No-one is beyond redemption! :)
So, some quick summaries and my initial thoughts:
IncomeJob 1 brings me around €2000 a month net.
Job 2 brings me around €800 a month net.
€280 in child benefit per month from the government
€274 maintenance from the children’s father a month
=> €3355 a month. May drop to:
=> €1355 a month.
You have a €2000 gap to cover, which you can cover through two mechanisms only: cutting expenditure or increasing income.
Expenses"I estimate an average of €2500 expenses monthly."
- Make a detailed budget of your annual expenses, and post it under this case study, so other users from Ireland might be able to give you a hand with ideas on individual items
- Include line items for 'lumpy' costs such as clothes, laptop renewal, kids toys, kids activities, Christmas
- Ensure you are periodically checking and switching any service you can get cheaper (phone, internet, energy, health insurance, car insurance) and never auto-renewing (I'm UK based, so googling things for you, but this website might be a helpful comparison https://switcher.ie/)
- If you lose job #1, is there any money going out of the door that you would also no longer have to spend? e.g. travel, food, childcare etc.
HousingAt the moment at least your housing cost is low at €400. I know it's psychologically uncomfortable, but this is possibly a better deal than buying in at this stage - it all depends on what the mortgage would cost.
It is likely to be worth waiting for the job situation to resolve one way or another before committing to such a large expense (which is often hardest on the monthly budget in the first few years.)
Do you know what the deposit/mortgage requirements are going to be when you buy?
InvestingIt's definitely possible to invest with €11,000 capital, but the question is what to put it in.
If you put it into Stocks & Shares, you should be prepared to leave the money in for 10 years (roughly, risk adjustable with bond/equities ratio) - but it looks like you may be needing those savings sooner for a house deposit.
Either way, these are not going to grow into a money tree any time soon, even with compound interest.
In my opinion, this is a lower priority at the moment, and you need to focus on increasing (or maintaining!) income and reducing expenditure, before focusing on where to put any excess.
Outside the box
"Could I take over my relative’s rental apartments and do Airbnb for her and have that be financially viable for both her and me? She’s retiring and has lost interest in the business."
- Definitely worth asking if you can take a cut in exchange for running this - that could boost your income if you lose the first part time job. Make sure you'll have a) time, b) thought of any hidden costs - e.g. travel, purchases.
- Secondly, I assume you'll be looking for other part time work to pick up. That's the most 'normal'/easy source of additional income.
- There are many 'side hustle' and 'boost your income' posts out there - e.g. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/make-money and https://www.sidehustlenation.com/ideas/ - worth a look to see if any work for you in your local area.
Also, finally, to address "I’m bad at thinking mathematically."
There is very little math involved in this.
The key calculation is 'Am I spending as little as possible? Am I earning as much as possible?'