Saving money after the budget it getting harder every year

Every year at this time we find articles in the newspapers on saving money after the budget.  The Sunday Independent had it annual list saving money totaling over €6,000 per year.  Although there are many good ideas on the list, there are a couple of problems with these lists. The obvious one is that it is not possible to fall into every category on the list such as availing of Home phone and broadband combo while also availing of home phone and broadband savings separately.

The main problem is that the lists are more or less the same for the last 4 or 5 years.  And over these years most people have already implemented many of the suggested changes.  A large number of Irish families have cut as much as they can and adding more taxes this year may be the tipping point.  In many cases the switching of utilities has been carried out but any savings have been lost with the increases in tariffs by suppliers over the last few years.

With budgeting the basics are still the same.  Draw up a budget listing all your bills and outgoings.  You can use excel or any of the free tools to help you with this task as this also makes it much easier to update in the future.

With all your expenses listed, focus first on the most expensive to see where you can save. If you cannot save on the most expense such as not being able to move your mortgage, move onto the next highest bill and review it and so on.  A couple of minutes on the internet will let you know if you are with the most expensive supplier or not.

Always note dates that utility discount offers expire and don’t be too lazy to pick up the phone and move supplier when the discount period ends.

The most basic rule of them all is happiness is spending 10% less than what you earn.  If you are spending more than you earn, you need to look at all your expenditure and decide what has to give.  Don’t damage your health, either physical or mental by not dealing with your budget as the problems will be much harder to solve without a clear mind.  Ask for help, don’t suffer in silence. You are not the first or last person to have hit a wall and there is always a way out, but sometimes you need someone to show the way.