New data show one in five households are experiencing 'great difficulty' making ends meet.
A midlands mum, who saved €15,000 in one year, is advising people to look at their needs and wants to help combat the rising cost of living.
Offaly's Caz Mooney, who runs the Irish Budgeting Journey Instagram page, says it's important for people to plan ahead.
One in five households say they've experienced 'great difficulty' making ends meet.
She says taking small steps, like categorising monthly spending, are essential to helping people save money:
One in four households, consisting of one adult with children, were in arrears with utility bills last year.
That's according to the Survey on Income and Living Conditions by the CSO.
It also found four in ten households experienced some difficulty making ends meet, with 5.6 per cent of households saying they experienced 'great difficulty'.
The CSO study shows the at risk poverty rate last year was 11.6 per cent, a drop from 13.2 per cent in 2020.
However, the Survey on Income and Living Conditions also shows that without Covid 19 income supports.
The 2021 poverty rate would have been 19.9 per cent.
Those who were most risk of poverty were people who described themselves as 'unable to work due to long standing health problems' at 39.1 per cent, the comparable rate for those in employment is 4.4 per cent.
The median household disposable income in 2021 was 46,471 euro, compared with 43,915 in 2020.
Four in ten households said they had some difficulty in making ends meet in 2021 while 5.6 per cent of households said they had great difficulty.
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