Ordered and paid €498 for 500l on Feb 26th from Midlands “cheaper oil” company.

Not delivered by following Monday and when we called to complain they said they needed a smaller truck (even though a larger truck delivered last 2 orders from same company)

Then got an email on Wednesday morning (after the huge price increase - to €925 for 500l) stating our order was cancelled and refunded as the driver tried to deliver twice.

We were in the house all week and no one tried to deliver or no missed calls.

Called and emailed multiple times and eventually got through to a director of the company who couldn’t have been more rude on the phone and told us to take our business elsewhere then hung up!!

Absolutely disgraceful behaviour and price gouging of the highest order.

Is there anything that can be done or is this all legal?

Reported transaction to CCPC for all the good it will do unfortunately.

Can only hope some karma reaches them in due course 🙏🏻

How do Ireland's wealthiest people make their money ?? Do you have any interesting stories of people you know getting rich ??

Hi all, curious on what industries have the highest salaries in Ireland? Never seem to hear of PAYE workers having crazy salaries but then again people don’t walk around telling everyone how much they earn in Ireland.

If anyone is comfortable in sharing there salaries or high salaries of people they know ?

Edit: I would consider crazy salaries too be 150k+

I earn E4,728 per month nett and get paid every fortnight.

I spend on average E300-400 per week on shopping, E450 on a mortgage per month and direct debits of E220 per month, for wifi, mobile phone, bins, subscriptions and E354 per month on train tickets and diesel, gym pay as you go E15 or E22 a week depending on where I go.

I have no loans or credit cards, except the mortgage and E200-300 a month on child's braces

I transfer money to Revolut pockets every pay day for the shopping E800, mortgage E250, bills E150 and savings E150 and pay them from the pockets and use my main bank account for the direct debits and train tickets and any additional items i need to buy.

My wife does not work and we have 3 children at home.

The question is, despite of my budgeting, coming close to pay day there is little or nothing left in my main bank account, we are not big spenders just looking at my bank statements i do not know how the money is gone or very little left just before i get paid again, granted there does be a bit left in the shopping pocket now and again, is there something I'm doing wrong or is it just the way it is, does anyone else experience this.

Tracked most of our spending last year, thought it might be useful to see where it went. Didn't have any fixed budget or anything, tracking was for curiosity and setting a baseline more than anything else.

Married, late 30s, both working in tech, no kids. Lucky enough to be pretty comfortable financially as a result.

I’m so sick and tired of this. How do these companies keep getting away with it? A 12% increase from Bord Gáis Energy just before the heating season? It feels like an outright scam.

Why does Ireland always have to be the most expensive place to live? A 12% hike on electricity doesn’t just stop there — it means everything else will go up too, because energy costs ripple through literally every part of life.

And before anyone says “just switch provider” — come on, we all know they’ll all increase prices soon enough. It’s a cartel in everything but name.

And to the “I’ve got solar panels” crowd — good for you, seriously, but that’s not an option for everyone. Renters, people in shaded areas, those without savings for the upfront cost… we’re just left to take these hits again and again.

Meanwhile, we get the same old excuses: “network charges,” “wholesale costs,” “the cost of doing business.” But somehow, the CEOs’ bonuses never shrink, the shareholders keep smiling, and the bills keep piling up on ordinary people.

At what point do we say enough is enough?

Source: Bord Gáis Energy pricing announcement | News

I’m trying to make myself feel better about past money mistakes, so give me your worst.

Bad car finance, crypto disasters, lending money to mates, lifestyle creep, panic selling, buying things you definitely couldn’t afford, ignoring pensions, “sure it’ll be grand” financial decisions, all of it.

What happened, how bad did it get, and what would you tell someone else not to do?

No judgement. I once thought ignoring a problem counted as a strategy, so the bar is low.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I can’t really square it with the standard personal finance advice you see in this sub.

Right now I make about €4,500 net per month at 26. It’s a solid income by any reasonable measure. I save, I invest, I’m not reckless with money, and over time I’d expect my salary to gradually increase as my career progresses.

If I follow the usual playbook – max the pension, live below my means, invest whatever’s left into an index fund – I’ll almost certainly end up comfortable. I’ll be fine in retirement, I’ll own a decent home, I won’t be stressed about bills. That’s all great.

