Dutch habits that help you SPEND LESS | Life in the Netherlands | Dutch Lifestyle 

One of the things I noticed a lot in my interactions in the Us compared to the Netherlands was if you compliment someone on something they wear for instance in the US they were like all about how expensive it was, in the Netherlands they like to brag about how cheap they got it.

An obvious omission in the food category: tap water in the Netherlands is excellent quality. No need to buy bottled water.

Another way we save money: We generally try to avoid spending money that we don’t have. Borrowing money costs money... It’s even a mandatory loan advertisement warning here.

Ahhh the age old Dutch tradition, drunk cycling while pretending to be sober.

Three coats for one season!? I have been wearing the same winter coat for the past 10 years (repaired it twice myself) and still get complimented on it.

Ok, now all of a sudden the social media comments about Bernie Sanders' coat being the same at various occasions make sense :) Reading them, I was very much like: "well, of course he is wearing the same coat at the inauguration as at such and such time, why would anyone need more than a single winter coat?" :)

About buying cheap vs expensive stuff "The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money. Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles. But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet. This was the Captain Samuel Vimes Boots’ theory of socioeconomic unfairness." Terry Pratchett’s Men at Arms:

Also generally, we don't like to boast about our riches. It's culturally frowned upon to show off, so it's ingrained to be proud of a good deal (low price + high quality) and that is something you are able to boast about. Keeping things sober is the main thread in Dutch life, except when we drink of course. How "expensive" things are is just one of the main topics besides talking about the weather.

Dutch people on vacation: Years ago, I was on a bicycle vacation in France, close to Alpe d'Huez. At that day, Dutch summer vacation had started and the roads and camping grounds filled up with Dutch people. I kind of panicked because I thought after the travel everybody will eat out at the few restaurants in the small town with the big camping places. I went early to get a place. I was the only one the whole evening and I heard the chef complaining in the kitchen about Dutch people traveling with supply for weeks and not spending a thing at the local stores and restaurants.

For the wintercoats: I've owned 2 in the last 20 years. Only thing that broke on both was the zipper. As all things in life, quality over quantity.

Good to see you've come around to biking the Dutch way, by which I specifically mean your allusion to cycling after a few beers. My UK friends were aghast whenever I got on the bike after the pub, telling me I was drunk-driving. Which is true, it's even true for the Netherlands. You're not legally allowed to cycle under the influence, but... the police is generally of the same opinion as everyone else, that they'd rather have you drunk on a bike than drunk in a car. Plus bikes have a built-in alcohol assessment! When are you too drunk to cycle? When you fall. :-) One other thing that I imagine also helps with spending less, is how unlikely the Dutch are to have credit cards (as opposed to debit cards). The U.S. has nine times as many credit cards per capita compared to the Netherlands, which make it a lot harder for the Dutch to spend money they don't have.

Yes, buying more expensive high quality durable products tends to save you money in the long run. And more importantly, you'll get to enjoy high quality products instead of cheap junk. It's also better for the environment.

Here in the Netherlands home made coffee beats Starbucks. ;-)

I love saving money and spending it on something expensive I know I'll use for a long time, it feels like a gift for myself while still being conscientious as not to waste money.

I am enjoying your videos so much! I have lived in Amsterdam all my life and seeying things I find completely ordinary from your perspective makes me appreciate things more. Thank you for giving me a new pair of eyes. This might exactly be the thing that leads to saving money: to settle for a practical otpion, but every now and then endulge and fully appreciate it. In doing so, you just spend less because you need less.

"A beer is only 2 or 3 euros" As a Dutch student, that's expensive XD We have happy hours were you can an (admitedly not very good) beer for 0,5 euros

There is another thing to 'office coffee' in the Netherlands. Because it's such a big thing many companies have contracts with major coffee brands that install and maintain (including the actual coffee) coffee makers. The coffee you get in the office would be comparable or even identical to what you'd get in any diner because many have the same provider.

