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How to Declutter and Organise Your Home Like a Minimalist

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If you are looking to get rid of the clutter, live with less and keep your home organized like a minimalist, then I have some tips for you.

We started this “journey to less” last year when we packed up our house, sold most of our things online and moved to Ireland. I guess in some ways the best way to cut down and really organise your home is to move countries. If you are still looking to get rid of the clutter, live with less and keep your home organized like a minimalist, then I have some tips for you.

Looking to get rid of the clutter? Keep your home organized like a minimalist, with these tips Click To Tweet

The most obvious tip is that you need to start somewhere. There are tons of challenges or steps you can follow online, but just start in one room or aspect of your life and work your way through. The sooner you start, the sooner it will feel so overwhelming. Waiting for the right time to sort things out is the height of procrastination, trust me I get that but just start and slowly you will start seeing the space open up. Just starting somewhere creates this knock-on effect where you see results so you feel motivated to keep going.

With that in mind, it’s very hard to get it all done in one day, so be patient with yourself – it’s an ongoing process. If you do a little bit each day, it becomes manageable. Try focus on one room at time, and don’t move on until you are happy with the look of it.

The key is to keep the mission of decluttering top of mind. So replace things, and avoid adding more into your home without acknowledging that you are bringing more into the home. If you are always buying things and adding to your home that is when starts to feel overwhelming. Try work with what you have before you bring more stuff into your home.

Find a home for everything. The best way to beat that overwhelmed feeling of drowning in clutter is to keep things in their place. Once you finish using something, make sure you put it back in the same place every time. If everything has a home or a space, you will clearly see if you have space to add anything more.

Try limiting the urge to buy in bulk or stock up on things that will take you months to use up. It’s not really saving if you don’t actually need it. You will end up storing it in the cupboard, forget you have it, and never use it.

Actually use and enjoy your things. We talked about this the other day on my Facebook group, don’t save the candles for a special occasion, or let the fancy glasses gather dust. Why live with things that you just store away and never use? Lately I have been making a conscious effort to use the things we have, give the items in your home a purpose or a reason to hold onto them and if they don’t spark joy or make you happy – then why are you hanging onto them?

Get into the habit of straightening up your home for 5 minutes each day – make your bed, clear your counters, pack away the things you are finished using. I find that if I start my day with my bed made and my room tidied, I feel far lighter and I am generally more productive for the rest of the day.

These are just some of the things that I do each day to stay on top of the clutter. Don’t think that it will happen overnight and be kind to yourself as you go through this journey. If you focus on your reasons why you want to get rid of the clutter – it makes the experiencing of organising your home far more enjoyable. It is also important to remember that being a minimalist is not about limiting yourself, and have zero items. It is about being conscious about what you spend your time on. If you are forever cleaning and tidying a messy home, or if you are always feeling crowded by things – trust me once you let go and open up your home, you will enjoy being in your home. So light the candles; use the fancy bubble bath, pour a glass of that good wine – you don’t need a special occasion to enjoy your home. Make your home your sanctuary by clearing it of things that don’t spark joy for you.

And if you are looking for a challenge to get you started, why not join me in a #minsgame created by The Minimalists. The rules of the game are simple: on day 1 remove one thing from your home; day 2 you remove two things and so on; all the way to day 30 where you need to throw out 30 items. Items can be big or small; you can throw out in the trash, donate, give or sell but it has to be out your house by the end of that day. I am going to start the challenge tomorrow; you can follow along on my Facebook page or in my Instagram stories.

JOIN ME; LET’S GET RID OF THE CLUTTER! SO WHO IS WITH ME?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or join my exclusive Facebook Group. And because I seriously am an open book, if you ever want to bounce ideas off me, or just chat and connect send me an email (I really love chatting!).

p.p.s. I try post varied content 2-3 times a week; I am also setting up exclusive challenges; guides and templates that I will only share with my subscribers, so be sure to sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox! Sign up now!

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If you are looking to get rid of the clutter, live with less and keep your home organized like a minimalist, then I have some tips for you.

