WELL, THE DUST from Budget 2025 has settled by now, but few of us will have felt any of the promised benefits yet. The first of the double Child Benefit payments are due this week, so that may help parents, at least, but the cost of living challenges are still very much at play. Prices are high and not coming down, the cost of everything is going in one direction only.
Learning to budget and make whatever you can out of the money you have is more important now than ever. Looking at your weekly movements and habits can be a very healthy way to declutter the spending that is dragging your bank balance down.
Many of our readers here at The Journal will be familiar with the popular How I Spend My Money series, which looks at how people in Ireland really handle their finances. Over the years, the series has chronicled the lives and financial ups and downs of hundreds of readers.
We are asking readers to get in touch and write a Money Diary to help us understand how people are handling their finances right now and whether the price increases continue to have any great impact. If you’re one of those people who has some great savings habits, share them with us. If you’re struggling to make ends meet and could do with improving, then why not try the diary for a week and see how you get on? Sometimes, the very action of writing something down can help you examine it properly.
Absolutely. Everyone is in a different place when it comes to money and will have different incomes and outgoings.
Everyone also has different approaches to finances. For instance, are you a good saver, or does money burn a hole in your pocket? Can you afford a pension? What about mortgages, are you confident you could qualify for one, are you meeting your mortgage payments?
If none of the above even seems remotely possible right now, then we also want to hear from you. It’s not an easy time and we get that, so you might just feel like saying ‘I can’t make ends meet’ and that’s OK, too.
Over the course of a week, we ask you, our readers, to keep a record of how much you earn, what you save if anything, and what you spend your money on.
Send a message of interest to money@thejournal.ie and we will send back a diary template.
Our Money Diaries readers also love to hear about your day, what kind of routine you have, what you had for dinner – all of it. Woven into that is a note through the day about how much you spent on groceries, incidentals and other expenses.
Readers often get helpful information and tips from reading the diaries, so include details about Revolut vaults or other handy savings tips you might have.
If you’re interested in keeping a diary for a week, send an email to money@thejournal.ie and we’ll get in touch. We would love to hear from you.
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