What happens if I can't afford any more tax increases ?

Under A Funeral Moon

bluewolf wrote: »

lol I was thinking that but didn't put it in. Lunch was the first thing I thought of as an extra, it really adds up.

It's a serious waste of money when you think about it. I used to buy my lunch every day in a shop down the road. It was averaging at €5 per day, which is €110. I just make my own lunch now most days. Every little helps. :P

RobbieTheRobber

thebigbiffo wrote: »

you've heard of this thing i presume?

http://www.taxation.ie/2010/09/budget-2011/

its where the government try to figure out how to pay all the uselss gits in the public service who dont deserve it. i do include overpaid bureaucrats in that statement but do exclude people who actually work for a living: nurses, ambulance drivers etc etc

And eh you have a copy of the budget for 2011 do you?

The measures included have already been applied to your wage have they?

Rabidlamb

OP you can't say you can't take any more cuts if you don't know where it is going :eek:
Absolutely vital you sit down together with her asap and document everything you have been spending. Keep a record for a few months - if not always - of absolutely everything you are buying.

Get a pen and paper and track every cent of income and outgoings for the next month to find out what's wrong.

Have you considered switching to airtricity or one of the other gas/esb suppliers?

Have you shopped around for your health insurance renewal? This can save hundreds.

Likewise with car insurance, personally saved almost €500 on my renewal last year by switching companies.

Do you donate to charities?

We've switched over to the cheapest utility providers already.
I always shop around for house/car insurance.
Aviva were the cheapest health insurers by far.

I need to examine the outgoings further as there must be something big I'm missing.

Under A Funeral Moon

Under A Funeral Moon wrote: »

It's a serious waste of money when you think about it. I used to buy my lunch every day in a shop down the road. It was averaging at €5 per day, which is €110. I just make my own lunch now most days. Every little helps. :P

I couldn't be bothered
But I'm doing ok. A sandwich here is 1.70 or a big bowl of stew 1.50 and 40c for coffee... so that's ok!

starbelgrade

Rabidlamb wrote: »

You're all about right.
I do pay 6% into a pension & there's the Aviva health insurance of about €2k for the year.
Then there's the months with car tax & insurance, running 2 cars.
I forgot the missus has a small credit union loan but that's covered by the €300 a month child benefit.
I'm at a loss to explain where it's all going.
We wouldn't spend >€100 a week on entertainment cause we don't have it to spend.
Who is taking all my money ?.

At a guess... your missus.

Ask her how much money she spends a month on;

- clothes
- hair
- make-up
- salon visits
- toiletries
- coffee / lunches with the girls
- chocolate / treats for herself
- magazines
- presents for yours & other people's children
- other stuff

And prepare to be shocked.

conorhal

Under A Funeral Moon wrote: »

That's just off the top of my head. All the little expenses add up though.
Just as a quick example, supposing they both spend €5 per day on lunch. (Mon - Fri). That would be almost €220 per month!

The little expenses add up, but in fairness they have a disposable income of over 26 thousand pounds, that's a disposable income alone equal to the national average wage. I think the whinger needs to come clean about his coke habit......

Under A Funeral Moon

bluewolf wrote: »

I couldn't be bothered
But I'm doing ok. A sandwich here is 1.70 or a big bowl of stew 1.50 and 40c for coffee... so that's ok!

Let me guess, FAS??

Mena

Get a Debit card (note the D! ) and use that for everything.

I found I was throwing away a fortune by using ATM's. Need to get milk or whatever? ATM only has €50.00 notes... that's €50.00 blown really, ends up as small change in the nether regions of your car or spent on some crap like 43 bars of chocolate etc.

Rabidlamb

starbelgrade wrote: »

At a guess... your missus.

Ask her how much money she spends a month on;

- clothes
- hair
- make-up
- salon visits
- toiletries
- coffee / lunches with the girls
- chocolate / treats for herself
- magazines
- presents for yours & other people's children
- other stuff

And prepare to be shocked.

Great, now I don't trust the wife.
My money grabbing thieving wife.
She wears clothes, yes she does...
Her hair smells clean & even perfumed.
She's putting on weight so I reckon she's eating food aswell.
I'm going to get to the bottom of this.

