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WELCOME TO HOW I Spend My Money, a series on The Journal that looks at how people in Ireland really handle their finances. We’re asking readers to keep a record of how much they earn, what they save if anything, and what they’re spending their money on over the course of one week.
Are you a spender, a saver or a splurger? We’re looking for readers who will keep a money diary for a week. If you’re interested send a mail to money@thejournal.ie. We would love to hear from you.
Each money diary is submitted by readers just like you. When reading and commenting, bear in mind that their situation will not be relatable for everyone, it is simply an account of a week in their shoes, so let’s be kind.
Last time around, we heard from a production manager living and working in Co Meath. This week, an advertising account manager now planning to move to Australia.
I’m 27 years old and I live in Dublin. I’ve recently moved in with my grandparents to save money as I’m planning to move to Australia in September for a year or so. I had lived in a rented house with two of my best friends in the area for the previous 18 months, but our lease finished in October, thus prompting the move into my grandparents as they had converted the basement of their house years ago into a granny flat.
I am the third in the family to live in the basement and it’s great to have that connection with my grandparents and see them nearly every day along with helping out when I can with technical support, etc.
I was previously paying €1,075 per month before bills in my rented accommodation in the area to live in an E energy rating house with one of the rooms getting to -2 degrees in the winter. I did love that house, but once the idea of moving abroad came into my head, it was necessary to move home and start saving money and my grandparents’ basement provided the perfect solution. The rent I pay there is a nominal amount, and I understand that I am in an extremely privileged situation to be able to take advantage of this.
The Australia dream is alive and well amongst people my age. Around 80% of the medicine course in my graduating year moved to Australia for the dream of “double the money for half the work”. 27 is a funny age in life. I have one friend who is about to buy a house whilst another is living in a monastery outside of London. The duality of man! In recent years, many of my best friends have emigrated, with three going to Vietnam, one to Barcelona and eight of them have now followed the path to Australia, each in varying jobs, all living life to the fullest.
My idea to move to Australia stems from the notion that myself and my girlfriend want to live together, but with similar rents in each country, we cannot imagine wanting to pay around €2,000 per month to live in Ireland. My work has also hit a bit of a lull with it being quite consistently stressful, without much enjoyment, so I am very much ready to leave this role behind. Australia has better weather, a more positive active life and provides a life experience and adventure that would otherwise be impossible to come by in Ireland. I hope to move to Australia in September and myself and my girlfriend are beginning to plan our adventure already.
I’m quite an active 27-year-old and I like to keep myself fit in my day-to-day life. The transition from living with my best friends to living on my own, albeit beneath my grandparents who are quite active in their retired lives, has been difficult in the quiet times, so I try to surround myself with my girlfriend, friends that still live in Ireland and family whenever I get the chance.
On average, I save about €1,200-€1,500 per month. My tactic of saving is moving the majority of my money to my savings account with Bank of Ireland as soon as I get paid. I also try to put €100 per month into a Revolut vault to cover some items like gifts for birthdays, a new phone which I will have to buy and unplanned expenses, etc. I also have this Revolut vault set up to take in spare change x2 which rounds up your card spending and saves it there.
Occupation: Advertising account manager
Age: 27
Location: Dublin
Salary: €45,000.
Monthly pay (net): €3,100 (varies each month)
Transport: €30-€40 on Leap card
Rent: €350
Household bills: Covered in the rent.
Phone bill: €10, thank God for GoMo
Health insurance: Covered by work
Groceries: €260
Spotify: €11.99
Netflix: €8.99
Amazon Prime: €5.33
Car insurance: €37.10 (monthly direct debit)
Petrol: About €40-€50
Gym: €26.67 (covered as part of my payslip in work)
Pension: €75 (covered as part of my payslip in work)
Savings: At the moment, I am trying to put away between €1,200-€1,500 per month into savings as part of the fund for Australia
***
8.40 am: Wake up. Thankfully, I’m working from home today. Turn the laptop on then shower and head to my desk as I’m preparing for a big presentation on Tuesday afternoon. It’s a monthly presentation but it never gets easier as no matter how much work you do, the client can easily make you look the fool with their endless questions and queries.