6 frugal ways to live off one income

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6 frugal ways to live off one income, and the hidden benefits you find when you do live off one salary.It has nearly been a month back at work for me, and with that comes the excitement of my first paycheck in 5 months. But while the experience of how we lived off one income is still fresh in mind, I thought it was important to share it with you. Firstly, to show that it can be done, secondly to share the hidden benefits we got from doing it, and thirdly to share our game plan for how we plan to now live with 2 incomes going forward.

First a bit of a disclaimer: I know that talking about money and finances is a bit of a hush hush conversation. No one likes to really talk about it. It is considered rude to ask how much people earn, although I am sure we all have secret thoughts imagining (or assuming!) what we think others are earning. I do think that talking about money and learning about budgeting is the number one key life lesson we all need to learn. So, while I am not going to tell you actual numbers and figures to what our salaries look like, I do think the more important part is the method, and how we managed to live off one income for 5 months (and still do fun things!).  I hope by me talking about our experience, it can help someone else who may be going through something similar (either by their own choice, or not).

and now, 6 frugal ways we lived off one income:

  1. Have a clear budget. If this is the only sentence you read out of this whole post, it needs to be this: The only way you can have a clear budget is if you are super honest with yourself Click To Tweet. List all your expenses, and figure out what you can and can’t afford given what you earn.
  2. Cut out the non-essentials. If your expenses are more than what you earn – something must be cut. Cancel some of your debit orders like gym contracts, and eating out, or try go on lower phone package. Read my post on 15 ways to save money.
  3. Keep saving. After you have cut down the non-essentials, hopefully this gives you a bit of wiggle room. It is important not to just try spending every cent of your income every month. Try save a little each month, for the months where you truly will need it.
  4. Where possible, use cash. I find that what worked best for us was to draw cash when we needed something, so that when we were at the store, we were forced to stick to what we had in our wallet. One of the biggest ways to over spend is to swipe your card and not track where that money is going.
  5. Learn to say no to things you can’t afford or don’t want to want to spend money on. Rob and I are serious people-pleasers. We have a hard time saying no to friends, and suffer badly from what young kids call FOMO (fear of missing out). But having one income meant that we were forced to learn to say no. And you know what? We didn’t lose any friends because of it! You will find that when you are honest with yourself and those around you, more people will relate to not having the funds to do absolutely everything. Your true friends will understand why you must say no sometimes, as hard as it is at the time.
  6. Get creative on how to get out of the house. I loved this part, I loved the challenge in finding free events to go to, and thinking up ways to still get out us out of the house and still exploring. It costs nothing to go for a walk, or take your sandwich outside and have a picnic in a park. We also learnt that it was cheaper to grab a coffee or share something small than eating a full meal or drinking loads of rounds.

The hidden benefits we found to living off one income:

  • One of the things you need to remember is that sometimes it is cheaper for one person to stay at home, than the cost for both of you to travel to work each day, lunches, and coffees out with the team etc. all add up. Also having one person at home means that they can manage the household tasks like cooking, cleaning, laundry and walking the dog.
  • I also learnt that I love finding bargains and getting creative with how to cut our costs even more. Even though we were on a tight budget with no line item for entertainment, I still found ways to save a little each week so that I could meet a friend for coffee, or we could afford to grab a donut or explore a bit of Dublin.
  • A side benefit to one income meant that we walked or cycled more, so we still got a bit of exercise in, to save on transport costs! Although I will admit that our diet has not been the healthiest, it is sometimes cheaper to eat bad food than it is to buy all organic, super healthy foods.
  • With one person managing the home and one person earning the income, it meant that when we were both together, we had more time to spend together and chill. Our weekends were completely free from admin and chores.
  • Living off one salary required us to delve deeply into how we were living previously, and forced us to make some hard decisions that ultimately set us on a better path going forward. In a lot of ways, I can truly say we are grateful for the learnings living off one income has given us. I am even more determined that our decisions to declutter, cut back or down on things that we don’t want to spend money on, have lead us to see the true value of our life lies not in being rich with money, but in learning how best to work with what you have. The greatest learning was figuring out that as a couple, we have gone from a his and hers view of money to our money and how we spend it is now a team decision. I know that that is not how some couples work their finances, and I know that other methods work for different fold, but it works for us.

