Balancing The Household Budget
The dilemma when expenditure is greater than income is the same for a government, business, or individual is exactly the same, increase income or decrease expenditure. That is why I have focused last week and this week on savings that can be made. Indeed yesterday I reviewed the policies for a single girl and managed to get a saving of 150 on her house insurance and 320 on health insurance- this is a saving of 470 per annum!
Other areas to look at are:
Telecoms
SKYPE is the best kept secret on the internet! The majority of us have broadband connection at home which is a requirement for joining SKYPE. Once you join all calls to other SKYPE users are free (you can also see the other person if you have a webcam connected to your computer!), and you can make as many landline calls as you want to anywhere in Ireland or Europe for less than €5 euros per month. I personally make all of my landline business and personal calls through SKYPE which has reduced my mobile bill by over €100 per month.
You should always check your telecom bill and review the top 10 most called and top 10 most expensive – this can be very revealing
Check out Comreg’s website www.callcosts.ie , it gives you all the broadband operators and various costs associated.
Health Insurance
I want to reemphasise again that massive savings can be made by switching from VHI to another health insurer. Please e-mail me your existing plan details and premium and I will come back with a comparison.
Club Memberships
Review your health club – if you enjoy membership, ensure you are getting value. Monitor your weight and fitness. Same applies to golf clubs, or any sporting or social membership. IF YOU ARE NOT USING IT, CUT IT OUT.
24th August 2009- How to cut Monthly Bills
A key area of what Moneydoctor does is looking to save people money through simple, honest financial advice. With this in mind I am concentrating this week on what is going out of your current account every month, and how to reduce these outgoings.
Here are five examples of savings that Moneydoctor personal clients have made since the start of the year:
1. A monthly reduction of € 255 in expenditure for a family of four with a gross income of € 39,000
2. A monthly reduction of € 580 in expenditure for a family of seven with a gross income of € 67,000
3. An increase of € 580 annually on the return of a € 29,000 investment
4. A saving of € 3,580 annually on life and health insurances for a couple both aged 42
5. A saving of €1260 annually for a single mother following a review of all of her life, health and general insurance policies.
Similar savings can be made by everyone if you review the following areas with a Qualified Financial Advisor:
1. Life cover – review ALL your health policies : life and mortgage protection, serious illness cover, income protection ( the only type of insurance that attracts tax relief and at your marginal rate )
2. health insurance – VHI, Hibernian Aviva or Quinn Healthcare – keyman and business protection insurance. You would be surprised at the savings you can make.
3. General insurance – check for inefficiencies Buildings insurance, contents et al – is your cover competitive ?
4. Use An Post’s BillPay service – for those who do not have a current account or who wish to save on the cost of direct debits and standing orders, you can pay any one of 120 bills through any of the Post Offices in Ireland via cash or your debit card. There is no charge for this service.
Ensure you go to an Authorised Advisor like Money Doctor who must give “best advice”. You can contact me directly at the e-mail below if you want me or my collegues to look into your own financial situation and see if there are any savings that can be made.
Shane Mooney
Money Doctor Adviser
If you are receiving a redundancy payment it may be liable for tax. It
is worth seeking professional help ensure that you optimise that payment
and pay the least possible amount of tax on it.
-Be smart with your redundancy payment! Although it is tempting to go out
and spend it on a holiday, a new car, or home improvements, don’t! There
are better uses for the money which make financial sense; do you have
credit card debt, can you reduce your mortgage balance and thus reduce
monthly payments, will the sum be needed to balance the household
budget?…
Be smart with your surplus cash- do not leave it sitting in your current
account! At least transfer it into your bank’s deposit and transfer
funds to your current account when you need to. If the deposit is sizable
negotiate the rate with your bank- its rates may be far less attractive
than its competitors and there may be room to get a better return.
Contact a qualified financial advisor who will research the market and
source the best returns for you.
Plan to have a contingency fund which covers at between three and six
months of the household budget. There are three very good reasons for this
rainy day account:
For emergencies (washing machine breakdowns etc)
As a safety net (in case of mortgage rate increases etc)
As seed capital for unexpected investment opportunities
This may seem a daunting sum to raise at first, however there are a number
of regular saver accounts with attractive rates which makes the task
easier. Again your financial advisor can source the best account to suit
your needs.
Shane Mooney, QFA MBA MMII Grad
Shane is a Qualified Financial Advisor and is regulated by the Financial Regulator. He has over 20 years experience in Financial Services and as a Moneydoctor believes in delivering independent, honest, professional advice.
Shane can be contacted directly at www.moneydoctor.ie or e-mail smooney@moneydoctor.ie