Whether your admin tasks are free-flowing or sludgy, they are probably boring. Putting them off is costing you, too. But there is one novel way to mount a fight back and motivate yourself to get things done \u2013 \u201cAdmin Night\u201d anyone?<\/p>\n
What\u2019s an admin night?<\/p>\n
Hosting an \u201cadmin night\u201d can make getting through your to-do list more bearable, according to Australian podcasters MammaMia Outloud. <\/p>\n
They propose getting together with friends to make all the calls and send all the emails you\u2019ve all been putting off. Have some drinks and snacks and just take your time with the whole thing, they advise. <\/p>\n
Admin, and bad customer service in particular, can be lonely, joyless and frustrating. It steals our precious time with loved ones too \u2013 so why not take the edge off by doing it with friends? Think book club, but without the book. <\/p>\n
Let\u2019s face it, when tasks such as paying tolls, cancelling direct debits and booking the kids\u2019 swimming lessons jostle in your busy brain, it can be hard to focus on the latest Sally Rooney. <\/p>\n
[\u00a0Tax returns cause anxiety and dread in over half of taxpayers, survey findsOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n For busy friends who love to meet, but also want the sweet relief of ticking down their to-do list, admin night can be golden. <\/p>\n And if your book club usually descends into trading cost-of-living horrors and bad customer service anecdotes anyway, this is a chance to get constructive. Crowdsourcing money tips from mates can open your eyes to better deals and save you money too. <\/p>\n Subscription blitz<\/p>\n Friends can get their admin night off to a blazing start by drilling into subscriptions. How many streaming services does each of you pay for? <\/p>\n Basic monthly subscriptions to Netflix<\/a>, Disney<\/a> Plus and Apple TV<\/a>, for example, will cost your household about \u20ac32 a month, or \u20ac384 a year. Are you and your family really watching all of them? <\/p>\n What about audio book services, fitness apps, podcast \u201cBonus Ep\u201d subscriptions? There may be some direct debits you\u2019ve forgotten about. Free trials that rollover into subscriptions are a sneaky financial drain. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Amazon to pay US regulators $2.5bn to settle Prime probeOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Some companies make it deliberately hard to unsubscribe and the European Commission is drafting new \u201cdigital fairness\u201d rules to ensure cancelling is as easy as signing up.<\/p>\n France already enforces a \u201cthree-click\u201d digital cancellation rule, with sites facing a \u20ac75,000 fine for failure to comply. Germany demands an easy-to-find, one-step \u201ccancel now\u201d button \u2013 no redirects to phone support or chat, with a \u20ac50,000 fine for violations. <\/p>\n Until there are better digital fairness rules here, you\u2019ll need to do some legwork. So whip out the banking app on your phone and scour your current account direct debits for vampire subscriptions.<\/p>\n [\u00a0How to make the most of your financial power at every life and career stageOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Unsubscribing can be a torturous loop of clicks and \u201cWhy are you leaving?\u201d surveys, but do it with friends and the force is with you. <\/p>\n Mortgage matters<\/p>\n This is Ireland, so most social occasions involve talking about house prices<\/a>. If you and your friends are lucky enough to be homeowners, your mortgage<\/a> is probably your biggest expense. So what interest rate is everyone on? A quick poll in your circle can reveal rates ranging from a lucky 2.2 per cent fix right up to 6.15 per cent at the top end. <\/p>\n \u201cFor most people, their mortgage can make the biggest difference to their finances, if managed correctly,\u201d says Martina Hennessy of Doddl.ie <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really useful to normalise reviewing your mortgage and switching where it makes sense,\u201d says Hennessy.<\/p>\n The Pittsburgh Steelers will play the Minnesota Vikings at Croke Park this weekend in the first regular-season NFL game to take place on Irish shores.Dublin is now part of a growing roster of cities outside the United States hosting lucrative NFL games. Irishman Paul Holland has worked in the sports marketing industry for many years and has charted the financial rise of the NFL and how it dwarfs other sports. He joined host Ciar\u00e1n Hancock in studio to discuss the financial impact of this game coming to Dublin. Plus, last week Donald Trump surprised us all by slapping a $100,000 fee on a key foreign worker visa used by Big Tech companies in Silicon Valley. Colin Gleeson covered the story and joined Ciar\u00e1n in studio to discuss its implications for Big Tech firms and for Irish workers based in Silicon Valley. Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.<\/p>\n Homeowners can save up to \u20ac7,505 a year by switching their mortgage, according to the latest Doddl.ie mortgage switching index. This is based on the average mortgage drawdown, which now stands at \u20ac346,842.