Garda Sergeant can't afford food

tayto lover

looksee wrote: »

€75 a week for school expenses, plus €60 for shoes? I can see at the beginning of the year there would be some expensive weeks, but €75 every week, all year round?

If they are in college in Dublin and have to travel by bus to the city then 75e would be appropriate.
My son travels from Dundalk to D.C.U. and it's 70e a week by bus.

Potential-Monke

Sappa wrote: »

I would be highly sceptical that a Garda Sergeant does not own an investment property,isn't it schooled into them at the Garda college.

Oh yes, it certainly is, along with courses on the necessity of eating doughnuts, finding free coffee, beating up innocent people, how to say veh-hic-el properly, the quickest way to gain weight, how to get out of trouble and how to act in Dublin City (cuz, you know, they're all big thick culchies)... :rolleyes:

juan.kerr

Boombastic wrote: »

Other Expenditure €84.00

Why do they go to the bother of breaking down the figures (e.g. TV licence) then lump in 'Other Expenditure', which is over 4k a year.

Qualitymark

:
Originally Posted by Qualitymark
Really? Where? (And do you put meat in your past sauce? I use a kilo of Lidl lean mince to make a load of it and freeze it, with tinned tomatoes, purée, mushrooms, carrots, celery, onions, reekings of garlic, thyme, a slosh of €3-a-bottle Aldi wine.)

Aidric wrote: »

You could do without the extravagance.

Why, by the way, Aldric? Why should I not cook with wine?

Potential-Monke

juan.kerr wrote: »

Why do they go to the bother of breaking down the figures (e.g. TV licence) then lump in 'Other Expenditure', which is over 4k a year.

It could be other spendings which may lead to the identification of the Sergeant in question.

tayto lover

tayto lover wrote: »

If they are in college in Dublin and have to travel by bus to the city then 75e would be appropriate.
My son travels from Dundalk to D.C.U. and it's 70e a week by bus.

He probably won't be happy with someone on the internet telling you this but it's only 55 per week on Matthews. :pac:

juan.kerr

Potential-Monke wrote: »

It could be other spendings which may lead to the identification of the Sergeant in question.

Such as?

tayto lover

Deleted User wrote: »

He probably won't be happy with someone on the internet telling you this but it's only 55 per week on Matthews. :pac:

Ha ha probably not . Is Bus Eireann dearer?

Qualitymark

Deleted User wrote: »

He probably won't be happy with someone on the internet telling you this but it's only 55 per week on Matthews. :pac:

To take up the Scrooge tone of this whole thread, my grandfather taught carpentry and cabinet-making twice a week in Dundalk, and used to cycle there and back from Rathmines. At the age of 70.

Probably why he died at 72 or so, poor old codger.

About time we started hitch-hiking and giving lifts to hitch-hikers again. Drives me nuts to see cars with just the driver on board scooting along.

The return ticket from Dublin to Belfast is €20; if it were possible to hop off in Newry and get a bus back to Dundalk, I think it's something like €8 return.

Or there's this http://getthere.ie - you can ask to carpool and give lifts here.

tayto lover

tayto lover wrote: »

Ha ha probably not . Is Bus Eireann dearer?

I think Bus Eireann is cheaper but it goes via Drogheda, the airport and then through the port tunnel so is useless for DCU.

Madam_X

"Oh the Irish are begrudgers and gloaters weh weh" comments (from Irish people) - give it a rest ffs. Even after deductions this is not a salary that would have a family of six at the point where they can only eat cornflakes for full days.
I'm not one for delighting in people's misfortunes at all - I agree too the story was probably published in order to generate lots of tard public sector hate (it's like the Times has morphed into the Indo). Possibly exaggerations in there too. But I am simply low on sympathy because it would be possible to manage on this income with simple changes. I'm not saying it's a walk in the park for them either, and cost of living in this country is high, but mathematically and logically and statistically they could get by more successfully than this with better planning and management.

Couldn't care less btw that the guy is a public sector worker/guard. Not everyone is thick enough to hold blanket hatred for same.

juan.kerr

Apologies if this has been covered earlier, but are they dining on Kelloggs Cornflakes or own brand cornflakes?

jonsnow

cornflakes days thats nothing. I know two nurses with 4 kids where the family have "feral cat" days and a county engineer who currently lives in a hole covered with tarpaulin.Most people dont realise that its actually those with the highest incomes that are in the most trouble in this recession.Heartbreaking stuff.

Cantona's Collars

juan.kerr wrote: »

Apologies if this has been covered earlier, but are they dining on Kelloggs Cornflakes or own brand cornflakes?

Hand made organic cornflakes.

juan.kerr

At least they don't have to resort to the indignity of eating swans (yet).

jonsnow

The GRA are p****** in my cornflakes with all their hysterical prebudget whingefests in my morning paper.