10.00 am: My director has started to review the presentation and starts to question parts of the deck to put doubt into my mind. A fun start to a Monday. I also complete a Bounce Insights survey and get paid €10 to my Revolut. Surveys are a quick and easy way to earn money but it is slow, with it taking about three weeks to earn the €10 but I can’t complain as it’s easy work.
12.30 pm: I log off from work and head to do my lunchtime routine of picking up my girlfriend and bringing both of us to the gym. Working from home has many benefits and going to the gym for my lunch break is one of them, as it is significantly quieter than the evening time. My girlfriend living 10 minutes away from me also has many advantages and driving to and from the gym has become part of our weekday routine.
2.00 pm: I log back on to work for an afternoon of meetings and try to do all I can to prepare for the presentation tomorrow. These are an unenjoyable few days, but I rationalise it in my head that it only happens once a month.
3.00 pm: I have a late lunch/dinner of a homemade chicken burrito bowl and some yogurt with berries. I usually try to eat early when I have training later that day.
5.00 pm: I log off work for the day and begin to unwind for the evening by throwing on Netflix for a small while.
7.00 pm: I head for a quick walk on the pier then drive on to touch rugby training. It’s a great sport that I have only got into in the past two or three years. It’s a highly technical and skills-based version of rugby that tests your fitness. It’s about a 25-minute drive to training from my house.
9.15 pm: I get back from training and after a quick Fulfil bar, some cauliflower hash browns and water, I turn on Netflix for about an hour. I’ve started to watch Designated Survivor and am enjoying it so far. I’m wrecked then so head to bed to finish some of my book. I’m reading ‘Down the Road West’, a great book based in the West of Ireland, a place where I would have spent many summers. I have gotten back into reading in the past year and it’s a great habit that I have neglected previously.
11.30 pm: Lights out and fast asleep.
Today’s total: €0.00
8.40 am: Start my day with the same routine. Wake up, log on and then shower. I feel oddly prepared for the presentation this afternoon.
10.00 am: I decide to book a court to play badminton with my girlfriend this evening (€24). We play in our local leisure centre and both enjoy the competitive aspect of the games and our booking gives us the court for an hour.
1.00 pm: I drive up to see my other grandmother for lunch and pick up two sandwiches on the way (€16.90). In recent years, I am the only one of my siblings that still live in Ireland, with my younger sister living in London along with my younger brother, and my father and stepmother living abroad, so it is important to try and maintain the familial relationships and do what I can to help out. I am very fortunate to have three of my grandparents still alive and I try to cherish this whilst it’s still the case.
2.00 pm: I head back home and try to finish the last touches to the presentation and for once, I am feeling confident about the presentation going off without a hitch.
4.00 pm: The presentation begins and it turns out I will be sharing my screen for the full 90 minutes. All the fun.
5.30 pm: The presentation ends and I breathe a sigh of relief. I log off work for the day and begin to unwind for the evening by throwing on Netflix for a small while. Back to Suits as I couldn’t stick with Designated Survivor.
7.00 pm: Myself and my girlfriend drive over to badminton as the centre is only a 15-minute drive away. We end up playing four games and it’s a tight encounter in which she wins one of the games which is progress.
8.00 pm: We drive back to mine and we put on Bloodline for the evening. We watch three episodes and it has us hooked.
11.30 pm: Lights out and fast asleep.
Today’s total: €40.90
8.00 am: We wake up early and I drive my girlfriend home. On my way back home, I decide to head into Lidl to do a food shop as I have just enough time before I start work. My food shops vary from week to week so I try to go in with a plan and a list which can work well (€72).