<\/p>\n Can you save on your mortgage? Use admin night to start your research. The first step is to estimate the value of your home, searching the property price register for similar properties recently sold in your area will give you an approximate figure. Then find out your exact monthly mortgage repayment and your current mortgage balance \u2013 if your banking app doesn\u2019t already show this, set up this view in your app. You\u2019ll need your Ber rating too. <\/p>\n Armed with this information, use an online switching calculator such as Doddl.ie or CCPC.ie to check if you can do better than your current mortgage interest rate. This takes 40 seconds and can save you tens of thousands, says Hennessy. <\/p>\n [\u00a0How to save money on your home insuranceOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n You won\u2019t get the switch done in a night \u2013 it can take between 10 days and six weeks to process, but you will at least get the ball rolling on savings. <\/p>\n Reclaim medical costs <\/p>\n Do you keep medical and dental receipts, but you never get around to claiming back? Then gather up your bits of paper and bring them to admin night.<\/p>\n The average refund for health expenses for the 2023 year of assessment, for example, was \u20ac380, Revenue figures show. This is per \u201ctaxpayer unit\u201d, so it includes those jointly assessed such as married couples. That\u2019s a lot of money to leave unclaimed, so don\u2019t let the admin put your off. <\/p>\n Taxpayers get 20 per cent back on costs you paid for yourself or another person. Relief on nursing home expenses is available at your highest rate of income tax.<\/p>\n Health expenses are the most popular expenses claimed back, says Revenue<\/a>. GP visits, prescriptions, orthodontics, laser eye treatment, IVF, acupuncture, maternity care, psychologist and psychotherapist fees, speech and language therapy, nursing home fees and certain foods for coeliacs and\/or diabetics \u2013 you can get a tax refund on all of these. Some 711,200 claims were made by self-assessed and PAYE taxpayers for medical expenses for 2023.<\/p>\n You have four years from the end of a tax year to claim any relevant refunds. So, if you have any claims outstanding for 2021, you\u2019d want to get moving before January.<\/p>\n Taxpayers can claim relief for health expenses after the end of the relevant tax year by filing an income tax return. <\/p>\n [\u00a0One in four PAYE workers are overpaying tax. Can you claim money you\u2019re owed?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n PAYE workers and pensioners can do this using Revenue\u2019s MyAccount service, while self-assessed taxpayers will use ROS.<\/p>\n You can claim other tax credits, such as the rent tax credit, mortgage interest tax credit or remote working relief this way too.<\/p>\n Just upload a readable image of your medical receipts using the Receipts Tracker service \u2013 that way you don\u2019t have to retain the receipts. This is a speedy service and if you are due a refund, you\u2019ll receive it into your bank account in days.<\/p>\n PAYE taxpayers and those in receipt of a pension can alternatively make a claim any time during the year using the Real Time Credit facility in MyAccount. Again, you upload images of receipts. You\u2019ll see any refund of tax due in your payroll.<\/p>\n If you have private health insurance, you can only claim tax relief back on the portion of the expenses you have not already been refunded through your insurance policy.<\/p>\n Attack utilities <\/p>\n When is your electricity or gas contract up for renewal? Don\u2019t be tempted to just roll over. This can leave you paying up to \u20ac800 more a year for electricity than you need to. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Most Irish households aren\u2019t using smart meters properly. Doing so could save you \u20ac800Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Use admin night to gather the intel you\u2019ll need to find a better tariff. <\/p>\n Utilities regulator the CRU recommends using free price-comparison websites such as bonkers.ie, switcher.ie, powertoswitch.ie and energyswitch.ie to shop around for the cheapest plan. <\/p>\n But to do this, you\u2019ll need the name of your current supplier, the name of your plan or the cost per unit rate of electricity you\u2019re paying, or the discount percentage you are getting. <\/p>\n Alternatively you could use the national average electricity usage estimate of 4,200kW\/h of electricity a year, but this can be too crude a measure to yield maximum savings. <\/p>\n [\u00a0Should medical card holders still get a break on tax?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n If you have a smart meter, then take the time to create an account with ESBnetworks.ie. <\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve set up an account, you\u2019ll need your \u201cMPRN\u201d, located at the top of your bill. You can use this to download the \u201c30-minute readings in kW\u201d file of your smart-meter data. <\/p>\n Once saved, this file of your electricity usage data can be uploaded to a comparison website to help you find the best tariff <\/p>\n Someone who is paying standard rates (not smart rates) and uses an average amount of energy could save about \u20ac450 to \u20ac500 a year by switching their electricity and well over \u20ac300 by switching their gas, Daragh Hickey of Bonkers.ie has said. <\/p>\n It\u2019s often cheaper to go with separate gas and electricity suppliers to avail of distinct offers, says Hickey. <\/p>\n Pension push<\/p>\n Are you entitled to the State pension? If you\u2019ve taken leave from paid work, or worked part-time due to caring responsibilities, this can affect your entitlement. <\/p>\n To qualify for the State pension<\/a>, you\u2019ll need to have accumulated a certain number of PRSI contributions between starting work and reaching pension age.<\/p>\n You continue to get these credits during certain types of caring leave. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1754647931518-c07d65db-55b5-463e-ae51-976300c5837e.jpeg\"\/)
The NFL comes to Dublin: How it became the richest sports league in the world<\/p>\n