Whether you rent or buy:saving tips are always welcome! You have to deal with a lot of fixed costs. Some you cannot change, such as rent or taxes. However, you can save on other fixed costs. In total, you can even save many hundreds of euros per year. The best part is that you can often do that without it costing you much effort. We found 7 handy saving tips for at home that you don't have to do much for, but that do pay off!
1. Save on your energy supplier
The first savings you can make will not cost you any effort. You only have to find out and arrange some things online and you will immediately save money. You simply look for the cheapest energy supplier you can find. Sometimes overview sites are useful that compare different energy suppliers. Switching is often cheap or free and it can save you a lot of money per year.
2. Saving energy
In addition to the energy supplier, you can also save on the amount of energy you use. Some measures yield some benefits, but first they cost an investment. Think of exchanging your lamps for LEDs or installing solar panels. Other measures are free and easy, such as turning off devices instead of leaving them on standby. There are plenty of energy saving tips that require hardly any effort and yield a lot in total. Sometimes gadgets can also help with this.
3. Saving water
You can sometimes save a lot in your water use. A simple measure like a water-saving shower head can save you more than half of the shower water! Other measures include shorter showers and installing a rain barrel. With water from the rain barrel, you can water your plants, wash the windows or the car, or let the kids play outside in the summer. This way you save a lot of tap water!
4. Save on furniture and stuff
You want to regularly bring something new into your home. You are ready for new furniture, you are looking for new decorations or you want some fresh plants in your home. That's fine in itself, but these costs quickly add up every year. Therefore search as much as possible on marktplaats or other second-hand sites. Furthermore, thrift stores often have surprisingly good stuff for a reasonable price.
5. Become a bargain hunter
A real bargain hunter regularly scours the internet for great offers. Not only for furniture and stuff, but also with groceries you can save a lot of money. There are practical collection sites, but you usually don't find really interesting offers there. You need to gain some experience, but if you get the hang of it, you can save hundreds of euros a year with this.
6. Subscriptions, charities and raffles
Take a good look at all the subscriptions you have. Which ones do you really need and which ones don't you? You will see that you probably have a subscription somewhere that you do not or hardly use. Are people coming to the door for charities again? Give collectors some change and never agree to fixed debits. Lotteries sound nice, but they always cost you money and rarely pay off. So be critical about this!
7. Check insurance
The last months of the year are a good time to check your insurance. What insurance do you need? In principle, there are only five insurance policies that you really need:car insurance (WA), personal liability insurance, health insurance, contents insurance and home insurance (if you have your own home). All other insurance policies are optional and not always beneficial for you. Well for the insurance company.
You can save a lot of money by taking some smart measures. By getting your groceries cheaper and by cutting as much as possible in fixed costs, you save a lot. One-off expenses are expensive, but fixed costs have more of an impact than you think. Just calculate how much you lose per year. The amounts per month may seem low, but per year it adds up nicely. In total you can very quickly save more than 200 euros per year.
