Need to get my finances in order

scotchie78

Hey,

I am plain and simply useless at organising my financial affairs. Got a good secure job and expecting my first child with my wife in early oct.
We never even got a joint bank a/c after getting married. I'd like to try and get some advice on the best way to go about organising my financial affairs.

Living just outside Dublin and wondering if anyone has use an independent financial advisor and could they recommend one to use

I'm not sure if this the right place for this thread but couldn't find a more suitable forum?!?!

thanks in advance

coylemj

There is a Government agency called MABS (Money Advice & Budgeting Service) which exists to provide the type of advice you're looking for, and it's free.....

The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) is the only free, confidential, independent and non-judgmental service for people in debt, or in danger of getting into debt, in Ireland. Our Helpline (0761 07 2000) operates Monday to Friday from 9am to 8pm. You can also send an email to helpline@mabs.ie if you have any questions.

We are a national service with over 60 offices nationwide. For details of your nearest office, visit the Contact MABS area of our website.

www.mabs.ie

nibtrix

MABS has a long waiting list of people who are in serious debt/mortgage arrears, so it probably would be a lengthy wait for a consultation.

Can't help with a recommendation, sorry.

cookie1977

Just on the joint account issue. My wife and I operate separate bank accounts and manage the household finances. We found (and particularly now) that a joint account can cost more to maintain and can be more hassle then they're worth.

Re finances. Start with writing down in an excel file all your outgoings and incomings (everything) for a month. To give you an idea where the money is coming and going. Then start to set budgets i.e 100euro a week on food only, 50 euro on petrol, 30 euro on your phone, X amount into savings. Try and stick to the budget no matter what and see how you get on. and keep it on an excel and fill it in every day.

Have a look at your bills to make sure you're getting the best rates on them. Check out www.bonkers.ie and compare to get the best deals.

If you've debts then arrange to speak with MABS asap (as some one said they are busy but will probably prioritise the hardest cases.

There's a lot you can do yourself if you put your mind to it. Try steer clear of the companies that charge for organising/dealing with your debts.

Huggles

scotchie78 wrote: »

Hey,

I am plain and simply useless at organising my financial affairs. Got a good secure job and expecting my first child with my wife in early oct.
We never even got a joint bank a/c after getting married. I'd like to try and get some advice on the best way to go about organising my financial affairs.

Living just outside Dublin and wondering if anyone has use an independent financial advisor and could they recommend one to use

I'm not sure if this the right place for this thread but couldn't find a more suitable forum?!?!

thanks in advance

Hi Scotchie, I was in a similar position to yourself about 18 months ago. The first thing I did was set up a spread sheet of all incomes and outgoings to my account. I pay myself first before anything else and that money goes into a savings account I don't have easy access to. The rest is just detailing where every single penny goes, the saying is true, if you take care of the pennies the pounds will take care of themselves.

Is there a particular area in which you need advice? Savings, investments, reducing debt?

fricatus

+1 on the Excel spreadsheet.

I put our joint account balance into a spreadsheet and then get it to project our balance into the future by putting in expected salary, expected bills and payments for the next couple of months.

I also add in the amount of ATM withdrawals we expect to be making each week.

That way we can see whether there are any "holes" coming (I have it set to format minus numbers in red).

If any red patches show up, we just try to hold back spending or postpone bills. After a while you get the hang of it and you find that you leave a few hundred in there to smooth out the bumps. We only allow ourselves the scheduled withdrawals, and if we need more, then tough. You might have a balance of €500, but you can see with the spreadsheet that there is that amount of bills just coming, so you don't think you're rich and blow it all!

Excel FTW, but any spreadsheet app like MS Works, Google Docs or Libre Office Calc all let you do the same thing.

NIMAN

I think you don't really need a FA to talk to.

A lot of it is common sense if you think about it. We also have separate bank accounts, ad its not an issue.

You don't say if you are struggling or you are ok financially and just want to get better organised. If its the former, then maybe MABS is your best bet, if its the latter, then you can do it yourself imho. The net has a lot of good resources about savings, investments, deals etc.

Mollyd90

+1 on the spreadsheet for managing your money and budgeting but you need to keep an eye on the regularly, I look at our our once a week.

we keep our money separate and pay x amount every month into a joint PTSB account with free bank charges to pay the bills from. this works great for us.

+1 www.bonkers.ie for pricing utilities

Basically price around for everything regularly.

you said you have a secure job but you still need 'rainy day' money if you dont already have some. I think financial advisors recommend 6 months salary

as someelse said if you have debts speak to mabs.

if you have loans/credit cards but not in arrears/trouble with them and want to clear them start by paying extra of what you can afford first the most expensive loan first, usually credit cards

best of luck!

cookie1977

You can also negotiate with some companies for discounts if you're currently out of contract and happy to sign another one if the price is right. We negotiated with UPC to remove the 7.75 euro surcharge for only having broadband (saving of 93 euro a year and to be honest we'd never have moved from upc). Flogas upped my gas prices after a year and a half of discounts and when I threatened to leave for pastures new they gave me a discount.

If you're struggling with your mortgage and trying to generate savings, contact the bank and ask for interest only for a short while to build up a nest egg for a rainy day.

okiss

In regards to get the above in order you need to do up a budget to see what you are spending each week or month and to see where you can save money.
The nca.ie website have a lot of information and under tools and calculators. There is a budget planner where you put in your wages monthly or weekly along with all the expenses you have weekly ie food, monthly ie phone/esb, quarterly ie motor tax and yearly ie tv licence.
You can find out then are you spending more that you earn, what debit you have at the moment ect. You can then put your spending into the Economiser section to the nca can tell you if you are spending more than other on bills or food & where you can save money.
Bonkers.ie also have a lot of comparisons on current accounts, loans, credit cards, esb and gas prices, broadband prices ect.
Also bring your lunch to work each day €5 per day x5 days = €25 x48 weeks of work = €1200 a year - this could apply also to the daily coffe you get also.
Check what your paying for your mobile phone each month. Check what your paying for health insurance and look up the hia website to see what companies are offering and the prices. Ring the hia if you are unsure what something mean as some of the cheaper policies may not cover the high tech hospital ie mater private, blackrock clinic or may not pay the full cost of certain operations ie hip replacements. I hope this helps you.