Monthly Archives: February 2013

  • Managing your money – Are you living within your means? Managing your money – Are you living within your means?

    Managing your money – Are you living within your means?

Managing your money – Are you living within your means?

Managing money is not about earning loads of money, it is all about managing the money that you earn and as your granny might have said, “cut your cloth according to your measure”.  In other words only spending what you have, cutting costs if and where necessary and living within your means.

What is “living within your means”?  This is when you are spending less money than you are making.  Nowadays, many people do not live this way.  In many cases they live above their means which causes stress and upset not only financially but also physically.  Some may be doing so without realising it, as they do not know how much money they are actually spending.  In some cases they don’t even know what their total income is.  To some people, it is more about keeping up appearances and keeping up with “The Jones’s” than keeping up with their finances.

Keeping records of your money, both income and expenditure, will enable you discover if you are living within your means.  Armed with these records, you can clearly see where savings can be made on your current spending if necessary to bring you in line with living within your means.   Your current income will support a certain standard of living – you should choose to live within your means or increase your income to support your expenditure.

Best place to start is a budget.  Keeping track of all income and expenditure is made easy using BillsManager.com.  Firstly, set up your budget, which will clearly show you your annual outgoings.  It will also let you know how much you need to set aside for your bills each week or month before you start any discretionary spending.   Then […]

By |February 28th, 2013|blog|0 Comments
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  • Want to start a budget? – start with a positive attitude Want to start a budget? – start with a positive attitude

    Want to start a budget? – start with a positive attitude

Want to start a budget? – start with a positive attitude

Most people make a really good effort to try to set put a budget and stick to it.  Some people become disheartened and give up before they start to feel any real financial benefit.  A number of issues can cause the collapse of a household budget but attitude is the biggest one, a positive attitude will make it a lot easier to succeed.

Let us look at the meaning of the word Budget according to the dictionary.  The word budget can mean cheap, economical or modest – these terms are negative and not very encouraging.  It can also me to plan ahead, account or make provision for.  The latter is a more positive way of looking at it.  If you always think of cheap or see it as having to live in a modest, penny-pinching way, then you are starting off with a negative sense of the word.

A positive attitude towards your budget is crucial to your success.  If you think of your budget in a positive way remembering that it is helping you to reach your goals, you will find that it is much easier to stick to.  Include all of your expenses so that it is not only the mortgage and utility bills that are contained in your budget.  Reward yourself along the way.  Remember to plan for other expenses such as birthdays and holidays, so when you book that break away, there is the satisfaction in knowing that the money has been set aside for it and all you have to do is enjoy it!

Try the free online tool, BillsManager.com to set out your household budget.  You can follow the step by step instructions to set it up and once set […]

By |February 27th, 2013|blog|0 Comments
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  • Teach your children to manage their money Teach your children to manage their money

    Teach your children to manage their money

Teach your children to manage their money

According to an article in the Evening Herald yesterday, some Irish teenagers are being paid over €1,500 a year in pocket money.  The survey by the Irish League of Credit Unions reported that 51% of those surveyed stated that they received pocket money which ranges between €5 and less up to €30 or more per week.  The aims of the survey were to look at the financial perception teenagers have and their views on saving and spending money.

It is imperative that we equip our children how to use money especially in the current economic climate.  This life skill needs to be taught in an easy and fun way and in a manner that does not appear to be preaching to them.

When giving your child their pocket money, ensure they understand what it is for.  Firstly, they should earn this money, by doing their household chores.  These should be age specific and checked, if the job isn’t done right, then they should do it again or get a reduced allowance.  They should of course clean up their own room and perhaps help with meal time prep before and/or after free of charge.  Money has to be earned, it does not come free!

Teach them to budget – how to plan their spending.  Instil in them to have a sensible attitude to money management.  Explain that they should spend a little, save some towards something they really want like a laptop or phone or for their future and share some.   Teach them to be civic minded, encourage them to donate a small percentage of their money to a charity.  Children learn from what they can see, through experience and from your guidance.  Try the free […]

By |February 26th, 2013|blog|0 Comments
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  • Budget for your new baby Budget for your new baby

    Budget for your new baby

Budget for your new baby

Congratulations on your fantastic news and when the excitement of finding out you are pregnant has worn off, you will need to budget for your new baby.  A new baby brings financial changes and budgeting challenges.  Planning for your little one will involve putting together a list of costs.

This list can be split into sections, outlay on one- time expenses and the on- going monthly expenses.  One- time expenditure includes medical bills (if any) incurred during your pregnancy, car seat, pram, cot, etc.  Most of these can be either bought second hand or perhaps your friends or family will either gift them to you or if they have had children themselves, you may be able to borrow them.

I found a helpful budget tool on nca.ie called “baby budget planner” which lists off most of the equipment required and if you use the internet to price the items you need to purchase, you will soon have a better idea on what the initial outlay will be for your new baby.   You should also factor in the loss of earnings whilst you are out, how much will you get paid during your maternity leave?

The on-going expenses will need to be factored into your household budget also.  Childcare costs will be a sizeable addition to your budget.  Your electricity and gas bills will inevitably increase as will your shopping bills due to additional purchases of nappies, formula milk, baby food and clothes etc.

Keep track of your income and expenditure on BillsManager.com; include the on-going additional expenditure brought to bear when the little one arrives.  But in the meantime, you have the best part of 9 months to plan for the one off buys and as […]

By |February 25th, 2013|blog|0 Comments
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  • Is your household budget keeping you captive or setting you free? Is your household budget keeping you captive or setting you free?