Saila

Rabidlamb wrote: »

I need to examine the outgoings further as there must be something big I'm missing.

Broadband, Digital TV, Smokes?

Greentopia

starbelgrade wrote: »

At a guess... your missus.

Ask her how much money she spends a month on;

- clothes
- hair
- make-up
- salon visits
- toiletries
- coffee / lunches with the girls
- chocolate / treats for herself
- magazines
- presents for yours & other people's children
- other stuff

And prepare to be shocked.

I hate to agree being female myself...but yeah. Your answer for where the hole lies in your finances may lay at the feet of your missus.
Specially if she's trying to keep up with the Jones-friends, sisters.

Under A Funeral Moon

Under A Funeral Moon wrote: »

Let me guess, FAS??

No :D

Qualitymark

Arithmetic isn't my strongest point, but are you earning over €1,300 a week between you, before tax?

It is amazing to me how my money just glugs away - a little side trip into Tesco's just cost me €20 after I thought I'd bought the week's food for two for €150 (we eat well).

You know, I used to hate trying to keep track of my spending - it made me feel guilty and foolish and miserable. But now that I'm getting a handle on it, it's actually kind of fun - when I get one of those leaflets with 'special offers' through the door, I really know how much things normally cost, and whether these are good deals are not.

OP, not counting any mortgage, a fairly standard list of standing orders and direct debits work out at around €500 a month, including car tax and insurance, drug scheme payment of €120, health, home and pet insurance, phone and broadband, and Airtricity gas and electricity, and a mobile phone.

Yours are probably not un-similar. I'd sit down and track it all, if I were you - but for goodness sake avoid making this a cause for rows and finger-pointing; the most important thing you have is each other.

If you do want to cut back, is there any way you can get by with one car rather than two? Do you smoke? If so, this is a good time to quit, because you'll save a fortune now, and avoid health costs later. Same with alcohol - if you can cut it back and have alcohol only at weekends, it'll save you money and be good for your health.

With the kids, same thing - try to make the Big Mac visits a monthly rather than twice-weekly treat, don't feed them fizzy drinks and crisps (expensive empty calories)...

I honestly don't think you have a lot to worry about. On your income you should be well able to pay more tax.

HarryPotter41

Rabidlamb wrote: »

We've switched over to the cheapest utility providers already.
I always shop around for house/car insurance.
Aviva were the cheapest health insurers by far.

I need to examine the outgoings further as there must be something big I'm missing.

As far as I can figure out you have serious minor spends that you don't realise as some previous posters have said and €5 here €5 there adds up every week. Your disposable income is more than the total take home pay for some of my married colleages and they cope.

Look at your phone and tv bills again, when I did I was able to make serious savings by finally biting the bullet on what I needed in comparison to what I would like/thought I needed and manage quite happily without them.

And for health insurance try http://www.hsf.eu.com/ireland/ , some of my colleagues swear by them.

liquoriceall

Contary to popular belief not all women spend lots of money on going to hairdressers, getting new clothes etc Id be more interested to see how much he spends on a night out? For some reason men seem to think they should get into rounds with people something I hate as it works out so much more expensive with people buying drink for people that they dont even want

ascanbe

Echospace wrote: »

I think it's crazy and completely backwards that the people actually contributing money into the country's finances through PAYE (I presume you are both private sector workers), are struggling. And yet the social welfare class who contribute nothing, but extract money from the country, are fine. The political/developer class who contribute nothing, and also extract money from the country are fine. The public/civil service, who are still being paid 28% higher than the average private industrial wage, and who also contribute nothing towards the country's finances (and the concept of public sector "tax" is laughable) are protected by union agreements.

This situation can't continue for much longer anyway. A young married couple, BOTH working, shouldn't have to worry about being able to afford television/broadband bills. These are the type of people who will actually get the country OUT of recession.

How do you think the country's finances would be if the vast majority of people didn't have any education, access to basic healthcare etc?
I'd imagine they'd be possibly even worse than they are now; a catastrophic situation largely due to our buccaneering heroes in the private sector being given free reign.

Kasabian

The OP is taking the piss.

OctavarIan

Rabidlamb wrote: »

I need to examine the outgoings further as there must be something big I'm missing.

Common sense?

Seriously, you're making over €5k a month and from the sounds of it you don't budget at all, what do you expect?

