Money Guide Ireland

The underlying trend in sterling remains positive.
At close of business yesterday  (June 22nd) the Pound was worth €1.1755 Euro. There seems to be a correction to the over-selling of sterling in winter 2008/09. Also the rising price of oil has boosted the UK currency in relation to the currencies of major oil importers, notably the US, eurozone and Japan.

To enquire about getting good exchange rates on larger amounts of currencies – you should try one of our currency broker partners. They will always giveyou a betterexchange rate than your bank – and lower (or zero) transaction fees.

Check out Currency Solutions  or   Currency UK  for good deals on large currency transactions. Euros , Sterling or any other currency.

The Family Saver account from EBS which is a fixed rate regular savings account – has had it’s rate reduced from 5.1% to 4.5%.  It is still one of the better regular savings accounts in Ireland – but AIB and Anglo Irish still have better rates. The fact that the EBS rate is fixed for a year might just give it a slight advantage – although the falling interest rates seem to have come to a halt at the moment.

See all the best regular saver accounts in Ireland 

It looks like fixed rate mortgages are starting to rise again. EBS, AIB, NIB have all increased fixed rate mortgages in recent days. If you are thinking of fixing – there are not many lenders offering 10 year fixes in Ireland. Of those that do -  Haven mortgages offer the lowest (as at June 18th) with 4.49% (Max LTV 80%). It is likely this rate will rise soon.
Visit our page of the Lowest 10 Year Fixed Rate Mortgages

Get Ten Euro discount on your online shopping from Tesco Ireland with this voucher valid until 21st June on spends over €80  EXPIRED

Tesco Ireland Latest Offers

Take a look at our comparison of  Electricity prices in Ireland   – which we will keep updated with any changes as they happen.
Switching  electricity supplier from ESB could save someone using 600 units a month as much as €166 Euro a year. The lowest priced electricity is from Bord Gais – but you have to be also a gas customer and pay by Direct Debi to get that rate. This option isn’t available to non gas users – so the cheapest option for them is to move to Airtricity with their level payment plan paying by direct debit.
If you are not a fan of direct debits – the lowest price is available from  Bord Gais.
A quick phone call or filling in of an online form could save you over a a  hundred euro a year – not bad for a few minutes effort. See the full list of Electricity Prices compared here

Milano Voucher: For one week only – June 14th to 20th 2010 -
With this voucher you can enjoy any pizza (pasta or salad) for €1 when you buy another main course at full price. You will need one voucher for each €1 pizza. The cheaper main course will be reduced to €1. T. Unfortunately the piccolo menu does not apply as a main course
Get the voucher here

Eircom are still offering free phone line connections until August 31st 2009.
If you want a landline connection in Ireland – Eircom are the only company that can do the connection. Prices of connection vary – depending on the circumstances. The most expensive connection charge would be for a  property that has never had a landline connection previously – i.e a new house. The charge for  that is currently €121.93. The lowest charge would be €25.09
This  free offer is for residential customers only.

The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged today – still at a record low of 1.0 percent .

Most economists  had forecast that  the ECB would to leave rates on hold. Euro zone inflation is low and the economy is shrinking fast, although some data have shown signs of improvement. The markets will be keen to see whether Trichet gives any signals that the ECB plans to keep rates low for a lengthy period, or alternatively, whether they could be reduced further.