Feeling pressure to own at least three winter coats? That just blew my mind! We have H&M and Zara here of course, so it's not like fast fashion doesn't exist here, and there are plenty of people who go shopping for clothes as a hobby, but I'd be surprised if they felt they had to have three winter coats for reasons of status. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong though!)

We have a saying over here "goedkoop is duurkoop" which basically means that buying cheap things can be more expensive in the long run. I guess that applies to clothes as well.

I am Dutch and my wife is dutch But spending less is a tradition that my wife can hopefully learn too

I think that the Dutch tipping culture helps in saving money. You're not expected to tip a certain amount of money wherever you go (bars, nail stylists, restaurants, etc.) Everything has a fixed price and most people can make a living without dependingon tips. Tipping is appreciated, but not expected.

I love saving up so I can buy for example a winter coat that is from a high quality brand and therefore more expensive. Because i jow i have invested a lot in it i want to wear it a lot. I don't want a second one because I am already so proud of this one, and I can even look firward to wearing it again next year. Because I know I can because it is high quality

About clothing: you are spot on. I like my clothes so much I will wear them for 10 years. My coat has a lining I can take out, so I wear it both in summer and in winter. I am on my third coat since 1994. I also have a woolen, more formal coat I got in perhaps 2007, but I stopped wearing it when attire became less formal somewhere in the early teens. But perhaps that is me being a lazy man.

#1 Don't get in debt. #2: Try to avoid subscription services as the plague. #3: Quality products may be more expensive in the beginning but will save you in the long run.

Just happy u visited Terschelling, ..come back in summer 😙🤗

We used to have Happy Hour(s) in The Netherlands where you get 2 for the price of one for a long time too, but the govenment prohibited this like 15 years ago (or there about) because it would encourage bad drinking behaviour iirc....

Hey I love watching your videos ! I always feel so flattered about my country haha. But maybe it would be fun to hear you talk about things that are better in the USA ? Or things you miss in general ? Houdoe !

When you were talking about the clothes a Dutch expression came to mind "Goedkoop is duurkoop" which would translate to "Cheap is expensive".

Hi Ava, a seperate video about your biking experience in Amsterdan would be very informative for Americans who are moving to the Netherlands.

I've had my winter coat for over 20 years. Best thing I ever bought.

In regards to the last point, we have a saying in the Netherlands. "Goedkoop is duurkoop.", which translates to "buying cheap is buying expensive." We generally pick quality over price as long as the price is reasonable. This does of course get abused by stores quite often as cheap stuff is fairly regularly given a more expensive price tag to make people think it's higher quality. I know this isn't just a Dutch thing but the saying definitely is Dutch.

In most Dutch companies, the coffee machine is where non-formal meetings occur. The coffee is usually subsidized by the company, so although the quality is usually not great, no-one goes out to get coffee. The real connoisseurs sometimes bring their own coffee makers to the office.

Je bent goed aan het inburgeren Ava!👍😜

Definitely the impulsive buying habit is the main factor, moreover, we're a debit society instead of a credit society and therefore don't like to spend money we haven't earned yet !!

I also think that zoning has a big influence in america if you suddenly want for example a special belgium beer you have 2 options go out and pay a lot, or get it a bit cheaper drinking at home which usually require you to take your car and drive to the edge of town both options cost a lot of time. In the Netherland small shops are intermixed with housing areas way more often thus a special beer cost me 2 minute walk living in amsterdam and buy it way cheaper like 2 euro's for a bottle.

The clothes thing is so true, I bought a fancy dress when I 13 now that I am 25 I still have it and it still fits and last year I wore it to a gala. Good quality last a long time ☺️

Extending (or building upon) your idea to own one good, high quality piece of "equipment' that you actually need (as in, need-to-use-regularly), I like to pick things that actually last long and can be repaired instead of being thrown away. If something can be repaired to its original glory and has full functional use and still is aesthetically pleasing after repair, I refuse to throw it out or to replace it just for the feeling of owning something new.