Start tracking every expense, use some financial tracking tools like the excellent Mint.com. By every expense I mean every expense, every bar of chocolate, every newspaper, everything no matter how small. You really have no idea how fast the little things (which are in 99% of cases totally not needed) add up.

By looking at every purchase and thinking 'do I really need this' you'll start saving instantly. I guarantee if you say those five words to yourself before buying something you'll be amazed in a few months at the amount of useless ****e you used to buy.

knird evol

Mena wrote: »

Get a Debit card (note the D! ) and use that for everything.

I found I was throwing away a fortune by using ATM's. Need to get milk or whatever? ATM only has €50.00 notes... that's €50.00 blown really, ends up as small change in the nether regions of your car or spent on some crap like 43 bars of chocolate etc.

cut the crap you knew you were getting those 43 chocolate bars when you got a fifty from atm

starbelgrade

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Great, now I don't trust the wife.
My money grabbing thieving wife.
She wears clothes, yes she does...
Her hair smells clean & even perfumed.
She's putting on weight so I reckon she's eating food aswell.
I'm going to get to the bottom of this.

Whatever you do, don't mention the fact that she's putting on weight or her bottom.

Otherwise, that's at least another €100 gone on comfort spending by her and another €100 on a "f*ck him" purchase or two.

Dudess

Echospace wrote: »

I think it's crazy and completely backwards that the people actually contributing money into the country's finances through PAYE (I presume you are both private sector workers), are struggling. And yet the social welfare class who contribute nothing, but extract money from the country, are fine.

They're "fine"? How do you know that?

The public/civil service, who are still being paid 28% higher than the average private industrial wage, and who also contribute nothing towards the country's finances (and the concept of public sector "tax" is laughable) are protected by union agreements.

Depends what they're doing, where in the public sector they're working. An administrator, for instance, could stand to earn far less than a counterpart of theirs in the private sector. My father was an engineer with the council - had he worked in the private sector he would have been on WAY more than he earned with the council.

Slydice

op, do you ever go to the pub? do you spend any money on hobbies?

Rabidlamb

Slydice wrote: »

op, do you ever go to the pub? do you spend any money on hobbies?

Nope, maybe once a month if I'm honest.
I have a few cans & a bottle of wine max a week.
I gave up the smokes ages ago cause I couldn't afford them.
I used to play golf but gave that up once the kids arrived.

My wife & kids but mainly my wife are costing me a fortune.
I think I need to take full control of the purse strings.
It's wallet strings from now on.

HarryPotter41

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Nope, maybe once a month if I'm honest.
I have a few cans & a bottle of wine max a week.
I gave up the smokes ages ago cause I couldn't afford them.
I used to play golf but gave that up once the kids arrived.

My wife & kids but mainly my wife are costing me a fortune.
I think I need to take full control of the purse strings.
It's wallet strings from now on.

Great, 6 months time you'll be on here looking for relationship advice. Btw, have you looked at the health insurance package you have with regard to what it covers in relation to most likely need, with regard to your own age and your soon to be ex wifes ( if ya keep going the way you're posting on here ) age as well as most likely need in childrens cover to see if any savings can be made there?

Greentopia

Rabidlamb wrote: »

My wife & kids but mainly my wife are costing me a fortune.
I think I need to take full control of the purse strings.
It's wallet strings from now on.

Uh, you're not going to say it like that to her though are you?? because I can tell you now that's not going to go down well if you take that line with the missus.
If she's working she's entitled to spend her own money as she wants-while still contributing her fair share to the household of course.

I'd be well p*ssed off if my partner told me he was "taking full control of the purse strings"...after I stopped laughing that is :P

Rabidlamb

Greentopia wrote: »

Uh, you're not going to say it like that to her though are you?? because I can tell you now that's not going to go down well if you take that line with the missus.
If she's working she's entitled to spend her own money as she wants-while still contributing her fair share to the household of course.

I'd be well p*ssed off if my partner told me he was "taking full control of the purse strings"...after I stopped laughing that is :P

No, I'll be a bit more subtle.
I might suggest I that I take over the responsibility for doing the bills.
Make it sound like doing her a favour.
I'll suggest we allocate ourselves discretionary spending money at the beginning of the week (pocket money for grown ups).

smash

Simple solution for you. Create 3 bank accounts, 1 for you, 1 for her, 1 joint. You get paid into your account, she gets paid into hers. Have the mortgage, bills and childcare costs split down the middle and deposited to the joint account every month.

