Money Guide Ireland

Dell Ireland have a discount code which will get you   5% off all Studio, Inspiron and XPS orders over €899. (Thats a minimum discount of €45)

Valid until  – Wednesday, November 4th 2009.

*Discount Code – WDKSKQ6ST6NFSS.

Latest Dell Ireland Discount Codes

Ulster Bank have reduced the interest rate on their eSavings Plus deposit account from 3% to 2.5%.  This rate is payable on balances from 15k Euro . There is a bonus rate for the first 6 months which brings the annual rate to 2.76% AER (previously 3.25)

Ulster have also lowered the rate on their Regular Savier account to 3.5% from 4%

See where you can get the best savings rates in Ireland now .

Halifax (Ireland) have today reduced the interest thay pay to current account holders from 7% to 5% . This rate is payable on the first €1500 and requires a monthly lodgement  of at least €1500 . Even with this drop in rates  – it is still the highest interest  rate on a current account in Ireland.

You don’t get much for free these days – but ESB are offering Irish homeowners a free  energy efficiency survey  (even if you are not an ESB customer).

The survey will assess the energy efficiency of all of your current insulation, heating and lighting systems inside and outside of your home.

Afterwards, the surveyor will supply you with a comprehensive report with specific recommendations on making your home more energy-efficient along with relevant cost estimates.
With proper BER surveys costing  as much as €200 – this is a cheaper way of getting energy saving tips and advice if you are not selling or renting out your house.

If you are a homeowner and your house was built before 1980, you may  well  benefit from getting this survey done.  You can call ESB  Customer Care team at 1850 372 333. ( have your MPRN Number to hand when making the call. The MPRN number is the 11 digit number displayed on the top right side of you electricity bill.)

You can apply online here

You can Apply by post to :

The HALO Programme
ESB Energy Services
South City Delivery Office
PO Box 804
Freepost
Togher, Cork

Not sure if HALO stands for anything – or is it just a reference to being good?

If you don’t fancy that – you could do an energy usage calculation on the ESB site .

Tesco Ireland are doing online grocery shopping deliveries for just 1 cent from Wednesday 21st October 2009 to Friday 23rd October 2009 .
So stock up now for the Bank Holiday weekend.
Tesco grocery delivery charges normally range from €5.50 to €7.50

Offer Expired
Visit Tesco Ireland for the latest Discounts and Special Offers

A report by Fitch Ratings says that Ireland is just halfway through our property slump and we are likely to see house prices fall 45%  from their peak – bringing them back  to 2000 levels.

Fitch Ratings is a global rating agency that provides the world’s credit markets with independent and prospective credit opinions, research, and data.

The report also said that “the poor state of public finances has left the government no room to use fiscal measures to support the economy.”   They also  forecast  the jobless rate to climb from 12.5pc this year to 15pc by 2011.

After the recent admission by  Brian Lenihan -  that Ireland  was on the brink of a debt compound spiral that risks a further doubling of public debt to €160bn  by 2013. At the annual dinner of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce he  said  “We need to stabilise our public finances , we need to reduce the national debt, otherwise we are on the road to ruin”
Some people see these panicky soundbytes as softeners for the 2010  Budget due in December this year.

More bad news from Goodbody Stockbrokers – who said on Monday that Ireland’s private sector debt will reach 225% of GDP this year, up from 86%  in 1999 . Combined public and private debt will soon top 300% of GDP,  which will not help recovery.

Price deflationin Ireland was  6.5% in  September, which is steeper than during the Great Depression.

The average Irish household faces negative equity of €43,000. Further property price falls would leave large numbers of people with crippling debts

House prices have dropped 24pc since peaking in late 2006, but at they are still at 7.5 times the average income.  More drops are inevitable.  Fitch expects the price/income ratio to revert to 5.5  eventually . Price deflation and wage stagnation means that the adjustment will have to be achieved by adjustment of house prices instead.

With ECB  interest rates cut to 1pc, the full benefits have yet filter through to Irish households. Fitch said interbank lending rates have risen substantially, “reflecting market concerns over the creditworthiness of Irish banks and the Irish Sovereign”. The agency said the scale of house price declines has raised “particular concern” about arrears on sub-prime debt and it is reviewing all Irish residential mortgage bonds that it rates.

There was some good news – Ireland was the only EU country to show a small rise in exports this year. The continued  strength of the Euro will not help  future exports  though.

House of Fraser are having a sale at the moment – with a few items at half price. We spotted a few bargains in the Home and Kitchen dept. such as Slow Cookers, Irons, Toasters, Frying Pans, Food Processors at 50% Off. Top brands such  as Tefal, Breville, Kenwood, Philips. See the Sale Items Here

The House of Fraser online shop lets Irish customers pay in Sterling – so it will work out cheaper than buying in Dundrum. (The pound is only worth about €1.09 at the moment). They also have a special offer on the delivery charges to Ireland. Normally £15 per order – they are now £11 per order for a limited period. (Some larger items like TVs can’t be delivered to Ireland though ).

Coast – is a ladies clothes chain who say they are “dedicated to creating and providing beautifully designed, quality garments for the special times in your life”
Irish online shoppers  can get 10% off  by using the promotional code  Eire10 at checkout. Delivery to Ireland is €7.95.
The prices are a bit more expensive than the UK site – but this 10% discount brings the prices a lot closer. November 1st 2009 is the  expiry date for this  code.
Visit Coast Here