Tired of ending every month in the hole with no idea where your hard-earned money went? It may be time to re-evaluate your spending.

In a recent Reddit thread, users shared their best tips for quickly and easily spending less money. They range from practical food-buying tricks to reframing the way you think about your finances.

We pulled out some the best and highlighted them below.

1. Plan out and cook your own meals. Dining out often is a huge money drain.

2. Clean out your fridge and pantry. You'll find good food you didn't know you had.

3. Buy in bulk the things you would normally buy. You'll get more for your buck.

4. Opt for non-canned goods. Fresh produce and dried beans are typically cheaper and healthier than canned items.

5. Try the grocery own brand. If you like the taste, stick with it, and you'll save money.

6. Stop buying microwave dinners. The mark-ups are crazy. You could make better, healthier meals for less.

7. Don't buy more groceries than you actually need or can keep. Throwing away food is the same as throwing away money.

8. Use a slow cooker. Throw in some veggies, beans, and meat, and you'll have lunches and dinners for the whole week.

9. Make your own coffee. Those €2 to €4 coffees add up.

10. Bring your lunch to work. You'll cut your lunch tab in half or more by making it yourself.

11. Stop buying bottled water. Use a glass or refill a bottle with tap water for free.

12. Don't go out to drink. Drinks with dinner can add €10 or more a person, and a night at the bar can easily cost €40.

13. Track your expenses for a month.  Simply keeping a running log will help you see how much of your income is spent frivolously.

14. Set goals. If you have a plan to save money for an emergency fund, for example, you'll think twice about spending on superfluous things. 

15. Buy quality items. If you skimp on the important things, you may spend more in the long run. For instance, spending €30 on shoes every six months costs more than spending €60 on a pair that lasts years.

16. Think of your spending in hours instead of Euro’s. If you make €10 an hour, then that €2 cup of coffee is 12 minutes of your life. You may decide it's not worth it.

17. Before you buy something, ask yourself: What impact is this purchase going to have on my life? That can put an end to impulse spending.

18. Change how often you spend on indulgences. Rather than give them up entirely, limit the frequency. For example, if you go to Starbucks daily, try going weekly, and if you go the movies weekly, try once a month.

19. Put half of your paycheck into savings. It forces you to figure out how to live on less.

20. Always pay off your credit card at the end of every month. You avoid paying interest and get in the habit of living within your means.

21. Set up standing orders for your bills so you're never late. Late fees are a waste.

22. Spend your money where you spend your time, and cut the rest. If you're a runner, you need good shoes, and if you spend a lot of time in the car, you should invest there. This kind of thinking helps you trim the superficial stuff that does not add value to your life.

23. Wait at least two days before buying anything over €50. You may no longer want it or forget it altogether.

24. Ask your Internet/phone provider if it has any promotional rates. You could see your rate drop by as much as €20.

25. Cancel magazine and newspaper subscriptions you don't read. Many people will let them stack up instead of picking up the phone to cancel.

26. Compare rates of local electric/gas/oil companies. You may no longer be getting the best deal available. 

27. Wear a jumper in the house, and turn down the heat a couple of degrees. Over time, you'll save on electricity.

28. Rethink your mobile phone plan. Are you paying for more than you use? Switching could significantly drop your bill. 

29. Get car/life insurance quotes. Companies competing for your business may quote you a lower rate.  For life insurance quotes check out www.lowcostlifecover.ie

30. Frequent the library. Get books, movies, and music for free.

Anthony Curran is an advocate for your financial future who takes a holistic approach to your needs and goals. He will work collaboratively with you to define what success and financial independence mean to you and how best to achieve them. Anthony is well qualified to provide long-term support and guidance on a variety of financial challenges and will help you focus on what you can control. Defining your own financial freedom will help you be more comfortable about retirement and the possibilities of creating the life you want. Whether you are single, married, or raising a family, your approach to financial well-being now will shape your life for years to come. www.lowcostlifecover.ie

Good money habits are one of the most important things parents can teach their children. The tricky question is, how?

