Thrifty News Digest January 9, 2012

• Battling the bulge: losing the pounds can cost lots of euro

  YOUR wallet will certainly be a lot slimmer if you sign up for a weight loss programme in the annual New Year festival of frugality.

• Charlie Weston: €8,800 pay-cut shock for 115,000

  A TAX clampdown will cut the pension income of more than 115,000 retired people by up to €8,800 a year.

• Price hikes will force 100,000 to quit health insurance

  UP to 100,000 people are expected to be forced to give up their private healthcare this year as price rises pile the pressure on family budgets.

• Majority living in ‘ghost estates’ won’t escape household charge

  MOST people living in unfinished housing developments will have to pay the controversial annual household charge, the Government confirmed last night.

• Clothes top of list for spending cuts – report

  IRISH people are planning to cut back spending on clothes more than anything else in the coming year, new research shows.