u/HeftyArgument6326

We can sell our place for €500k+ and take on a mortgage of min €280k to buy our dream house in dream location.

Our current home is nice, comfortable, big enough for our family but it's up a steep hill so we end up driving a lot.

The potential dream home is central but has large garden so feels quiet and private, it's right beside our kids primary school and future secondary school, and we could probably get rid of the second car. The property is old and needs a bit of work but is eligible for the vacant property grant. It's on the larger side but could potentially rent out the back part of it as a granny flat under the rent a room scheme.

Thoughts? Am I mad to give up the security that being mortgage-free brings?

If it helps, we're in early 40s, I'm on €60k and OH is on €35k.

ETA: OH has no pension and mine is very small. Before we got distracted by this beautiful house, our next financial priority was to max pension contributions to prepare for retirement.

Thanks in advance.

Hi, we are staying in the 14th from September 11th - 14th.

My children are adventurous eaters - can anyone recommend interesting food experiences in the area?

They won't be up for much walking or museums unfortunately, so I'm considering a city bus tour or a boat tour depending on how the weather. Any recommendations?

Any unmissable adventure / playgrounds for children?

Thanks in advance!

My partner works in the drinks industry. Apparently many wines are filtered through eisenglas / fish eggs / fish bladder but this does not have to be declared on the bottle. Therefore, there are many vegans unknowingly consuming wine that is not vegan 😅

Maybe people do know this but mine is that unless you're selling out stadiums, most household name musicians in Ireland make a pittance from music and they have to do lots of different jobs like teaching, working in the service industry etc in order to survive. Also most tours lose money, even those that sell out. The only real way to make money is through merch and royalties. Depressing af.

I wouldn't have ever considered myself a beer drinker but since starting MJ, it's all I want to drink. Obviously I resist most of the time because it isn't socially acceptable to drink beer on a Tuesday afternoon, but wtf is this craving about? I thought I was supposed to be less drawn to alcohol, not more drawn to it?? Fml

I was a Christian 0 - 29, agnostic since then and I'm now 41.

I got married to a Christian at 24. We're still together but we do struggle a bit and are finally considering marriage counseling.

My parents were very creative people involved in music and theatre and they gave it all up when they became Christians in their early 20s. My dad used to be an underground DJ and he literally put his entire vinyl collection in the bin 😭

Fast forward to them having me, and they wouldn't allow me to listen to "secular music" or watch tv so I missed out on decades of music. I have done my best to catch up but I am useless at table quizzes because of my massive pop culture gaps 😆

I am now a musician doing community projects, but I do wonder if my parents had stayed in the creative industries rather than giving up everything for their faith, how much more art I would have been exposed to and what kind of opportunities I might have had.

Another regret is around sexuality. I do love my OH but they're my second sexual partner, and I would have liked to have experimented more before settling down. I don't feel I can say this to them without causing hurt.

I also think because of my focus on heaven and hell from such a young age, that I was a weird kid and struggled socially. The strict sect my parents were a part of it was very culturally weird where I'm from so we didn't have anyone but our tiny church. We were told to be proud that we were "set apart" but it was actually just really fucking lonely.

Can anyone else relate?

Does such a thing exist? If so, can you point me in that direction? Or if not, please feel free to DM me and we can get one started.

Thank you.

Edit for clarity: I'm not on fb and would prefer to avoid it if possible. Thank you

I've hosted four different groups this summer, one stay is ongoing, and two of those four groups have added additional guests mid-stay without telling me which I've caught on the Eufy doorbell camera by chance.

What gives? Is this the norm now or am I just unlucky?

I did raise it with the first group and we worked it out.

The current group is a family of four and there now seems to be an additional child staying. Earlier in their stay, they had an issue with the shower which is now resolved, but I did appreciate their flexibility and understanding so I'm inclined not to say anything.

But the dishonesty is grating.

Edit: no, cameras are not illegal in Airbnbs unless they are undeclared or in certain areas of the house. This is a highly visible doorbell camera which is not just used to verify check ins, but for security and detecting potential burglars.

