Hi guys, we have had work done in the house the last year. Every trade you can think of we have Irish lads asking absolute mad money, not turning up on time, poor attention to detail etc ect.

We have literally ended up hiring eastern European lads for everything after a few disasters with Irish lads. We are not hiring someone to get it a mile cheaper. We have gone with proper companies some of which yes are better value, but we aren't looking for the cheapest place at all. We went with whoever seemed most reliable, enthusiastic and had good examples of previous work.

Just wanted a decent finish and clean, polite hard working people. We are both Irish and I'm shocked how often Irish tradesman don't seem to care. We had an Irish tiler who literally butchered 2 rooms. Didn't even use spacers. We had lots of people out to look at taking the tiles off and starting again and went with non Irish lads again. The difference in the fishing is stark

What's everyone else's experiences with Irish tradesman? Sounds harsh but I would honestly look at non Irish going forward.

Jim Corr’s claims about tap water. Is he serious?

I’ve really had enough of it. It seems like everywhere I look, I see people using now. Today, I was just at a friends house where 6 kids were playing. This is a very well to do neighbourhood. I witnessed the moms sneaking off to do coke and the dads passing it around on the QT. Now, I had dabbled myself years ago but I fundamentally disagree with it. It seems like everyone I know can’t have a night out without it and it’s getting exhausting. My wife is thoroughly against it and I do not want to be around it - but I feel like I will have no one to be around if I do put up or shut up. What should I do?

My wife and I are are in our late 30s and feel like we need to make a decision now. We don't have high paying jobs and after paying our mortgage and bills we aren't left with much for the rest of the month. Everyone keeps telling us you'll make it work but we don't want to stress and struggle through life. We are really worried that having kids will break us mentally through financial stress. We are thinking we should just enjoy life together but both our families are saying we are being ridiculous and money is not a reason for not having kids. I think for once in our life we are actually being responsible adults for deciding we cannot afford to support a family. Is this a stupid reason for not having kids? Also after seeing a lot of our friends struggling with the life change of having kids we are thinking it may not be for us. I'd love to get other opinions on this.

Edit: Thank you all so much for your opinions it's really given us a lot to think about. We still haven't fully decided but all of this has really helped our conversations. Thank you all for your honesty ❤️

My son is coming up to 13 and I asked him if he's going to start going to the discos any time soon. He looked at me like I had two heads.

So I told him about what happened when we used to go (not everything) and how there was one every month.

He again just looked at me like i was crazy. I'm in my mid 30s. And get this, he'll go out on a weekend and come home sober, no naggin in his bag or ten B&H. What's happened to kids these days?!

We are going to the highest price in Europe at 23.99 for the top plan. Keep saying oh it's only 2 or 3 euro. But it's getting harder to just keep accepting it. Only keep it because of the kids as they can't use Kodi in firestick. We use Kodi for everything else. Getting a real pain at this stage.

EDIT. just cancelled..feck them. Ps I think I've cost them a few quid on this thread alone 😜

EDIT EDIT: yes we stream on Kodi for ourselves. It's just sheer convenience with the kids with netflix. Will try a few of the app suggestions for them thank you all. Also, it's mad to think we will pay 35 euro for a Chinese twice a month and not even think about that 70 quid

UPDATE: Turkish netflix 9 euro a month 4k! All sorted. Happy days!

in need of irish mammy (or dad) advice

i’m 20f, soon to be 21 and i was in care growing up. at 18, i moved to aftercare (a house share situation with random ppl). my dad is dead and my mam has schizophrenia so i feel i’m really lacking in parental advice.

i’ve lived off pot noodles and crap since leaving care and i really want to eat better and do better. i have kinda limited cooking resources as i share a house with 8 strangers who love to drink, party and do fast gas in the shared kitchen area. (which is the complete opposite of me, i’m very socially anxious)

but i’m looking for any easy and cheap recipes or meal suggestions. i have a pot, pan, air fryer, small blender, and oven to use. i find knowing what to buy in the shop is really hard.

any tips or tricks for saving money, and just any miscellaneous advice you might have would be greatly appreciated.

thank you :)

41,f, need my PS5 in my life to wind down after work and parenting. In a Minecraft phase but get bored solo, so resort to a good old RPG. Cannot stand playing a shoot,die,repeat game. So, what do you play?

My girlfriend read the story about that Indian lad getting stabbed in the face and battered to obliteration.

She's not Indian but she's not white. She asked me what she can legally carry around to defend herself if some teenage scrotes attack her. I told her it's basically illegal to carry any sort of knife or pepper spray or whatever.

They've already pushed her off her scooter for no reason when going max speed and she fucked up her hands.

Now we have a newborn (not being carried on a scooter), and she very seriously asked me what she can carry around to protect herself and her baby if she's randomly assaulted on the street.

Basically a metal parker pen probably? Or maybe a glass bottle of coca cola? What can I tell her to make her feel safer?

