Today's video is intended for five different groups of people the first one being those who
are already 100% moving to Ireland with a job offer so that means you already know how much
exactly you're gonna earn here and now you're just doing your research to have an idea of
how much you're gonna spend when you get here. The second group of people will be those who've
already locked their eyes on Ireland as their new home and just trying to find out what is
the acceptable level of income when they get here the. The third group would be those who
have been looking for new places to live in and happens to have Ireland as one of their options.
The fourth one would be those people who are just curious how much is the cost of living here in
Ireland and wanted to compare it to wherever they are at the moment. And last but not the least,
are those group of people who are just bored and got nothing else to do
but to just listen to me and watch videos. Now, if you fall under any of those categories then
you got the right video and you need to stay with me until the end of this.
When you are moving to a new place or a new country, the first thing you actually want to know
is how much is the cost of living because it doesn't matter how high your income is,
if the expenses are kind of proportionately high then you might be better off just staying where
you are at the moment. For me, i look at the disposable income, which is your income less
the taxes less social charges and then that will be the available money for you to spend or save,
however you wish to. Back in 2018, when i got my job offer, i tried to research some information
about Tralee, like how much are the rent here, how much are the food, how much are the expenses,
but unfortunately, there is a very little of information on the internet. What i found are
information about Dublin, Limerick, Cork, which are the big cities here in Ireland.
What i want to do in this video is compare the cost of living in Dublin versus Tralee,
which is a very small town with 25,000 people in it, that's located in the southwest of
Ireland. I'm going to show Tralee in the map just in case you don't know where it is
okay there you go! So that is Tralee right and there is Dublin. So that is a 4-hour
train ride one way, 8-hour return. Yeah, it's from end to end. I actually have a video of the
Tralee town and if you haven't seen that, then check the link i'm gonna put it up there because
you'll definitely be surprised how gorgeous it is. Throughout this video, I'm gonna use euro
as reference so i think it is useful for me to tell you guys the foreign exchange rate for some
currency. 1 Euro is equal to 1.20 US Dollars and 57.59 Philippine Pesos. For your information, the
minimum wage here is 10.20 Euros per hour so you are guaranteed of that salary when you move here.
Tax on your personal income is calculated based on your personal circumstances. Let's say you're
single or married or a single parent. That will also come with different amounts of tax
relief. I'm gonna put somewhere here those tax rate bands but you can also find them in the
revenue.ie website there are a lot of information about them. If you've already seen my other video
where i gave you guys five of the different things that i wish i knew before i moved here in Ireland,
and tax is one of them, I'm gonna put the link up there if you haven't,
then you already know that I am currently taxed at 34% and that already includes PAYE, USC, PRSI and
some portion of it as a contribution to a private pension plan. My disposable income is 66% of my
salary. As you know guys, I am not from Dublin, I am from Tralee, but i have a lot of friends there
and from what i gathered, it is really expensive. Just to have more clarity on this matter,
of course, I consulted youtube to find other people who are living there and probably has
created content about the cost of living in Dublin. I found this couple who's been living
in Dublin for like three to four years now. Their youtube channel is Wine and Rum and they create a
lot of content as well in terms of living here in Ireland. If you want to check their videos,
I'm gonna put the link in the description box below. One of their video is detailing all of
their expenses in Dublin and I figured that I'm gonna use that as a basis and then compare
how much I am spending here in Tralee. So let's start, I'm gonna use the 'ol ipad because i am
using my phone and my laptop in filming this. First on their list is the rent which is the
biggest chunk of their expenses and they pay 1,600 euros for that. Wow! They mentioned in their video
that it is for a one-bedroom apartment. Now, I don't know how exactly their apartment looks
like but I am also living in a one-bedroom apartment and I am only paying 450 euros for that.
which is totally different so i looked at daft.ie just to see what is almost the same as what i am
living at. I found some similar properties which are around 1,000 to 1,200 euros so I think,
it's just their preference to have a place that's as expensive as that. For groceries, they said
that they are spending 300 a month and guess what, i'm also spending 300 or probably more on food.
Yeah, food is life! That's already given that i have a right balance of cooking and also takeaways
so yeah that's a lot. Next, we have the utilities where they are spending 130 euros.
