With the cost of living on the rise, we all need to tighten our belts. Whether you’re saving for a new car, your first house, a wedding or even just saving for a holiday, you might have no clue where to start.
VIP Magazine sat down with Caz Mooney, the budgeting influencer who has changed the country’s relationship with discussing money.
Here she shares seven tips to help budget in 2026….
Take 10 minutes every week
“Budgeting can be so overwhelming, so it’s about making the smaller changes that are sustainable to your budget. I would recommend taking just 10 minutes once a week to think about what you’re going to do to change your finances.
“For example, this week you might look at your subscriptions and see if there’s any that you don’t need. Next week, you might look at energy-saving tips. Maybe switching to the slow cooker and the air fryer to save money on your food costs, switching your light bulbs to LED and maybe installing a boost timer instead of turning on the immersion all the time.
“The next week you might be looking at your bill providers such as electricity, your heating costs and of course all of your utilities so even your bills and direct debits to do with your internet and your phone.
“It’s a great time to take 10 minutes to look at that, and then you might look at your food shop the next week, so it really is just taking each week and taking 10 minutes and really looking at ways to reduce your costs.
“Also, it’s important to remember to look at ways to bring in income as well. Maybe you’re due an increase in your salary, so now’s a great time to talk to your employer and see if you are able to negotiate a better salary or if you want to change jobs. Also looking at side hustles which is so often forgotten, maybe you have some clothes you could throw up on Vinted. Also look at any skills or extra education you might have in an area say for example you’re a teacher you might be able to do grinds and looking at bringing in extra income there.”
Give your money jobs
“I’m a big advocate for giving every cent a job in your budget, so make sure you know exactly what is coming into your account and make sure you have a job for every single cent that goes in. You don’t necessarily need to stop your everyday spending but just set aside a certain amount for that.
“Have a certain amount for socialising, a certain amount for spending on your food shop each week, a certain amount for your travel expenses and that way you know that you’re able to put as much as you can towards your financial goals.”
Put away a little bit every week
“I would recommend putting money towards your future expenses so maybe you have a holiday coming up or a wedding and putting a little bit aside each paycheque towards that will break down that big amount into a much more manageable amount.
“That way you’re less likely to try and find money in other ways and go into debt.”
Put your money in pots
“Separate your money into virtual pots, a lot of banks do it now. So put your money physically into an online pocket that is for your everyday spending and that way again you’re less likely to pull from other areas where you’re saving. That makes budgeting so much easier.”
Write your debut down
“If you do have debt, I’d also recommend writing all of that down and looking at ways if you are able to overpay it in any way because that means then you’re going to be spending a lot less on that debt in the long term.
Don’t be too hard on yourself
“It’s like a bad diet if you go too strict on yourself right in the beginning, it’s going to be very unsustainable for you to keep doing in the long term. I myself, when we first started budgeting, I made the classic mistake of cutting our food shop right down to the bare bones. We just had no food in the house before our next paycheque so we were much more tempted to then get takeaway and spend a lot more money in the long run by doing it that way.
“It’s much more important that you make small changes that are sustainable, so like I said, taking that 10 minutes to look at all the different areas of your finances, even if it’s once a week and making sure that those changes are sustainable in the long term.
Don’t put your head in the sand
“A lot of people are spending over €50 on their mobile bill, which is crazy! That can be brought it down to €15 a month, you’re going to be saving a lot over the course of the year. You can then put that towards your other financial goals, and in the long run.
“You’re also going to have a lot greater control of your finances because you’ll just know exactly what’s going on. I think a lot of people are just not aware of it because we put our head in the sand.”
Caz has teamed up with Sky Mobile to help Irish people save money on their bills in 2026, following new research from Sky Mobile revealing just 1 in 10 Irish people were likely to start switching mobile providers more regularly as a way of cutting costs – despite the opportunity for major savings here!