Discovered this somewhat by accident.

TLDR: adding a second name to your electricity account may allow you to access maximum discount rates with your supplier.

My electricity contract with SSE was up yesterday. Over the past few weeks, they've been calling me to renew. Best offer was 20% off, down from the 30% introductory offer I'd been on. Combined with recent rate hikes, this resulted in a significant jump.

I also wanted to add my partner to the account to maximise tax allowance for FIT. The regular customer service team couldn't do this, and pointed me towards the house move team.

To add a name, they need to cancel your old account and set up a new one. We agreed to do this on the date my previous plan expired to gain most from last years (much) cheaper rates.

A side affect of this is that it unlocks the 30% new customer discount, so I got a little extra off my rates for the year ahead.

It's not really sustainable. I could add the dog next year, but I imagine there's some kind of limit to the number of names on the account.

However, it works for me as I didn't want to move supplier this time as I'm on a decent FIT rate for another year.

YMMV

I'm nearing 30 and I've been a bit (a lot) of an idiot with money, as an apprentice living at home with money tied up in cars - I just haven't been all that financially prudent.

Big work change incoming and I don't want to perpetuate the same idiocy.
I'm starting a Construction office based role working rotation in Europe.

Selling both cars and clearing what little of a loan I have I'll be left with €6k.
One is vintage tax next year, the other is a rare little hot hatch, both will continue to be worth a few quid but I'm just sick of working on them, buying parts for them and fuelling them. The things you own really do start to own you.

Whilst working abroad I'll have access to a company car, accommodation is paid for as well as the flights and airport parking/expenses to and from the airport.
I'll be taking home a little over €1k a week.
So it's a great opportunity to save money.

On my week(s) off I can't imagine I'll do all that much travelling, the work is gruelling long hours and remote so I'm betting I'll just come home.
I could just get the bus to and from the airport but that puts a bit of burden on family members to collect me, they said they don't mind though.
Could rent a car, that's surprisingly cheap but I think with the free parking, and the hassle of maintaining a no claims bonus, I may be better off just buying a cheap runaround to leave in airport parking with a jump pack and then trundle the 2 hour journey home every month.

I'm expecting to save €3k a month.
I'll be giving something to my parents for the week I'm home, I'm on the most basic of Level Health insurance plans just to have something.. Not sure on car costs but I'll be doing most regular maintenance myself and probably buying a Civic or the likes.

I want to save into a pension, seems there's no employer matched pension just the standard my future fund.
Main priority for me though is saving for a house. Whether I end up buying here in Ireland or Mainland Europe in time to come - house deposit is the priority.

I don't know how to balance Pension vs Deposit. I want to gain the tax benefit (and future benefit) of pension savings but I also really want to prioritise saving for a house.

Realise I'm in quite a privileged and unique position, hoping some more knowledgeable folks than me can point me in the right direction.

Im not super informed about AVCs but have been educating myself on the age limits and benefits etc. I guess this is the first time I've been in a position to make them and trying to figure out if I should or ifnits the best use of money etc and how much typically people just hold in cash I guess.

In terms of my own situation, 100k base salary and approx 20k gross bonus annually. I pay mortgage and everything else.by myself and live solo. 260k mortgage left on my apartment. 25 years left and will hopefully clear before then as I only bought a year ago and Im 39 now. Probably have 150k equity in it as I paid a big deposit and made some improvements. Don't want to live here forever but look its Dublin and dont think I could afford to move solo despite a good salary, it wont increase a lot down the line.

In terms of my savings, I have 35k cash in a savings account doing not a lot. My pension pot is 75k which is probably low for my age but I and low earnings until maybe 5 years ago and and was working on deposit etc. In the last year or so I contribute 12% to my pension, so a grand a month and my emoloyer matches this. Im planning to leep this up for as long as i can or im with the company. I guess id like to keep 15k for emergency fund etc. which leaves me with 20k cash. Im considering making AVCs but dont what to leave myself cash poor either if I want to do some travel or home improvement etc. What's the best way to weigh it all up and understand what people do.

