Too tight to mention!
Feeling financially savvy or stressed? If we had to bet on it we would say that the majority of Irish people have had money troubles at one time or another.
Top financial guru Eoin Mcgee is here to help you get back on track with his new RTE show, How To Be Good With Money which airs in January.
Dublin native Eoin admitted our main problem as a nation is our inability to be honest when it comes to money.
Eoin told the Irish Mirror: “One of the biggest problems Irish people have is we don’t talk about our financial issues.
“We tend to close it all up and keep it to ourselves and don’t get help or advice.
“Some people out there who look like they could be doing really well with money aren’t so it’s a case of keeping up with the Joneses.”
With practical advice on simple ways you can budget and cut back on gratuitous spending, we all have the power to become wealthier.
Here are Eoin’s top tips on how to be good with money:
1. SAVE LITTLE AND OFTEN
The key to creating real wealth for yourself is save a small amount that doesn’t feel like anything at the start and save every month.
For every €100 you earn a month if you put €2 into savings you won’t feel it, slowly turn up the volume on it and in a year’s time save €14 per every €100.
It has to be automatic, you can’t leave it up to yourself so make sure you seek financial advice on this.
2. STOP TAPPING YOUR CARD
The problem we have tapping our card is we don’t actually associate it in the brain as money, we just think of it as a piece of plastic.
Tapping has become so popular, banks are thrilled it’s so easy to do it’s helping you spend your money.
Instead take a set amount of spending money from the ATM at the beginning of each week.
3. KNOW WHERE YOUR MONEY IS GOING
You need to know what you’re spending your cash on, a lot of people are brilliant and will use excel spreadsheets at the end of the day, but for most people just write down what you’re spending your money on.
Tot it up over two weeks and you’ll be shocked at where your money is going.
4. CUT DOWN ON GRATUITOUS SPENDING
Two coffees a day at €2.50 each is €1,300 a year on coffee, at the higher rate of tax is about €2,000 out of your salary.
You could give up your coffee and give up a month of working.
5. ASK YOUR BOSS FOR A RAISE
The idea of saving money can be tedious and a pain but is there a possibility that you can earn more money?
Ask your boss is there a way I can be more valuable to the business?
What would I have to do to earn a €2,000 pay rise next