Working, Living & Travelling In Ireland

Tag: Moneysaving tips

  • Happy New year!!! Switch and save, it’s that easy! Slash your electricity bill in 2014!

    Hi all,

    Happy New Year to you all! Thank you all  for visiting my blog!
    I started a Facebook page at the end of 2013, as although I can have up to 100 visitors a day on my blog, it’s hard to know who is visiting my blog, and who may have questions.
    You can find the facebook page here :  please come and say hello!
    Bills bills, they come all the time, but I don’t often review them, or have a moment to contemplate if I am paying too much, or if there are better deals around..
    Trust  me, there are always better deals around, it’s just a matter of finding out and then switching. I know, I hear you say, but is it worth it…. it only makes X of a difference… still it’s more money in your pocket( for a weekend away, a little treat, or an unexpected other bill:(  

    I checked our electricity bill, we have been with Airtricity since 2010 when they had this big campaign to switch to Airtricity and save 10 %( for a year) if you paid by direct debit and their budgetplan ( ie you pay the same each month- I would recommend it as no unexpected high bills during the winter etc)
    The 10 % discount has of course long expired, and we are paying ( well shortly were) paying 16.46 cent per unit. I contacted them and although they can’t sign me up again with their special deals for new customers), they offered me an instant discount  of 8 %  – ok, that’s better than nothing.. the unit rate is now down to 15.77 cent – a 13 Euro saving per month.
    (So even if you couldn’t be bothered to switch, that one phone call with SAVE you money – a phone call worth making, here is their number: 1850 81 81 10 )
    I then contacted Bord Gais – and it turns out that their unit rate is 16.28 cent – which is lower than the Airtricity one( which is 16.48  cent) ( their number is 1850 632 632 )
    I tried to decipher Airtricity rates, there are lot’s of them!! You can find them here
    Anyway, Bord Gais is offering a 10 % on their standard rate of 16.28 – so unit rate is down to 14.65 -> an extra saving of 3 % -> so total monthly saving of  18.81 euros
    Over a year -> 18.81 * 12 = 225.72 Euros!!!!
    You can find the Bord Gaises rates here – they are a little bit easier to comprehend!
    Both providers have introduced a reward scheme,which is interesting!
    Bord Gais has teamed with Tesco – so every time you pay your bill, you accrue Tesco points, that you can offset on your bill, or use towards your shopping in Tesco’s OR use towards things like Dublin Zoo etc.
    Airtricity has teamed up with AppleGreen ( Petrol stations on the Motorway), so if you are doing a lot of traveling up and down the country, you’ll get lot’s of points, which you can then offset on your bill, this will add up  nicely too!) More  info here 
    Just need to find the key now to do a meter reading, and then we can start saving:), as have figured out the MPRN number, so once I have done a meter reading, we’ll head over to Bord Gais( for a year I’d say and then I’ll review again!)
    Next on my list is switching banks – have always been with AIB( ie 20 years!!!) but it’s time to change too!! More about that in my next post!
    Check out Bonkers for other bills you wish to cut down!

    Happy New year!!!
    Katleen

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  • Parcelmotel.com – Video on how to retrieve your package

    Hi all,

    As I mentioned before, I opened up a Parcelmotel account the other day to see how it all works!

    It’s a great idea, you can use it to get products delivered to a Parcelmotel if you are not home or live somewhere where the couriers can never find you OR it offers a great workaround if you are shopping online from the UK, as it reduces the shipping charges drastically:) 
    You can check out my article here.