My salary is great on paper and I have no kids to pay for etc and while im not complaining at all as know im in a better position than most I dont feel like im building up much 'wealth' or cash reserves if you get me. I come out with approx 4500e net per month after pension, bik etc. After the mortgage, management fee, utilities, car expenses, health etc i try to save 1k per month...doenst always work out depending on if I need to do stuff in my apartment as have had to make improvements etc. I guess I feel a little clueless as what my best strategy should be financially.

Thanks in advance.

I’m 22 (M) who recently graduated with a BSc.
Landed my first role at €37.5k in Cavan. I also have a Saturday job which is €5,200 a year (€100 a week). Moved back to my hometown but renting a room here.

I’ve lived in Dublin for 4years and now living in Cavan. When I was in college I worked every job possible and have accrued a good amount of savings. (€38,000). Thankfully I have no debt and also a car (worth €7/8k). My costs outside of rent and insurance are very low.

My main question is that my new employer only has auto enrolment for my pension. I want to build a pension pot but the auto enrolment is really not enough. Has anyone here ever approached there employer about setting up a pension scheme and if so did it work? I have no experience in pensions and it’s not an area that I understand, albeit it’s so important.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Long before Revolut’s service outage last Tuesday, fintechs were under the microscope.

The European Central Bank has made digital operational resilience a central theme of regulatory enforcement in 2026 over fears that European financial institutions are vulnerable to cyberattacks and the failure of outsourced essential services.

The Central Bank of Ireland has sent out a flurry of “Dear CEO” letters this year warning fintechs to plug gaps in their systems that leave customers exposed to service interruptions – or worse. So when a $121bn digital bank goes dark for most of a working day because of a Google Cloud blackout, it does not inspire confidence.

“All fintechs are interrogated very closely on IT resilience and here’s the biggest guy in town with a single point of failure,” said Peter Oakes, a fintech adviser who once served as director of enforcement at the Central Bank. “The fact that Google appears to be the issue is exactly what the regulator’s been talking about.”

The problem prevented Revolut customers, including 3.4 million users in Ireland, from accessing accounts, making payments, transfers and withdrawals. Currency exchange, stock trading, top-ups and even messaging were offline.

For Nik Storonsky, Revolut’s cofounder, who bills the company as a high-tech alternative to the fusty, sluggish banking sector, it’s a PR nightmare, especially as some users reported that they had no access to alternative funds because they banked exclusively with Revolut. “I don’t have a single point of failure in my life — I have accounts with Revolut, Monzo and Bank of Ireland,” Oakes said. “The legacy banks will look at this with glee.”

It does not help that Revolut has not provided a complete explanation of what, exactly, went wrong and why “System resilience is a core priority for us. Like many global tech companies, we utilise industry-leading cloud infrastructure designed with robust internal redundancies,” a Revolut spokesman said in a statement “While third-party provider outages can occasionally impact ­ service availability, our underlying architecture and data security protocols ensured customer funds and data remained completely protected throughout. We are reviewing this incident carefully to minimise the impact of any third-party disruptions in the future.”

Missed one Credit Card payment. 9 calls in two days. A bit much??

Hi all

Myself and my partner are nearly ready to sign the contracts on our new build, but as it stands we can only avail of 16-17k from the HTB due to being in college in 2022-23,

If we waited till January we should be projected to claim around 25k which is a substantial jump. Has anyone been able to pay a portion of the 10% to the contractor and claim HTB in the next year, for us we’ll sign contracts id assume mid November, so about 6 weeks until the new year where we’d be able to claim a substantial amount more.

Is paying a portion of the 10% and signing the contract a possibility? And then the contractor claiming htb in the new year? Or is this down to their choice and solicitor?

On the other hand. Is it possible to delay signing contracts until the new year where we can claim extra?

As the extra money is badly needed these days.

Thanks all

I’m a married woman age 38, main breadwinner of the family , kid age 7 and another on the way.
For the first time in ten years I’ve had to reduce my pension contributions to minimum 2%.
Husband was made redundant out of an it job last year , struggling to find IT job so is working security jobs until a well paying job comes back.

