How expensive is living in Limerick nowadays?

mariotr87

Hello everyone!

This is my first post here in boards.ie, I hope the first one of many others
I'm a spanish guy that got a temp job in Limerick, starting in October. It's the first time that I'm living abroad, at least for a "long" period of time (6 months, maybe more).

Well, as I'm not rich I've been wondering about the cost of the typical things that almost anyone would spend the money on during the month. I hope it to be cheaper than Dublin at least!

For instance:

-Food: How much money do you think a single person would need weekly on average?
-Gym: How much does usually cost a 6 month membership?
-Internet (at home): I use it often, so data caps are not desirable.
-Commuting (from Limerick city centre to Raheen).

I think that light, gas and water are usually included when you rent an apartment...at least I hope.

Well, those are the things I can think of right now. I know that depends on the person and situation, but I just want to have an idea.

Thanks in advance!

steveon

Firstly best of luck with your new job and welcome to Limerick.

As for costs,
Rent of a apparment anywhere between €550-750 for 1-3 rooms
Price of a room usually around €200-300

If you rent an appartment on your own it is rare for any utility bills to be included in the rent however some do include free basic tv such as UPC...

Usually if you rent a room some include bills but some group share the bills at the end of the month.

Water is currently free in Ireland but this is due to change in the next 2-3 yrs. Bus charges are usually approx €1.20 a FARE...Been a while so not 100% sure on this.

You say Raheen so I include details of a gym in dooradoyle which isnt far from most of raheen for you to check so I would expect most gyms would be of similar price

http://www.dooradoyleleisureclub.com/#

hope that helps some bit..

mariotr87

I really appreciate your help steveon, you almost replied before I started the thread;)

I said Raheen because that's the place where the job is, but I'd like the gym to be at the actual centre. Anyway if the prices are alike that's great because that one seems to be pretty cheap.

I'm renting a full apartment, no doubt, the prices ar not too different and I may get visit from time to time so that's the best option for me. Too bad that utilities are not usually include though...

Thanks again!

BESman

Rent in Limerick is probably the cheapest of all the cities in Ireland, but it would be very rare to get all bills included. Usually only granny flats might do this as they are connected to the landlord's own home so they will generally pay all the bills. A room could be anywhere between €200 and €400.

Food is not too expensive, especially if you shop somewhere like Aldi, Lidl or Tesco and you could buy a nice lunch out for €5-€10.

Not too sure about gyms, they vary quite a bit but I think 3 month memberships would be €100 - €150, so just pro-rate that for whatever period you're looking for.

Buses are about €1.20 per fare.

eclectichoney

Buses are €1.60 each way. Would you consider living in Raheen (I work there myself)? It is about 15 minutes on the bus from the city centre. Gyms are around €150-200 for 6 months.

You'll have to let us know when you arrive and we can go for welcome beers.

mariotr87

How about the electricity and gas then? Are they expensive?
1.60€ each way, wow, I pay here 0.95. Is there any way to make it cheaper? maybe a flat monthly rate or something like that.

eclectichoney wrote: »

Buses are €1.60 each way. Would you consider living in Raheen (I work there myself)? It is about 15 minutes on the bus from the city centre. Gyms are around €150-200 for 6 months.

I've considered it actually, but I was told that living in the centre would help to get an overall better experience, as it's more convenient and I'd have everything that I need pretty close (well...except the work place:rolleyes:). I'll likely go often to places like cinema, gym, maybe to a park for running, pubs, and of course grocery stores. Nothing special, but when I went to Raheen for the interview it seemed just an industrial suburb.
Still, I'm not 100% sure about whether I'm going to live at the centre or not.

eclectichoney wrote: »

You'll have to let us know when you arrive and we can go for welcome beers.

Haha that'd be great, getting friends is also a problem when you change your city, and even your country! I'm lucky that Ireland have very good people though!

Thanks everyone.

source

mariotr87 wrote: »

How about the electricity and gas then? Are they expensive?
1.60€ each way, wow, I pay here 0.95. Is there any way to make it cheaper? maybe a flat monthly rate or something like that.


I've considered it actually, but I was told that living in the centre would help to get an overall better experience, as it's more convenient and I'd have everything that I need pretty close (well...except the work place:rolleyes:). I'll likely go often to places like cinema, gym, maybe to a park for running, pubs, and of course grocery stores. Nothing special, but when I went to Raheen for the interview it seemed just an industrial suburb.
Still, I'm not 100% sure about whether I'm going to live at the centre or not.


Haha that'd be great, having friends is also a problem when you change your city, and even your country! I'm lucky that Ireland have very good people though!

Thanks everyone.

Problem with Limerick is there's not very much in the city centre apart from shops and bars and restaurants, In Raheen/Dooradoyle you have a large shopping centre with cinema, gyms, bars, hospital, and one of the best bus services in the city with busses running every 15 mins. Rents will also be cheaper outside of the city centre.

