Luckily, I don't smoke -- being a drinker is bad enough. Yep, the old reliables were hit, as expected. Thankfully, I haven't yet resorted to the fags (just as well, as they're up 50c a pack), but my favourite Merlot is going to cost me an extra 50c a bottle. If I switch to cider or lager I'll save a bit, but it's not going to be the same and I don't fancy the beer belly.

Yesterday's Budget was approached by us gals with a foreboding of doom and gloom -- a general feeling we were all going to be mugged while our hands were tied behind our backs, but Minister Lenihan's gallop through his speech, barely stopping for air, left me feeling as if the mugger had swiped my credit card, but left the cash. Not quite as bad as it might have been.

As a mother, I imagined I'd have to sell the kids to the highest bidder, but child benefit wasn't taxed -- yet. In fact, it's gone up by €2 a month but, just like an under-10s rugby match, the ball has been firmly kicked into touch.

In the meantime, with teenagers in the house, I face the prospect of the benefit being cut when they hit 17, instead of 18. And just at the most expensive time of their lives, the registration charge (the euphemism for university fees) is going up by 50pc, which is a whopping increase. I don't have any smallies, so the reduction of the Early Childhood Allowance from six to five-and-a-half, doesn't affect me.

Annoyed

I'm furious that the mortgage interest relief is dropping from 20pc to 15pc. I'm out of the first-time buyer category, so that's going to hit hard. Also, as a two-car family, we're annoyed that the car tax is going up by 4pc. At least working from home I won't be hit by the €200 car space levy which my office-based colleagues will have to fork out for.

I'd want to watch my spending on life's little luxuries, though. With the VAT rate up by 0.5pc, those to-die-for shoes, the designer handbag and the daily cappuccino are going to cost a bit extra. This is what happens when you get a bloke in the job.

I'll be making sure I'm in tip-top health because I won't want to be visiting casualty. The A&E charge is now going to be €100, so I'd want to be in the throes of agony.

I'll probably be travelling less, too. The widely anticipated €10 airport departure tax was included (timely, just when everyone feels like leaving the country), although it's only €2 for 'shorter journeys' -- which probably means grim places suchas Newcastle, Leeds and Cork, as opposed to the hot spots we actually want to visit.

All in all, it was a hold-your-breath day, and it will only get wors. with the Minister making dire warnings that more is to follow next year and the one after that. It won't be the neighbours with the Mercedes in the driveway and the holiday home in Spain we'll be envying ... it'll be the ones with a job.

- Sinead Ryan