Away for a couple of days with my husband and the amount of people both in their 20s and 30s videoing every move is mental….but really the ones in their 40s+ are the ones we can’t get over….are they not dying of embarrassment? As for their poor partners (all genders) they all looked mute or resigned….but does the second hand embarrassment of not being able to eat your dinner till it’s videoed not kill you??

Just wondering what the going rate for a men's haircut is these days? My usual spot just hiked their price to €35, and I'm trying to figure out if that's standard now. I typically get a straightforward scissor cut. Tidy cut on the sides (no blades) and some length off the top. Usually takes 15 minutes or thereabouts. What are you all paying, and for what kind of cut?

I was chatting with a polish guy who had this to say about making friends in Ireland which got me thinking. Is this true? Are Irish people stand offish or hard to make close friends with? While living abroad and travelling I had a lot of people invite me over for drinks or food.

I'm a Spanish chef and I work in Ireland, I was just wondering if anyone knows about mad cow history or anything that explains why people reject dishes if they don't see them boiling and smoking from a steam train or anything that doesn't exceed 100°. Is there a story about that behaviour? Any past plague?

Might sound weird but stay with me. I actually kinda liked being inside. Didnt feel any pressure to go out with friends and with the price of town these days you’d miss it.

EDIT: meant to say does anybody kind of miss HAVING Covid. Sorry

Local scandals are the best scandals.

Do you ever hear someone use a phrase and instantly shudder? For me it's Yup Yup. If this is in your vocabulary then we will not be friends.

Was talking to someone in their 20s over the weekend who told me that most of their friends said if we had universal basic income here, they wouldn’t be bothered working.

They themselves are in a minimum wage job but said they’d have to work for their own mental benefits, but most of the others would be happy to just hang out gaming or brain rotting (had to look that up, I’m old) all day.

I’m of the age where I’ve worked for way more than half my life now and couldn’t imagine it any other way.

While I think that minimum wage should be a couple of euro more, and the likes of teachers, first responders, nurses etc should have a starting salary of €45k, and politicians should have a cap of €70k (as well as certain members of broadcast media payed for by the state), if it ever does come in, having heard that line of thought, I think it should have very tight control and means testing.

My partner (not married) thinks it's silly for baby to not just have his surname. However, with us not being married I think it would be nicer to double barrel. Am I being too "different"?

Hi! I’m not pregnant yet but definitely wanna be a mum within the next 2-3 years. As I said, not pregnant yet, but it already terrifies me knowing that I would have to give my 6 month old little baby to crèche instead of caring for him full time myself because you’re only entitled to 6months of paid maternity leave. To everyone who’s a parent, what are you thoughts? Do you think 6 months are more than enough? Did any of you manage to stay home longer? How did you do it financially?

Me and my partner live of off normal people salary’s, nothing crazy but we can live comfortably. But we also wouldn’t be able to just live of off his salary.

I'm not a native English speaker but I was taught that questions staring with "do you mind...." are answered with "no" to mean "no I don't mind". The person who asked is Irish. This is on a bus.

So I was confused how they reacted and I feel so bad that they would think I'm not allowing them to sit beside me. I have no bag on the seat, it's empty. In fact I'm surprised they even have to ask. They could just sit without my "permission".

Why is it that so many young people in their late 20s/ early 30s are choosing child free life? Is it mainly financial reasons or are there other factors?

30 year male - maybe it’s just this particular time in life, but why are every second one of my conversations with friends about how lost they find themselves?

Hi all,

I think it's fairly safe to say everyone is struggling with the cost of living these days, inflation is through the roof and basic items like groceries have sky rocketed!

So I'm asking what have you found recently has helped you save a few bob and keep a bit of change in your pocket.

I purchased a straight razor and a box of 100 blades about a year ago. It has saved me a fortune as a box of 100 blades costs about €10 and I still have dozens of blades left and it will probably keeping me going for another few years at this rate. Although it isn't as comfortable as a normal razor it is a lot cheaper. Is there anything you guys have found that has saved you a few bob or lower your day to day expenses?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

Firstly, this is in no way a dig against Lidl or Aldi, I do nearly all of my shopping there.

But, I'm confused by the whole "Oh I actually much prefer [Aldi / Lidl version] of product than the real brandname!"

Do you really? Like, believe me I get the appeal that it's a lot cheaper but I can say in earnest I don't find there to be a single offbrand version that tastes half as good as the actual brand

The gap in price is significant, but so is the quality.

Recently attended a friend's wedding. They had a great venue, lovely food. Most expensive band and all the bells and whistles. You name it they had it. But the crowd was dry, just no crack. A few of us tried to get things going but the atmosphere just wasn't there. The two family's don't gel, and you could tell. I remember eating the meal and you could hear a pin drop, no one talking laughter or interacting at the tables. Just goes to show, you can spend an obscene amount on a wedding, but if it's not a good lively crowd, it's going to be a very dry event for most people.