So, what is the game plan now that we have 2 incomes coming in?

Friends can I just say how excited I am that we have travelled this journey to learning how to live frugally, live with less, and how to spend our money wisely. Going forward we want to take these lessons and keep doing what we have been doing. It means that now we will have a bit extra that will go into savings and investments, and most importantly travel. But for the most part, I don’t want our lives to change that much. I want to still get into a better work/life routine. We have new challenges we need to face; things like figuring out how to manage the household admin, commuting to work, how to get rid of our outstanding debt, save more and still get some travel and fun in. I can only think that had we not had this experience of living off one income for 5 months, we would not be able to make the best decisions now that we have two incomes. Life has a funny way of working things out, and gives you challenges you can learn and grow from can only help you in the long run. At the very least we have learnt that we can live off one salary, but we are incredibly grateful that we don’t have to any more.

HAVE YOU LIVED OFF ONE INCOME – ANY TIPS TO SHARE?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or join my exclusive Facebook Group. And because I seriously am an open book, if you ever want to bounce ideas off me, or just chat and connect send me an email (I really love chatting!).

p.p.s. I try post varied content 2-3 times a week; I am also setting up exclusive challenges; guides and templates that I will only share with my subscribers, so be sure to sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox! Sign up now!

PIN THIS AND READ LATER:

6 frugal ways to live off one income, and the hidden benefits you find when you do live off one salary.

How to live life simply and more intentionally

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In order to meet our goals we had to cut back on the frills, and through that, we found that life is great when we live life simply, and more intentionally.

When Rob and I decided to move to Ireland we were adamant to make the move to really getting comfortable with our budget, what our focus in life should be and how we were going to get out of debt to be able to live the way we wanted to live. It sounds super hippy, but we wanted to really know ourselves and really follow our own path. Too often in life we focus on things that appear to be a big deal, we focus on showing off our success by the cars we drive, the money we spend and the life that appears to be just perfect. But life is’t perfect, and trying to compare your life to that of others is setting you up to fail before you even start. You cannot compare your journey to anyone else. But you can figure out what you want and what makes you happy, and then steer yourself towards that goal. For us the huge focus has been on getting out of debt completely, to save, and to travel. In order to meet those goals we cut back on a lot of the frills, and really through that decluttering process we realised that life can be pretty sweet if we live it more simply, and more intentionally. Less is often more. I know I sound like I am just listing off a bunch of motivational quotes but this is truly what we believe.

To meet our goals we had to cut back, and found that life is great when we live life simply. Click To Tweet

Like with anything, learning to live with less is often first about becoming aware of our own internal dialogue. Sometimes I catch myself saying we need this, we should buy that, but upon further inspection – these are often fears of not fitting in, fears of not measuring up, and this feeling like we need instant gratification of buying something we actually don’t really need, and in some cases, don’t even want.

The big thing that we have learnt is to think through a big purchase. Sometimes it is due to the fact that we simply could not afford to buy it right then, but choosing to delay the purchase till the end of the month often makes you much more aware if you really needed it in the first place.

Using less means there is less wastage. Because we are so conscious of how much we have, and where our money goes. We have stopped buying food in bulk. We now stick to a weekly shop, and really work out what we plan to eat, and buy just what we need. It means that we don’t waste as much. We try eat up the food we have before we go and buy any more. What I have learnt is that if we keep to a meal plan, and allow pizza on Friday, we actually don’t ever feel like we are restricted, it is a bit like a flexible diet – although, not all together super healthy!

We don’t hold on to things just in case, it means that everything we have in our house, we use and love. I use to save beauty masks, and keep candles for special occasions. Now that we have cleared all the extra clutter, we now take time to light the candles, have spa days, and actually enjoy the simple things we have in our home. We don’t keep it stored in a cupboard, we don’t hide the things we love – we use them, or we let them go.

We have also learnt to say no when we really don’t want to do something. Not only if we don’t have the cash to afford an expensive meal out – if it doesn’t spark joy for us, we try not to waste money and time on it. So we have really learnt to un-busy ourselves. I like to keep at least one day a weekend completely free and unplanned. It leaves room in our diary, time to breathe, reset and focus on self care. I find having a day a week that is calm and uncluttered, helps improve my mood and clears my head.

