Quiz of the Year: How much do you know about money?

This year your weekly Money pages provided tips aplenty to steer you through the cost of living crisis.

If you follow even some of them, you could have saved thousands.

But how many can you remember?

Here’s a quick quiz to see how much money-saving advice you managed to take in – and remind you about the best of them.

It’ll also help test if we have enough financial savvy to see the good deals from the bad ones, whether these are offered by lying politicos or too-greedy companies.

1. In September last, what caused a furore by costing around €500?

a. A two day stay in a French hotel modelled on Versaille palace, including flights, a six-course banquet every nightn and mind-blowing entertainment from 20 award winning performances at the world-renowned Puy du Fou resort?  

b. A year’s supply of TV, broadband and phone from the cheapest provider, Eir?

c. Tickets to a middle-aged, middle-of the road derivative rock band from the 1990s called Oasis?

2. Taste tests carried out by consumer watchdog Which? – and your own trusty Money pages - found that own brand ketchup products could “hold their own” against pricey brands costing €4.99 a bottle "whether in a bacon sandwich or with fish and chips.” But how much can you save (per 650g) with Aldi’s own brand label Bramwells? 

   a. €1.09

   b. €1.81

   c. €2.67

   
   

3. In our food and drink price survey in November we showed the price of a pint of stout had soared. In February 2020 it cost €4.67. What was the average price in October 2024 after it broke the €5 barrier!

a. €6.50  

b. €5.70

c. €5.82 

4. Which food item saw the biggest increase since the previous election in 2020?

a. Pizza  

b. Avocados 

c. Sugar 

5. A new health insurer finally arrived on the market in November. It’s called:

   a. Healthy Options

   b. Level Crossing

   c. Level Health.

6. How much can did health insurance expert Dermot Good say it could save us with its top policy (Plan D), compared to some similar offerings elsewhere?

   a. €200

   b. €1,500

   c. €2,700

7. One of its innovative features is:

   a. A guarantee never to increase premiums

   b. No excesses 

   c. Unlimited virtual GP, physiotherapy and mental health consultations on all plans

8. After a 10% annual rise in property prices nationally, last October the average Dublin home sold for :

   a. €551k

   b. €501k

   c. €601k

1. I don’t have time to shop around for everything. So I should concentrate on getting the best deal on:

   a. Crushed avocado on toast 

   b. TV/broadband/phone deal

   c. My mortgage 

10. Five years ago when the last Government took office, its  spending was €77 billion a year. Next year it will be:

    a. €90bn – up 17% since 2019

b.€100bn – up 30%

        c. .€120bn – up 56%

11.  Much of this money came from an increase in our corporate tax ‘take’. In 2024 this is projected to reach:

a. €24bn

b. €30bn

c. €37bn

12. Who said this in 2024: “It’s nonsense that Ireland of all places runs a trade surplus at our expense. When we end this nonsense, America will be a truly great country again.”

    a. A random bloke down the pub whose comments are inconsequential. 

b. Howard Lutnick,  who then wasn’t subsequently picked by Donald Trump to be the new US Commerce Secretary.

c. Howard Lutnick,  who WAS then picked by Donald Trump to be his new secretary with potentially dire consequences for Ireland

13. Which newish provider drove down electricity prices in 2023 and then moved into the gas market in 2024 to do the same?

a. Yoko Ono

b. YouNow

c. Yuno

14. In a report published in October, how much did we find that provider could save you on gas and electricity costs if you switched to them?

a. €240

b. €703

c. €914

15. A lock of hair with highly unusual provenance was sold in July by auctioneers Fonsie Mealy for €4200. Whose was it?

a. Rory Gallagher

b. Eamon de Valera

c. Michael Collins

Answers: 

Mostly (c) (the correct answers): Congrats you’ve taken onboard our advice and are financially pretty savvy. Mostly (b): Nearly there.You’re on the right track. Mostly (c): Eh, maybe don’t make too many financial decisions until you bone up a bit on what deals are available and how much you can really save by reading your trusty Money pages!

COMMENT

2024 was ‘the year of living expensively’ as rampant inflation continued to hurt shoppers.

However, even so, few remained unshocked as the cost of Oasis tickets last September topped €500.

We explained the issue of dynamic pricing in our coverage – and suggested better ways to spend €500, including a stay in top French resort Puy du Fou and paying your TV/broadband bill for a full year.

And so the correct answers to Q.1 were all three!

The rest of our quiz runs along the lines of c. answers being fully right, b is ‘getting there’ while c is just plain wrong.

They are set out to show how, throughout the year, we tried to help ease the cost-of-living pain with our Beat the Squeeze series of articles. 

In January we showed that shoppers could save €54 a week by switching just 20 products to own brand items that are just as good – or better – than the leading brands. 

And this theme recurred during the year, as it emerged that own brand ketchup, for example, tasted just as good as Heinz’s pricey version, yet was four times cheaper as Q.2’s answer shows. 

Moving on to Q.3, we also showed how a pint of stout smashed t through the €5 barrier in recent years to reach €5.82 in October, according to the CSO. 

However, that failed to prove the political pitfall it may have been in the past for the two main Government parties set to form the next administration.

Q.4 came from our story showing how prices have risen since the 2020 election, a factor that undoubtedly did cost the Government at least some votes in the recent election. 

A typical basket of everyday items cost €277 last October - up 17% since 2020. 

Even worse, it’s the unavoidable basics like eggs, sugar, bread and meat  that rose most. A 2kg bag of sugar went up most in price soaring 63%  – up from €1.15 in 2020 to €1.88 in October last.

However, there were positive developments – as shown in Q.5 and 6.

In November, the new health insurer a Level Health arrived and pitched its plans perfectly to save us money, give us some perks and generally simplify overcomplicated market

One of its innovative features is unlimited virtual GP on all plans (Q.6). Other providers limit such perks to upper level plans 

The correct answer to Q.8 (€601k) shows average Dublin householder’s wealth rose by over €60k a year as average house prices in the capital rose over 10% to shoot past €600k – although prospective buyers will be none-too-pleased about this. 

Regular readers should know the answer to Q.9 as we’ve often banged on about how you can save many tens of thousands of euros by switching your mortgage – far more than any other financial product.

Earlier this month we found that the cheapest mortgage (AIB’s Green 3yr fixed) could save you €96,960 over 20 years compared to repaying the dearest loan at that time. 

Shopping around for TV/broadband and phone deals isn’t a bad idea either and will save you over €600 a year – or €12000 over the same period. 

Questions 10-11 highlight how much Government spending has shot up despite the Government’s claims to be prudent – making us massively dependent on corporate tax from US multinationals, as we highlighted during the year.

And guess who wants to take all that lovely lolly back to the States? Yep, The Donald, making the election of Trump the biggest economic danger to Ireland in years. 

 Questions 13 and 14 give credit to newbie Yuno for shaking up the gas as well as the electricity market in 2024. 

And question 15 was about a ‘collectible’ with tragic love story behind it. 

The lock of hair, was of course, Michael Collins’. And it had been given to his close friend Felix Cronin who married Collins’ fiancée Kitty Kiernan three years after his death.