    So how does it work:

    1. Open an account – choose either the UK address or the Dublin address, depending how you wish to use it and then select the nearest Parcelmotel location.
    2. Register your preferred Payment method. You can do ” Pay as you Go” only if you register a credit/debit card. You can also pay with Paypal, but the minimum top up is 10.00 Euros
    3. I had not registered a card, so I received a text that there was not sufficient credit on my account to process the package, so I went online, logged in, and registered my Visa Debit Card.
    4. I then received a text and email  to say that my parcel was ready for pick at my location( which was in Ennis) and it also included a pin number.
    5. The below video show you how you retrieve your package, you just have to enter the mobile phone number you have specified in your account and then enter the PIN number, and then a door pops open!
    (It was the better half who was tasked to fetch the parcel:) )
    If you are new to this blog, please come and see hello on Facebook 
    Thanks!
    Katleen

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  • parcelmotel.com  and fatcheese.ie -shop till you drop(and get cashback whilst you are shopping)

    parcelmotel.com and fatcheese.ie -shop till you drop(and get cashback whilst you are shopping)

    Hello Readers,

    Now that Halloween has long been forgotten, Christmas is next on the shopping list.
    I love shopping, but as there aren’t really many shops near me, I look on-line, the choice is endless:)
    One of the challenges of living in Ireland, is to get cheap/free delivery ,especially from the UK.
    If you shop on Amazon or Ebay, very often the seller offers free shipping to the UK, but deliveries to Ireland
    will cost a small fortune… but I am glad to say, Parcelmotel.com offers a great solution.

    I  placed an order on Amazon UK yesterday, and  the shipping charges were going to be 12 Pounds.
    I signed up for parcelmotel.com – who are based in Newtonabbey in Northern Ireland .
    They  provide
    you with their address and a PM reference, which you need to use for your delivery address.
    As Northern Ireland is part of the UK, it’s considered a UK address, so the shipping charges changed to
    5 Pounds.  It could have been free if the products were being shipped by Amazon, in this case it was a third party, so the free shipping does not apply( It only applies if it shipped by Amazon directly)
    They have a few places around Ireland( nearest for me is Galway or Ennis), where I can go and pick up my parcel. I’l receive a text once the parcel has arrived.The cost is only 3.5 Euro per parcel, so it’s a great deal! 
    Talking about Amazon – there is thing called Black Friday ,  Black Friday Deals on Amazon they are like daily deals, but  only available for a few days.
    Shop on Ebay there are some great deals to be gotten.
    Shopping is great, and it’s even more exciting that some companies will pay you a % if you shop via them.
    The best known in Ireland is called Fatcheese.
    Just click on the below banner to open up an account, and get paid for shopping via them.

    So if you shop via Fatcheese on the Debenhams website for example, you’ll get 4% cashback which you can then claim via your bankaccount, paypal account , Amazon Gift voucher.
    (by the way, the Debenhams sale is great, but if you shop on your mobile, you’ll get an extra code that gives you another 10 % off- just an extra push to shop on your mobile device)
    Happy shopping:)
    Katleen

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  • Lycamobile – new entrant into the Irish Mobile phone market – Great offers

    Lycamobile – new entrant into the Irish Mobile phone market – Great offers

    Hi all,

    I was in Galway earlier today, dropping off my mum at the bus station :(, and decided to go for a stroll into Galway City where I did some pre Christmas shopping( Debenhams were having a GREAT sale ) and made my way to Shop Street, where I wandered into Carphonewarehouse.

    There was a huge Lycamobile sign. I have seen Lycamobile in the UK and in other  European countries, but never seen it in Ireland, so I thought I’d inquire about the offerings of their plans.
    Below are the Sim Only pricing, so you’ll need to have an( unlocked) phone for their Sim Card to work in your phone.
    Ordering a SimCard is free and you could pick up a phone for less than 20 Euros at Carphonewarehouse. (why not order one before visiting Ireland)

    What you get Price How to activate
    • 150 National minutes
    • 150 National texts
    • 100 MB National DATA
    • Unlimited Lycamobile Ireland calls & texts
    €9

    What you get Price How to activate
    • 250 National minutes
    • 250 National texts
    • 200 MB National DATA
    • Unlimited Lycamobile Ireland calls & texts
    €14

    What you get Price How to activate
    • 350 National minutes
    • 350 National texts
    • 500 MB National DATA
    • Unlimited Lycamobile Ireland calls & texts
    €19

    What you get Price How to activate
    • Unlimited National minutes
    • Unlimited National texts
    • Unlimited National DATA
    • Unlimited Lycamobile Ireland calls & texts
    €29

    This is really a very good offering, so you can have unlimited calls ( Irish mobile and landline)  unlimited texts( Ireland only)  and unlimited data when in Ireland for 29 Euros a month – and it’s on a pay as you go formula, so no long contracts. Internationals calls are extra, but- like Tesco’s – very competitive.