Be aware how you spend your time and money. I did an exercise on my Facebook group a few weeks ago where I asked my community to share the last 5 purchases they made. When you start listing off coffees, and take out, and gifts, and impulse buy of a magazine, a cheeky top you got for half price. You can see quite quickly where your money is going, but also it gives you chance to evaluate that if given the chance – would you make the same purchase again? You should have no regrets when you spend your money. When you learn to live life more simply you will find that you will be a lot more cautious on your priorities and how you spend your money, but also how you spend your energy and time.

HOW DO YOU LIVE LIFE SIMPLY?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or join my exclusive Facebook Group. And because I seriously am an open book, if you ever want to bounce ideas off me, or just chat and connect send me an email (I really love chatting!).

p.p.s. I try post varied content 2-3 times a week; I am also setting up exclusive challenges; guides and templates that I will only share with my subscribers, so be sure to sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox! Sign up now!

PIN THIS AND READ LATER:

In order to meet our goals we had to cut back on the frills, and through that, we found that life is great when we live life simply, and more intentionally.

The thing about work permits and finding a job in Ireland

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Working in Ireland as a foreigner, read this process to get all the information you need to know about work permits and finding a job in Ireland.I have wanted to share all the ins and outs of getting a work visa in Ireland since the minute we arrived here last year November. But I also wanted to really give a full and complete picture, with answers that can help others to know what kind of permit they could apply for, but also, if they needed a work permit to begin with. The biggest thing delaying this post has been that I wanted to successfully go through this process myself because then I felt I would be in a better situation to fully explain it (with a success story to motivate others, that it is possible!). For the last 8 months of living in Ireland, I have been working on this post, almost always highlighting my frustrations and how slow the process has been, and how stressed out we have been! Last week, the planets aligned and my work permit finally came through. Almost as instantly as the permit arrived, I immediately caught myself uttering words like “you know what, it wasn’t all bad” – but really that is not completely true?! I really do think it can be overwhelming and tricky to navigate, and because all the information I have found online about work permits highlights only success and how super straight forward everything is. I have found it confusing at times, and feel it important to document this process while it is still very clear in my mind. It also requires a bit of a back story as well as a full disclaimer to start:

  1. Like everything on this blog, it is based off my own experience.
  2. I can fully answer any questions to permits and ways to go about getting a permit that is same as my own journey. For people coming with different passports, or different work situations, I strongly suggest you read this post but also refer to this link for all the information you might need.
  3. There are so many variables, and different work permits available, I have chosen to talk about the three main ones most people will find themselves in. There are different options for people wanting to work as a student, doctor, carer, working in a pub or restaurant etc – I am sorry, I don’t know much about this.

So to tell you my success story of applying and receiving my work permit to work in Ireland, we need to go back to the beginning and highlight Our Story:

Rob (my husband) is on a South African passport, I am on a Canadian. But for issues relating to living and working in Ireland, those different passports essentially have the same T&C’s to be able to work and reside in Ireland. Rob got a job in Ireland before we arrived, and he is on a critical skills work permit. This is important to note, because it means that I can apply for a spousal/dependent work permit. When we first arrived, I worked on contract remotely with my previous South African employer for 6 months, that ended at the end of March 2017. I started applying for jobs almost the minute we arrived, but because I did have work to do, I only really actively started applying for jobs from end of January 2017. This is partly because I was working, but also because the closest appointment I could get to get my GNIB card was mid Jan, and I thought I might need this to apply for a work permit. Your GNIB card is a card that shows what permission or restrictions you have to live and work in Ireland. For a detailed reference on what each stamp means, look at this link. For purposes of this post, I won’t go into details surrounding GNIB, but basically if you intend on living in Ireland, you will need to register for one.

You do not need a work permit to work in Ireland if you meet one of the following criteria:

  1. You are an Irish or EEA (for right now, this includes the UK, but with brexit, that could change) or Swiss National.
  2. You are married to an Irish/EEA/Swiss National.
  3. You are a parent to an Irish Citizen.
  4. You have received special permission to be in the state (i.e a student).