9.00 am: What do you know, I’m working from home again. My director is on to me about coming into the office more, but in the office, I get bogged down with unnecessary questions and tasks that inevitably take up my day, whilst from home I can do the work that is necessary, to a higher standard. Once you take back that control with working from home and being able to structure your own day, it is tough to give that up once again. I know the pressure will ramp up in the coming weeks to head into the office more, but will take that as it comes.
10.00 am: I get paid today which is a nice feeling as it’s early, but it will be a long wait of over five full weeks till 28 February, the next payday. My pay amounts to €3,098 which seems to differ each month. It seems that one of my tax credits did not transfer over in the new year which is annoying, but I will get it back next month. My month-to-month pay is rarely consistent annoyingly, due to a small issue with a previous employer underpaying my tax and myself having to take the brunt of this underpayment over the coming months and years. I transfer €200 to my savings account which is quite low but I will top this amount up throughout the month after the big purchases are made. I also transfer €100 to my Revolut savings account which is for surprise expenses and birthdays etc.
1.00 pm: I log off from work and head to try to do a quick session in the gym. Consistency is probably the only thing that has gotten me results in the gym and I have got back into the habit of tracking my lifts in recent months which helps to make progress rather than just going through the motions. My girlfriend is stuck at work over lunch so she doesn’t join me today.
2.00 pm: I have a quick lunch of two sandwiches then continue my afternoon of 1:1s and trying to catch up on a few outstanding bits from work.
5.00 pm: I head from home to my therapy session. I park my car and pay for parking, which triggers an auto top on the app. Thanks Payzone (€10). The therapy I do is CBT and it has been a journey to get my head around it and even put into practice the work from the session. It is very beneficial and I currently do weekly sessions after starting three months ago. (€70 but €30 is covered by VHI so €40 cost).
6.00 pm: I ring my dad after my session and we have a brief catch up. With him living abroad, we try to call each other once a week to maintain a nice level of contact.
6.30 pm: I meet my girlfriend for a quick walk after, but it is unbelievably cold. We head into the shops along the way and I pick up a VitHit each (€5.60). The bottle deposit is still an annoying addition to any purchase as we end up putting the bottles in recycling bins on the way back.
7.40 pm: I arrive home and make my dinner of garlic prawns and vegetable rice. I put on Suits for the rest of the evening which is a nice background watch.
11.00 pm: I head to bed and finish ‘Down the Road West’. It was a nice enjoyable read and a satisfying feeling to finish the book. I fall fast asleep soon after.
Today’s total: €127.60
6.05 am: The alarm goes off and I’m up and getting showered and changed as I’m into the office today. It’s lashing rain as I leave the house, so the umbrella will be accompanying me today.
7.00 am: I tag on my Leap card, which was topped up the previous week and get on the DART, slightly bleary eyed, and listen to a podcast on my journey in. The new Indo Sports Daily podcast has me hooked and Bits and Bobs is the latest episode to grace my ears.
8.00 am: I open my laptop and begin work for the day. When I’m in the office, I try to start early so that I can get through at least an hour of work uninterrupted. We have flexible working hours so I use the office days to work 8 am-4.30 pm.
12.40 pm: My morning at work has been mostly stress-free thankfully. I head to DoppioZero at lunch, my favourite Italian cafe and I decide to treat myself to a Parma sandwich (€6.90) and a VitHit (€3.50). The rain has eased off a bit so I go for a stroll around town afterwards.
3.00 pm: My afternoon is spent catching up with colleagues and I finish my to-do list for once, which caps a pretty successful day of work. My Amazon Prime subscription comes out of my account (€5.33).
4.15 pm: I head back towards the DART and tag on to head home. Once I get off the DART, I pick up a TooGoodToGo bag for my grandparents on behalf of my mum who paid for it. They are delighted with the contents with a lot of snacks for the impending storm.
6.00 pm: After a quick snack of some sushi and a cookie, I decide to head for a run. It’s a beautiful, brisk evening. The literal calm before the storm! I end up going for 8k which I am happy enough with after the day of work.