A new article in Wall St. Cheat Sheetoutlines simple steps that parents can take to start teaching kids the value of money from an early age. The key is to keep each lesson simple and convey it in relatable terms.

Here are three of the best tips:

1. Make your kids work for their money.

Once your child is old enough to understand what money is (maybe age 4 or 5), it can be useful to give them a small allowance. This could be anything from 20 cent to a few euro a week and will give your child a small amount of money to be financially responsible for. Better yet, you can link the allowance to chores — they'll learn that money is something they earn, not something they automatically get.

2. Teach your children to save.

Saving can be a hard concept for young children to grasp, so it's important for parents to encourage them, Wall St. Cheat Sheet explains. For example, if your child wants a LEGO toy that costs €10 but only gets €2 a week, you could explain that it will take them five weeks of not spending to have enough money to buy the toy. You can also show them a cheaper toy and compare the required weeks of saving for each.

Another method of encouragement is to offer to match your child's savings for a good investment. "If you do this, make sure to explain why the investment is a good one," the article notes. "When they are older, you can also encourage them to start putting some of their money in the bank or set a specific weekly or monthly requirement."

3. Set a good example.

"Most younger children enjoy emulating their parents, so if they see you saving, they will also want to save," Wall St. Cheat Sheet writes. To do that, you can talk about money in front of your kids or let them see you putting coins and euro’s into your own piggy bank. Other options include letting your kids compare items at a supermarket and explaining why it can be cheaper to buy items in bulk than individually.

Anthony Curran is an advocate for your financial future who takes a holistic approach to your needs and goals. He will work collaboratively with you to define what success and financial independence mean to you and how best to achieve them. Anthony is well qualified to provide long-term support and guidance on a variety of financial challenges and will help you focus on what you can control. Defining your own financial freedom will help you be more comfortable about retirement and the possibilities of creating the life you want. Whether you are single, married, or raising a family, your approach to financial well-being now will shape your life for years to come. www.lowcostlifecover.ie

An emergency fund acts as a safety net, protecting you and your family from unforeseen circumstances where you need cash immediately.  Life can be full of unexpected obstacles; having cash at hand will help you by providing you with more options and preventing you from taking on debt at the worst time possible.   The most common needs for emergency funds are job loss, unexpected medical expenses, extensive but necessary house repairs, death in the family, and car repairs/replacement.  Oftentimes, when it rains, it pours with unexpected issues occurring simultaneously.

You can prepare for financial emergencies which will require access to cash by keeping an appropriate emergency fund.  Ideally this should be cash so that you could access the money quickly in the event of an emergency.   The money should be easy to get via cheque, cashier or ATM machine and incur limited or no penalty for withdrawal.

While the determination of the amount of an emergency fund is dependent upon a number of factors specific to the family or individual (e.g., job security, whether both spouses are employed, the ability to find a new job in one’s field, etc.), in general your emergency fund should cover six to nine months of your typical monthly expenses that are considered necessities:

§  mortgage and/or rent

§  insurance (house, car, and health) premiums

§  transportation costs

§  food

§  tuition

§  utilities

Lastly, here are just a couple of the things to keep in mind with regards to financial emergency preparedness:

-Stay away from turning to your credit card as a source for cash during hardship

-Keep some cash at home to cover very short term emergencies in case the bank isn’t open.

Anthony Curran is an advocate for your financial future who takes a holistic approach to your needs and goals. He will work collaboratively with you to define what success and financial independence mean to you and how best to achieve them. Anthony is well qualified to provide long-term support and guidance on a variety of financial challenges and will help you focus on what you can control. Defining your own financial freedom will help you be more comfortable about retirement and the possibilities of creating the life you want. Whether you are single, married, or raising a family, your approach to financial well-being now will shape your life for years to come. www.lowcostlifecover.ie

It's that time of year once again, and that means spending more time than usual with your family.

Apart from the stress that typically comes with all that Christmas cheer, you may also get hit with another kind of awkwardness — a request for a loan. Maybe your niece needs help paying for college, or your cousin needs some cash for presents. 