If you fall into one of the above categories, you probably don’t need to read on. You will find that life will be infinitely easier for you, because really the biggest admin related issue we have found about living in Ireland has been applying and securing a job and a work permit. I think this is largely due to the fact that we require a work permit to be able to work, and that processing of these permits can take a while. So I have personally found a lot of companies I applied to just didn’t ever get back to me.

The biggest issue we have found about living in Ireland has been securing a job & a work… Click To Tweet

All non-EEA nationals need a work permit to work in work in Ireland. Having a work permit is not the same as being legally allowed to live in Ireland. If you have any questions on either, Citizen Information is incredibly helpful. I have called them a few times and they can explain what you need to do.

The three main work permit types I can cover are the following:

  • Critical Skills Work Permit

You can apply for a critical skills work permit if your work skill is on the highly skilled list, or if you are earning a salary of more than EUR60k annually. This work permit is for 2 years, it does cost EUR1000 to process this type of permit. The huge benefit of this type of permit is that you spouse/dependent can apply for a work permit. However it does mean that should the person holding the critical skills work permit lose their job or change to another type of work permit; then the spouse/dependent will lose their work permit. The two work permits are essentially tied together.

  • General Work Permit

This is a work permit most people will apply for. This allows you to work in Ireland, however the biggest hurdle is that a labour market needs test needs to be conducted by the employer. The processing fee is also EUR1000.

  • Spousal/Dependent Work Permit

You can apply for this type of permit if your spouse has a critical skills work permit. There are no processing fees for this work permit, as well as a labour market needs test is not required. You will need to a letter from the employer of the primary work permit holder (the one who holds the critical skills permit) confirming that they are still employed and their job title. This letter needs to be dated within the last three months from the date of receipt of the spouse/dependent work permit application. So basically try get this letter sorted out while you are applying for jobs, as when you submit your application, you will want to have this ready.

Either you as the employee, or your employer, can submit the application for your work permit. This application can be submitted online. You will be required to submit electronic copies of documents you will need to show based off the type of permit you intend on applying for. One of the documents will be the form you fill online, the last page needs to be printed off, signed by both you and your employer and the original needs to be scanned through and attached. You will also need an digital passport photo (I did this using a free app on my phone, just make sure you have the right specs).

Processing of your application is done by date submitted. To process an application can take anywhere between 6- 8 weeks to process. In extreme cases, it can take up to 12 weeks. If your employer is a trusted partner, the process is a lot quicker (2 – 4 weeks). I made the mistake of thinking that this would be the same for me, however mine was a standard application, in the end it took 8 weeks to be completed.

Some tips on finding a job in Ireland:

