Is 40k a year enough for one to live comfortably and even save money in Dublin

shadowcomplex

I am wondering if 40k a year is enough for a single person to live on in Dublin and even save cash but also have a good social life?

NZ_2014

shadowcomplex wrote: »

I am wondering if 40k a year is enough for a single person to live on in Dublin and even save cash but also have a good social life?

Well if you are renting your own place that's not a dump and you run a car it would be tight and you wouldn't save much at all.

GreenwayM

It would be really tight . . . Dublin is expensive!!!

Greentree_uk

if you don't want to live in luxury and aren't out all the time you might manage to scrape something together but don't expect a lot of savings

VandC

maybe if you just rent a room... close to town too so you don't have to pay much in terms of transport to and from there

Captain Chaos

If it's 40k net and not 40k gross then yes.

Humour Me

What would you consider a good social life?

shadowcomplex

Humour Me wrote: »

What would you consider a good social life?

going out every friday and saturday night for food and drinks

NZ_2014

shadowcomplex wrote: »

going out every friday and saturday night for food and drinks

You could easily drop €50 each night on that double it for a long night

Saipanne

shadowcomplex wrote: »

I am wondering if 40k a year is enough for a single person to live on in Dublin and even save cash but also have a good social life?

Yes.

ProudDUB

shadowcomplex wrote: »

I am wondering if 40k a year is enough for a single person to live on in Dublin and even save cash but also have a good social life?

Of course it is, as long as your monthly bills are relatively modest. You aren't giving us much info to go on there, so its hard to say over all.

If you are happy enough to walk or cycle to work/college every day, and live in one of the cheaper suburbs with a bunch of other people, you could save plenty and still go out every weekend.

If you want to live by yourself in an expensive part of the city, run a car and/or commute by train or bus every day, then it would be harder for you to save.

Get Real

I used to earn 20k a year and lived in Dublin. It all depends on what you want. I rented a room and budgeted 150 euro a week spending. Good healthy food was 35 a week, bus 20, then 100 for socialising. This might be a midweek film, then going out at weekend. Or I could just have one night out, good few drinks, food and taxi and had 6k a year savings.

Granted that was at a time of lower rents, and I was younger and had less actual needs/wants.

But now-say 40k gross-

accomm-(1 bed apartment) 12k a year

transport-2080 euro a year (leap card unlimited everything @40 euro a week)

Food-50 a week (good products, fresh fruit and veg, meat, treats)- 2600 a year.

Bills,insurance, misc-100 a week-5200 a year.

bare minimum to live, not going out etc- 22,000 a year.

left over- 18 k a year.

Take whatever you want to save from this and divide by 52, thats your leftover expenditure for nights out, treats, clothing, holidays etc.

say you prefer "living" over saving and want to save 5 k, you have circa 13k left to spend above your "bare minimum"

thats 250 euro a week disposable after food, bills, accom and transport.

Now if you want a car, that'd affect savings etc. You'd have to give somewhere. And I believe my estimates are quite realistic, apart from maybe rent.

Now that I earn more than 20k a year, I've increased my expenditure on accom, socialising etc. But transport and food (at home, not eating out) have remained same, so its doable with the above figures, and to still have savings.

Unless on a night out your idea of socialising is spending 2-300 rather than 60 or 70. Basically in same boat as you and am single and living comfortably but different strokes for different folks

Tar.Aldarion

Assumuing no pension, health etc you get 30,515.00 net on that, so those are the figures you are working with.
2550 pm, sounds quite doable if you are careful. Going mad every friday and sat is a different story.

Saipanne

Depends what you do on those nights out. Stay drinking pints or bottles, I'd say grand. But if you're a fan of Jaeger bombs.....

cython

Get Real wrote:

But now-say 40k gross-

I can only assume you meant to say net here, as you have accounted precisely 0 for tax, etc. as deductions from gross pay......

Royale with Cheese

It's not far off my situation. I share a room in a house, albeit in a decent location. I run a car, but it's not worth much and has a smallish engine so that's just 700 a year plus petrol + maintenance (nothing has ever gone wrong with it). I have an annual taxsaver ticket for the luas, definitely get something like this if you're commuting. I like to socialise but not all weekend, every weekend, I'm also a bit of a lightweight and would rarely spend more than 60-70 on a night out. I live extremely comfortably and save 500 a month, more currently. I even started a pension this year. Other people I know in my salary range complain about being broke and I really don't know what they're spending their money on. I suspect they're hiding it away somewhere and not being entirely truthful about their situation.

fleet

40k gross is way above what an entire family live off if one partner is working on the average industrial wage (about 31k AFAIR).

Of course you save on it!

30k+ net wage you could save 15k a year while still having a social life.