7.00 pm: Dinner is consumed and consists of chicken and chorizo paella along with a blueberry scone, all the carbs. I take it easy for the rest of the evening and watch a few episodes of Suits, which is living up to its billing. I move on to reading ‘Yellowface’ tonight, which comes highly recommended.
11.45 pm: Lights out and fast asleep.
Today’s total: €15.73
8.40 am: My alarm goes off and I check to see the aftermath of the storm. The power is gone, but a quick look and flicking of the switch at the mains and we are back up and running. No damage to the garden fences either and we consider ourselves quite lucky to have escaped. The storm has put paid to any ambitions of my second office day of the week and I begin working from home.
10.00 am: The power is gone in many of my colleagues’ homes so work is stop-start. I make progress though and get through my to-do list.
1.00 pm: I end up meeting my mum at lunch and we go for a quick walk of a few laps around the local park with the dog.
2.00 pm: I pick up a prescription in my local pharmacy (€6.40) and head home to continue work.
4.00 pm: I log off from work for the day and have a sandwich as a late lunch. I put on Suits and laze away on the couch for a few hours.
7.00 pm: I drive over to my girlfriend’s house as I am staying the night there. We decide that tonight is the night that we book our flights to Australia. She has just got her bonus in work and I have just got paid so we decide to get this big purchase out of the way. Our one-way flights are booked (€932.95 each). I pay €50 extra as at 6’3″, I need the emergency exit row for the 13-hour leg of our flight. We also begin the process of applying for our visas which gets approved almost immediately (€397.92). An expensive few minutes, but worthwhile for a lifetime of memories.
8.00 pm: We decide to watch Below Deck to unwind and relax for the rest of the evening as we discuss our excitement for our upcoming trip.
12.00 am: Lights out and fast asleep.
Today’s total: €1,337.27
9.00 am: We are both up early as my girlfriend’s brother has a coffee and pilates morning in his coffee shop. I had bought a ticket the previous week as I wanted to support the event, but I give it to one of my girlfriend’s friends as she will get more enjoyment out of it. I drop my girlfriend off at the coffee shop and drive on to the gym.
11.00 am: Back home after the gym and I shower and get ready as I will be meeting my friend along his marathon route today. He is running an ultra marathon in a few months so is running the distance of a full marathon today in preparation. I pledge to meet him en route armed with water and motivation.
1.30 pm: I meet my friend en route to his marathon with water and Jelly Tots in tow which I bought in the garage (€3.45). He is doing great and we arrange to meet up later that evening to celebrate.
3.00 pm: I meet my mum for a quick walk with the dog before heading home to relax and watch Liverpool win and some of the rugby before heading out again later. I have a late lunch of soup with a sandwich.
7.00 pm: There ends up being seven of us who are around that night so we head to our local pub, which I’m happy enough with – rather than the usual of going into town and having to pay for a taxi, etc.
11.30 pm: It’s a very fun night spent catching up with friends. I have three or four drinks, usually Hollows ginger beer, and also get chips in the pub. I Revolut my friend who paid (€30) and am home by around 12am.
Today’s total: €33.45
9.00 am: The power is gone in the house this morning, which is a mare. I ring ESB but they say it could be Wednesday before the power is restored. Luckily, my mum’s house has power so I pack an overnight bag with my work laptop and bring all the perishable foods for myself and my grandparents to put in her fridge/freezer.
10.00 am: I arrive at my mum’s and shower there. My grandparents try to keep themselves busy for the day, but we know that if the power is not restored by Wednesday, we will be spending the rest of our time at my mum’s.
12.30 pm: I drive over to my girlfriend’s house and we go to her brother’s coffee shop. We each get a toastie (she pays) and we sit in there looking out upon the miserable weather. We stop off in Centra on the way back to her house and pick up two soft drinks and Mini Eggs, my favourite chocolate at this time of year. (€8.08)
2.00 pm: We spend the rest of the afternoon/evening watching Netflix as it’s too miserable to even leave the house.