Potential-Monke

juan.kerr wrote: »

Such as?

Loan from another financial institute, a combination of loans from other financial institutes, hire purchase repayment, payment to his last wife for childcare, donation to charities, donation to a separate pension fund, fines from work, etc...

juan.kerr

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Loan from another financial institute, a combination of loans from other financial institutes, hire purchase repayment, payment to his last wife for childcare, donation to charities, donation to a separate pension fund, fines from work, etc...

None of this would 'identify' the Sergeant, so I don't really accept your original response.

All they need to do is split it out with 'Loan repayments' or 'Maintenance' or similar, they already break out Mortgage and Credit Union so I'd be surprised if this is servicing further debt. I'm not expecting them to list the financial institutions or name the ex-spouse.

As for donations to Charity or supplementary Pension Fund, that's the last thing they should be spending money on right now.

The figures would be net of 'fines from work' as these would be deducted at source.

Leaving a 4k figure unaccounted for raises my suspicions.

Madam_X

Pension fund donations are mandatory in the public sector I think.

juan.kerr

Madam_X wrote: »

Pension fund donations are mandatory in the public sector I think.

Yes, but they are taken at source. The figures quoted are net income, meaning after all payroll deductions such as tax and pension contributions.

juan.kerr

Rodin wrote: »

'' After tax, Universal Social Charge, pension, health insurance, mortgage and utility deductions, a typical weekly payslip shows a net payment of €109. ''

So he pays for his ESB and mortgage through payroll deduction? I dont think so.

Potential-Monke

juan.kerr wrote: »

None of this would 'identify' the Sergeant, so I don't really accept your original response.

All they need to do is split it out with 'Loan repayments' or 'Maintenance' or similar, they already break out Mortgage and Credit Union so I'd be surprised if this is servicing further debt. I'm not expecting them to list the financial institutions or name the ex-spouse.

As for donations to Charity or Pension Fund, that's the last thing they should be spending money on right now.

The figures would be net of 'fines from work' as these would be deducted at source.

Leaving a 4k figure unaccounted for raises my suspicions.

I was only giving examples. A repayment of €84 per week to the Credit Union could easily identify the member, as could repayments to ex-spouses. You don't need names, it's the Government, they have access to all the payslips and just need to find someone who matches all the figures. I agree that Pension or Charity donations are the least of their worries, but again it was only examples i was giving.

It could possibly be hire purchase repayments, a lot of people have them.

Madam_X wrote: »

Pension fund donations are mandatory in the public sector I think.

You are correct. But it could be an additional, separate pension fund. €25k a year is not a lot to support 2 or more people.

juan.kerr wrote: »

So he pays for his ESB and mortgage through payroll deduction? I dont think so.

The facility is there, through the Credit Union.

the groutch

Boombastic wrote: »

Mortgage (interest only): €280.00
Mortgage Protection Insurance €15,00
Buildings/Contents Insurance €7.00
Food/Housekeeping €200,00
Electricity Usage €25.00
Heat/Fuel Usage €25.00
TV licence €4.00
Waste Charges €5.00
Telephone/Other utilities €43.00
Transports costs €127.50
Educational costs (college registration fees, children’s uniforms) €75.00
Clothing/Footwear €60.00
Medical costs (insurance) €73.23
Repairs & Maintenance €20.00
Other Expenditure €84.00
Credit Union €50.00

Total €1,093.73

€93 a week (€400 pm) on utilities??? are they leaving the lights & heating on 24/7 while watching sky sports?

€60 a week on clothes? that's over €400 EACH they're spending on clothes (it'd take me about 3 years to spend that much). and that doesnt even include uniforms.

€84 other expenditure per week. I'd be VERY VERY interested in where this near five grand a year is disappearing to.

juan.kerr

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I was only giving examples. A repayment of €84 per week to the Credit Union could easily identify the member, as could repayments to ex-spouses. You don't need names, it's the Government, they have access to all the payslips and just need to find someone who matches all the figures.

My understanding is that the families identity is known to at least 2 government departments (Transport & Social Protection) and the department ministers.

A spokesman for the Minister for Transport, Leo Varadkar said the woman had been in regular correspondence with the minister. “He understands that her husband is in secure public sector employment but they bought their home at the height of the boom and are struggling to pay a large mortgage on reduced pay.” He hoped she would be “able to resolve her financial problems with [the] assistance of Mabs and others.”

juan.kerr

the groutch wrote: »

€60 a week on clothes? that's over €400 EACH they're spending on clothes (it'd take me about 3 years to spend that much). and that doesnt even include uniforms.

€3k a year for clothing and footwear for the family certainly seems excessive.

Potential-Monke

juan.kerr wrote: »

My understanding is that the families identity is known to at least 2 government departments (Transport & Social Protection) and the department ministers.