Stayed a week in a posh hotel in Philadelphia for a conference in early November 2000. Not the four Seasons. Loved the city. First time in America, first time sky scrapers. Loved China Town. And they had bicycle lanes. Most special was having dinner next to Liberty Bell on invitation by the city of Philadelphia. Wish I planned some holiday time after the conference. So much to see.

Great video :)

Few more crucial points here: -Most of us don't use exclusively debit cards, if you can pay for it now but it, if you can't save up. You don't have to loan it and pay some other guy extra on top of an already expensive product only ever borrow money if you need something this instance and don't have the funds for it, but be aware it will cost you more to loan it than to just save up for it. -In-home cooking is far cheaper when you do it for 2-3 days at a time. You also pay for the packaging and labor of the clerk putting it all into the shelves. If you make food for multiple days at a time and just freeze/fridge and reheat it for another go the next day you can take the bigger often relatively far cheaper products instead so now you save maybe 2-3 euro's on groceries per day which does add up very quickly over a year. -Just because it's on sale doesn't mean you have to buy it. Take a breather and think logically. Was I actually going to buy this? Sure, might as well get it on sale then. I wasn't actually going to buy this but it's something like cleaning agents that I will use regardless, might as well stock up a few if you have the spare cash. If neither of those are the case, just don't buy it. If you wouldn't have bought it off sale it's not cheaper when you do buy it on sale, it might say 50% off but actually, it's 50% on because not buying it costs you 0% of the product and now you did buy it for 50%. Don't let the market manipulate you into impulse buying is what I'm trying to say here, which leads me to the final point. -Eat and drink before shopping. If you are hungry everything looks tasty and you will buy loads more, especially with the special fragrances they spray around fresh bread isles etc. it is too tempting the human mind is usually not strong enough to not at least take 2 or 3 more food products of the shelves subconsciously. Just avoid this altogether by making sure your tummy is full before you enter the mall and trust me you will save lots of money in the long run because a full stomach won't seduce you into buying that pack of fresh croissants you just passed by.

I don´t know if the Dutch got the same saying as we have in Austria: If you buy cheap, you buy twice.

An important factor in saving also is: do not focus on brands, but on quality or design or usability. If the product with the desired quality (for the purpose), the design you like, the usability you need for the purpose happens to be a brand, fine... If not, just buy the product that does fit your needs

Tangentially related and not something adaptable as a habit but one thing that really surprised me when I lived in Paris was how much cheaper groceries were In the US I find that it’s often no more expensive to eat out than to cook at home unless I put in a lot of effort while there it was much cheaper to just go to Carrefour and cook at home

You have become 100% Dutch when spending less is in your daily system. Welcome to the Netherlands my new fellow Netherlander, we are delighted to have you! 😄

As for clothing and buying stuff: Yes, that is a true difference between US and NL. Or even between US and rest of the world. Look at airports: The people with too much luggage tend to be US. Or look at housing: You do need a 'walk in closet' (i.e. an extra room) for your clothes if you but that much. And just today I realised from the brand of my wintercoat that I bought it at V&D. That's been down since 2015. And I remember having it for years already, back then. Now I think about it: Some clothing I use on a daily basis is 10+, some is gone in one or two seasons.

Hi Eva, love your videos. Are your eyebrows natural? How do jou colour them?

My female colleagues exchange clothes. They organize a party twice a year and trade really good fashionable clothes they don’t wear anymore to eachother. It’s great fun with drinks and fittings and advice. And they really want the other to succeed. It’s in great (team)spirit and all of them ‘win’ by this.

Hello Eva you talk about public transport I mean the price , the price you talk about is when you buy a single card in the bus/tram/metro but when you take a dutch abonnement card that is much much cheaper , the same you pay 2 euro with te personal card you pay maybe 0.80 eurocents

In the Netherlands we also have the saying "kijken, kijken, niet kopen" which translates to "look, look, don't buy." It means that, here in the Netherlands, we often tend to be very critical of the things we may end up buying. We always consider the advantages and disadvantages of the things we are interested in buying. This often leads to Dutch people choosing not to spend their money on those things because in their opinion it is not 100% worth their money. This is another reason why the Dutch excel at saving money and are sometimes even called greedy.

