Thrifty Pages

Live4Less - a discount card for people on social welfare

With all the new entrant onto the live register, a new service may be very interesting...

Live4Less is a discount card designed exclusively for people in receipt of a social welfare payment. 

Live4Less have enlisted a number of companies including Vodafone, Irish Rail, The Carphone Warehouse, IMC Cinemas, Curves Gym to offer a discounted rate or unique promotion to Live4Less customers. 

At present there are over 90 businesses where cardholders receive a discount and they are adding new ones every day. To avail of the discount Live4Less customers simply need to produce their card or include the associate discount code at the time of purchase.

The card is also available for purchase as a gift card which means people can buy the card as a gift for someone they know who is receiving a social welfare payment.

The card costs €10 and is valid for one year. You can purchase a card online or by downloading an application form and sending it by post.

Live4Less is also beneficial for businesses as there is no cost to get involved and provides an easy way to meet their corporate social responsibility. In return for providing a discount, businesses are promoted and advertised through our various channels free of charge.

For more information or to purchase a card log onto www.live4less.ie

Exchange nearly new maternity, baby and children's clothes with theclothesline.ie

Many parents across Ireland are trying to find countless ways to cut spending...

One parent seems to have spotted a niche in the market, and has just launched www.theclothesline.ie

This website offers a new national system whereby parents can submit their outgrown, maternity, babies and children’s clothes and exchange them for more suitable items. The items are practically new, and of excellent quality and are on offer at hugely reduced prices.

“There has been a huge resurgence in the past few years of activities such as clothes swapping parties, and many parents are now buying their children’s clothes online, as high street prices just don’t reflect the current economic situation”, says Tammy Darcy, The Clothes Line founder, and mother of three, “the website rewards its members with credits for the items they submit which can then be used towards new purchases, cutting the prices even further.”

Looks like a great resource if you have kids!

Link: www.theclothesline.ie

Five tips for saving money on your PAYE tax

Alison Moloney is a qualified tax consultant who was made redundant late 2008. However Alison turned her redundancy around and she may be able to save you some money as a result.

After receiving her redundancy Alison left Ireland and spent 7 months travelling. On returning from her trip in August she decided to set up her own tax consultancy business - with slight twist. This business is primarily aimed at PAYE employees rather than the traditional self employed individuals. 

Through assisting friends and family on the PAYE tax system to maximise their tax credits and reliefs, Alison came to realise how much PAYE tax the ordinary, everyday employee was overpaying, and how little they knew about claiming back any refunds they were entitled to.

Hence ReduceYourTax.ie was born and best of all if the client doesn't receive a refund Alison won't charge a fee.

Alison has shared her top five tips for saving money on your PAYE tax with Thrifty Pages...

1 - Knowledge is Power

Click in to the Personal Tax section of www.revenue.ie. There you will find a list of all the current personal tax credits. Just reading through the list might highlight something you may be able to claim, thereby reducing your tax bill. There is a lot of simple tax relief available which people are not aware of! 

2 - Did you know you may be able to claim tax relief on the cost of an orthopaedic bed?

Tax relief is available on the cost of an orthopaedic bed if the bed is used on the advice of a G.P. or medical practitioner.  

3 - Review your 4 years!

The Revenue Commissioners will issue refunds for the 4 tax years previous to the year your application is made. i.e. in 2010 refunds will be issued for the years 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009.

Even if you’re only claiming tax relief on ‘bin charges’ at €80 a year, that’s €320 straight in to your pocket! I know I’d rather it in my pocket than Brian Linehans!! 

4 - PRSI relief on pension payments

Most people know tax relief is available on pension payments made directly to a pension provider. However did you know you can also claim PRSI relief on the pension payments?  This can be 6% of the pension payments, and again you can claim it for the previous 4 years.  

5 - Medical Expenses – What year do I claim?

You may be aware that up to 31/12/2008 tax relief was available on medical expenses at the higher tax rate of 41%, and from 1 January 2009 the tax relief has been capped at the standard rate of 20%. However did you know you can choose whether you want to claim the tax relief for the tax year in which the payments were made or for the tax year in which the expenses were incurred? This could save you a lot of money!

Example:  

• Mary pays tax at the higher tax rate of 41%. 
  
• Mary had a child in late 2008, but her hospital didn’t bill her until 2009. Cost €3,000.            
  
• If tax relief claimed in respect of 2009 –  tax refund = €600 (€3,000 * 20%)            
  
• If tax relief claimed in respect of 2008 –  tax refund = €1,230 (€3,000 * 41%)            
  
• Claiming it in the year in which the expenses were incurred saved Mary €630!!

Give Alison a shout to save some money and remember there is no fee is your don't get a refund :)

Link: http://www.reduceyourtax.ie/

What happens when you cannot pay your mortgage?

