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.