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So you have a good income your able to support your family and your not too bad with money bar the shoe addiction or the teenagers in your life costing you a fortune but on the whole life is good😊

All your hearing lately is the cost of inflation and everything is going up and up except your salary. It now costs a €100 to fill your average car with petrol or diesel. Electricity rising home heating oil everything rising .

I have heard myself say close the door I’m not heating the garden or put on a jumper for goodness sake I’m not made of money!!  

Some days it feels  like our living costs are outpacing our incomes. The reality is that during these uncertain times, we can gain the upper hand by going back to the tried and true. Here are some suggestions to get you started

Take a hard look at your spending habits

Those of you who are in our Simple Money group https://www.facebook.com/groups/655478178385886/ will be sick of me going on and on about creating a budget! Well here I go again if you haven’t made a budget do it now. The amount of people we talk to who don’t even know how much they are paid is scary . You need to know this to know how much you can spend.

When it seems that there’s more month than money, it’s time to take a hard, honest look at your spending habits with a fresh perspective. Challenge everyone in your family to write down everything they spend money on for one month. I will remind of this again in JANUARY it’s hard to do this in the run up to Christmas but at least please make a budget for the man in the red suit.

You might be surprised to learn how much you spend on certain things – eating out when shuttling kids between activities or coffees on the go are among the culprits for many people. This is my big thing I’ll stop off at my local deli for coffee and prob a sausage roll or if we are super busy we will run up for lunch.

Look for lots of small savings – together they can make a surprising difference

Next, consider your fixed expenses. Sit down with a calculator and all of your bills. Go through each one line by line. Communication bundles often eat up more than we expect.. Take a look at your mobile phone bills and see what you can scale back on. Eliminate anything that you aren’t fully utilizing. If you’ve chosen bigger plans “just in case,” figure out if it’s actually worth paying €6 a month (which is actually €72/year plus vat) for something you might only use once a year.

Look at those subscriptions how many apps have you signed up to etc. are you using all of these?

Use our budget planner https://ko-fi.com/s/7bb0cec3b3

Challenge your family and tackle your utilities  bill; turn the lights off when leaving a room, do laundry with cold water and unplug devices that aren’t used much.

Look at switching providers check out https://www.bonkers.ie/ for comparison prices. Look at your life insurance etc. and see are you paying too much and come to us for that if you haven’t already! Yes shameless plug I know😊 Don’t change your insurance without getting proper advice !

Your buddy in the pub doesn’t count unless they are a Financial Advisor and yes we can also be found in the pub from time to time but if you see us there we are definitely off duty!

Pay down your most expensive debt

Every little bit helps, and the most significant thing you can do to get ahead is to pay down debt. As you look at your bills, prioritize your debts. As you decrease your spending on other expenses, apply the additional funds to your high interest debts. Use the debt snowball effect. Again check out our financial fitness post in our group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/655478178385886/permalink/995720117695022

By focusing on all the little things that you can do, rather than on factors beyond your control, you’ll set yourself up for success.

Still wondering why not book a review here https://davidkelleher.ie/arrange-a-consultation/  and we will give you a professional and honest review of what you have or don’t have, who knows you might save money. And you won’t be bamboozled with jargon! We say it as it is 😊.