Money saving tips

Make sure you are getting all of your tax relief benefits and (if unemployed, disabled, widowed etc) your social welfare entitlements. The Revenue site, Department of Social and Family Affairs and the Citizens Information Centre are helpful points of contact.

Cancel any unwanted subscription services. For example, did you recently sign up for a trial introductory offer on a TV channel and are now paying for the full service? Or are you paying for a gym membership or magazine subscription that you no longer use?

Make sure you are not duplicating insurance policies. For example, does your employer pay for travel or health insurance as part of your package? Does your health insurance cover some elements of travel insurance?

Check that you are using the cheapest method of payment. Some utility companies will give discounts if you pay by direct debit rather than cash.

Save on your utility and phone bills - The Power of One site has numerous energy saving tips to help you cut costs.  And the callcosts.ie site has useful tips to help you save on your phone costs.

Don't pay more than you have to on your personal finance products. Use our cost comparisons to help make savings.

Try buying online. Better deals are usually offered on smaller luxury items (for birthday and Christmas gifts) such as books and CDs. But generally try to limit your non-essential spending. For special occasions, agree to a spending limit and make a list.

Use our spending calculator to work out how much you spend on day-to-day expenses

Cut back on non-essential items if you need to free up some extra cash, but don't stop spending money on luxuries completely. If your budget is too tight, you may not stick to it. We all need little treats now and then!

Consider downsizing. Certain models of cars have cheaper running, tax and insurance costs. See further tips on reducing car costs

Change your credit card usage. If your credit card balance is so high that you can only pay off the minimum each month, you should switch to a card with a 0% rate on balance transfer. Your monthly repayment will then go towards clearing the outstanding balance, and therefore the debt can be cleared much quicker - once you stop using the card. Our credit card cost comparison and ready reckoner can help you find a better deal. The reckoner shows you how long it will take you to clear your debt with your current card compared to how long it would take if you switched to a different card.  

Pay off debts with the highest interest rate first. By doing this, you save yourself money by paying less interest in the long run. For example, if you owe €3,000 on your credit card and €10,000 on a car loan and you have €5,000 in savings, it would make more sense to put some of your €5,000 savings into paying off your credit card debt than your car loan. This is because the interest rate on your credit card debt is likely to be far higher than you are paying on your car loan, or earning on your savings. However, before using all your savings to pay off your debts, think about whether you should put some money aside, to help you deal with unexpected events such as redundancy, large medical bills or just that rainy day!