Either you stay ahead of the game or you get swallowed up.
The world is going crazy right now and it must be getting tough out there for the average family.
We are not in the worst position with two decent jobs in the house but I can still feel it getting heavier and heavier.
Christmas definitely makes it worse and with two small kids and extended family it put a hit on our finances.
I would be more frugal than herself but to be fair it wasn't crazy what w bought for the big event. Even with that said you don't feel a few thousand going over the festive period with presents, eating out, hosting friends and the general cost of living.
For the 2025 Christmas season in Ireland, the average spend for a family was significantly impacted by rising costs and inflation. Based on retail data and consumer surveys, here is the breakdown of what a typical family of four likely spent.
While "average" varies depending on household income, major retail analyses (including reports from IMAGE and Ibec) projected that Irish households with children would spend approximately €2,800 this year. This is roughly a 16% increase from previous years, largely driven by the rising cost of groceries and energy.
I think we would have been up around that figure as well just form my banking app. We get a few stats every month and grocery shopping was $1300 for the month. Presents for the kids would have been another $1000. Throw in a few friends and family and it all adds up very fast.
That's not even including the few nights out that we had, pints in the pub and other santa visits and the like. I can see the effect it had on our joint account and i don't love it.
That's why the hustle can never stop. Herself is in the office now doing exam papers on the side and I'm logged onto hive grinding for a few extra dollars.
Someday we will hopefully be able to gain more assets that will generate revenue by themselves but until then it's important to find ways of topping up the wages and building a bankroll for the future. Too many people live outside their means and have no savings or even worse get into debt for these events but that is madness. In reality I would love to cut our expenses for the xmas period and think that the kids get more than they need. And we don't even go crazy but there is a lot of room for improvement.
The more you spend, the more you need and that is a real time killer. If you can't keep up the earning rate then you will fall behind trying to keep up this lifestyle and it's not something that i'm willing to do. I want to get ahead of the game and not keep chasing it.
That will be the struggle for a lot of people as prices keep rising higher and higher every month eating into their lifestyles and their savings.
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Sure, cost of living will keep trending higher and those living beyond their means will be crush harder. Going into debt, especially bad debt, is no go territory for me. I can learn to be patient and live below my means while I build and grow assets :)