parents (my kids are only in primary school) the college years are the most expensive, have you planned for this?

5 years from now. Your husband will have to retire at this age. You are suggesting that this is ageist, but it sounds like your husband is not willing to stay working anyway, and after 35 years working as a guard I can understand this. Have you talked to him about this? Have you talked about how you will manage financially? Your kids will be 15, 17, 19, 21 and 23. Possibly 2 of them will be in college. Have you a plan to pay for fees, or anything else? Would it be possible for your DH to be a SAHD while you go back to work?

Are you waiting for your parents or his parents to die, and use the inheritance to pay off the mortgage?

I would suggest that you have a chat with your kids. Explain that as much as you would love to pay for anything, you can only afford to support them through secondary school (and only for uniform and books, discretionary spending clothes and the like will have to be bought out of money they earn themselves) but at college, the most you can help is either €X or by letting them live at home, rent free, until they graduate.


If this is a post, based on the info in the cornflakes thread, then I don't think there is enough information to give proper advice on.

I just wish people would stop making fun of you.

You aired your opinions in a very public forum - the Irish Times. You looked for sympathy. You didn't get it. Here or elsewhere.

We had a go at you here. I include myself in this. You deserved some criticism.

And then, we had another go at you here.

People get stressed out over many issues. Perhaps if you had thought through your stresses and financial problems with your spouse, children family and friends you might not now be subjected to the public opprobrium that is being levelled, perhaps unfairly, at you.

We all need to step back a bit and look at ourselves.


Marion