6.00 pm: We decide to make dinner and cook homemade pizzas as she already has all the ingredients in her kitchen. The pizzas turn out very tasty and they’re very simple to make!
9.30 pm: I head back to my mum’s house and check in on the grandparents’ house on the way back. The power has been restored thankfully so we all agree that we’ll return in the morning as it’s quite late now.
11.30 pm: I continue reading ‘Yellowface’ when I get back as I’m really enjoying it before deciding to call it a night and head to sleep.
Today’s total: €8.08
***
What I learned –
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All of this is a complete waste of time unless China, India and Russia come on board. Our annual Co2 emissions btw are currently 0.000012%. Please tell me how we are going to make a difference.
@Mike Dunne: yep everyone else has to do their bit before us. one of the largest per capita co2 outputs in the world. we are certainly not blameless here.
@Mike Dunne: invented percentage figure you’re using there to downplay our contribution. Check out worldometer stats as some other poster recently pointed out.
@Mike Dunne: Everyone has to make their own contributions, countries large and small as well as individuals. Individuals and small countries can lead by example, they carry a lot of weight but sitting on your a$$ doing nothing and moaning about big countries won’t get us anywhere… in fact it’ll set us backwards. Typical nimbyism!!!! You want to sit back and watch other people do the work.
@Mike Dunne: Ireland #68 0.11% of global emissions https://www.worldometers.info/co2-emissions/co2-emissions-by-country/
This poll, added to the recent poll commented upon by the Irish Times tells us a lot about ourselves. The latter poll suggested that young people (yup, the ones who skip school on Fridays to preach about the environmental sins of their elders!) are prepared to do almost nothing that involves changing their own lifestyles – much less than their parents generation, who are.
This poll shows that most people seem to believe the government is most responsible for cleaning up the mess. This is just another way of people excusing themselves from changing their individual lifestyles because, “sure, isn’t it the government’s job to save the planet”. I have news for them. They are codding themselves. For example, the government isn’t creating all that digital information that must be stored in those energy-voracious data storage centres.
I recently asked some of my neighbour’s children if instead of skipping school on Fridays would they be prepared to make Fridays a data-free day when they would abstain from social texting and posting to social media. I was met by blank stares. It became obvious they have no intention of making any individual sacrifices which would inconvenience their own lifestyles.
No doubt the the ‘angry children’ will feature prominently at the upcoming Glasgow junket, sermonising at the rest of us sinners. I’ll take them with the proverbial pinch of salt!
@Peter O’Muiri: Don’t worry Peter. The government has their back on this one. Those young people have years of high taxes to look forward to.
@David Corrigan: We’ve been happy enough paying high taxes for yonks supporting the banking, insurance, greyhound industries etc, etc…. Maybe it’s high time we started thinking about getting our priorities in order. Survival of the planet, our kids and grandkids future surely are more important.
Theres too much talk of climate in this country. Even if we stopped all emissions it would make a microscopic difference. China is opening new coal burning plants every week.
It’s been pointed out to Prince Charlie that taking private jet trips around Euroland lecturing the less fortunate on how to live is just not on lol..
Whatever the people of Ireland think, say or do, we just don’t matter.
Even if all CO2 emissions stopped, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference. 0.11%
@Ciaran Maher: There are other small countries on this planet in case you didn’t notice and apart from making an impact on emissions, they can exert pressure on the bigger countries as consumers and even more importantly, moral pressure. The EU is made up of small countries but as a block it carries more weight…..maybe we should let France, Germany and Italy do all the work while we sit in front of our turf fires and take the oul smoky diesel car out and drive Into town for the vegetables and fruit from Africa and South America wrapped up in the nicest plastic wrapping!!!!! Apart from any climate emergency…. there’s a lot more we could be doing to support our local community and producers.