I save a lót on coffee: I don't like coffee ;). But indeed, I do take my own bread for lunch, and this does save a lot in the long run. I also don't go out to restaurants that much, only when there is a special occasion. I can perfectly cook myself. And I do love to cycle to work. Not only is it healthy and fun, and it saves money from public transport, I can also declare the amount of km I travel to work and get something like € 0,19 per km or something for it. So basically I get paid to cycle. Not by a lot, but still, it helps with bicycle repairs that happen from time to time (and it can help save money if you can repair your bike yourself: I have learned that I rather spend some money to have a professional doing it correctly instead of me bumbling for hours with it).

I see what you mean when you talk about biking in the Netherlands, unfortunately it doesn't translate well to the US. Also a thing about biking in the Netherlands is that you dress for the destination, as oposed to the US where you dress for the journey. Biking in the US is not feasable on a daily basis because the infrastructure is not good for biking. If you want to know more about that I recomend the RU-vid channel 'Not just bikes'. Otherwise I loved your video and just a slight note on the eating out or in. You have to take into account the cost of groceries. In the Netherlands groceries are much more affordable than in the US. Eating out or making it yourself for the US is realy not that much different in price, but in the Netherlands it is a significant money saver to buy the groceries and making dinner yourself.

Hi Ava, just wondering: do you already have a job here in the Netherlands, and if so, what kind of work you do??

One other thing I was flabbergasted about when in Philadelphia was people buying big steel travel mugs full coffee. Not a thing in NL in 2000. Neither where/are food trucks or small carts on the pavement for breakfast. I bought 3 of these mugs as a souvenir from a shop in the mall near radio city.

I bought one winter coat when I was 18 (in 2002) and a new one in 2015. I do still have the old one, but the zipper is broken.

Wanneer ga je nu eens in het nedetlands vloggen? Wat doe je voor werk, ben je weervrouw? Die praten nl zo veeel met hun handen😀Je moet video eens terug kijken en dan alleen op je handen letten😂

I love your humour.

There is an app. To prevent wasting food. You can get stuff at supermarkets that near or on date. For a low price. It's also good for your creativity as a cook, cause you never now what exactly is gonna be in it. It's called: Too good to go For example you get a little crate filled with meat. You can choose what kind of boc you wanna buy. It will cost you like 5 euro

I was in The Netherlands, Amsterdam specifically, and a Dutch guy told me that his bike has been stolen many times. He also said maybe 3 times in his life he stole a bike. I think one time he got out of the bar, discovered that his bike was stolen, but had to get home so he stole a bike. It’s a regular bike-stealing endless circle.

One question.... why do you have a vase with flowers on your floor and not on the table? is it to make the background more colorful or is it some American custom I missed?

A few years i discovered To Good To Go. That is food wich the shopowner is not permitted to sell the next day anymore. When you put the food in the fridge it can leave there for days and days more. So you can eat and drink cheap stuff. For every 5 euro you spent on this food you get 15 euro for food.

Ava. Is the difference in how to spend holidays (Dutch: camping. US: flying) also not related to the differences in the amount of holidays one has? In case I only had a few I do not want to spend them on driving to and back from the resort. I also would go by plane to spend as much as time doing nothing at the pool :-).

I always make a grocery list before i go to the store. That way i can buy what i need, but also save some money on unnessacery items

In general, before I spend any money on things I didn't budget, I ask myself three questions. 1. Can I afford to buy it without getting into debt? 2. Do I really need it? 3. Is there a cheaper alternative? As a result I don't buy a new smartphone every year. As long as my current smartphone is still working and I don't have to charge the battery every half day, I don't need a new smartphone. My TV set is about 10 years old, but it's still working so I don't need a new TV set, how much I like the more advanced features of newer TV sets. Consume less and you will spend less money.

