A recent article in the Irish Independent highlighted that bank fees are costing the average household in Ireland €200 per year approximately.  And that €200 is not to pay for an overdraft facility, that’s a whole new set of additional fees on top of your basic charges.  That’s €200 a year to access your own money and you could save money by banking for free.

While we in Ireland are getting the hang of switching energy suppliers at the flick of a button to save money, we are less inclined to look at moving our bank account from one bank to another.  It is still possible to shop around and save money to keep your costs to the bare minimum or better yet, get “free” banking.  Consumerhelp.ie is a very useful site if you are looking to save money on banking fees and will quickly compare bank charges helping you choose which bank best suits your needs.

I manage to get my household bills banking requirements for free with an EBS moneymanager account.  I stay within the number of free ATM transactions a month and as one of our salary’s is paid into this account, I use it as my bill payments account. I use BillsManager.com to save money and manage my household bills, paying almost all bills by direct debit or standing order, again no bank charges apply.  For those bills that cannot be paid by direct debit or standing order, I dispense from my account using internet banking, again free of bank charges.

BillsManager.com, the free online budgeting tool, keeps me on track of my household bills and expenses setting out exactly what I need to set aside for my bills every month.  It  takes 20 minutes to set up your family household budget and then 15 minutes a month to manage all your bills thereafter.  And yes its Free!