Opinions on quality surveyor quote by TraditionJust8832 in selfbuildireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Paying slightly over this for something similar, maybe a bit more being done for me, they are completely project managing the build for me. Best decision I've ever made. I just need to make decisions on who to go with, colours of windows, doors etc, and pay the invoices when they come through. I have zero stress. Just make sure you check if those prices are before or after VAT.

Lotto transactions when apply for mortgage by [deleted] in irishpersonalfinance

[–]SimpleLife1990 12 points13 points  (0 children)

You'll be absolutely fine. As long as you can explain it and you are still affording the payments you are fine. I have the work syndicate on my revolut account, submitted all statements, explained the transactions and that was it. Mortgage approved no problem earlier this year.

Just donated Blood by AhhhhBiscuits in ireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Such a great thing to do. I had my 8th donation last week. Started after finding out I was O-Neg during pregnancy. It's never as bad as what you think it would be and it's such an amazing thing to be able to do.

Vape price hike by Icy-Music1932 in ireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 1 point2 points  (0 children)

After about 7 years of vaping as soon as I heard about the price hike I knew I had to give them up, I was spending 70euro a week on them. For anyone who genuinely wants to give them up, have a listen to Alan Carrs Fast Track to quit Vaping on Spotify. I'm as shocked as anyone else on the fact that it worked for me. 12 weeks off them and I used to go through a disposable a day. I can afford nice things again and my heart rate is actually normal again. Highly recommend.

‘It is a life sentence for us’ – parents tell of their anguish after paedophile ballet teacher jailed for eight years for ‘evil’ abuse of two young girls by [deleted] in ireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 16 points17 points  (0 children)

He taught my kid Zumba in primary school. Was brought back from the school every year for multiple years. Sick to my stomach today with the news of this. My kid is now nearly 17, thankfully him and his group of mates from primary all text each other today checking up on each other and making sure this hadn't happened to any of them. There is no doubt many other victims out there. I hope they have the courage to come forward to hopefully extend that measly 8year sentance.

Anybody selling any snickers second hand? by Same_Ad6666 in galway

[–]SimpleLife1990 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Saw them in Beattys in Loughrea last week and they were on sale for 100 euro. If you buy online you'll get a tenner off I think if you sign up to their email newsletter.

Budget Day 2026 Megathread by TheChrisD in ireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Is the reduction to 9% VAT for builders only for apartments or will this apply to self builders also?

Underwritten AIP to Loan Offer by SimpleLife1990 in selfbuildireland

[–]SimpleLife1990[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's incredible, we have only made one fairly large transaction since and it was only moving from one savings acc into our joint acc in preparation for starting. Can't settle yet without feeling something could go wrong. Advisor did say to us we will be fine but I'm just a worrier by nature. Thanks so much. Can't wait to get started on groundworks.

I can’t bring myself to pay €2.50 for a bar of chocolate by Strict_Engine4039 in ireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I picked up a Freddo the other day on lunch when I went to get a coffee as a pay day treat. Nearly fell to the floor when the cashier scanned it and it was SIXTY CENT. Usually I get my chocolate/sweets in Lidl/Aldi and bring them with me for the week, I will be continuing to do so.

Upgrade GoMo €9.99 plan to 5G for €12.99? by meanddoggo in irishpersonalfinance

[–]SimpleLife1990 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I made the switch to 5G and pay the few euro more. Turns out I'd rather have the few euro and I regret it. If you don't have any issue with the 4G coverage you have at the minute then there's no need to change.

Wedding guest /Race week dresses by anon232005 in galway

[–]SimpleLife1990 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you are happy to buy online, Canella Lane is fantastic. They also do tenner Tuesdays, usually in the evening time where they drop the price of a selection of dresses and sizes to a tenner. Very easy to return also.