No separate sales tax ...! Want to spend big ? Give it 24 hours and you will be amazed ! Great episode of course .

I notice you passed the 10000 subscriber level. When did that happen?

Smart buying and minimalist

Philly is actually a pretty bike friendly city (by US standards) - it's been a while but when I was in college I would bike everywhere. Admittedly, not nearly so flat as most of the Netherlands.

I think the Dutch buy bicycles like you used to buy wintercoats. A lot of people will have a bicycle for every occasion. A racing bike, a mountain bike or touring. Ike, a shopping bike and an old bike for when you go out to drink and it doesn’t matter much if it were stolen. Oh, and nowadays a lot of people - young and old - have electric supported bikes for long rides. And one winter coat...

Nice video, i really laughed a lot as some things k think are normal are apparently weird to non-dutch people. We're always focused on saving money. There are many occasions though, when dutch people can get really stingy. Like asking for money after having guests for dinner, say you have an extra ticket for a concert and asking money back after wards etc etc.

Such a good video!. I'm Dutch and why spending while you don't need it. You can only spend a dollar once we would say here.

We have a saying here: "goedkoop is duurkoop", which means that cheap things tend to be expensive in the long run. This not only goes for goods, but also for services. Quality costs more, but gives a lot more as well... Another thing that could help you "spend less" is spending more when doing your groceries: many supermarkets have the option of "zegeltjes sparen" (collecting stamps/coupons). AH, Jumbo and Vomar for example all have a system where you get the option to pay 10 cents per euro more for your groceries to collect stamps, once you get you booklet full of stamps you can exchange them back for money with interest (I believe between 3 and 6 percent). Their interest rates are much higher than those of the banks, so this can give you a lot of benefits over the year, especially when you do all your groceries at one of those supermarkets.

Yes very true. Born in Utrecht but moved to Vancouver when 19 years old. Now 60 plus years later still am “cheap” my family says but have definitely no trouble walking 3 blocks to find a free parking space….

allot of company's these days have some pretty awsome machines for coffee these days. trow in your own beans set the temp etc. its decent. and its free at work!!! haha

In Canada, I brew my coffee & bring it in a large thermos.

A simple way of saving money, is buying what you need ahead of time. I buy my Christmas decorations after Christmas, when they are 50-75% off. I buy Christmas paper in January for 10 cents a roll instead of 1,-. I buy gifts throughout the year at dump prices to have something nice for birthdays and Christmas. Children's clothes I buy in fire sales for the size they will be needing next year. When something is on sale in the supermarket, I buy enough for the next months. The only thing I need is a bit of closet space extra to store all those things. I buy a better quality of stuff, that I use a lot, so I don't overspend on repairing those or buying new ones. Like the washing machine or laminated floor boards or excellent paint.

I recently bought two in between coats from fb market for 15€ all-together. Am I becoming Dutch too?

Hmm one thing I noticed that a "borrel" isn't really a happy hour. It is just being gezellig with friends or colleagues having a drink. Standard a beer costs around 2-3 euros, not considering happy hour.

I personally totally agree with the clothes. My jeans prob cost like 80 euros (which isnt that expensive compared to some) and they last like 5 years easy instead of some cheapers ones i bought that were worn out within a year

Interesting. I never knew Horeca was an abbreviation for Hotels-restaurants-cafés. Native Dutchy btw 😂 thanks for teaching me stuff I never knew

Hi Eva! T.y. so much to make me know better The Netherlands. I have a deeply disabled son but a lovely adorable son. I'd like to share a beautiful text to you. "Welcome to Holland by Emily Perl Kingsley ". That's helping us very much, and my dream is to visit the Netherlands with my son n wife. Have a nice day Eva.

Never in my life have I owned 3 different winter coats at once, that genuinely shocked me lol

As a dutch person: I did not know Horeca was an abbrevation.

Wow 12 dollars for a drink? And I thought the Netherlands was expensive! A taste of things to come I suppose ...