* Lose the car - cycle, public transport, motorbike/scooter, rent a car when needed
* Cook your own meals, buy a coffee machine etc.
* Drink less at bars/clubs (either less drink generally... or get plastered before you go out)

Saipanne

fleet wrote: »

40k gross is way above what an entire family live off if one partner is working on the average industrial wage (about 31k AFAIR).

Of course you save on it!

30k+ net wage you could save 15k a year while still having a social life.

* Lose the car - cycle, public transport, motorbike/scooter, rent a car when needed
* Cook your own meals, buy a coffee machine etc.
* Drink less at bars/clubs (either less drink generally... or get plastered before you go out)

15k seems like a lot.

Paco Rodriguez

Saipanne wrote: »

15k seems like a lot.

That's what I thought too. Unless he lived a hermit life he wouldn't save that.

I think it will have to be balanced from the social life. I myself have been here 9 years and have less money than I came to Dublin with. I got into a habit of socialising every weekend or watching sport at the bar.
At first I was trying to find new friends and went out alone. But I slipped into a comfort zone and spent far too much.

But I wouldn't go getting rid of the car OP. If you gave friends back home it's handy to have to zip down to them.
Just cycle to work if possible. That will save you alot.

Saipanne

I think saving 500 per month would be realistic, in this scenario. So 6000 per year.

keane2097

shadowcomplex wrote: »

going out every friday and saturday night for food and drinks

You'll be able to do that but won't be saving anything if you do realistically.

hfallada

OP get a house share. They are extremely common on the continent(but most Irish people think they are only for student). If you go to Germany, its perfectly acceptable to be in your mid-thirties and in a house share. You can get a room in a house share about €500 a month vs €1,000 a month for a shoe box apartment. Plus house shares are sociable.

I cant understand why most Irish people spend so much on a nightout. Im a Dubliner and find people from the country tend to spend a lot more on a nightout than a Dubliner. You can get drink specials in a lot of Bars around the city eg buy one get one free on cocktails etc. Dont eat Dinner out, unless its lunch or early bird, which is usually half the price of an evening meal.

Shop in Lidl, Aldi and local butchers. Local butchers can be super cheap compared to the supermarket and better. Eg FX Buckley on Moore Street often have great specials and their meat is far better than anything from a supermarket. Buy a bike and cycle into town. Its far faster than the bus and the exercise is better for you

ProudDUB

+1 on the early birds. You can get some really great deals, even in the so called "posh" restaurants, if you are prepared to eat a wee bit earlier than you normally would.

OP, sign up for the restaurant deals on sites like Groupon, CityDeals and CurlyPigsBack. You can often get coupon deals, where you get starter, main and a glass or bottle of wine for two, for 20-25 quid. They are generally only redeemable Sun-Thur, which are restaurants slow days. But if you are eating out on Sun & Thur, perhaps just going for drinks, or even (gasp !!! :eek: ) staying in on a Fri or Sat night, may be an option.

howyanow

I have always found nights out in Dublin more expensive.never have seen buy 1 get 1 free on alcohol,thought it was illegal to serve free alcohol?

Aard

^More expensive than where? Everywhere else in the country? That's to be expected tbh. BOGOF isn't that unusual, especially for shots or cocktails.

Piriz

40K is very decent money, i earn less and live well in Dublin, I rent a nice place close to town i share with my gf, I keep a nice car on the road, go out every weekend, save 550pm, have been on two week holiday abroad and have visited 2 other European cities for weekend breaks this year...in fairness i dont have an iphone:pac:

magicmoves

That is plenty of money to live a good life and save for a single person

TheBandicoot

I guess I am doing something wrong, I am on 36k(above the average industrial wage, so this should be liveable?) and have tried to make the maths work, and can't. It's about 2200 net a month. Take 1200 from that for a 1 bed apartment, maybe 400 to put in savings, 100 for a bus ticket, then food an entertainment and you are living paycheck-to-paycheck with not enough(personally) wiggle room on money.

I think it really only works if you are sharing and thus can keep your accommodation cost down in the 700-900 range.

Saipanne

TheBandicoot wrote: »

I guess I am doing something wrong, I am on 36k(above the average industrial wage, so this should be liveable?) and have tried to make the maths work, and can't. It's about 2200 net a month. Take 1200 from that for a 1 bed apartment, maybe 400 to put in savings, 100 for a bus ticket, then food an entertainment and you are living paycheck-to-paycheck with not enough(personally) wiggle room on money.

I think it really only works if you are sharing and thus can keep your accommodation cost down in the 700-900 range.

Eh, shared accommodation would save you 600 per month.

Sorry, didn't read it all. Why don't you share?

TheBandicoot

If I'm going to share, it may as well be with my family for cheaper - I don't have any friends to share with, and why share with random people when I can just stay with parents and save more money?

Tar.Aldarion

160 on lunch is an easy one to tackle. I'd say i spend 40 on lunch per month and could easily spend less. But that does involve making your own stuff. Something is wrong if lunch is 2x groceries for me

As said above rent is the killer there.