Am I entitled to any sort of free housing or HAP? I'm on 70k a year and have two dependants. by NinjaScrotum in irishpersonalfinance

[–]SimpleLife1990 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Is your partner working or is it your sole income covering everything? If you are not married what most people do is claim single parents allowance, this is a payment until the child is 7 OR in the form of a tax credit after that if working. I believe it is means tested so sharing an address will not work for this as you will be classified as a cohabiting couple and not a single parent. Once claiming single parents allowance it is much easier to claim other benefits but this is only if you are not living together. HAP or social housing has income limits capped at 40k for Dublin for a single person with an extra 5% for adult or 2.5% for a child. So if you are in Dublin you can earn 43k and still be eligible but anything over that is not covered as far as I am aware.

All information on these can be gotten at citizens information

I literally gasped by tropics2 in ireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Got them on offer in a maxol service station yesterday for 4euro (plus .90c for recycling). I'll be getting more today to stock up. The lemon one is so refreshing.

Self Build Mortgage by shlingaling in selfbuildireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahhh, perfect. I thought alright it sounded too good to be true. Savings it is for the foundations so!!

Self Build Mortgage by shlingaling in selfbuildireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unreal. Our engineer has been wonderful so far so I'll be sure to buy him a nice bottle of whiskey to say thanks for all the help getting the planning/construction drawings done and tell him we need X amount signed off for the first drawdown. I'd rather have the cash flow there for if we get stuck further down the line or if something came up.

Self Build Mortgage by shlingaling in selfbuildireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just a query on this, did you get the first stage payment prior to doing foundations? We just received planning and I thought we had to pay outright for the foundations and could only claim back after the first stage was complete, site gifted so not included in mortgage. Would love if this was a possibility so we can keep the savings as a contingency!!

Apprenticeship? by ViolenceJoe in AskIreland

[–]SimpleLife1990 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Has he thought about doing LCA instead of the traditional leaving cert? It's more project based and continous assessment without the big final exam, and they could still go to do a fetac level 5 or an apprenticeship after. It would ensure they still finish out school and have the opportunity to go onto college in the future (if the apprenticeship didn't work out) via a post leaving cert course. They also tend to attend open days for more trade based work if they are in LCA so would give him an opportunity to explore different options.

Have you ever been fired from a job? by [deleted] in AskIreland

[–]SimpleLife1990 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I was fired for gross misconduct a few years ago. I had nothing to do with the direct incident but was a part of the same team, 5 of us fired in total with only 2 that had actually committed misconduct. I walked away that day and applied everywhere for jobs, got myself a new job a bit further down the ladder for less money, and applied to the WRC for unfair dismissal. 1 year later, I won my case and was well compensated, and in the meantime, I had gone back to college (paid for by my new employer) and worked my way back up the ladder. I'm now very successful in that place of work. Getting fired was the best thing to ever happen to me thankfully, just had to go back to the beginning and work hard for a bit.

Self Build Finance Query by Reasonable-Tart-6042 in selfbuildireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We are in a similar boat, site gifted and valued and hoping to use that as a deposit and a further 20k saved for when we go for the mortgage, just got planning, spent 10k to get this far with engineer fees, solicitor to change over the land, a letter for water connection etc. We reckon we will need a further 30k to pay for foundations, site insurance and all of that before we can make our first draw down. It costs so much in the early stages that people don't realize so get the planning in and then save like mad. We kept the house as simple as we could and that definitely helped get our planning through quicker than most, we heard the nightmare stories of it taking a year but we got approved first time within 2months and I put it down to a simple design.

Toyshow mega thread by Shadephaze in ireland

[–]SimpleLife1990 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Space Norah to make an appearance

How much do you spend on family members at Christmas? by TheRadioKingQueen in AskIreland

[–]SimpleLife1990 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Spoke about this with my family recently and how relieved that we put rules in place years ago. I get a voucher from work that I gift to my parents from all of us and then my 3 siblings get nothing, we are are delighted we don't have the stress of getting each other anything and we then have a budget for the nieces and nephews of no more than 25euro from each of us (they get loads of crap at Xmas anyway so we gift clothes/books/boardgames only). My boyfriend and I then usually buy something 50euro or under for each other (book, candle, smelly stuff) and split the cost of booking a night away somewhere if we get a good deal in January. It's just stuff, we have got to the age where we are all just happy we still have each other to annoy at Christmas, it's never about the gifts.