How to find money to save in expensive times – Dagsavisen

– An important reason to save is the opportunity to build a safer economy, says consumer economist Linda Tofteng Eliassen at Sparebank 1, who recently gave us a guide to how you should save at different ages and life stages. A more spacious pension is an important goal for many.

However, we are in expensive times, where prices and interest rates have increased more than wages for most of us. At a time when more people than in a long time are wondering where to get money for savings, good advice can be expensive.

Here you get tips on big and small in the hunt for money, which can mainly be divided into two categories: Spend less or earn more.

Eliassen has extensive experience in finding the margins in the private economy. She constantly gives lectures on steps you can take to cut household expenses – with the potential to save NOK 50-60,000 annually.

One of the measures she has taken herself is an example of how simple, and perhaps motivating and fun, it can be to save something.

– In my family, we buy four loaves of bread and six liters of milk every week. I buy this every Monday in a shop that has a 40 and 50 percent discount on these items on Mondays. Since I only buy bread and milk on Mondays, and not Thursdays or Saturdays, I save NOK 9,800 a year. That’s as much as I have in my food budget for one month, says Eliassen.

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Sales and rental

Cutting expenses and consumption or earning more can mean changing habits and therefore a demanding exercise. However, there is no hocus pocus in the formula – you just have to start somewhere.

– Start by listing all the expenses you have, which are deducted from the accounts. This exercise has remarkably few done – believe it or not. Only 25 per cent of us managed the economy according to a budget a year ago, while now it is assumed that more have better control, says Eliassen.

The consumer economist lists some of his best tips for freeing up funds in the private economy, where sales are one of the common denominators:

• A car is a big expense, and many families have acquired more than one car while the costs were low. Does the household need two cars? You quickly save several thousand every month if you sell one car.
• There are a number of motorhomes, caravans and boats for sale. We have experienced that many people bought assets with increased running costs because interest rates were low – not because their wages went up. Many of these faced challenges when interest rates became high again. Selling assets in order to regain financial security will therefore be absolutely crucial for many.
• The used market on Finn.no is large. An acquaintance experienced it when she was moving from a house to an apartment. Instead of taking the excess things and furniture to the landfill, she sold them for over NOK 40,000. It is a very good idea and a method that many people have access to.

If you don’t have anything to sell, there is another way to make extra money: Renting out.

– You can increase your income by periodically renting out a car, bicycle, cabin or room – or other useful items such as skis, sleds, sewing machines and lawnmowers, advises Eliassen, and continues:

– Alternatively, car number two can be rented out at weekends to cover the annual operating costs. If you are alone in the household, you can perhaps create a collective for the car – for example, share with a friend and create rules for use. If you have the time and health to work more or sell goods or services, that is also a possible source of income, she points out.

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– Many will have expenses to cut

If the measures above are not possible or relevant, it is time to look for other ways to obtain savings, Eliassen believes. Then it must be cut.

– Yes, if you have other expenses to cut and are behind with savings. We have had among the world’s highest consumption in Norway in the last 10-15 years. On paper, many of us, admittedly not all, should have expenses and consumption that we can cut. Something may have already been adjusted because interest rates and prices have increased, while several of us may still have things we can give up, she points out, and gives examples of where you can cut back:

• Many people can save quite a lot on household expenses with simple measures – my own measures amount to NOK 50-60,000 per year. That’s a lot per month. And then I basically eat the same as before. There are few countries in the world where you pick up as much of the food you buy as in Norway. Remember that it is generally cheaper to eat leftovers for dinner than to make a slice of bread with toppings.
• Many people have more streaming services than they can use. If you only take care to keep your partner/family informed, it is possible to stick to a couple of services each month. And then rather change at regular intervals.
• We buy 50 per cent more clothes and shoes than the average in Europe and have doubled our clothes purchases since 2010. If we buy less, better quality and wear the clothes for longer, we can save considerable money here. And perhaps more importantly – the environment! In addition to buying less and wearing longer, many people are interested in selling/buying used, redesigning and exchanging clothes. These are measures that can mean a lot for the economy.

• Is it allowed to mention snuff and smoke? Those who sniff a box a day (and only shop in Norway) spend around NOK 40,000 a year on this. If you save this amount for a pension for 20 years, you will have approximately NOK 1,475,000 with a sober return.
• One item in the budget is often twice as large as what we guessed, and that is the item for miscellaneous. It can be a newspaper, pack of chewing gum, chocolate, soda, coffee and other small things. You obviously have to buy some of this, but if a summation shows that the total amount is twice as large as you thought, you may be able to save something here. For example, we are a country with very good water quality, yet pallet upon pallet of water in plastic bottles is loaded into shops and kiosks. Is it necessary to buy the water?

– Most people who do this exercise find something they don’t really want to pay for. And automatically we start thinking about which of these expenses we can reduce or cut. So that’s the key, plain and simple. Get an overview, evaluate, reduce or adjust – or cut!

– Where is it easiest to cut?

– One of the things I see that people have the least control over is household expenses. On average, a family of four in Norway spends NOK 12,500 each month and NOK 150,000 a year on this. It is this item where it is easiest for most people to make adjustments, but it is more difficult if you are not aware of it, emphasizes Eliassen.

Pocket money and quality of life

Even the children can be tightened up on costs, although it will probably hurt many. One possible measure will also benefit the pod in the long run, Eliassen points out, and the key word is pocket money.

– Surveys among young people show that many “receive as needed” rather than a fixed sum. It has given us teenagers who are not very good at prioritizing and budgeting. These also often receive more money in total than those who receive a fixed amount per week or month, points out the expert, and asks:

– How much pocket money do your children get? Many people with canteens at school and shops on the school road say that they quickly spend NOK 100 a day here. It is NOK 20,000 a year based on the number of school days. The young people state that they spend the most money on food – before clothes, cosmetics and gaming.

In conclusion, Eliassen emphasizes that this is general advice for “most people”, and that cuts and savings must be balanced with quality of life.

– It is also important to live in the present, so that most saving measures should go beyond what we have indulged in extra rather than what gives us a normally good quality of life. I myself buy three cortados (variety of coffee, journ.am.) out every week, which amounts to almost NOK 8,000 a year. I drink them with great pleasure. But then I am up to date with all savings plans – that may have something to say, she points out.

Nor are all phases of life economically equal, points out the consumer economist. Perhaps you have to persevere through a tough period to be able to reap the rewards later.

– If you are building a secure economy, it is right and important to have money that you can enjoy. And then there are periods in life when there is only money for fixed expenses. We rarely talk about “not being able to afford it”, but it happens to all of us from time to time. And you can live with only paying what is necessary in periods, reminds Eliassen.

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