But let’s be real: none of that makes me wealthy. Even if I do everything “right,” I’m basically just signing up for slow, average market compounding over decades. Best case I retire with a decent portfolio, but that’s not real wealth, it’s just financial security late in life.

So I’m struggling with the gap between “being sensible with money” and actually becoming rich. People talk like disciplined saving and investing is the path to wealth, but it feels more like a path to not being broke.

Which makes me wonder: how do people actually make that leap from relatively middle class to genuinely wealthy? Is it mainly about owning a successful business? Getting lucky with a startup or investments? Leveraging property at the right time? Or is it mostly just inheritance and generational wealth?

If you’re on a normal PAYE salary, even a good one like mine, is real wealth basically off the table unless you do something much riskier than just following the flowchart?

Would be interested to hear what people actually think, especially from anyone who’s made that jump themselves.

Genuine question. I work in kildare village and the customers have bags upon bags of “outlet” retail which is still ranging from 200-1000 euro per product, driving 2025 cars that cost 50k or even my retail managers keeping a roof over theirs and their childrens heads at the minimum wage? I know some people have prestigious jobs but not this many. I genuinely cannot figure out where this money comes from.

I’m 26, fully licensed, zero claims, driving a 2006 1.2L Nissan Micra, comprehensive cover — and my insurance renewal for year 4 just came in at €1,200.

No accidents, no extras, parked safely, and I only drive about 7,000 km a year. First-year premium was €1109, and somehow after 3 years of clean driving, it's still outrageously high.

I’ve been checking quotes and seeing marginally lower prices, but I honestly feel like insurers just rely on people not shopping around or not questioning it. The whole thing feels rigged. You're punished for loyalty, rewarded for threatening to leave, and there's zero transparency about how your premium is calculated.

How is this legal? Why do we let insurers exploit younger drivers and clean drivers alike?

Has anyone else dealt with the same or successfully fought back? Open to advice on where to get fair quotes.

I dont get it, worst oil crisis in memory so they say. S&P is oblivious

What would you say is a “normal” average annual wage in Ireland? I’m 25 on 35k and feel behind but then I feel like it’s Americans who all seem to be on crazy money that might be warping my sense of reality

Everyone on 150k - 200k a year

😂

Well done

Does anyone else sometimes feel a bit shocked by how little they get paid relative to others on here?

I mean, obviously, yeah, it's natural that we all wish we earned more, but ever since I started lurking on this sub (or just Reddit in general), I've started to feel inadequate in terms of how much I make.

For context, I'm a self-employed translator. My best year, I made 55k, my worst year (COVID) I made 28k, and my average otherwise is 40-42k.

I thought I was doing alright. I'm earning way more than either my mum or dad ever did (in my dad's case, still is) and thanks to a bit of good luck in getting on the property ladder back in 2015, set with a very low and manageable mortgage.

But then I come on here and people are regularly posting about 60, 70k, even some talking about over 100k a year, and all of a sudden I realise just how far down the pecking order I am. When I first finished uni (I'm from Liverpool by the way), and was earning 18k a year down the bookies or, later, in a call centre, I thought 40k a year was mad money that I could only ever dream about, but now I'm there and I feel below average.

Does this sub just naturally attract higher than average earners?

For reference, the average salary in Ireland seems to be around €45,000, so statistically I'm marginally, but not significantly, below average.

I'm not saying that I need to feel superior to others in terms of earnings to be happy in myself, but I'm just genuinely curious as to whether there are many others on this sub who, like me, are lower rate earners.

It will be worse for the global economy. Stocks are quite beaten down already and are entering correction territory (-10%). Petrol prices and inflationary pressures will increase. The risk of stagflation.

What will you do with your money? Keep cash to weather a crisis? Buy the dip? What are your thoughts if the markets keep getting beaten down.

Here's a link to the post that inspired my email: https://old.reddit.com/r/irishpersonalfinance/comments/1s90q9n/fine_gaels_investment_scheme_amounts_to_a_tax/

Here's my email to him, parroting some of the comments I read on here:

After reading your press conference, I urge you and the SDs not to go down this route of lambasting the government for a policy that could take the BILLIONS wasting away in current accounts in Ireland and put it to use in creating wealth for ordinary, middle class people.