Edit 2: there doesn't seem to be a way to filter replies to see only comments from fellow hosts so muting this now.

A friend is stuck in a dead end relationship and a corporate career and wants to leave but doesn't know where to start about changing their life. I was thinking a holiday or a guided retreat with people in a similar space might be a good place to start. Has anyone attending something like this that they'd recommend? Money isn't an issue so it could be in Ireland or abroad.

Thanks in advance!

Edit for clarity: looking specifically for holiday/guided retreat suggestions that you or someone you know has personal experience of, not alternatives like therapy or volunteering. Thank you.

There's no one more surprised than me that my favourite decade so far is my 40s, hands down.

For my first two decades, I lived through a lot of traumatic things. My 20s was spent trying to recover and figure out who I am. My 30s was about healing and now my 40s I feel like I finally like myself and am properly getting to enjoy my life.

I realise I'm privileged to say this but I'm settled, I have a lovely partner and kids, a nice house, and am setting roots down where we've chosen to live. We're slowly making friends here and building a solid community of sound people around us.

I don't have much disposable income, but am getting a lot of joy from things that are cheap / free like sea swimming, cooking, hosting people for meals etc.

I'm lucky to have my health to be able to enjoy it all.

I think 20 year old me would probably think my life is a bit boring, but they'd hopefully be proud of me.

Which is your favourite decade so far, Casual Ireland?

*The poll is automatically limited to 6 choices only - big apologies to the 60+ community 🤦 Feel free to tear me apart in the comment section for ageism!*

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If so, how?

I (41f) lost my faith 12 years ago. My husband is still Christian but respects my lack of faith, and I respect his decision to occasionally read the Bible / attend a church of England church. We have two kids together and have mutually agreed that our children can decide for themselves if they want to get into religion or not.

So far, it seems to be working for us. Is that weird? Is anyone else in this situation?

I don't want to lodge it for fear of the taxman so considering buying a secondhand Thermomix on adverts. Probably sounds boring but I've been thinking about it for a year.

How would you spend a surprise €1000?

Hi,

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As per post, this is my primary residence and I'd like to rent it out over the summer for two months without my staying in the property.

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I'm currently insured by Allianz and they say they won't cover it.

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Has anyone been able "add" to their coverage with an additional insurer? Or change insurer completely?

​

I'm looking for companies that insure in Ireland.

​

Thank you.

Hi,

​

As per post, this is my primary residence and I'd like to rent it out over the summer for two months without my staying in the property.

​

I'm currently insured by Allianz and they say they won't cover it.

​

Has anyone been able "add" to their coverage with an additional insurer? Or change insurer completely?

​

I'm looking for companies that insure in Ireland.

​

Thank you.

Is saying 'takeout' a new thing? A regional thing? A recent American import? Or have I just not been listening properly all along?

​

View Poll

My (41f) band did ok but we eventually burned out and called it quits 7 years ago.

It took me a few years to recover, and in the past few years I've been making a living running community music projects instead of releasing my own stuff.

I was at a social event unrelated to music yesterday with only people I didn't know and went to introduce myself to someone and they said "I know who you are, your band was so great back in the day". The others there were interested so she told them all about the band while I listened.

It was really odd in a mostly nice way to inhabit that space again, and to hear this person talk about my band with such positive memories, while for me my band had come to represent pain, failure and ancient history basically. (The tiny part that was not fun was the phrase 'back in the day' - they meant it in a nice way but it made me feel like a 100 year old has been 😆)

It was also nice to be reminded of the effect that music has on others. I do know that songwriting and being in studio seeing songs come to life still make me very happy. But the thought of performing and the business side of a band absolutely drains the life out of me so it puts me off going back to studio, knowing songs would sit there idle. But maybe I should go back to studio for the fun of it?

I'm not exactly sure why I'm sharing this but maybe others can relate.

That's it really. I had been on wegovy previously and they made me wait 5 weeks from finishing wegovy to ordering it, and now there's a week delay so that'll be 6 week of no meds in total.

Not impressed!