Lending money to family members can be a minefield. Here are five things you should consider before making your decision. 

1. Can you afford it?

It can be hard to see a loved one struggle financially, but be realistic about your own ability to lend them money. Will lending the cash mean that you will have to put some of your own plans on hold? If so, are you willing to make that sacrifice? 

2. What will the money be used for?

Even if you have the money to spend, you don't want to enable bad habits. Only lend money if it's going to be spent toward a specific goal or purpose that you're comfortable with. Think of it this way "If you have a relative and you really don't approve of what they're asking for or feel that it will enable irresponsible behavior, you should think twice about extending money to them."

3. Is it a loan or a gift? 

Will the money you give be a loan that you charge interest on, or a gift? Will you charge an interest rate or draw up a loan contract. In what time frame would you expect to get the money back and did you communicate that with the other person. What happens if the loan isn’t repaid?

4. Get everything in writing.

If you're going the loan route, guard against any potential disagreements by getting the terms of the loan in writing, such as the amount, interest rate, length of the loan, and the repayment schedule. Be sure to also note whenever any amount is paid back. 

5. Be prepared to lose your money.

Lending money to the people closest to you is almost always a losing proposition. Family members may ask you for a loan because they're looking for lenient conditions. So unless you can deal with the prospect of never seeing your money again, don't make the loan at all. 

Anthony Curran is an advocate for your financial future who takes a holistic approach to your needs and goals. He will work collaboratively with you to define what success and financial independence mean to you and how best to achieve them. Anthony Curran is qualified to provide long-term support and guidance on a variety of financial challenges and will help you focus on what you can control. Defining your own financial freedom will help you be more comfortable about retirement and the possibilities of creating the life you want. Whether you are single, married, or raising a family, your approach to financial well-being now will shape your life for years to come. www.lowcostlifecover.ie

Christmas is an exciting time of year but many of us are short on time and money.  If you’re trying to tighten Santa’s belt this Christmas, follow our Christmas shopping tips this festive season.

• Leave the credit card at home and bring cash or your debit card instead. Credit card debt can be very expensive if you can't repay it in full immediately or within a few months. When you are spending the cash in your pocket or in your bank account, you will be much less likely to overspend than if you pay with a credit card.
• If you do need to use your credit card, then take a look at our credit card cost comparison. There are still some providers offering 0% interest on balance transfers. If you can't afford to pay your Christmas credit card bill in full, you could take advantage of one of these offers in the New Year. But before you sign up, make sure to check what rate will apply when the introductory offer ends and if there are any conditions attached to it.
• List everyone that you intend to buy for, then budget a reasonable amount that you can afford to spend on each person. Making a shopping list will also help you avoid impulse buying and keep track of your spending. Our Christmas budget planner can help you plan for and keep track of all your expenses.
• Avoid shopping at the last minute and try to arrange to go shopping when it’s quieter.  Shops are a lot quieter late at night or first thing in the morning.  Leaving yourself plenty of time and avoiding busy shopping times will make your Christmas shopping a bit easier.
• Try a new approach to buying presents. You could agree a spending limit with your friends and family or try an option like a Secret Santa, so each person only has to buy one present. Or if there is a special item that you really want to give to someone, consider splitting the cost with a friend or relative. Keep an eye out for coupons or deals on gifts wherever you can.
• Do your research. If you have a present in mind, shop around and compare prices, both in store and online.  Keep your eye out for discounts and promotional offers.  If you do plan to do some shopping online, be careful. What might seem like a great deal could be more expensive when you add on delivery charges, so be sure to take them into account.  Make sure you leave plenty of time for delivery too.
• Don’t get caught out by credit. In the run up to Christmas, personal loans and in-store credit may look like attractive options, especially for larger purchases like PCs, electrical equipment or furniture, where stores may offer you 0% finance for a period of time. Before signing up to store credit or a personal loan, consider the full costs and not just the monthly repayment. Would the repayments still be affordable if your income dropped for any reason, or if you had an unexpected expense?
• Be realistic with your food shopping.  It can be easy to buy more than you need, but bear in mind that most shops are only closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, so there’s no need to go overboard. Read our helpful money saving tips on groceries.

