Savings

Turn every expense you cut into automatic savings

October 15, 2026

You cancelled the gym membership you hadn’t used in months. You renegotiated your car insurance and got the premium lowered. You unsubscribed from a streaming service you didn’t even remember you had. That money, in theory, is extra savings every month. In practice, it almost never is: it mixes in with the rest of your available balance, and two months later you couldn’t say where it went.

The tip: move it the same day you cut it

The 'don't touch' account: add deliberate friction to your savings

October 6, 2026

You have a savings fund, you know you’re not supposed to touch it, and you touch it anyway. Not because you lack discipline: because it’s two taps away, in the same app where you check your everyday account balance. Any Friday-night craving finds that money with zero effort.

The tip: make withdrawing it cost something

The fix isn’t more willpower, it’s less convenience. Put deliberate friction between you and that money, so there’s a real obstacle between the impulse and the transfer, not just a good intention. Three levels, from least to most friction:

The envelope method, in digital form

October 1, 2026

You have €750 free to spend this month, according to your account. But that figure is a useful lie: mixed in there is Saturday’s dinner out, the clothes you need for the season change, and your sister’s birthday present. If you spend €400 going out in the first two weeks, you don’t notice until it’s time to buy the present and there’s nothing left. The overall number never warns you in time.

The three-account system that stops you thinking about money

September 23, 2026

You check your account balance before buying something that isn’t essential. The number looks big enough, so you buy it. Ten days later the building maintenance fee hits and throws off your whole month, because that “big enough” number was already spoken for without you knowing it. It’s not that you’re spending badly: it’s that a single number doesn’t tell you which part is actually yours to spend.

The tip: let your money live split up, not together

The idea is simple and doesn’t depend on doing any mental accounting: split your money into three physical accounts, each with one job.

Raise your savings every time you get a raise

September 17, 2026

You get a raise, and a few months later you’re living exactly as tight as before it. Nothing strange happened: you changed cars, eat out a bit more, the flat is “nicer” now. Each new expense made sense on its own. The problem is that, added up, they swallowed the whole raise, and your savings are still the same number as before.

The tip: raise your savings, not your spending

It’s called lifestyle inflation: the more you earn, the more you spend, in the same proportion, without ever deciding it consciously. It’s not a character flaw — it’s what happens by default if you don’t do anything: the new money lands in the same account as always and quietly splits itself among things you were already itching to upgrade.

The 24-hour rule against impulse buying

September 11, 2026

You see something, want it right now, and buy it on the spot, usually from your phone. Two days later you can’t even remember what made it so appealing, or worse: it arrives home and sits unused in the closet. It’s not that you have bad judgment — you’re deciding with the part of your brain that reacts to the moment, not the one that thinks a few weeks ahead.

Automate it so it doesn't depend on willpower

September 3, 2026

You decide to save more, stop impulse buying, or never pay a bill late again. It works for two weeks. Then a rough month shows up, you let your guard down for one day, and the resolution quietly fades without you ever deciding to give up. It’s not that you lack willpower: you’re using it on the wrong job.

The tip: let the system decide, not you every time

Willpower is a resource that runs out. Every decision you have to make again — do I set money aside this month? do I pay this bill now or later? do I buy this or not? — is a chance for the easy path to win. An automatic system never gives you that chance: the decision is already made once, and it runs on its own whether you remember or not, whether you’re having a good day or a terrible one.

Pay yourself first: automate your savings on payday

August 27, 2026

You get paid, cover the usual bills, and at the end of the month you look at whatever’s left to “save.” Most months there isn’t much, and some months there’s nothing. The problem isn’t that you earn too little or spend badly: it’s the order. If savings go last in line, they lose to whatever expense shows up first.

The tip: flip the order

The idea fits in one sentence: treat savings like just another fixed bill, not like whatever’s left over. Instead of spending and seeing what remains, set aside a fixed amount first — an automatic transfer, the same day or the day after you get paid — and live on what’s left afterward. Money that never reaches your everyday checking account is money you won’t spend without noticing.

Latte-factor spending: the small leaks that drain your account

August 17, 2026

You go over the month and there’s no single big expense that explains it. No emergency, no unusual purchase. And yet the numbers still don’t add up the way you expected. Chances are the problem isn’t a big expense at all, but a leak of small ones: the coffee on the way to work, the app that renews itself, Thursday’s takeout order because you didn’t feel like cooking. Each one looks harmless on its own. Together, they’re the difference between saving something and saving nothing.

Pay Down Your Mortgage or Invest €10,000? The Real Math, Step by Step

August 10, 2026

You get €10,000 out of nowhere. A big bonus, a small inheritance, a severance payment, savings that have finally added up. And the usual dilemma shows up: do you use it to pay down the mortgage, or do you invest it?

The answer you’ll find almost everywhere is “it depends.” True, but not very useful. Let’s do the real math with numbers, so you know exactly what you’re comparing and which part of the decision isn’t math at all, but how well you sleep at night.