So i think electricity depends on the season really because of course if it is winter, you have
all of the heaters turned on so it will be more expensive obviously but in summer or autumn, when
it's not too cold, then there's no need for all the heat. So, i'd say my average will be around 60
euros a month and that's already including my electric cooker because sometimes you can have
like gas or something but for me everything is electric. My internet at home costs 45
euros and i am with eir. It's really fast, i never had a problem with it. It is a 150 megabyte
fiber connection. Oh and by the way water is free here in Ireland for residential properties.
So that totals 105 euros for my utilities. Next is the phone where they spend 32 euros a month
and for me, I spend 25 euros. I am with three and I think that is already the cheapest of them all,
compared to vodafone and eir because that's already all you can eat data and it has 11
gigabytes within the EU. Really good deal! Plus it's already 5G. Now we're at the food and drinks.
So they said that they are spending 130 euros for this. Now, this is when you go out and dine
into restaurants and go to pubs. I've been to Dublin and what I can say is that the difference
is massive. Here, you can get a pint for a fiver but there, it could be eight euros or tener. This
one actually depends on the person but since this is a really big culture here in Ireland,
even though you don't drink a lot, you might see yourself going out with your friends and
just for the fun and just for, you know, social interaction. For me, probably let's
say before the COVID, I am going out twice a month, every Friday or Saturday, who knows,
and probably, have a couple or more drinks.. say, four drinks. So, that will be 40 for me.
Next is the health insurance. So they said they are spending 84 euros for this. I am a fairly
healthy person, like i don't get sick a lot except that one time when I first got here,
probably on my third month. I got a really bad flu but that is kind of expected because it is a big
change in the weather from the Philippines moving here. I think what they got is the
most expensive one wherein they are covered in all private hospitals and public hospitals. Well, for
me, I only have the one for all public hospitals, you know, that should be fine. And that is 45
euros per month. That is with Laya Healthcare or "Leia"? "Leia" healthcare, "Laya" healthcare.
Anyway, I'll put the link down there. Okay and then next they have health, which is their doctors
or dentists and they mentioned they are spending 130 for this and like I said, I am fairly healthy,
so this is really at a minimum for me. So what I would have here would be 15 euros for
the dentist. So that will be just the normal cleaning and like i said in my other video,
we have subsidized dental services. Instead of paying around 90 euros, we only pay 15 euros for
this. And then since i have a brace, I need to go to an orthodontist for a monthly adjustment, and
that costs 120 euros. But for this matter, I don't think I'm gonna add that because obviously not
everyone has braces but just for your information. Next, they also included clothing, spending 120
euros on that but I think this is very variable. If you are someone who doesn't really spend a lot
on shopping, then this will definitely be not on your list or will be very minimal. For me, i will
opt not to put it in here. Next, they are spending 13 euros for education. Probably when taking some
online courses. But for me, i don't really spend on those like I usually go to youtube or
google when I want to learn something new. So that one for me is zero. I'd say this is also variable,
like if you're someone who likes to take online courses or something, then definitely do so,
add them in the list. Next is the entertainment. So, this is when you're going to the cinema,
to concert, et cetera and they said they are spending 25 euros for this. With the pandemic
going on, this is definitely at a minimum. Before that, I went to probably a couple or more
concerts and I also have the subscription with the local cinema which is omniplex,
it's called omnipass, wherein you have unlimited access to all of the movies and also 10 off on
all of their food. That costs 18 euros. Next up is the hobbies and electronics wherein they spent 210
last year. This is very valuable as well, like if you're someone who doesn't need to have the newest
phone or the newest gadget, then you're probably fine. It really depends. For me,
I got the new macbook pro with the silicone chip and also the iphone 12 pro max. So, better not
to put it here because that's just gonna bloat the whole cost of living total. And then next is home,
where they spent 71 euros. When I first got here, yes, in 2018, I bought a lot of things for my
apartment like rugs, pillows, bed sheets, duvets, I also bought a new television, a couple of lamps
but when I started feeling more homey in the apartment, then I stopped buying stuff, especially
that you know i'm just renting so I don't really want to buy a lot of improvement because in the
end, I might just move to another place or buy a new house or whatever. Yeah,
I'd say this is very valuable as well and if you are working for a company like mine, I had a
relocation allowance or relocation bonus because I am moving from one country to another. So, all of
those expenses anyway were taken out of that pot. Next is a student loan of 420 euros. So again,
this is variable. I'm not a student, so i don't have this expense. Next is the subscription, they
spend 33 euros. This one, again, is very variable like it depends on what subscriptions you have
like for me, I have apple music, amazon, netflix and the list just goes on and on. I'm just gonna
leave it blank. Next, they are only spending 12 euros for transportation but they explained that
their place is in the city so everything is just accessible. They just walk around so that's good,
even for me personally, I would rather be close to everything and just walk from here and there
rather than staying outside of the city having a lower rent but then commuting on a daily basis.