Get rid of Vat on solar power and insulation and on installation of these! Job done and uptake would be huge but it’s too simple
@Dave Phelan: Solar panels can be bought directly from China for about €1 per watt. Charge controllers can also be bought for small money.
@David Corrigan: And what sort of guarantee do you get with them. Also no genuine registered installer will touch that as they will be held accountable for any issues with you buy cheap materials.
@David Corrigan: not sure what this actually means because if most people try to get solar panels the costs will be in excess of €5000. Reduce the charges on that and you will see people putting them in
@Dave Phelan: My point was to source the raw materials directly. Start small and just have a system to heat the water for showers etc. I see some of the prices quoted by solar companies here and they are huge amounts. Not many people can afford it like you suggested.
@Roy Dowling: It’s like buying anything Roy. We checked reviews and ran some tests etc on sample panels. All you have to do is employee someone to install it only. They have to guarantee their own work i.e. wiring etc.
@David Corrigan: No registered solar PV installer will come along and fit panels a customer bought online from China. Especially when they see the price that was paid for it. if they were to install it they take the responsibility for the materials you bought should anything happen. So any decent tradesman would walk away and you’ll be left with a cowboy to fit it. Cheap materials and cowboy installer what could possibly go wrong.
@David Corrigan: cheap panels from china, the reason we re in this mess is cheap, high emissions producing manufactured stuff from china.
@Roy Dowling: I don’t think you understand Roy. That is the cost those registered installers are paying for the solar panels from China. They are charging a fortune for them.
@Anarch Eco: Do you know where to buy them in Ireland then? Like an Irish manufactured panel?
@David Corrigan: How do you know there costs? Or are just assuming because you found a site where you can buy them cheap that automatically where everyone gets them from? Bit of a generalisation don’t you think? Heres a thing you don’t understand. A tradesman No.1 hate is customers who supply supply the fittings etc. Reason being the majority of the time there cheap quality bought online with no guarantee and then something happens customer blames the tradesman.
@David Corrigan: sure maybe diy:
George Cove, a forgotten solar power pioneer, may have built a highly efficient photovoltaic panel 40 years before Bell Labs engineers invented silicon cells. If proven to work, his design could lead to less complex and more sustainable solar panels.
@Roy Dowling: You are jumping to a lot of conclusions in fairness Roy. I am an electronic engineering with over 25 years experience. Some of the products we design use solar panels and charging modules. Also, I have visited the factories in China that manufacture such components and I can assure you that even the high end panels are being purchased for very very small money.
I hope that clears things up for you?
@David Corrigan: So if went to a job to fit solar PV on a property and the customer brought you to a garage and said I’ve bought everything you need. you being an electronic engineer for 25 years you’d know it’s not as simple as buying them and putting on the roof there is an awful lot of planning to be done that customer didn’t do when they bought them. So would you fit what they bought?
@Roy Dowling: Let’s look at a similar example. Say your electric power shower breaks down today. You go into Woodies and you select a new high end power shower at a good price. You bring it home and store in your garage.
Then you call an electrician who you know and trust. He calls to your home to do the job. You go out to your garage to retrieve the power shower you purchased yourself and your electrician installs it.
Can you explain to me the difference between your example and mine please?
@David Corrigan: I wouldn’t fit an electric shower a customer bought. They wouldn’t have taken into account the rating of the shower and if the cable in the wall is big enough etc. And if your comparing a brand solar PV new install to replacing an existing shower. You are no electronic engineer as it’s like comparing chalk and cheese. Feel free to answer my above question. Would you with your 25 years experience fit a solar system a customer bought off the internet? Please answer and not deflect..
@Roy Dowling: You need to dial down our tone a bit Roy. Don’t talk down to me. Trying to look smart does not suit you.
If you know what you are doing, you would call the electrician and know the maximum rating of the shower before you purchased. You understand all of this, right?
