In mid-2023, Geraldine and Tomás Brennan received notice that their variable mortgage rate was increasing. The change added €340 per month to their repayment. They had no obvious slack in the budget and no savings large enough to absorb the difference indefinitely. They had about six weeks before the new rate took effect.
The first step: a full spending review
Geraldine exported twelve months of transaction data from their bank and categorised it. The process took about three hours. They identified €190 per month in spending that was either forgotten, duplicated, or genuinely discretionary — streaming services they rarely used, a gym membership Tomás had not activated in four months, and a recurring food delivery habit that had crept up to €220 per month.
The remaining gap
After cutting €190, they still faced a €150 shortfall. They decided to reduce their monthly pension top-up contribution temporarily — not eliminate it, but reduce it from €200 to €80 per month — with a specific plan to restore it within eighteen months as their fixed expenses shifted. They documented this decision in writing to hold themselves to it.
Where they are now
Fourteen months later, the pension contribution is back at €160 per month and rising. The food delivery budget is now fixed at €80 per month. The adjustment was uncomfortable for about three months, then became routine. No credit was used during the transition.