I enjoy your content, always fun to learn especially since my girlfriend is not dutch. Puts a lot in perspective. But I must say 4-6 ads on a video makes me not want to return. Using an adblocker is not something I would like to do as content creator need some little support. I would definetly watch some more videos but the ads are starting to get annoying. You do you, I still enjoy your content. Just wanted to give my thoughts, guess that's me being dutch and "direct"! :)

3:28 I hope that's just NYC and not the US in general that would be insane. Because for example Amsterdam is also more expensive.

Borrelen: Nah, had one borrel during all of 2019, and 3 during the entire covid period. the beer thing: do you know why it is so expensive? like, is that taxes on alcohol, or are the beer companies just making a rediculous profit per unit, assuming it doesn't go towards the bar itself. The whole takeout thing; recognized :D biking; confirmed (even in a more rural area, still in the center of NL though) fast fashion; Zara, H&M and Primark are a thing here too. but maybe less commonly accepted, not sure about that one though . Tnx for a fun video again Eva!

Hi Ava, I'd love to see a video with you and your girlfriend sometime and hear her thoughts on dating an american girl...

Not Dutch but this is a similar mentality I noticed when moving from New Zealand to Scotland. In NZ everyone buys cheap clothes, coats, and shoes from the equivalent to WalMart, whereas in Scotland people invest in quality clothes, a waterproof jacket and shoes, etc. You get more bang for your buck as well. NZ is so isolated that any quality product is obscenely expensive to ship over so people put up with cheap replaceable shit that isn't durable.

A saying in The Netherlands is: Goedkoop is duurkoop. It translate to 'Bought cheap is expensive bought'. Personally I rather buy clothes in the and of a season on sale and use it the next year. You have the good quality for less💪🏽

What year did you start learning Dutch?

About the clothes thingy: even while still growing I still wear clothes from 3 years ago and because of this whenever someone has bought stg new, friends comment on it because it is very obvious to them when stg is new because they just know your whole wardrobe

Regarding the clothing, I agree. However, since Primark is in the Netherlands as well, I notice a big change in behaviour of Dutch people. I think it is important to keep in mind that the Dutch are changing, specifically Americanizing: there is the idea that life in the U.S. is better and, therefore, we should follow U.S. trends.

12 Bucks for a glass of wine?! Jaysus! I live in a wine region - a glass of wine (1/4L) is between 3.50.- and 4.50.-; a beer (1/2L) 3.50-4.00.-; a main course in an average restaurant 12-18 Euros (usually one side dish included), service fee included. but you can also eat a really filling (cold meat, saussages, bread etc) meal for around 5-6.- in a lot of places. So, usually, for a full 3 course meal (soup, main course, deserts and one drink) you reckon 20-35 Euros per Person here.

I don't get when I see people writing groceries are cheaper here than in North America. I lived in Canada and groceries used to be considerably cheap there. Maybe people don't eat much meat? I could never find 99 cent pork loin (per pound, double that each Kg) and sometimes friends would cross the border to US to find even cheaper deals. Here you can't seem to get any decent boneless low fat meat for less than 6 euros / Kg on sale, 10 regular. Same thing with cereal and even parboiled rice costs a fortune here in comparison. Vegetables can be quite pricey too! You have to pay per paprika, for example, instead of per Kg. Packages are always very tiny so they can charge you more per unit without scaring customers, but instead of buying a 2Kg piece of meat you need a bunch of tiny trays to fill a pot if you want to cook more than a single meal at a time. Fuel costs a fortune, road tax and mandatory insurance are quite expensive as well, don't even get me started on a small fortune you need just to get a driver's license, and the fact you can't just pay for the test, but have to go to a driving school and they have to say you're good to be tested after pushing you a bunch of classes even if you already used to drive before, so they can pay their bills by selling you a service you shouldn't need on the first place. The dentist will charge by the minute they spend on you, on top of all the services, even if you didn't ask them to spend time talking about tooth brushes. They charge you for water and ketchup even at McDonald's, and you have to ask them for a napkin, so they can control how many napkins you're taking from them. Thrift stores and used goods are usually way too expensive (sometimes just 20% lower than a new item instead of paying 10x less like we use to in other countries) because most people here are thrifty, increasing demand, plus the quality of the items is usually much lower in comparison to what I experienced in Canada, because people just won't give away or throw out still good things just because they're out of season, as they do overseas. Social housing is very affordable if you can get a property (through lotto system or if you wait in line for almost ten years). Utilities are also pricey, especially energy. I don't regret moving here, I "get what I pay for" in the sense the food has less chemicals, the streets are clean, I don't see people begging for money on the streets or constant violence everywhere. Things here are quite fair, but I really don't understand why people insist on saying things are cheaper here. Of course, if you downgrade your life, you will spend less, but not because things are cheaper, but because you would (or couldn't) spend money on them. I get it that businesses have much slimmer margins because they are more socially responsible due to the legislation that forces them to pay more taxes, proper salaries etc. Totally worth it, I wouldn't want it to be otherwise, but not cheaper. Please accept my apologies in advance if I said something inappropriate. Understand I love living in The Netherlands and I don't want to be elsewhere.