Goofy

You can get a monthly bus pass from the train station in limerick. It costs around €60 for a calendar month (I think, it has been a few years since I had one) Also, I think there is a scheme where you can get this pass through your employer for a small discount but i cant find any more info on the web about this. Busses in limerick are not very reliable but the Raheen route (304) is not too bad as it runs every 10 mins (so if 1 bus goes AWOL there will be another along in 10 mins) Timetable

The city centre is probably the best place for you if you dont have a car. It has shops, restaurants, pubs/nightlife, gyms and places to run. There is no cinema in the centre but the bus that will bring you to work passes a large shopping centre which has a cinema.

eclectichoney

source wrote: »

Problem with Limerick is there's not very much in the city centre apart from shops and bars and restaurants, In Raheen/Dooradoyle you have a large shopping centre with cinema, gyms, bars, hospital, and one of the best bus services in the city with busses running every 15 mins. Rents will also be cheaper outside of the city centre.

Yeah renting in Dooradoyle would be an option - there you would have the gym & cinema on your doorstep. There is also a gym opposite the entrance to the industrial estate in the south court hotel. Also depending on where you rented in Dooradoyle it would be about a 30-40 minute walk to the end of the industrial estate (maybe you are lucky and are based near the entrance!) so you could walk to work and save the bus fare!

I take your point about living in the city centre though - I was going to move there myself, but due to lack of job security I can't really be taking on a new lease The thing about Limerick is you are never too far from the city centre anyway - like Dooradoyle is only a 30 minute walk into town, it's not like a big city where things are more spread out.

abyss

Usually I pay around 80e per 60 days for electricity and 20 for gas (80-100 in winters).
Sample (cutted, but this is excell sheet) of my bills and rules for counting bills (electric and gas) you can found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0AtzA9VqGxDZ4dC1KckQ4VkJUaGkzYVBocU4wWk1zcFE&output=html

mariotr87

Thank you abyss for the sample, very useful. And thank you everyone for the replies.
I've not completely made up my mind about the place where I'll live, but if the prices are alike or there is not too much different I'd definitely go with the centre, I'll have to decide that in September when I look for an apartment.

Well I think that's enough information for me .
I'll only have to do some research about the broadband prices there. So far I've come across with UPC (http://www.upc.ie/broadband/). They have good prices and also very very good speeds, BUT they limit the usage .
I'll also have to read about the conditions since I'm only interested in 6 month contracts...if those exist.

padma

go to www.daft.ie and have a look at whats on offer Apartment wise. You'd be surprised what you can get for 400-600. Remember as well to bargain any Landlord, as there is a lot of vacant apartments and houses in Limerick. If your not a horse you can eat well with about 30/40 euro a week.

TestTransmission

eclectichoney wrote: »

You'll have to let us know when you arrive and we can go for welcome beers.

jaysus, he's not even in Limerick yet and has a date already

maryk123

padma

haha that is so funny if your not a horse you can live on 30/40eur a week - that just made me laugh i wonder will he understand it hahahhahaahahahah

mariotr87

maryk123 wrote: »

padma

haha that is so funny if your not a horse you can live on 30/40eur a week - that just made me laugh i wonder will he understand it hahahhahaahahahah

It made me laugh too so I guess I did:D

Well, everything's clear so far. I've contacted a couple of landlords on daft.ie so my search of an apartment has just been started!

Thank all of you.

eclectichoney

TestTransmission wrote: »

jaysus, he's not even in Limerick yet and has a date already

Ah lord! Fair enough, it did sound a bit like I meant just the two of us alright, but I meant everyone obviously! :o

TestTransmission

eclectichoney wrote: »

but I meant everyone obviously! :o

Course ya did...

ryudi

Hello everyone

I am offered a research position at University of Limerick with 18000 euro salary. Is that enough for a decent living ?
I am not expecting to be wealthy with so much money (currently I am 2/3 in a cheaper country) but don`t want to worry about the money and focus solely on the research .

Thanks

abyss

Minimum wage in Ireland is 8,65 per hour as far I know. Time 8,65*8 hours*5day-week*52weeks-in-year=17992 euro. Compare this to minimum wage in your country. You can survive with this money, but this is a not "brilliant offer". If you are floor / window cleaner your minimum wage is 9,5p/h. Not sure about research position, but sounds really poor.

CatFromHue

ryudi wrote: »

Hello everyone

I am offered a research position at University of Limerick with 18000 euro salary. Is that enough for a decent living ?
I am not expecting to be wealthy with so much money (currently I am 2/3 in a cheaper country) but don`t want to worry about the money and focus solely on the research .

Thanks

Are you doing a Phd? If so you get a stipend and not a salary. A stipend is tax free so get the full 18000 into your bank account. I can't really comment on what it's like to live on that but others do so it must be feasible. You can also try and do some tutorial teaching for some lecturers that would be paid.

To get a rough idea of your expenses you could look on http://www.daft.ie/ for your accommodation and on http://www.tesco.ie/ for your food bill.

Albert.gnet

Hola,

I am Spanish myself, working here for a year now in Raheen, same as yourself, and I had the same kind of questions in my head last year when I came.

The lads have already answered most of your question in regards of the price and so, my advice, considering you won't have a car for now, will be to live in the city center, where you have all the services, shops, bus and train station etc.

There are buses to Raheen to go to work, every ten minutes, but only until certain time in the night obviously, and in the weekends, when the frequency is lower.

Sent you PM