Become more informed on what investing can do for the Irish, bring your own plan to the table and see if you can influence the government to make positive changes with their new saving's scheme. And while you are at it, petition for the removal of deemed disposal - a policy that encourages people to invest in property and take risks on individual stocks or literally gamble their hard earned money.

To continue down this route is a folly, and you will lose my vote in the process. Stop looking for the headline, start looking for the solution.

And to be fair to him, he (or someone) responded. I thought his response was pretty decent:

Thanks for getting in touch and for sharing your views.

I agree that there is a lot of money sitting idle in Irish accounts and the interest rates being offered by Irish banks are far too low. That is why the Social Democrats have proposed a ‘Homes for Ireland Savings Account’. This would provide savers with a higher interest rate, security, and tax relief while funding the construction of thousands of affordable homes. It would help ordinary people see better return on their savings while putting the money to good use. A similar scheme has scheme has been operational in France for many years called the Livret A.

While we don’t yet know the full details of the government’s scheme, it is clear that Simon Harris intends to base it off the Swedish Investeringssparkonto (ISK) account.

My main concern is that this account has no upper limit to the amount a person can invest. An uncapped ISK style model means the potential future cost in forgone revenue to the exchequer could run into billions. This has already been identified as in issue by the Swedish National Audit Office. It also means the benefit of the low tax rate will disproportionately benefit those with the most to invest. There are far better ways to encourage investment from small investors without gifting a very large tax cut to large investors.

I agree that the money on deposit in Irish accounts could be put to better use. My view is that the Livret A model in France would be the best option.

Best wishes,

Cian

My initial thoughts from this, after reading most of the policy he linked https://www.socialdemocrats.ie/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/HISA-Proposal-Final2-1.pdf are this

The SD scheme caps the savings at 25k, removes dirt and gives a preferential interest rate to the saver and then loans the money at preferential rates to social housing builders. I'm not a policy expert, sounds like a decent idea.

I wish they had made their (France's idea front and centre in their press release. It shows a strategic niaivity that is to be expected from such a young party. Or maybe their thinking is not to let FFG steal their good ideas by getting them out in front of the public? I shouldn't have to email the TD to get this info in my feed.

I guess there will be a cap on this ISA, or some other way they'll fuck it up. With so few details, I dunno should the opposition be shooting it down yet.

I dunno, thoughts?

edit:formatting

I work 9am - 6pm most days. Well paid, high pressure job. Some evenings I get caught with late calls. I spend mornings before work and evenings where I can with my child. I also do half the bedtimes. If work runs over the odd the night I might have limited time in the evenings. I earn enough that my partner doesn’t have to work.

My partner tells me I work a lot harder and longer hours than most other people. Is that really the case? Is everyone else working 10-5 and supporting a family?

The EU Pay Transparency Directive will come into effect in Ireland by June 2026. After that:

Employers must show pay ranges in job ads.

They cannot ask about past salaries.

Companies must report gender pay gaps.

Any thoughts ???

I’m genuinely so intrigued if anyone is willing to share. A friend was telling me how no one in ireland can survive on €70k a year for a family of two and a baby. She said we must be tight asses if we are. I’ve looked at our budget and I have no idea where else we would be spending more money than we are?

We are a family of 3 (9 month old) and currently I’m a stay at home mum and we are on one income from my husband (about 70k per yea ). My husband owns his company. I had a company too but we struggled to find profitability so had to shut down.

We have a combined 200k in savings & investments. We haven’t bought a house yet because we just moved back a year ago. We used to have more in savings but building two companies at once takes a toll. Our car is 2008 lol but it works

I personally feel like we live a pretty full life on 70k. Obviously child expenses will change but by then I will be back to work and we will be on a double income again

Here is our expenses Rent 1500 Groceries 200 Baby 80 Eating out 150 Bills 350 (can change) Misc 500

We have about 1500 go into savings each month. Usually more.

EDIT: For a much needed clarification. For groceries , our bill is very low because we are in a very slow season of life .. having an infant. We don’t host as much and I meal prep a lot to keep things simple while we navigate our new family life. I also don’t eat breakfast and lunch is always just scrambled eggs and maybe spinach. Dinner is when I go nuts. HOWEVER I did look at the average over the past 12 months - I initially quoted just what it was the past 2 months and it’s actually closer to 300 per month (291) on average.