I grant you that, so maybe they are keeping it from colleagues who would be able to identify them. It took me a long time to finally admit to my colleagues that i'm broke and can't afford to go out or whatever with them. Some people can't do that.

juan.kerr

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I grant you that, so maybe they are keeping it from colleagues who would be able to identify them. It took me a long time to finally admit to my colleagues that i'm broke and can't afford to go out or whatever with them. Some people can't do that.

You haven't convinced me that it has anything to do with protecting their identity so we can probably agree to disagree on that point.

Potential-Monke

juan.kerr wrote: »

You haven't convinced me that it has anything to do with protecting their identity so we can probably agree to disagree on that point.

I'll just leave one last point on it so, then i'll agree to disagree. While they may already be able to identify the Sergeant by this, but if a close colleague of mine had a car on hire purchase i would probably know how much they are paying back, thus meaning i would be able to guess that this Sergeant is my colleague.

I'm not trying to say that this is the reason, but is a possible reason.

Geuze

juan.kerr wrote: »

So he pays for his ESB and mortgage through payroll deduction? I dont think so.

Yes, the Garda CU has a billpay scheme, so the payments are taken at soucre from payroll vai the CU to pay all bills.

http://www.straphaelscu.ie/financial-services/budget-account-plan/

juan.kerr

Potential-Monke wrote:

The facility is there, through the Credit Union.

Geuze wrote: »

Yes, the Garda CU has a billpay scheme, so the payments are taken at soucre from payroll vai the CU to pay all bills.

http://www.straphaelscu.ie/financial-services/budget-account-plan/

Fair enough, I stand corrected.

golden lane

is this the early april fools thread...??????

Boombastic

€84, this €84 could possibly be the difference they have to make up for the mortgage on the second property. i.e the tenants pay x amount and the landlord makes up the difference to cover the mortgage


Either that or it's for the hairdresser

flutterflye

HeyThereDeliah wrote: »

I have read all this thread but just laughed at some of the ridiculous post, I would like to see some posters on here succeeding in feeding a family of six on €109 a week.
I seen someone post about saving money, posted by someone who is not rearing a family no doubt, someone else suggesting renting and moving near his job, selling the house etc is the recession over and no one told the rest of us.

Many posters on here are so self righteous its unbelievable, dunno why this country is in the mess it's in considering the knowledge and expertise that's around or is that just key board warriors.

I have no idea if the story is true or not but the empathy shown here for certain professions is down right nasty.

There are 5 in my family - 3 kids.
Our weekly shop is about €80 - Including nappies and baby formula.
Sometimes lower, sometimes higher.
You shop in Lidl/Aldi, look for bargains in butchers/fruit shops etc...
You make dinners with meat and veg, rather than buying packets of frozen food.
Simples.

Like most here - we have a sh!tload less money coming in, and while things are by no means wonderful financially, we're grand.
We get by.

You buy kids clothes in Penny's, do without new clothes for yourself.
Or even have a look in charity shops - plenty of decent stuff in them if you look.
That kind of thing.

I'm really not understanding how people think there is any begrudgery in this thread.
I read most of it and didn't see any.

No one at all begrudges them their money.
They just think they are managing their money very poorly, and that they need to look at ways to cut down their expenses rather than go crying to SVP.

HeyThereDeliah

Fair play to anyone who can feed a family of five for seven days for €80, I should be able to feed two of us for €30 but I honestly don't think I could.
As for shopping in lidl/aldi is this the poor mans shop or something, i don't think it's that cheap tbh.

mikemac1

Tesco are selling noodles for 20c
Two flavours

About 600 calories in a pack

Just adding it to the thread

If you are a student and still no sign of your grant you probably already know this

Japer

Shenshen wrote: »

You know what? There are a lot of people out there actually struggling. People who have lost their jobs, families with both parents out of work, etc.
And this letter asks for sympathy for someone who has a secure job and earns more than twice what I make. Now, I realise that without children, I'm not exactly in the same place, but I do have my mortgage to pay and l find it difficult to feel honest sympathy for someone making that much money claiming to be struggling, when I myself consider myself lucky and not badly off at all.

well said. And you know what? That same Garda can retire after only 30 years service with a pension pot worth 1.1 million. The figures were produced earlier this thread. The country is truly F****d when people do not point out the Garda is overpaid. Do you know the average public sector wage in the UK? its 21.5k a year sterling. Out of that they pay property tax, higher fuel costs etc.

goat2

flutterflye wrote: »

There are 5 in my family - 3 kids.
Our weekly shop is about €80 - Including nappies and baby formula.
Sometimes lower, sometimes higher.
You shop in Lidl/Aldi, look for bargains in butchers/fruit shops etc...
You make dinners with meat and veg, rather than buying packets of frozen food.
Simples.

Like most here - we have a sh!tload less money coming in, and while things are by no means wonderful financially, we're grand.
We get by.