Image by jakerome

A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain. - Mark Twain

While the rich and increasingly irrelevant oligarchs who have run our country into the ground argue over who should get their nose deeper into the trough, the rest of us are having problems.

Up to 1,000 a month are now seeking help to pay their mortgage, according to the Irish Independent. Most of these people are applying for mortgage interest relief supplement which is seems to be very hard to get as "large numbers of families are being refused the payment because of strict rules on who can qualify." 

However, you should still apply (contact the Community Welfare Officer at your Local Health Centre). But apart from this, what else should a person do?

The good news is that there is now a code of conduct on mortage arrears that all lending institutions have to comply with. This is available on the Financial Regulator website as a PDF.

Briefly, this sets out:

• There is a gradated escalation process with a series of attempts to manage the arrears situation at various stages.
• There is a moratorium on repossession being taken within the first six months of arrears (or 12 months in some cases).
• The bank must keep records of its dealings of each case of mortgage arrears and these records available to the Financial Regulator.

So if you are in trouble, the first thing to do is TAKE A DEEP BREATH!

Don't panic, nobody is going to be knocking at your door straight away. While there have been stories in the media about banks making persistent phone calls, they have to comply with the above process.

The next thing to do is to seek advice - contact MABS and have a chat if you can.

If you are worried and getting depressed, seek help for this as soon as you can.  You can always find a listening ear at the Samaritans and this can really lighten the burden.

Talk to your bank and tell them your situation. This may help in later negotiations. Be realistic about what you can pay and don't make false promises. You need to eat and heat your house first. It will also damage your credibility with the bank if you make promises you are not able to keep.

And last but not least, remember that all things pass. The days may seem bleak, but try to get some perspective. You can get through this. 

Whatever you do, don't hide in the sand - as Joseph Conrad said, "“Facing it, always facing it, that's the way to get through. Face it.”

Everything you wanted to know about NAMA but were afraid to ask

It’s not a good idea to take a forecast from someone wearing a tie. - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

NAMA. It seems like nothing else has been happening in Ireland for the last few weeks.

However, this is one of the biggest economic stories to happen in Ireland since the founding of the state. It will effect your children and your grandchildren and is worth considering seriously.

To that end I am providing a link to a post on the Property Pin forum. The posters on the Property Pin predicted that this recession was going to happen years before the mainstream media and for that reason, the views expressed in the forum are at least worth reading. There is little or no politicking in the sense of participants trying to push political agendas – there is instead (GASP!) a determined effort to discuss and debate to find the truth.

The post in question summarises all the reasons that NAMA is a bad idea and a bad deal.

Link: http://www.thepropertypin.com/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=25100

I year today – when Wall Street nearly collapsed…

From Fortune Magazine...

I asked my wife to please go to the ATM and take as much cash as she could. When she asked why, I said it was because I didn't know whether there was a chance that banks might not open. I remember my wife sort of pausing and saying, "Are you serious?" And I said, "Yes, I am."

Link: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0909/gallery.witnesses_meltdown.fortune/index.html

A recession hobby - chazzing: browsing through charity shops

According to the Urban Dictionary, chazzing is defined as

The act of browsing charity shops one after another for a sustained length of time, possibly following a pre-planned route. 

Perhaps this could be something for you to try this weekend?

Why not have a look at the Irish Charity Shops Association website and search for a charity shop near you? (Use the map on the right hand side).

And you never know, you might get lucky with what you find!

halfaloaf.ie - a great new website for the newly unemployed

If you have recently been made unemployed, it can be a lonely and scary time. However, help is at hand.

Businessman Tom O' Manhony has founded a new website aimed at helping unemployed people. You can discuss issues relating to unemployment and get or offer advice.

Of interest to Thrifty Pages readers there is a bargain corner and even a section on selling or bartering your services!

It is well worth checking out.

Link: http://www.halfaloaf.ie

Is a recession all bad? Bank holiday thoughts!

Avoid the doom and gloom this bank holiday! Enjoy the recession, if you can!

• Deepak Chopra on How to be happy in a recession
• Kimberly Palmer on 5 Ways To Be Happy in a Recession
• ChoosyInfo on Things which will make you Happy About Recession
• Some recession jokes

And finally how to keep the money in your mattress safe...

Recession Survival Guide: Be almost €3,000 better off in a year

The Financial Regulator have gotten a lot of bad press in the last few months.
But is good to know that it does some things very well, and one of those is the website itsyourmoney.ie.

They have just launched a new Recession Survival Guide...

"Whether you are worried about redundancy, or trying to manage your money on a lower income, we have some key information to help you cope with the recession and manage your money more effectively.

• Managing on less money
• Coping with redundancy worries
• Dealing with debt "
  

The website is worth a read, especially good is the section on simple changes that could save you €3000.