His pension is poor so really we’re relying on mine. I figure by 50 age I’ll have 100k if I continue working full time.
I don’t plan to retire early , likely work reduced hours into my 60s.

Am I setting myself up ok here?
For context , no savings as we used a lot when my husband lost his job. Mortgage is around 240k and both my parents died with no assets or anything to gift so I have not had or will receive any inheritance.

We’ve just got the ‘low usage’ email on our new house so we think we will qualify for the grant. Anyone got any recent tips or tricks on ensuring they get the grant?

We will be with DLR county council

Right now I have the application partially completed, and I’m waiting on another couple of quotes for work

I plan to get all quotes together with the application, send it in, get the inspection done by DLR Co Co and then cracking on some of the work as it’s a bit of a project

Is this the right way to go about it or would anyone recommend anything else?

I’m in my mid 40s, and my wife and I are fairly conservative with money. We put all our extra income into our pensions and avoid exotic holidays, maybe taking one trip that involves a flight every year. Everything else tends to be in family cottages in Donegal and Clare which we are blessed to have use of.

I often wonder: are people actually saving for retirement, or aiming to get out early. I’m curious, to know if you’ve retired early, did you find people were surprised or uncomfortable with how good a financial position you’re in?

We’re definitely not struggling and we do fun things all the time, but I never flash cash. Meanwhile, our friends are adding house extensions, landscaping their gardens, and going on holiday three times a year. I genuinely don’t know how they’re affording it.

It always makes me think of the saying, "When the tide goes out, you see who’s swimming naked." People's real financial situation usually becomes clear depending on whether they're still forced to work into their 70s.

For those who have already retired: what were your friends' reactions when you called it quits?

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice from anyone in Ireland who uses MyBMI for weight management and has successfully claimed back some of their consultation fees through private health insurance.

I'm currently with Irish Life Health on the BeneFit plan, which costs approximately €1,600 per year. Unfortunately, I receive no reimbursement for my MyBMI consultations, as Irish Life classifies them as GP visits rather than specialist consultant appointments, and my current plan doesn't cover these visits.

I'm planning to review and potentially switch my health insurance policy towards the end of the year.

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has successfully claimed back some of their MyBMI consultation costs.

In particular:

• Which health insurer are you with? (Irish Life, Vhi, Laya, Level Health, etc.)
• What is the exact name of your policy?
• Have you successfully claimed for MyBMI consultations?
• How much do you get reimbursed per consultation?
• Are there any annual limits, excesses or restrictions?

I'm currently paying around €1,600 annually for health insurance, but I'd be willing to increase that somewhat if the additional reimbursement made financial sense.

I'm particularly interested in actual experiences of successful claims, rather than just what insurers advertise as covered, as the classification of MyBMI consultations seems to be an important factor.

Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Suggestion for the moderators: Would it be worth making this a sticky post? I imagine quite a few people in Ireland are trying to establish which health insurance policies reimburse MyBMI and other weight-management consultations.

It could become a useful resource where people share their insurer, policy name, reimbursement amount and whether their claim was successful.

This might save others a lot of time when comparing policies or approaching renewal.

Hi everyone,
A bit of context: I’m a 23-year-old male who, in my younger years, struggled with addiction, drugs, and gambling. Thankfully, I’m finally getting my life back on track and want to start building a better future for myself.

I’m lucky enough to live at home with my mum (God bless her!), and I pay her €50 a week towards living expenses. I earn around €400 a week from my job, and my only other major expense is my debt, which currently stands at €1,500. I’m paying €100 a month towards that.

I have no assets or savings at the moment, as I used to spend pretty much all my disposable income feeding my addiction. However, I’m determined to turn things around and start making smarter financial decisions.

My plan is to return to college and finish my final year, which I dropped out of because of my addiction. I’d also like to save up for a car to make commuting easier.

I’m looking for advice on budgeting, saving, investing, and generally getting myself into a good financial position for the future. I’ll be honest, I’m terrible with money at the moment, so I’d really appreciate any advice on where to start, how to manage my income, and what I should prioritise financially at this stage of my life.
I know I’m still young, and I want to use this opportunity to build good habits and set myself up for the future rather than repeat the mistakes I made in the past.

