FOURTEEN PER CENT of Irish adults have nothing left at the end of the month after all bills are paid and other responsibilities met.

Believe it or not, that’s a slight improvement on the situation since the last figures in August.

However, four out of five respondents to the survey said they expected the introduction of water charges next year would pose a further strain to their household finances.

The figures are contained in the latest ‘What’s Left’ survey from the Irish League of Credit Unions, which includes data from 1,000 adults aged over 18.

483,000 said they had “nothing left” at the end of each month — an improvement by 35,000 on this time last year, and by 1,000 compared to August.
1.76 million people have €100 or less left at the end of the month, once all bills are paid. That figure is up by some 137,000, compared to just three months ago.

Essentials

The survey tracks some notable changes in how much people are forking out for “essential bills” notably:

• Household and utility bills up from an average of €755 in August to €766 in November.
• A huge jump in internet services — rising €9 since August, and now costing €39 per month. 
• Mobile phone services are up €5 to €42 per month. 
• Grocery costs for families have increased by €16 per month to €360.
• Transport costs are up €15 per month from €202 in August to €217 in November. 

Elsewhere, credit card payments, and car and home insurance bills were all down compared to August, as were child-related costs.

In relation to Irish Water charges — 44 per cent of respondents said they had registered with the utility by the end of October.

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