Anthony Curran is an advocate for your financial future who takes a holistic approach to your needs and goals. He will work collaboratively with you to define what success and financial independence mean to you and how best to achieve them. Anthony Curran is qualified to provide long-term support and guidance on a variety of financial challenges and will help you focus on what you can control. Defining your own financial freedom will help you be more comfortable about retirement and the possibilities of creating the life you want. Whether you are single, married, or raising a family, your approach to financial well-being now will shape your life for years to come. www.lowcostlifecover.ie

Seven entrepreneurs share their lessons, strategies, and mistakes

By KIMBERLY PALMER

Imagine working a full-time job while running your own business on the side. Sound impossible? These seven entrepreneurs did it, and as a result, built greater financial security and freedom for themselves. Here are their stories, and their lessons:

1. Expand on your favourite hobby. Sydney Owen, 27, was working for a public relations agency in Chicago when she took up skydiving on the weekends. "Then I said to myself, 'I want this to be a bigger part of my life,'" she recalls. Owen left her agency to start doing the marketing for her local skydiving spot, while also building her income by offering marketing consulting services to other small business. She also helps recent college graduates market themselves by editing their resumes.

She's since relocated to California, which has a longer skydiving season than the Midwest, and she now works full-time as an events coordinator for a skydiving company while working up to 25 hours a week for her own marketing business, 3Ring Media. "I love it—I can combine my passion for marketing and for jumping out of airplanes," she says.

2. Start charging for what you're already doing for free. Douglas Lee Miller, 38, works full-time as a new media manager for DePaul University in Chicago. An expert in social media, Miller frequently got requests for help from other people. He quickly realized he had to be more protective of his time, so he set up his company, The dbMill, to get compensated for his work.

Because he'd been doing so much pro bono work, he had already earned a solid reputation, which led to referrals, and he had a portfolio to show potential clients. "The pro bono work was hard at first, to spend time and not get financially reimbursed, but it ended up being a pathway to more work," he says. That experience also made it easier for Miller to estimate how long projects would take and how best to work with clients and manage their expectations.

3. Do something that feels meaningful to you. Prakash Dheeriya, 51, professor of finance at California State University-Dominguez Hills, came up with the concept for his series of personal finance books for kids after he realized that his own children, then five and six, could benefit from simple explanations of financial concepts. "If something were to happen to me, I wouldn't have taught them any valuable life lessons, so I came up with these stories," he says.

Now, his series, Finance 4 Kidz, contains 20 books that explain concepts such as scarcity, opportunity cost, and risk and return in terms that children can understand. "Especially nowadays, because of so much fraud, concepts such as risk and reward should be taught in elementary schools. Then they'll realize if something sounds too good to be true," he says. Dheeriya is currently working on new books on hedge funds and finance for teens.

4. Create the community that you wish already existed. Six months after she graduated, Emily Miethner, 24, started NY Creative Interns, which includes hosting events and blogging about career tips. "I wanted a group that connected awesome creative professionals with awesome interns and entry-level people," she says. She and her partner soon found sponsors and built their network, all while Miethner held down her full-time job as a community manager for another website in New York City.

"We started charging [for events] when we realized, 'This is really adding value to people's lives.' I decided, 'I think I can make this into a real business,'" says Miethner. She continues to plan events and build the blog and network while maintaining her full-time job.

5. Leverage the skills and connections you already have. Megan Moynihan, 27, was working for a big public relations firm when she decided that she wanted to pursue a more mobile lifestyle, and build a career that would let her work in Wyoming during ski season and New York the rest of the year. "I had taken entrepreneurship classes in college, but I knew I needed experience first," she says of her decision to first work for a firm before launching her own agency.

While still employed at her firm, Moynihan started taking one day off a week to work for outside clients as well as pitch new ones. She started meeting potential clients through friends, and now has left her firm to pursue full-time self-employment.