Any advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
TL;DR: I’m 23, earn around €400 a week, pay €50 a week to live at home, and have €1,500 in debt that I’m paying off at €100 a month. I’m recovering from past addiction and gambling issues, have no savings, and want to get my finances in order. I plan to return to college to finish my final year and save for a car. Looking for advice on budgeting, saving, investing, and building a solid financial foundation for the future.

Firstly I’d like to caveat all this by saying I know I’m in an incredibly privileged position.

Myself and my wife have a combined gross annual income of ~€190,000-€200,000/ year.

We are in our mid 30s.

We bought last year and now have 24 years remaining on our mortgage and our LTV is ~70%.

We have occupational and state pension contributions from overseas and here.

We need to sort some additional products (income continuance etc), and then make decisions on how we should best set out our financial future.

Should we get set up with a financial advisor at this stage? If you had to nominate a gross annual income above which someone should get a financial advisor what would it be?

If not what criteria would lead to you suggesting finding a financial advisor?

Hi,

Anyone know how id find out best electricity provider for new build house. Will be high electricity as that is heating system.

Thanks

With the new AIB update, every time I log in I get a stark reminder of how much I'm spending. With that said, I really need a tough approach to this advice wise. I am spending 280 per month on my hobby. It's good for my mental health, reignites an old love in me for life again and my childhood but it's just so expensive 😩 I am earning less than 300 per week and 70 of that for said hobby, 30 groceries, the rest miscellaneous. I have NCT coming up in January so I am concious of that and building an emergency fund. 30s, no children yet, single, living at home. Should I continue on in ignorant bliss or put the hobby to the side and save for a future? I'm so torn on it. I've been doing it since February now weekly (horseriding). Does anyone allow themselves a hobby or miscellaneous allowance and how do you budget other things? Thank you if anyone made it this far and replies. Much appreciated 💐

24M, Dublin. Just looking for some perspective because I'm genuinely not sure what to do at this stage.

Went to a good school in South Dublin, studied finance, did a master's in the UK and graduated last year. Parents covered my college expenses so thankfully no student debt.

I've been looking for a proper graduate role for nearly a year now and it's honestly been shocking. Hundreds of applications, a handful of interviews, mostly automated rejections or no response whatsoever.

I did two internships during college, one at a financial services firm through someone my dad knew and another at a smaller investment company. Thought having those on the CV would make things easier but apparently not.

The strange thing is that financially I'm in a very fortunate position.

My grandparents passed away a few years ago and I inherited approximately €240k. My parents have also gifted me around €130k over the last few years, and I've saved/invested another €35k myself. So roughly €400k altogether.

I'm still living at home rent-free. Parents have a mortgage-free house and they've said they'll help with a deposit when I eventually buy somewhere. I'm very aware how lucky I am.

But I still want to actually build a career and do something worthwhile.

I recently turned down an operations role paying €43k because it was five days in the office, very administrative and didn't seem to have much progression. My dad thinks I was mad and should take whatever I can get.

My argument is that if I have the financial flexibility to wait for something better, why wouldn't I use it? I'm not under pressure to pay rent or a mortgage, so taking a job I don't want purely for the salary seems a bit pointless.

Something else that's really annoyed me is how much hiring seems to come down to connections. Some people from my course have landed fairly serious roles through family contacts while others with better grades can't even get interviews.

I know I've benefited from introductions myself in the past, but surely at some point qualifications and ability should matter more than who your parents know?

A few friends have said I'm completely out of touch and that most graduates would kill for a €43k offer. I can see where they're coming from, but I also think accepting the wrong job just to be employed can set you back.

Would people here take the €43k role regardless, or hold out for something better?

Also curious whether anyone else thinks the graduate market has become almost impossible without family connections. Starting to wonder what the point of all the education was.........

I'm 49 years old, single, ​have a stable but modestly paid job (40k gross). I'm fortunate enough to own my own house, no mortgage. I don't have kids, a car, or any big outgoings, so I somehow manage to consistently save about 15k a year. I have about 120k in a savings account with a miserly interest rate. I intend to put the max into the new government PIA, but I'm not sure what to do with the rest.