You buy kids clothes in Penny's, do without new clothes for yourself.
Or even have a look in charity shops - plenty of decent stuff in them if you look.
That kind of thing.

I'm really not understanding how people think there is any begrudgery in this thread.
I read most of it and didn't see any.

No one at all begrudges them their money.
They just think they are managing their money very poorly, and that they need to look at ways to cut down their expenses rather than go crying to SVP.

i really would love to know how you do it, i am a person who have fresh dinner every day, no packets, i always look out for bargains and shop at aldi, and i say if it is not a bargain it is not in my trolly.
have you tips and tricks on how to get by.

golden lane

this is a very mature family.........

do they really have to be told how to shop......?????

Japer

flutterflye wrote: »

There are 5 in my family - 3 kids.
Our weekly shop is about €80 - Including nappies and baby formula.

80 a week is about €4,000 a year. The overpaid Garda is earning €65,000 a year ....and almost certainly will have a government pension pot worth € 1,100,000 by the time he's 50 ( assuming he started work as a Guard aged 20 ).....so he/she does not have to worry about providing extra for a pension.

This thread is a sick joke. 9 out of 10 people in the private sector would literally give their arm to be in the same financial position as the Guard.

mikemac1

This guy won't go bankrupt

But isn't there some rule that if a garda goes bankrupt they are forced to resign?

I had a quick search on this thread but nobody else mentioned it, maybe I have it wrong

flutterflye

goat2 wrote: »

i really would love to know how you do it, i am a person who have fresh dinner every day, no packets, i always look out for bargains and shop at aldi, and i say if it is not a bargain it is not in my trolly.
have you tips and tricks on how to get by.

Ha! Eh.. no tbh!
You sound like you do what I do.
Not sure what I do differently
Why, how much do you spend?

Shenshen

goat2 wrote: »

i really would love to know how you do it, i am a person who have fresh dinner every day, no packets, i always look out for bargains and shop at aldi, and i say if it is not a bargain it is not in my trolly.
have you tips and tricks on how to get by.

I find that buying in bulk whenever possible helps a lot.
Lidl in particular will often have things like half-kilo jars of jam, huge packs of loo roll, etc.
We usually buy rice from the Asia shop, a bag of 10kg for around €10 will lat a while.

tayto lover

Japer wrote: »

well said. And you know what? That same Garda can retire after only 30 years service with a pension pot worth 1.1 million. The figures were produced earlier this thread. The country is truly F****d when people do not point out the Garda is overpaid. Do you know the average public sector wage in the UK? its 21.5k a year sterling. Out of that they pay property tax, higher fuel costs etc.

You should really move over there. You'd love it.

Japer

tayto lover wrote: »

You should really move over there. You'd love it.

public sector workers here have a far higher standard of living than over there, thanks to the very high public sector wages here.
live over there? no thanks. smaller,older houses etc etc

Darwin

Japer wrote: »

public sector workers here have a far higher standard of living than over there, thanks to the very high public sector wages here.
live over there? no thanks. smaller,older houses etc etc

You're not an Irish Independent journalist by any chance?

tayto lover

Japer wrote: »

public sector workers here have a far higher standard of living than over there, thanks to the very high public sector wages here.
live over there? no thanks. smaller,older houses etc etc

Fair play to them.

Japer

Darwin wrote: »

You're not an Irish Independent journalist by any chance?

no, I'm one of the 87% of people in thge country who realise our public service is overpaid / overpensioned. If I was a journalist I would be more eloquent with words, but thanks for the compliment anyway.

golden lane

Japer wrote: »

public sector workers here have a far higher standard of living than over there, thanks to the very high public sector wages here.
live over there? no thanks. smaller,older houses etc etc

do you think life depends on a larger house...????

the garda sargent has one......and he and his family are starving......

and....it's not even paid for.....

Japer

golden lane wrote: »

and he and his family are starving......

the seargant and his family are not starving. He is "earning" €65,000 a year. That same Garda can retire after only 30 years service with a pension pot worth 1.1 million.
The genuine starving in the wold - as well as most private sector workers in Ireland - envy this Guard. Not their fault he cannot manage money properly.
This thread is a joke / sounds like a troll by a public sector union employee in advance of the budget.

golden lane

Japer wrote: »

the seargant and his family are not starving. He is "earning" €65,000 a year. That same Garda can retire after only 30 years service with a pension pot worth 1.1 million.
The genuine starving in the wold - as well as most private sector workers in Ireland - envy this Guard. Not their fault he cannot manage money properly.
This thread is a joke / sounds like a troll by a public sector union employee in advance of the budget.

yes, maybe it is a joke......

a great big joke it is, to buy a house you cannot afford....

he is surrounded by great big jokers.........

still, it is somebody else's money.......maybe he will get his debt reduced.......if he moan's enough....