6. Get help from friends. Erica Sara, 34, was working full-time as a consultant for Coach when she started designing her own jewelry and spreading the word through friends. As a runner herself, she created "race bling," jewelry to commemorate races such as marathons or inspire the wearer to run harder. She also created "mantra jewelry," featuring inspiring words or phrases, as well as jewelry for mothers, including the popular "generation necklace," which features the names of multiple generations of family members.

"I had friends hold trunk shows," says Sara, of her early days, before she turned her creations into a full-time business. She also built up her customer base through her own running blog, as well as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. "Being able to sell my own designs felt more gratifying and more real," she says, even though she continues to work 12-hour days (or longer).

7. Seek help online. James Mundia, 27, had been reading Ramit Sethi's blog, IWillTeachYoutobeRich.com, since he graduated from college, and decided he wanted to follow Sethi's advice and figure out a way to earn money on top of his job as an information technology coordinator for a small association in the Washington, D.C., area. So he signed up for Sethi's Earn1k.com class, which teaches people how to start earning $1,000 on the side.

Now, Mundia offers private soccer lessons for young players in the Arlington, Va., area, which has helped him pay down his credit card debt and save up for travel. The Earn1k program, Mundia says, helped him realize that he could earn extra money on the side by making use of the skills he already had. One day, Mundia hopes, his soccer-training program will become his main source of income.

http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance

Anthony Curran is an advocate for your financial future who takes a holistic approach to your needs and goals. He will work collaboratively with you to define what success and financial independence mean to you and how best to achieve them. Anthony is well qualified to provide long-term support and guidance on a variety of financial challenges and will help you focus on what you can control. Defining your own financial freedom will help you be more comfortable about retirement and the possibilities of creating the life you want. Whether you are single, married, or raising a family, your approach to financial well-being now will shape your life for years to come. http://www.lowcostlifecover.ie/

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The General Gist:
You may have heard the acronyms SEPA, BIC or IBAN recently. Have you wondered what they meant but quickly forgotten about them? If so, then you wouldn’t be alone.

SEPA is the Single Euro Payments Area which comprises a total of 32 countries (so far). Its aim is to standardise Euro payments across Europe for businesses and consumers. This comes into full effect from February 1st 2014.

The main things you’ll need to know about are BIC and IBAN numbers:
Business Identifier Code (BIC): a unique identification code for both financial and non-financial institutions. It’s kind of like your bank sort code but it specifies a particular business, country and region all within the one BIC.

International Bank Account Number (IBAN): an international means of identifying bank accounts across national borders. This is what you’ll use instead of your bank account number from February onwards. The format of these is different for every country but for Ireland this one IBAN will contain your country code, sort code and bank account number.

Are you with me so far? The concept isn’t too daunting once you know the basics. However, now you may be thinking that you can simply ignore SEPA and go about your daily routine. I’m afraid not! SEPA is a mandatory EU Regulation so all businesses will have to conform to SEPA by the 1st February 2014. Bank account numbers and sort codes will be a thing of the past and replaced with IBAN and BIC for all businesses in Europe.

Now for the Hard Part:
Irish Life has been around for a long time (1939 to be exact), so you can imagine that bank accounts and sort codes have been part of our business processes for eons. With the introduction of SEPA we now have to convert all of our systems and processes to be in line with European regulations. It’s similar to Y2K in the sense that organisations Europe wide need to check and upgrade heavily integrated features of their IT systems before a fixed date. No small task!

Anthony Curran is an advocate for your financial future who takes a holistic approach to your needs and goals. He will work collaboratively with you to define what success and financial independence mean to you and how best to achieve them. Anthony is well qualified to provide long-term support and guidance on a variety of financial challenges and will help you focus on what you can control. Defining your own financial freedom will help you be more comfortable about retirement and the possibilities of creating the life you want. Whether you are single, married, or raising a family, your approach to financial well-being now will shape your life for years to come. http://www.lowcostlifecover.ie/