The remains of your salary is yours, the remains of her salary is hers... after 1-2 months you'll see who has more money left in their account and then you'll know where the money is going.

Mr Benevolent

steve06 wrote: »

Simple solution for you. Create 3 bank accounts, 1 for you, 1 for her, 1 joint. You get paid into your account, she gets paid into hers. Have the mortgage, bills and childcare costs split down the middle and deposited to the joint account every month.

The remains of your salary is yours, the remains of her salary is hers... after 1-2 months you'll see who has more money left in their account and then you'll know where the money is going.

A good idea.

HarryPotter41

steve06 wrote: »

Simple solution for you. Create 3 bank accounts, 1 for you, 1 for her, 1 joint. You get paid into your account, she gets paid into hers. Have the mortgage, bills and childcare costs split down the middle and deposited to the joint account every month.

The remains of your salary is yours, the remains of her salary is hers... after 1-2 months you'll see who has more money left in their account and then you'll know where the money is going.

Excellent idea, I am single and I have two accounts. Worked out my weekly average on all my regular bills and that stays in one while the remainder goes into the other account out of which I buy petrol, food and anything else I need. That way I know exactly where I stand ( or fall )

knird evol

Rabidlamb wrote: »

No, I'll be a bit more subtle.
I might suggest I that I take over the responsibility for doing the bills.

i think she'll subtly suggest that she's going to take over responsibility for when you have sex

thebigbiffo

RobbieTheRobber wrote: »

And eh you have a copy of the budget for 2011 do you?

The measures included have already been applied to your wage have they?

there will be tax increases. you know it, i know it and everybody else knows it. :rolleyes:

Amhran Nua

Dudess wrote: »

An administrator, for instance, could stand to earn far less than a counterpart of theirs in the private sector. My father was an engineer with the council - had he worked in the private sector he would have been on WAY more than he earned with the council.

Actually as a general trend pay is more or less equal between the public and private sector at the higher levels, at the mid and lower levels is where the disparity becomes very pronounced. Don't ask me to dig out the report now though, I'm fed up looking at them. Also your father probably had job security and a pension that would have taken a hefty chunk out a private sector wage, both of which are valuable benefits.

phasers

reading all these "money saving tips" makes me realise how poor I am.


I do all this stuff already, a step down for me would be freeganism. Consider it OP, one man's trash etc

Blackpitts

Rabidlamb wrote: »

Who is taking all my money ?.

do you have a laptop? do you monitor your back account and your CC?
then use any of the expense tracker programs out there, I have one on my iphone and I can tell at the end of each month/year where every single penny is going and where do I need to cut some expenses.
You just need to be constant and update it every time you spend money or a bill is coming in.
try this one for example, it's free
http://www.expensestrackr.com/

Yag reuoY

The Irish are generally very poor at managing their finances.

gsxr1

http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/i.home

there is 40 quid a week.... Saved!!

pickarooney

Blackpitts wrote: »

do you have a laptop? do you monitor your back account and your CC?
then use any of the expense tracker programs out there, I have one on my iphone and I can tell at the end of each month/year where every single penny is going and where do I need to cut some expenses.
You just need to be constant and update it every time you spend money or a bill is coming in.
try this one for example, it's free
http://www.expensestrackr.com/

Stop buying overpriced phones and use a pen and paper for starters :pac:

Qualitymark

Blackpitts wrote: »

expense tracker programs out there, I have one on my iphone

What's the app?

knird evol

that seems to involve uploading your finances to a website. whats the point of that. a spreadsheet or the back of an envelope would do as well

syklops

Qualitymark wrote: »

What's the app?

