Recovery is about having money in our pockets

Labour and Fine Gael will be hoping that the electorate has a poor memory if this Government manages to last its full term.

Under new leader Joan Burton, Labour is optimistic that it can slowly but surely recover from the mauling its candidates suffered in May's local elections. And while Burton so far appears to have reversed the decline, it remains to be seen if her party will be forgiven for its perceived sins by the time they stand before the people in 2016.

•Broke: will the Budget put more money into our pockets? PIC POSED

Blaming Fianna Fail for every unpalatable decision made since this Government came to power in 2011 is really starting to wear thin at this stage. We are told that the good ship Ireland has been stabilised and the omens are good for economic recovery. Unemployment is falling and property prices are starting to climb again. This is all solid evidence, we are led to believe, that the worst is over and the good times are only around the corner.

However, as we have found to our cost, being able to borrow easy money for overpriced homes should not be seen as a barometer of wealth. During the boom times there were people openly bragging about their portfolios of Bulgarian properties. Today they probably don't have the price of the air fare to Bourgas or Sofia.

Real wealth is about how much money is left at the end of each month when the mortgage, household bills, food and the expense of running a car are taken into account. For most families - even those considered to be 'middle-class' - September bleeds them dry with all the back-to-school costs. And just when they are starting to recover from this, Christmas will be upon them. I imagine it's going to be another bumper season for the moneylenders.

While it's impossible to predict what measures Finance Minister Michael Noonan will introduce in next month's Budget to make us feel wealthier, any gains are likely to be negated when water bills start coming through our letterboxes in January 2015. And let's not forget the annual Local Property Tax that will be hoovered out of our bank accounts just a couple of months after that.

Thanks to the punitive effects of the Universal Social Charge, water bills and property tax, it will become increasingly difficult to save money for that rainy day (or any other day for that matter). An unexpected visit to a GP can further throw a household budget into chaos. As for holidays - sure isn't Dollier as good as anywhere when the weather is good?

Fine Gael and Labour may well be banking on economic recovery by 2016 to avoid an electoral punishment beating at the polls. But unless they start giving back something tangible, furious taxpayers will be waiting in the wings to exact their revenge. The upcoming Budget needs to be the start of a process of putting more money into our pockets. Otherwise the notion of Mary Lou McDonald picking out new curtains for the Tánaiste's office might not be as fanciful as it once seemed.