Brianna Parkins: Where is Kate Middleton? The people demand, but are not entitled, to knowWe already have a plausible explanation for Kate Middleton’s absence from UK public life: she’s playing drums with SlipknotTue Mar 05 2024 - 06:01
Fairy tales about marriage are a way for rich people to feel as if they deserve their charmed livesThe usual research has been trotted out to back up marriage as the superior family structure, blurring the lines between causation and correlationSat Mar 02 2024 - 05:00
What is house hacking and is it the right move for you?The popular TikTok trend is a new spin on an age old strategyWed Feb 28 2024 - 06:00
What do you really need to know about other people? They’re putting on a frontBrianna Parkins: It’s tiring hearing your inner voice say ‘do better’ every time you see a fitness blogger’s fridge or someone you went to school with go on a fancy holidaySat Feb 24 2024 - 05:00
Is it really possible to retire early? Look at how you are spending your moneyIs it spent on things that actually make us happy or is that Amazon order of junk just holding us back from future happinessWed Feb 21 2024 - 05:30
Could getting scammed out of $50,000 really happen to anyone?One financial advice columnist didn’t think it could happen to her. Then it didTue Feb 20 2024 - 15:28
Brianna Parkins: I was dumped for an exotic dancer. Here’s what it taught me about loveIt might hurt to discover you’re a placeholder in a relationship, but who wants to waste years of their life not getting the partner they deserve?Sat Feb 17 2024 - 05:00
Is private health insurance worth getting for the financially squeezed late 20s and 30s?People are reconsidering the merits of private cover amid sharply rising insurance costsWed Feb 14 2024 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: AC/DC and other things the Irish get wrong about AustraliaEven though many have observed us up close in our natural habitat, they still don’t get our true ‘boganity’Mon Feb 12 2024 - 16:15
I was sent to an all-girls school in case I dumbed myself down in front of boysI would once have argued for sending my hypothetical future daughter to an all-girls school. Not any moreSat Feb 10 2024 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: How the Queen of Denmark met her prince down the pubUnlike Queen Mary, the rest of us won’t ‘marry up’ - no matter how many etiquette classes we takeWed Feb 07 2024 - 16:46
Starting a small business in Ireland in 2024: A rough guideThere are many pitfalls when you strike out on your own: here’s what to think aboutWed Feb 07 2024 - 06:00
Brianna Parkins: Some people fear ageing but you couldn’t pay me to go back to being 19 againYoung girls on TikTok are terrified of getting older, but they have no idea how good the crone years can beSat Feb 03 2024 - 05:00
How to be smart with your wedding budget, save money and still have the day of your dreams Simple choices like having the ceremony and reception in the same place eliminate other costs such as hiring carsWed Jan 31 2024 - 05:45
Brianna Parkins: TikTok says you can buy your way into being a better personSurprise, surprise, it turns out more stuff is not what you need in your lifeTue Jan 30 2024 - 14:32
Brianna Parkins: I am an economic migrant, as my mother and grandparents were before meLike a lot of Irish people past and present, my family felt emigration was their best hope at a better life. They were rightSat Jan 27 2024 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: We know sunbeds are bad for us so why does Kim Kardashian have one in her office? Owning a sunbed in 2024 is a bit like insisting on using lead paintWed Jan 24 2024 - 08:30
Brianna Parkins: I’m not ugly, I’m just not pretty full-timeOne of the phrases I find most fascinating is ‘She really let herself go’. Go where exactly?Sat Jan 20 2024 - 05:00
A woman’s pension is 35% less than a man’s, on average. Here’s why and what can be done about itA man’s pension is on average 35 per cent greater than a woman’s - that needs to changeWed Jan 17 2024 - 06:00
Could Davos actually be useful this year?Brianna Parkins: While it’s easy (and fun) to dismiss the event as a mutual backslap-athon between powerful global players in the past it has allowed attendees to call each other out on issuesTue Jan 16 2024 - 16:54
Brianna Parkins: It was the burning sage that made my partner think I had finally lost it Even with one of the most comprehensive and expensive private healthcare plans, I could not get the medical care I needed despite living in a wealthy countrySat Jan 13 2024 - 05:00
How to avoid the pay-cheque-to-pay-cheque loop in early 2024Four money experts offer their top tips on the money habits we should make, or break, this yearWed Jan 10 2024 - 06:00
Brianna Parkins: Andrew Tate is filling vacuum left by parents who don’t want to have awkward talks with their sons about womenTate didn’t invent misogyny, he just monetised it using younger, impressionable, tech-savvy boysTue Jan 09 2024 - 10:25
Brianna Parkins: My list of things to give up in 2024, starting with self-improvementTrying to ‘live your best life’ could see you wasting it getting up at 4.30am - because that’s what people with self-discipline doSat Jan 06 2024 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Don’t let matching pyjama photos on social media convince you otherwise. The perfect Christmas is a mythAt a recent dinner party I told the story about the Christmas when some family member left lunch to do class-A drugsSat Dec 23 2023 - 05:00