    They have a number for special offers , offering double credit when topping up online, free calls between other international Lyca customers, and a variety of international call rates to landlines for just 1 cent.

    I haven’t really found another provider that offers this.
    Tesco’s offerings are very competitive too, but you’ll still need to choose between having unlimited calls OR unlimited texts and you’ll need a Tesco Clubcard to get the added freebies.(and no unlimited data)
    Top Up and we’ll give you
    €5 FREE Tesco Mobile to Tesco Mobile texts.
    €10 FREE Tesco Mobile to Tesco Mobile calls & text. 250 FREE webtexts
    €15 FREE Tesco Mobile to Tesco Mobile calls & text. 250 FREE webtexts
    Register your Clubcard & join for UNLIMITED any network calls or textsHOW TO JOIN
    €20 FREE Tesco Mobile to Tesco Mobile calls & text. 250 FREE webtexts
    Register your Clubcard & join for UNLIMITED any network calls or textsHOW TO JOIN
    €25 FREE Tesco Mobile to Tesco Mobile calls & text. 250 FREE webtexts
    Register your Clubcard & join for UNLIMITED any network calls or textsHOW TO JOIN
    €30 FREE Tesco Mobile to Tesco Mobile calls & text. 250 FREE webtexts
    Register your Clubcard & join for UNLIMITED any network calls or texts
    For anyone who is coming out of their contract, it’s worthwhile to check out your SIM only options, as there are ways to cut your running mobile phone bills..
    You can check out www.callcosts.ie – thought I am not sure how up to date their calculators are!
    Have a great week!
    Katleen

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  • Interesting offer with Digiweb for international calls from a landline

    Interesting offer with Digiweb for international calls from a landline

    Hi all,

    I was doing some research to figure out what would be the cheapest way to make lots of international calls.I have covered this subject before – check out this post.

    So what’s out there?

    Tescomobile offers amazing rates, starting from just 1 cent a minute to a large selection of countries! An excellent way of keeping in touch, but do read the small print, as there is a daily allowance of 200 minutes. If I wasn’t making that many calls, I’d be using this option.

    I was pretty sure I would settle on a VOIP solution like Blueface , however when I started doing the calculations – it turned out a pricey affair. As I make a lot of international calls, I asked to get a quote for unlimited UK and Irish calls + 40 hours of international calls to land lines in the  Benelux, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland. I was given the following quote:

    Small  office plan :unlimited calls to Ireland and UK landlines = €34.95 p/m

    40 hours of international calls €70 additional credit p/m approx

    I then happened to contact my current provider Digiweb , average bill being around 35 Euros.(Line rental and some calls)

    They offered me a rather interesting deal!

    Unlimited UK and Irish calls : : 35.57 Euros

    and an add on called Talk world : 5 Euros

    The add on offers following: 6000 minutes(ie 100 hours) of calls to Australia, USA, Canada,France, Italy, Spain, Germany,Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden

     The  icing on the cake? Mobile calls to USA and Canada are FREE and mobile calls to the other countries in the package are reduced to 19 cents! So total : just over 40 Euros!

    You can check out their plans here. They are currently revamping their website, so you won’t find this info on their website yet, so just call them to switch to them or change your call plan!

    I have been using  Localphone which I found excellent value too, with probably the cheapest rates I could find to ring international mobiles. I’ll use them and also Dialwise for other landline/mobile calls that don’t fall into the Digiweb offer.

    All I needed now was a phone that would enable me to plug in a headset! There really weren’t many options, and settled on this phone on the Harvey Norman website! I don’t live near a store, but they offer a delivery service, so I should have the phone early next week:)

    Hope this will come in handy for someone else!

    Katleen

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