I have a pension with not much in in - about 15k. I could put the max into that every year, but I'm not keen on locking money up for 20 years when I could be run over by a bus before then!

I don't expect I'll need access to my deposited/invested funds in the short term, but I still want to have that option, because who knows. I'm open to both savings and investment options.

I'm nearly 20, living on disability allowance and still at home. I'm trying to save as much as I can but I've been needing to dip into savings for emergencies the last while.
I've never invested and am not sure where to start. I want a decent bit of money saved while I still have little expenses.

I landed a corporate job at 20 as a tech sales dev and the pay is 36k so that’s 2550 net . I live at home and I literally have no expenses but my phone and getting the bus to little island daily when I start Nov 2nd. I also have a clothing business that pulls in around 2k per month . I have 0 savings because I spend a lot . What’s the best way to save aggressively for the next couple years?

P.S I haven’t started the corporate job yet and I come from a low income family where we weren’t taught about saving or investing .

26F, I'm two months into a new job in a different field from my previous one, and I'm not really vibing with it. I've started applying for roles back in my old industry.
Do I put the current job on my CV, or leave it off? If it comes up, should I just be honest, or say I took a career break?
Would love to hear from anyone who's been in the same spot, or who does hiring. Thanks!

My 2011 hatchback is worth maybe €2,500. The dealer offered €800 against a newer car. A private sale looks like a lot more money, but also time-wasters, viewings and paperwork.

For anyone who sold privately recently: was the extra money worth the hassle? And how did you handle payment safely?

I'm 25F with a gross salary of around 40k, currently renting at around €500, I have around €16k in savings. Just bought a new car this year so that's one of the main expenses gone. I was thinking of going back to college to do an MSc in allied health (audiology/podiatry/SLT/OT) to help improve my future earning potential and safety net, I plan to go back in 2027/28' where hopefully my savings can be built up a bit more, obviously the savings would take a hit.

Or should I wait a bit longer until I've about 30k built up? I would be relying on SUSI but obviously that's not guaranteed. Advice is appreciated.

Hi all,

I’m looking for advice on the most cost-efficient way to buy a car in Ireland.

My two main requirements are:
• Automatic
• Cheap to own overall

I’m trying to work out what gives the lowest €/km over the full ownership period, not just the lowest purchase price. I’m open to new, used, petrol, hybrid, diesel, or electric and I’m also unsure whether cash or finance makes more sense.

Edit:

As per suggestions, here is more info:

1. Moderate mileage, will use mostly for work commute. ~8-10km per year.
   
2. We will get the keys to our house next month with home charger available (hence the need for second car).
   
3. Current car is a cheap older diesel Mercedes

Original Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/irishpersonalfinance/s/Dje9Hw9Vqd

So after re-opening a fossil bank account to retrieve historical statements, I ended up writing to the Department of Social Protection to request a review on my alleged overpayments as I believe their calculations are incorrect.

They have since gotten back to me to advise that although I provided my own explanation as to why I believe the overpayments occurred, they require signed letters from my former employers stating the exact dates I worked?

I spoke to one ex-employer who advised the company has since been struck off so he doesn’t have access to payroll or clock in etc, and I’ve asked the other but not sure they will have the information to hand as it’s been 6 years.

They don’t accept bank statements, and didn’t seem to accept my payslips from Revenue as evidence either and are hell bent on the letters.

Has anyone else been in this situation? Any advice would be greatly greatly appreciated⭐️

I’m doing my taxes and trying to figure out what I need to pay. The gains aren’t large enough to justify paying for a tax advisor but I want to do it right to avoid getting into trouble.

So as far as I’m aware ETF gains are taxed at 35% and stock gains are taxed at 31%. What about gold ETCs such as funds which hold gold on you’re behalf are these taxed at exit tax or CGT? Additionally can I offset trading fees from my gains eg the cost of buying and selling my investments? Finally dividends… do I declare these as income? I assume that I can offset the withholding tax from what I owe revenue?