‘Why aren’t you married yet?’ Brianna Parkins’ guide to navigating awkward Christmas conversationsPlus rude answers to rude questions because getting one-up on nosey ones who have it coming for years is what the holidays are all aboutFri Dec 22 2023 - 05:00
Natural or lab-grown? Cash or card? Buying a diamond engagement ring is a huge decision - and big isn’t always betterDeciding on an engagement ring can be a fraught business. Often it is a person’s first major jewellery purchase, and it’s an incredibly expensive and emotional oneWed Dec 20 2023 - 05:45
The 2 Johnnies take their mix of hyper-patriotism and banger songs to the big stage Podcasting pair’s 3Arena show is not everyone’s idea of a cultural night out, but the audience leaves with smiles and sore feetSun Dec 17 2023 - 14:19
Brianna Parkins: We should all come with instruction manuals at workEveryone should have a ‘how to work with me’ presentation prepared for their colleaguesSat Dec 16 2023 - 05:00
Overwhelmed by your debts? Here’s your first step There are many free services available to people if they feel overwhelmed about the level of their personal debtsWed Dec 13 2023 - 05:45
Brianna Parkins: Who wants a dusty British knighthood when Ireland can make its own honours system‘One Man for Some Man’ and ‘Awful Sound’ awards come with privileges of a lock in your favourite pub and Ryanair never charging you extra... for anythingTue Dec 12 2023 - 12:28
Brianna Parkins: Bin the pre-Christmas meet-up – and these other festive atrocitiesSee also: bath sets that are UTIs waiting to happen and children’s Nativity plays with not enough speaking partsSat Dec 09 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: I’m a Celebrity...the Brits are at it again I’m a Celeb in a way suits Farage given the bang of colonialism it has off itTue Dec 05 2023 - 14:04
Brianna Parkins: There should be no moral superiority assigned to different types of addictionDon’t pretend a drug dependency is acceptable because you can do it at a work functionSat Dec 02 2023 - 05:00
The smart way to spend child benefit payments Some families are in the fortunate position of being able to put the State’s double child benefit payment on December 5th to work for the long termWed Nov 29 2023 - 05:30
Brianna Parkins: I saw glimpses of everyday Irish soundness in the chaos and fear of the Dublin riotsWhile some have said the riots made them feel ‘ashamed’ to be Irish, on the ground that night there were things to be proud of tooTue Nov 28 2023 - 15:13
Brianna Parkins: What no one tells you about depression is how boring it isThere are no designer mascara smudges, no lounging in negligee in the afternoon. No, it’s more a case of looking at a wall for hours, simply not hereSat Nov 25 2023 - 05:00
Should you try to buy, or keep renting?The maths say buy a home if you can afford it, but be carefulWed Nov 22 2023 - 06:00
Brianna Parkins: The Irish do an excellent death – and the research proves itWho knew seeing granny’s body laid out in the good room would be good for our mental health?Tue Nov 21 2023 - 15:00
Brianna Parkins: My dearest niece, here are all the mistakes I have made so you don’t have to A birthday card to my niece who won’t listen to any of my advice, because I didn’t at her age eitherSat Nov 18 2023 - 05:00
Roy Keane is a cranky middle-aged man selling things cranky middle-aged men like to cranky middle-aged menAdidas has former footballer modelling weather-appropriate jackets with lots of pockets for carrying random bitsTue Nov 14 2023 - 15:00
Brianna Parkins: Party season is approaching and the fashion police are outI shall dance like no one is watching and dress like nobody is judgingSat Nov 11 2023 - 05:00
Pet insurance could save you a fortune, so know your options to care for your furry friendWithout insurance, some owners can spend more than €2,000 per year on their pet’s healthWed Nov 08 2023 - 06:00
Why do people lose perspective and rational thinking over local issues?Something is comforting in these post-pandemic, possibly pre-recession times in watching low-stakes arguments play outTue Nov 07 2023 - 19:00
Brianna Parkins: At my lowest, I wouldn’t leave the house if I wasn’t ‘presentable’ because ‘what if someone saw?’How we internalise personal ‘rules’ that make our life harder and up with a fridge full of rotting vegetablesSat Nov 04 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins on true crime podcasts: Who gets to tell the stories?The proliferation of ‘amateur’ sleuthing and reporting has raised serious ethical questionsWed Nov 01 2023 - 16:09
How influencers and others convince you to buy things you do not needResearch shows us we tend to value the prospect of reward now over a greater reward in the futureWed Nov 01 2023 - 05:00
Brianna Parkins: Do people who skip queues think they’ve worked out a special life hack?They are the ones who shoulder people out of the way on busy streets, who wield huge umbrellas like shieldsSat Oct 28 2023 - 05:00
Christmas doesn’t have to break the bank so start planning nowIt’s never too late to get your finances ready for the festive seasonWed Oct 25 2023 - 05:45
Britney Spears was treated in a way that seems impossibly gross now. Could it happen again?Horror at what was normal in the 2000s makes us grasp for the comfort of ‘it was a different time back then’ - but we should still question how young women are being treatedTue Oct 24 2023 - 13:37