And how much does it cost?

galwayrush

Self employed here, kids going to school, wife can't work ( cancer) can't get social welfare or a medical card, last week, i took home 140 euro.
No way can i pay any more taxes,stealth or otherwise. what will they do, send me to prison? At least then wife and kids would have to be looked after by the state.

mickdw

I think OP you have become used to the good times and are struggling to cut back that little bit. There does seem to be room for cut backs in your budget anyway.
Ok so no drinking as such, cheap sky package, manageable mortgage, no car loans, I dont know, cocaine habit maybe?

mickdw

galwayrush wrote: »

Self employed here, kids going to school, wife can't work ( cancer) can't get social welfare or a medical card, last week, i took home 140 euro.
No way can i pay any more taxes,stealth or otherwise. what will they do, send me to prison? At least then wife and kids would have to be looked after by the state.

The self employed welfare system is a joke. You should be entitled to everything going. I feel you would probably go to prison sooner that sean fitzpatrick and co.

phill106

starbelgrade wrote: »

Duh. That's obvious... coke & hookers.

Indeed, if not by you, then by her.

seamus

mickdw wrote: »

The self employed welfare system is a joke. You should be entitled to everything going. I feel you would probably go to prison sooner that sean fitzpatrick and co.

For a country which prides itself on creating entrepreneurs and our big home-grown multinationals (Kerry Foods, etc), we treat self-employed people shockingly bad. PAYE workers automatically get double the tax credits of self employed people. For nothing. PAYE workers are effectively cushioned in the event that their job goes belly up. Self employed people, who are quite definitely in a much more vulnerable position, are left out in the rain if their business fails.

I dunno, we claim to encourage enterprise and ideas but we don't make it remotely attractive for anyone to leave the PAYE workforce. As my brother keeps saying now since he moved into employment 2 years ago after 8 years of self-employment - "I was a mug working for myself".

Simple solution for you. Create 3 bank accounts, 1 for you, 1 for her, 1 joint. You get paid into your account, she gets paid into hers. Have the mortgage, bills and childcare costs split down the middle and deposited to the joint account every month.

The remains of your salary is yours, the remains of her salary is hers... after 1-2 months you'll see who has more money left in their account and then you'll know where the money is going.

Split down the middle wouldn't be entirely fair. He earns 14% more than she does and it all comes out of the same pot at present. So for your experiment to work properly he should pay 54% of all expenses and she should pay the balance.

seamus

seamus wrote: »

Split down the middle wouldn't be entirely fair. He earns 14% more than she does and it all comes out of the same pot at present. So for your experiment to work properly he should pay 54% of all expenses and she should pay the balance.

Did he say his was the higher salary? I didn't see that

syklops

seamus wrote: »

For a country which prides itself on creating entrepreneurs and our big home-grown multinationals (Kerry Foods, etc), we treat self-employed people shockingly bad. PAYE workers automatically get double the tax credits of self employed people. For nothing. PAYE workers are effectively cushioned in the event that their job goes belly up. Self employed people, who are quite definitely in a much more vulnerable position, are left out in the rain if their business fails.

I dunno, we claim to encourage enterprise and ideas but we don't make it remotely attractive for anyone to leave the PAYE workforce. As my brother keeps saying now since he moved into employment 2 years ago after 8 years of self-employment - "I was a mug working for myself".


Split down the middle wouldn't be entirely fair. He earns 14% more than she does and it all comes out of the same pot at present. So for your experiment to work properly he should pay 54% of all expenses and she should pay the balance.

Case in point, my sister was going to College and applied for the grant. My Dad was self-employed, and at the time was bringing practically nothing in.

Because you are self employed it is assumed you are wealthy, therefore no grant. My sisters friend, whose father was a farmer did get the grant. Regardless of the fact that he had recently sold 100 acres of land, that had been re-zoned as residential land, which turned him into a multi-millionaire over night.

The system is flawed.

TwoShedsJackson

knird evol wrote: »

i think she'll subtly suggest that she's going to take over responsibility for when you have sex

Come on, he's married with two kids, sex would have stopped years ago for him.

seamus

bluewolf wrote: »

Did he say his was the higher salary? I didn't see that

Good old sexist assumption on my part

Blackpitts

syklops wrote: »

And how much does it cost?

ixpensit, it costs about 3 euro if i'm not wrong
best money i've ever spent on my iphone!
it's is constantly updated and getting better after each release, it's totally customizable and it allows to monitor not only your expenses but also your cash flow, so you know what you should have in the bank at the end of the month.
it offers a lot of reports and the possibiity to download all your expenses by email in a xls attachment.