Pretending to be sober while riding my bike drunk, thank god the bike lines are really big in some of my favorite places.

It's easy to save money just by moving to the Netherlands. That's NY real estate. 16:00 Appreciating "quality and personal style" instead of "quantity and being different" is just a sign that you're growing up. I think that's more related to age rather than geography/culture.

We don’t spend much because everything is so expensive over here. Im happy I live at the border with Germany. I save so much money by buying basically everything over there. Some things are cheaper over there than they are here when the products are in sale! And even imported stuff from the Netherlands is cheaper in Germany. Which is incomprehensible to me

Fruit juice will taste just fine if mixed with 30% tapwater, if you buy your clothes in the same dark colors it is cheaper to wash them. especially socks with holes in them you can easily fix by wearing 2 old socks with holes at one foot.. with a bit of luck the holes don't match and hide each other. old bread can be toasted and stored to make porridge or mixed with grinded meat ( gehakt ) and you can save lots of money by not showering but washing yourself at the sink with water boiled in an electrical watercooker. that will save you p.p. atleast € 3,- per day 🤓

1. if you don't like beer, we also have Hugo, it's a kind of wine but it's sweeter and you can get it in every grocerystore for 2 euros a bottle. 2. When we don't want to cook we order food, like chinese or italian, or just fries. Nothing fancy. But only if we have nothing else. it seems to me, as a student, you better cook for yourself cuz it's MUCH cheaper. 3. I'm not that kind of girl who has a lot of clothes, I do buy cheap clothing. If I like it, I buy it, im not looking at brands and stuff. I do know some of my friends have too much clothes and shoes, I feel like its more about the collecting here. It also depends on what kind of friends you have, mine are into climbing trees and playing games with a lot of mud involved so they're not into clothing as much as people who like to go shopping and hang out in the city...

1. buy only what you need and wait at least two weeks before you buy something you don´t really need but just want! 2. buy 2nd hand whatever you can (2nd hand often is (almost) new, cos so many people buy on impulse and don´t ever use these items)! 3. buy high quality as barely used 2nd hand! (example: last summer, I bought 5 tshirts (Raplh Lauren, Hilfiger, Boss, ...) in the price range of 60-100 Euros each from a guy who hadn´t even removed the price tags yet, and I paid 5 Euros per shirt!) 4. know the difference between investing and spending, consumer credit and investment credit! 5. as a rule, try to buy seasonal items in the off season (winter tyres in spring, summer clothes in fall...)! 6. save at least 20% of your net income *every month* = live way below your means! 7. keep fixed costs low! 8. buy cash only! of course they all want you to just swipe your card, cos this way it is much easier to lose control over spending. 9. repair/have repaired whatever can be repaired! 10. do your own cooking! 11. the marketing tag "convenience-xxx" means, you don´t *need* it, and it is way too expensive! Think about it!