Selectra Budget Busters: Sean, Retired Homeowner
Selectra Budget Busters has a look at what Irish people are spending their money on and how they make ends meet. With prices increasing over the last 5 years on everything from electricity and gas to insurance and heating, managing our monthly budget is getting tighter and tighter. Today we are talking to Sean, who has agreed to tell us how he manages his monthly budget and to get his opinion on rising prices in Ireland.
Profile:
- First Name: Sean
- Age: 75
- Profession: Retired secondary school teacher
- Monthly net income: €2,200
- Spouses monthly net income: €2,000
- Number of people at home: 2
- Place of residence: Stradbally, Co.Laois
Sean's Monthly Income
Both Sean and his wife are retired civil servants, having worked as a secondary school teacher and nurse respectively. They have a net monthly income from both their pensions of about roughly €4,400 euros.
They own their own home, having paid off their mortgage several years ago, and they each have their own car.
Both of their adult children are living outside the family home.
They each have their own bank accounts in addition to a joint account that is not used as much nowadays.
The joint account was set up when we got married but my life later opened her own account. The joint account is essentially my account nowadays and any home utility bills come out of that account. With no mortgage to pay anymore, it helps a lot with covering the costs of running the home, and our pensions let us live quite comfortably.
Sean's Monthly Expenditure
Running a home along with two cars sees Sean and his wife budgeting for the following:
- 💶 Monthly Budget Breakdown
- Electricity* - €75 - €90
- Home Heating* - €130
- Internet and Mobile Services - €80
- Petrol - €120
- Insurance* - €245
- Streaming Services - €30
- Others* - €75
*Some of the figures quoted are monthly averages spread out over 12 months and are not paid on a monthly basis with some being paid as lumpsums once a year.
Electricity
Irish consumers continue to face some of the highest electricity bills across the EU, with the average bill in Ireland now €1,496.03 for homes with a 24hr urban meter.
The latest figures from Eurostat indicate that Ireland's electricity prices have increased by almost 43% since 2020 from €0.2616/kWh to €0.3736/kWh in 2024 making Ireland's electricity bills the second highest across the EU.
Source: Eurostat EU Electricity Prices
Figures quoted include relevant taxes and levies applied. Last updated, January 2025.
I'm billed every two months with an average bill being around €150 to €170 depending on the time of year as normally it's higher in winter months. Definitely I've noticed a big increase in the cost, especially in the last two or three years but the government credits have gone a long way to take the sting out of them. For families with mortgages and kids etc, I can only imagine the pressure these bills put on them.
Home Heating
Living in rural Ireland, Sean does not have access to the gas network and therefore relies on oil and solid fuel such as coal to heat his home.
Heating oil prices per litre almost tripled between 2020 and 2022 rising from 48c per litre to 122c per litre. While prices have come down in the last two years, they are still almost double the 2020 price at 98.5c per litre.
Heating oil is something that I've really noticed the increase in price of. I fill my tank about 3 times per year costing me about €1500. On top of this I spend about €300 per year ol solid fuel like coal for the coldest months of the year. My costs are less in summer but on average, spread out over twelve months, it's about €130.
Broadband and Mobile Services
While monthly mobiler services in Ireland are competative, fixed line broadband is quite expensive when compared with other EU nations costing on average about €42 per month.
Internet is somewhere where I need to be more proactive. Inertia has set in over the last few years and it's my list of things to do for the start of this year as my mobile internet could be a lot cheaper. I'm spending about €35 a month and on top of the €45 for broadband, it's far too much. I'm going to look into switching my mobile contract this month but the broadband is more difficult because as we live quite rurally, there are limited options for decent broadband.
Petrol
Petrol, and diesel, have also experienced a significant increase in price over the last 5 years with a litre of petrol costing on average, 183.02c per litre as of January 2025 while a litre of diesel costs 175.60c per litre.
I'm spending about €30 a week on petrol and that's just to travel in and out to the local town along with some other medium distance trips. I can only imagine the cost for those communiting each day. There's no real competiton in price with most stations charging the same so there's no real point in shopping around.
Insurance
Insurance remains a significant annual cost with premiums for health in particular, rising in recent years. Sean has 4 types of insurance, health, home, life and motor paid out either monthly, or annually in a single lumpsum.
Health is the big one which I pay in a lump sum every August and it's about €1,700 a year. After that home insurance would be the other big one at about €450 which I also pay once a year. Then there is motor tax which is about €50 a month and life insurance at about €35.
Streaming Services
Between streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime, along with music platforms like Spotify, an average Irish home can spend roughly €40 to €50 per month on streaming services.
I only have Netlix and Amazon although I'm paying the for the family package on Netflix which I could change because it is only the two of us here in the house using it, so in total, I'm paying about €30 which is not too bad.
Schemes
The Irish Government offer a range of schemes to homeowners to help them manage thier monthly costs with a particular emphasis on the home energy and heating including the Household Benefits Package, the Free Electricity Allowance and the Fuel Allowance.
I qualify for the Household Benefits Package which also pays for a TV licence and I also get the Free Electricity Allowance. These do help with the electricity bills but given our comfortable situation, we don't qualify for the Fuel Allowance. I also got the energy credits the last two winters and while they were very much welcomed, I would like the government to do something about the actual prices as opposed to just handing out taxpayers money to help pay the bills as there's no incentive for energy companies to charge less this way.
Sean's Budgeting Advice
Selectra's Budget Buster articles are all about helping you save money by giving you an insight into how other Irish homeowners are managing their monthly budgets.
For Sean, he had this advice to offer:
While I don't do it as often as I should, my advice would be to shop around as much as possible. Set aside some time every year to go through everything and see where you can make savings whether it be by switcher providers, taking advantage of discounts and offers, etc. Also, always look at your bank statements to see exactly how much your direct debits for these bills are costing as sometimes it can be easy to forget, particulary with 'small' expenditures like Netflix etc, but they all add up at the end of the year.
I also recommend looking at the SEAI website to see what grants are avaialble for home improvements. You can get quite a decent amount of money back from upgrades to home insulation, heating systems etc, which can help reduce your heating bills.