Personal Finance

Fixed or variable mortgage: how to decide without being caught out by the Euribor

July 9, 2026

Choosing between a fixed and variable mortgage is one of the most important financial decisions most people make. Not because it is technically complicated, but because the consequences extend over decades and the interest rate environment changes constantly throughout that time.

The good news is that there is no universally correct answer. There is, however, a way of thinking through the decision that lets anyone make it with confidence, without needing to be an economist.

What is net worth and how to calculate yours

June 26, 2026

Your current account balance tells you how much money you have right now. Your net worth tells you how much you’re worth financially. Those are two very different numbers, and the second one is far more useful for making decisions.

You might have 5,000 euros in the bank and an 80,000-euro mortgage, a car loan, and two credit cards with outstanding balances. Your balance looks reasonable; your net worth is probably negative. Or you might have almost nothing in your current account because all your savings are in an investment fund and a Treasury bill. Your balance looks worrying; your net worth is actually solid.

Couple finances: one freelancer, one salaried employee

May 24, 2026

She gets paid on the 28th of every month. Always the same amount, give or take. He invoices when he gets paid, which is sometimes the 5th, sometimes the 20th, and sometimes not even that month. She knows exactly how much she’ll earn in July. He has no idea how much will come in over the next three weeks.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. It’s one of the most common household setups, and if you don’t design a financial system that absorbs that asymmetry, the asymmetry turns into arguments.

How to Tell if a Savings Account Really Delivers What It Promises: Understanding APY vs. Nominal Interest

April 30, 2026

When a bank advertises a savings account at “4% interest,” that 4% is almost never what you actually earn on your money over a year. Or rather: it depends on what kind of interest rate that 4% is.

The confusion between the nominal interest rate and the annual percentage yield (APY) is one of the most common pitfalls in personal finance, and the one banks exploit the most in their advertising. Understanding the difference doesn’t require an economics degree; it just takes someone explaining it clearly once.

How to manage household finances as a couple without it becoming a source of conflict

April 29, 2026

Managing money as a couple is one of those topics many people avoid discussing openly, precisely because it feels awkward. And that awkwardness has a cost: decisions made without shared information, misunderstandings about who pays for what, and a vague feeling that “something doesn’t add up” that nobody quite puts into words.

Money doesn’t have to be a source of conflict in a relationship. It becomes one when there’s no agreed-upon system and each person’s expectations aren’t aligned. When there’s a system both of you understand and accept, it becomes just another topic, no more loaded than deciding who’s doing the grocery shopping this week.

Emergency fund: how much do you need and how to calculate it based on your real expenses

April 25, 2026

The emergency fund is one of the most repeated concepts in any personal finance conversation. And for good reason: it’s the first real step toward financial stability, the cushion that turns an unexpected event into an inconvenience rather than a crisis.

The problem is that most explanations out there about emergency funds are too generic. “Save three to six months of expenses” is reasonable advice, but not very helpful if you don’t know exactly how much you spend or what to include in that calculation.

Why I Stopped Using Excel for My Finances (And What I Actually Needed)

April 15, 2026

For several years, I managed my finances in Excel. It wasn’t just any spreadsheet: I’d invested time building it, it had formulas that worked, neatly organized categories, color coding. At the time, it was exactly what I needed.

Until it wasn’t.

It wasn’t a dramatic moment. It was an accumulation of small frictions that, over time, turned the spreadsheet from a useful tool into something I avoided opening.

The first problem: recurring expenses

The specific point where I started noticing things weren’t working was with recurring expenses and future projections.

Recurring household expenses: how to find out what you really spend each month

April 11, 2026

How Much Money Will I Have in Three Months? How to Build a Cash Flow Forecast as a Freelancer

April 1, 2026

There’s one question every freelancer should be able to answer in under thirty seconds: how much money will I have in my account three months from now?

If it takes you longer, or if the answer is “I have no idea,” you have a visibility problem. Not necessarily a money problem, but an information problem. And that distinction matters a lot.

A cash flow forecast isn’t accounting. It’s not for the Spanish Tax Agency (Agencia Tributaria). It’s for you: to know whether you can afford that expense, whether you’ll sail comfortably through the end of the quarter, or whether there’s a rough month on the horizon you’d better prepare for.