Saving After the Holidays

During the holidays, it is common to take a break from both work and finances. In connection with the start of work again, you can also take the opportunity to get hold of your savings – we give our five best tips on how to get started.

Build up a general buffer

If you have no savings at all, the first step is to build up a general buffer. Set a savings target of 1–2 monthly salaries to have a safe buffer in case of unforeseen events. You can then save for more specific goals such as car purchases, travel or retirement.

Fix an automatic monthly saving

If you already have a buffer, an automatic monthly saving could instead be the next step. A good rule of thumb might be to try to save about 10 percent of your salary after tax. Every time you receive a salary, an automatic transfer takes place to a pre-selected savings account. In this way, you can be sure that the savings will go away and at the same time you can let the money grow in an account with interest. Read more about Collector’s savings accounts here. There you can also see our current interest rates.

Save money on previous expenses

If you continue to work from home due to Covid19, you are probably saving some money that you haven’t even thought about. Review your previous expenses and compare them with how they look today. The money that you would otherwise spend on gas, commuter cards or lunches out can instead be put aside and used as a starting point for your general buffer. Saving smaller sums a little from time to time is easier than setting aside larger amounts on one-off occasions

Before a buy stop

Do you really need that to-go coffee or another actually on sale shirt? Pay all your bills and then impose a buying freeze for a period. You will quickly realize how much you can save just by avoiding impulse purchases in everyday life.

Take help of apps

Sometimes it can be difficult to make a budget and save money for something further down the line. Then there are several good apps to use.

Pennies

With Pennies , you choose an amount to be allocated to food, shopping, entertainment and so on. The app then calculates how much you can spend per day. If you overdraw your budget, you get less money to spend the next day and vice versa.

Mint

Mint is an app that reminds you of what’s due, as well as warns you if you’re about to exceed your budget. Mint can also create a plan for what and where you can cut your expenses and instead put aside for savings.

Pay slip

You can collect all your bills into one monthly invoice and get help paying them on time to avoid possible late fees. There are up to 56 interest-free days and you can choose to split your payments or pay the entire combined invoice at once.