  • Securing a job can be a long and challenging road. It is probably worth mentioning that I am in my mid 30’s and with a half decent career in S0uth Africa, I wasn’t prepared to move to Ireland to work as a waitress or in a field that is not my specialty. I was looking for a job, but also wanting the job to make sense in my career growth. So perhaps you can say I was a bit particular on the jobs I applied for. If you are looking to take on anything that pays the bills, perhaps your journey to employment will be easier. I was thinking long term, willing to wait for the perfect role in the best company. I am super happy to say that that has paid off for me. But the wait was stressful and a worry at times. A friend suggested I only apply at recruitment agencies, but in my opinion if you need a work permit, and you aren’t necessarily looking for a role that is highly skilled or in demand, you are probably better off avoiding recruiters. One recruiter told me that they would naturally put other names forward that did not require a work permit because they want to secure the position quickly so that the can earn their fee. If an employer is paying a recruiter and still needs to pay and go through a work permit application, this is a long and expensive process for them. So in my opinion, apply at recruitment agencies, but don’t hold you breath, keep applying directly for roles in companies too.
  • I suggest that where possible, rather state that you are eligible to work in Ireland (which you are), however, try hold off on going through the nitty gritty details that you need to apply for a work permit until you are face to face with a prospective employer. This means you have a chance to build rapport with them, and show your value, before they find out that you need a work permit. It sounds a bit misleading, but honestly, if you start your covering letter with “there is a ton of admin we need to go through before I can start working with you”, trust me, you won’t get a call back. But having said that, be honest when they do ask. My now current employer actually called me back and plainly asked what my intentions were to live and work in Ireland. They were concerned I wasn’t planning on being here long term. I can honestly say that while Rob and I appear to be very casual about our future, having successfully navigated this admin minefield, I have no interest in going through any huge life changes for a while. We fully intend on making it work here in Ireland for as long as Ireland will have us. If you can, show them that you intend to stay long term, not just job hop and leave in a few months. Going down this application process is a long term commitment from both parties involved, and they are taking a big chance in hiring you, so the least you can do is be 100% honest with your intentions.
  • The recruitment process can be delayed. In some cases, I applied for roles and it took months to get a response back. There is often various steps in recruitment namely; telephone interview, then face to face interview, in some cases a presentation or panel interview or meeting with CEO. Depending on the time of year, and when people go on holiday or end of financial year – these all have knock on effects on how quickly the process is completed. Like I said, I started actively look for a job end of January. I applied for hundreds of roles, and got quite a few telephone interviews and call backs. I went to 6 face to face interviews, and made it through to final round of 3 of them. My job offer came through at the end of May 2017, then it took a further 8 weeks to get my application processed, so in the end I was unemployed for 4 months before starting this job.
  • People told me this, and it is only really true once you are through it, but enjoy your unemployment, because the minute you get that work permit issued, things can move very quickly! I got the permit on Thursday last week, and now today, Monday, I am starting work!

The process from applying for a work permit to employment:

  1. Once you go through the recruitment process, get an job offer in writing from your employer.
  2. Gather the required supporting documentation needed for the type of work permit you intend on applying for (Ideally you should have this ready before the job offer, this will mean you can submit quickly.)
  3. Submit your application online.
  4. Allow for 6-8 weeks. You can check online to see what date they are reviewing. The website updates Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. However there were a few weeks when the date did not move for 2 weeks, and then there were days when the date jumped by a few days. It is difficult to say how it will take for you, so just keep checking and try not panic. There is nothing you can do to speed up this process. Trust me, I know how stressful it is, but you will get there.
  5. Once the website shows that they are reviewing applications from your date, then you will get notified if there is any documentation outstanding. For me, there was a form my employer needed to submit. I was lucky that the document I had missing was submitted quickly (that day). They give you 28 days to submit outstanding information. It is important to note that if you have submitted it incorrectly, you risk the chance they decline your application and you will have to resubmit – so it is worth it to be thorough first time around.
  6. Once they receive all the correct information, they issue your permit and send via post to you and your employer.
  7. Once you have the permit, you will need to update your GNIB card (your stamp will change). This costs EUR300, and you need to book an appointment online. I recommend booking this asap as it is hard to get a date, even though you are given time to update, the next booking time I could get is only in September even though that was the very next thing I did after receiving my permit in July!
  8. You will also need to register your PPS number with Revenue, before your first paycheck. This is important so that you are to charge the maximum tax allocation. You can register online here.

I realise that this post is probably way too much info, and really specific to people wanting to work in Ireland, butI hope it helps! I personally found it all very overwhelming and battled to get a lot of these answers online. The aim of this post is to make it easier for you, if you have any further questions, drop me a message in the comments, or email me: thisisusliving@gmail.com. I am always keen to chat, and will try my best to answer any questions you may have!

WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU CAN OFFER ABOUT FINDING A JOB AND GETTING A WORK PERMIT IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY?

Unlock the simple life,

~Meg~

p.s. If social media is your thing (snap! It’s my fave too!), you should totally follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or join my exclusive Facebook Group. And because I seriously am an open book, if you ever want to bounce ideas off me, or just chat and connect send me an email (I really love chatting!).

p.p.s. I try post varied content 2-3 times a week; I am also setting up exclusive challenges; guides and templates that I will only share with my subscribers, so be sure to sign up and get all the news straight in your inbox! Sign up now!

PIN THIS AND READ LATER:

Working in Ireland as a foreigner, read this process to get all the information you need to know about work permits and finding a job in Ireland. Expat life. Living and working in a foreign country.

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