    Is your household budget keeping you captive or setting you free?

Is your household budget keeping you captive or setting you free?

Our household budget definitely does not keep us captive, it sets us free.  We budget so that we are free from the worry of paying bills.   We want to plan our spending so that we pay all our bills on time and this helps us to see clearly how much money is left over (if any) to enable us to make decisions on any other purchases at any time.  We chose to set out a budget using the free online tool, BillsManager, which made it easy for us to understand how much money we needed to set aside monthly towards all our household bills.

We update our BillsManager budget account on a monthly basis and it automatically updates our budget if any of the bills paid in the month are over or less than what we have planned they would be.  We can check how we are doing in relation to our annual spending at any stage in the month and armed with this information we can see if we can afford that new TV or buy those concert tickets.

We have included a summer holiday savings in our BillsManager budget which means we are saving towards our family holiday on a monthly basis and know that come June, we have that money set aside to enjoy without affecting our cash flow.  In fact, we add the not so traditional bills into our plan also and if we have forgotten an expense, we just add it in as it occurs, that way it will be provided for the next time the expense falls due.  For instance, I find that around the children’s birthdays, money seems to just haemorrhage from our pockets. We have […]

By |February 22nd, 2013|blog|0 Comments
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  • Discretionary spending, is this where your budget is draining Discretionary spending, is this where your budget is draining

    Discretionary spending, is this where your budget is draining

Discretionary spending, is this where your budget is draining

Those forgotten purchases that all add up, discretionary spending is where the budget can be drained and if left unchecked it can be completely blown out of the water.  So you think you have included all your bills into your budget and you are on track to taking control of your money but for some reason each month the funds in the account don’t quite stretch to cover the bills.

Perhaps you have forgotten the monthly subscription to a magazine that doesn’t even get opened anymore let alone read by anyone in the household.  This might cost between €50 and €70 per year.   Or you might enjoy your latte or cappuccino every day for your elevenses to wash down that scone or croissant.  If we say the average cost of just a coffee is €2.50, this equates to €12.50 per 5 day working week which is an astonishing €650 per year.  That is not including the scone or croissant.

Are the kids buying games on their consoles or paying unnecessary subscriptions for games that they no longer use.  Are they constantly on their iPod or iPad buying music or apps that are a must today but forgotten about by the end of the week? In fact, by the time you get your credit card bill they have forgotten what they bought.  It is very easy to buy these games, apps etc. and when it doesn’t seem to affect the cash in your pocket, it is the ignored squandering.

Now is the time to start keeping track of all your household expenditure. BillsManager.com has a very easy to use, income and expenditure sheet, to help you keep track of all spending.  This is a free online tool […]

By |February 22nd, 2013|blog|0 Comments
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  • Household budget – it’s your business Household budget – it’s your business

    Household budget – it’s your business

Household budget – it’s your business

Similar to running a business, your household should be run on a snug budget.  The household budget should be set out annually but reviewed as new bills or changes in income and expenditure take place.  This would mean that a regular monthly budget check would make common sense.

As in business there needs to be room for negotiation between “management” (person responsible for running the household) and the “board” (the rest of the family): allowing discussions on discretionary spending such as holidays, clothing allowances, entertainment etc., how much can be allocated after all other fixed and irregular bills have been budgeted for.

When the whole family are involved in setting out the allocation spend for holidays say, they will all be made aware of the overall household budget and perhaps realise that if they remember to turn off that light, or switch off the TV when they leave the room, that this might make the difference between day trip to Bangor or 2 weeks in Barbados!  This will help the whole family focus on the family goals and may get everyone working towards reducing the running costs of your home.

An excellent free tool to help you manage your household budget can be found at BillsManager.com.  When you start up a household budget account here, it will not only track your spending but will also keep you on track with future spending.

BillsManager will adjust your budget automatically for you; if your car insurance bill is cheaper this year, BillsManager will correct the figure for next years’ bill.  A regular update to your BillsManager account allows you to see your household cash flow and indicates how much money you need at any given time […]

By |February 19th, 2013|blog|0 Comments
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  • Stop Throwing your Money in the Bin Stop Throwing your Money in the Bin

    Stop Throwing your Money in the Bin

Stop Throwing your Money in the Bin

I came across a very interesting website, www.stopfoodwaste.ie, on the topic of how much food we Irish waste, literally throwing our money in the bin.  The statistics are astonishing and really we could save money if we just stopped throwing away food.  Savings of as little as €700 or as much as over €1000 per year could be made by making changes to how we shop and how we store our food.

The average household in Ireland will throw about 1.2 ton of rubbish in a year.   Approximately, 30% of this rubbish accounts for food and a further 35% of the rubbish we throw into our black bins could be recycled.  The main types of food wasted is bread, apples, potatoes, salads, meat and fish, dairy such as milk and yogurt, spreads and dips.

So some minor adjustments to your shopping list would mean saving money two fold, firstly by spending less on your shopping bill and secondly by having fewer bin lifts.  Save money by planning your meals in advance and always check what you already have in the cupboards and fridge before you go shopping.  Be mindful of the “Use by” dates on perishables and use the foods with the shortest dates first.  Some fresh foods can be frozen and used later in the week or month, but always check the packaging or advice given by your supermarket.

Only buy what you will eat.  Many of us would like to be eating the healthy options and include our “5 a day” on the shopping list, but do you eat your 5 a day.  Don’t buy it if you or your family will not eat it.  Use leftovers to make another meal for the family […]

By |February 1st, 2013|blog|0 Comments
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