Q18 Seán and Aoife Murphy live in Cork and pay €1,950 per month on their mortgage. Seán is a secondary school teacher and Aoife works as a nurse. They have one child.
(i) After reviewing their bank statement for the month, the family had the following actual income and actual expenditure:
Actual Expenditure: Mortgage €1,950 Household Bills €750 Groceries €630 Childcare €400 Other €250
Using this information, complete the Budget Comparison Statement below, by entering the figures into the Actual column, and then complete the Difference column.
Murphy Household
Income Wages Seán Wages Aoife Child Benefit
Total Income (A)
Expenditure Mortgage
Household Bills Groceries Childcare Other
Total Expenditure (B) Net Cash
Budgeted €
3,200 2,800 140
6,140 Actual € Difference €
1,950 600 550 400 300
3,800 2,340
(ii) Did the Murphy family spend more or less than they planned? Explain your answer using figures from the statement.
(iii) Seán’s actual wages were lower than budgeted. Suggest one reason for this.