I'm with them in this one. Okay, so for me, here in Tralee, it's very tricky. If I'll be honest,
I don't spend anything on transportation and that is because i also live within the town center,
so everything is very accessible. I just walk around when I want to go to the groceries,
when i go to the park. Also, my partner has a car, so he takes care of all the petrol.
Maybe, I should start chipping in. Hey Derek, do you want me to chip in on the petrol? ...
So yeah, like I said, I don't spend on the transportation but what I can put in here
is an assumption. For example, you want to go around the county, go from one place to another,
there's a lot of rental companies here. I usually go with enterprise.ie. You can check
it from there, they have a massive selection of cars, be it manual or automatic. And I'd say
you can get a car for like two days over the weekend for around 80 euros and then let's
say you also want to go to Dublin, visit some friends there once a month, you can take the train
which is gonna cost you 50 euros return. There's also an option for you to take the bus which
is cheaper. You can get a return trip for 30 quid but personally I'd rather take the train,
it is very comfy anyway. They also have sockets for your laptop or your phone so you can do
pretty much everything there. If you have your headphones, headsets, then the time will just
pass by. That is 130 euros for me. The last on their list is travel where they spent around 618
euros. This is very variable, like it depends how much traveling you do yourself. I did a lot of
traveling in 2019 and I'd say I spent a lot on that but it's all worth it especially with the
pandemic happening in 2020. I am just so glad that I did all those. I'd rather not put the amount in
here because like i said it's very variable depending on the person. So with that list,
excluding all of the lines that I mentioned are variable, their total in Dublin is 2,443 whereas,
for me in Tralee, i am only spending 1,128. Before we move on, I just want to add a couple more of
expenses that you might want to add in your list. This is not applicable to everyone,
this is only for people who are immigrants, who need residence permit to work here in Ireland.
That would be your residence permit. It costs 300 euros a year while you are in stamp 1 but when you
upgrade to stamp 4, then you only need to renew it every two years. If you're an overseas worker,
you are probably sending money to your family back home and I also include that to my monthly
expense but not the cost of living. Lastly is the forex difference. Now, this wouldn't be that much,
I just want to point out that if you are sending money back home, forex rates fluctuate. Luckily,
euro isn't that volatile, however, since I got here back in September of 2018,
the exchange rate from euro to philippine peso has declined. The forex rate back then was 63.66
and now it is at 57.59 so that is a 9.5% decrease in the value of the money that I send back to the
Philippines. Let's say I am sending 1,000 euros per month. Before, they will be getting 64,000,
but now they are only getting 57,000 pesos. Okay, that is a long one! That is it, with that
exercise, we're able to identify that my expenses are half of what they are spending in Dublin. The
main message of this video is for you to not only consider the big cities when you are looking for a
new place to live in, but also the small towns outside of the capital because there might be
bigger opportunities for you. As for me, before I moved here, I lived in Manila which is the capital
of the Philippines and also Selangor in Malaysia which is just 30 minutes away from Kuala Lumpur.
And then now, here in Tralee, it is very quiet, it is very laid back but what I can say is,
it is very relaxing and yes, it is very different from what I have experienced before,
but I am telling you guys, it is worth the try. So, that's it guys for today! Hope you
found the information that you need and if you did, please do subscribe to this channel
and also like this video. It's really going to help this channel grow more and more. So, ciao!!