MONEY WOES: 'What are we doing wrong? I feel like we have failed our children'

Jill Kerby is the Meath Chronicle's Personal Finance expert and this week shares just one of the many letters she received from readers. You can read her response in Tuesday's Chronicle.

Dear Jill,

“I am a mother of three and trying to come to terms with how expensive Ireland is. We came home in 2010 and ever since have been taking cuts in salaries and costs are going up constantly. My husband works full time and has decent pay. I work part-time (my youngest is only four) yet we struggle to get through each month. Our mortgage is quite high at €1,600 a month. My question is, what are we doing wrong? We don't go out, don't drink or smoke, have stopped entertaining as it is too dear.

“We go on budget holidays to Spain as we can't afford anything else. I can't think of anywhere else to cut our budget as we’ve reduced every item we could think of. Are there many families in this situation? What are we doing wrong? I feel like we failed our children, as we are unable to save for college or give them the future we so wanted when we decided to come back.”