Yes, I would install the system if it has the specifications, datasheets and wiring diagram. Why wouldn’t I? My company designs replacement systems for plant that’s not supported anymore. The companies who originally manufactured the plant might not be in business anymore. Should I stop doing that work because I didn’t originally own/design the system?
What are asking is should the home owner expect the electrician to guarantee the solar system. No, they should not. They should only guarantee their own work i.e. the wiring up of the system.
@Roy Dowling: @Roy Dowling: You need to dial down our tone a bit Roy. Don’t talk down to me. Trying to look smart does not suit you.
If you know what you are doing, you would call the electrician and know the maximum rating of the shower before you purchased. You understand all of this, right?
Yes, I would install the system if it has the specifications, datasheets and wiring diagram. Why wouldn’t I? My company designs replacement systems for plant that’s not supported anymore. The companies who originally manufactured the plant might not be in business anymore. Should I stop doing that work because I didn’t originally own/design the system?
What are asking is should the home owner expect the electrician to guarantee the solar system. No, they should not. They should only guarantee their own work i.e. the wiring up of the system.
@David Corrigan: Not talking down to you Dave but you are comparing replacing an electric shower to fitting a brand new solar PV system. When 2 completely different things. An electronic engineer with 25 years experience would know there that wouldn’t you agree?.
When it comes to the electric shower of course I know what I’m doing I’ve been doing it 15 years so wouldn’t need to call anyone. You say your company designs and fits solar PV so you’ll know you don’t just buy one off the internet and put it on the roof. If that was the case your company wouldn’t exist.
@Roy Dowling: You are reading this all wrong. I was using the shower as an example. You are stating that you couldn’t ask an electrician to install a solar system with parts THEY DIDN’T source. My answer to that is yes, if they know what they are doing and have all the technical information, then they can install the system.
I didn’t say my company designs and fits solar PV. I said my company designs systems AND we have used solar technology in our work in the past.
Talk about twisting words around. Why are you doing that?
@David Corrigan: David you don’t just buy a solar PV system without taking a lot of thing into consideration before picking a system. Therefore what the customer buys off the internet won’t suit there needs. It’s not a case of one system does all. You should know this.
@Roy Dowling: Ok Roy. I detect that you don’t understand what’s involved so we will have to leave it there.
Have a great day.
@David Corrigan: i fully understand what’s involved David. A solar PV system is designed to make the house as green and a efficient as possible and therefore reduce the owners monthly bills. Any system I’ve helped install was designed for each property. Just slapping on a internet bought system would be a waste and the client isn’t getting what they need or perhaps getting far greater than they need and don’t have a battery storage system to store the excess energy thus making the whole system inefficient and not green. But you know all that David do have a good day yourself.
Every time the government give grants for anything the price charged goes up to negate any savings. The government waste so much money. Why not have a scheme to fit them and make them tax deductible. Or even free to encourage uptake. It would also provide employment.
@Shane Brigdale: you are using too much common sense there Shane!
People need to be given clear alternatives so that they can choose the greener option.
If we are being asked not to choose fossil fuels then there needs to be an alternative that is attractive.
An example today is people are being asked to choose home heating by heat pumps instead of solid fuel,gas or oil but electricity prices are increasing too.
If the green choice is electricity then electricity needs to be subsidised to make it cheaper and guaranteed price in the long term.
I suggest readers check out Freeman Dyson and his views. A highly respected scientist who argues that the models are incorrect and cannot predict a system as chaotic as the climate. Also he believes the models exaggerate the temperature rises and also take no account of the Suns variable activity.he also notes that higher CO2 has increased agricultural yields and the earth is actually greener than it was 40 years ago. People need to read other sources re climate change as we are only hearing one side of the argument. Yes we are changing the climate but by how much and what are the benefits?
FG the party of the individual.
Just as in the case of the pandemic fallout, the correct hashtag is in fact
#we are so not in this together
have your say