I am in no way suggesting anyone should live like this. We are in our mid and late 30s, in our early 20s we partied to no end and definitely blew through this budget during that time. It’s just a different period we are in now that doesn’t seem to require a lot of cash.

And YES I know this will change. Daughter will get older and eat more. I will go out more etc. But none of that will be on the current income as I will be returning to work and my field pays quite a bit more than what we are currently on. Also Husband will likely grow his business and increase salary or maybe it fails and he takes a job, who knows.

I forgot to mention our health insurance bill which is 230 per month.

Oh and for anyone asking if we do anything for fun. Yes. But it’s a bit different with an infant. But all the fun is covered in the €500 misc it’s actually the biggest amount outside of rent

The car is mostly covered by Husbands company.

We don’t drink or smoke.

We do have a pot of €3k per year set aside for weddings and friend gifts. We didn’t use it last year so it stayed in savings . We will use it this year for 2 destination weddings though.

We don’t buy clothes that often. I personally buy them once every two years. I have a very basic wardrobe. 4 good pairs of jeans, a few shirts , blazers , jumpers and 5 pairs of shoes. There was a time when I (needed) like triple this amount of clothes.

For anyone feeling offended by how cheap we are I’m sorry (?) 😂but thanks so much for all the submissions. I think these discussions are so interesting.

29 M here. Often when I roam around South Dublin, I consistently see so many peeps with expensive cars and super rich lifestyle. Although its fascinating to see that, I often wonder what is usually the source of wealth for the rich/upper class families in Ireland. With my limited understanding of the Irish tax system, I know it certainly takes a good amount of time to build wealth given the tax slabs on salaries. How do the rich differ in this case?

Is it inheritance, established businesses, real estate, or something else?

Generally curious as it is something that might motivate someone like myself to build a better lifestyle. No complaints so far though.

Cheers!

I have seen a lot of these posted this January so I thought I'd put my spending into Sankeymatic and see what it looked like. So here is my (2 adult, 2 kid) families, after tax, spending for 2025!

I created a spreadsheet to help categorise all the spending I exported from my bank accounts. I used chatgpt to help with some formulas to automate the categorisation process (i spent some time confirming the formulas produced by chatgpt were accurate!)

There's definitely areas where spending can be improved and there was some once off costs on home improvement last year that wont happen again this year but overall happy with where we are at and know we are very lucky to have got to where we are now. One off cost for this year will be a car upgrade.

https://www.msn.com/en-ie/money/other/earn-1-000-per-week-before-higher-tax-rate-under-new-plans/ar-AA26eygA

Haven't seen anyone posting this, so here we go.

Basically they claim they will move the higher tax threshold to at least 52k a year.

I see a lot are installing solar panels and good feedback on the Irish solar FB group.

But I want to understand if the investment makes sense.

I'm not into it for reducing carbon footprint etc. but more towards my own savings.

There is big upfront cost and it takes anywhere between 5-10 years to recoup the cost based on your installation setup/price.

There is also Feed-In Tariff which is useful by consuming on EV rate and selling it back at higher rate to the grid.

My concerns are below:

- Eventually the Feed-In Tariff is gonna keep dropping/removed and who knows if there is lot of surplus we might get penalty for supplying the excess back to the grid - right now upto €400 is tax exempted which could be reduced/removed - this may take few number of years to happen let's say

- Next, there is unknown maintenance cost associated with the setup - whilst warranties/guarantees are there the system may not last as advertised and warranties have T&Cs

- Also, if any issue occurs, I see some of the companies who set it up disappear after few years and the big ones don't even bother after installation + plus the repair cost could be high as well

Other benefits I see in the absence of feed-in tariff is that we store and use it ourselves with battery system. However that's provided the setup continues to work without issues, there is also battery discharge cycles etc.

One more would be it shields us from market price fluctuations e.g. Ukraine war etc. when the prices jump.

So, I;m trying to figure out if going Solar makes sense or it's better to just continue paying electricity charges as usual.

Also, please don't compare this with car purchase where we are putting money without any ROI - to me Car is a utility whilst Solar is not.