Jeroen likes to fly: ‘Renting a plane costs 150 euros per hour, serious money for a rascal like me’ | Money

Your medical costs are very low. How is that possible?
Jeroen: ,,If you pay per year instead of per month, then medical costs with a maximum deductible can cost 1050 euros.”

Have you always been so careful with the money?
,,Yes. As a child I wanted to be rich. During my secondary school we lived in Soest, in a terraced house, which was special in such a village. I went to the Baarnsch Lyceum. We didn’t have it bad, but in such an environment you quickly find as an adolescent that you have too few designer clothes and I was ashamed of my father’s small car.”

Is that why you became a successful businessman?
,,The turning point came earlier: when I started hitchhiking from the age of sixteen. First to school, later I discovered that you could travel for free, while peers had to pay tens of guilders for train tickets. I went traveling, as a backpacker, couchsurfing, from job to job. That’s how I got to know people who are very happy with less.”

Yet at one point you were at the helm of your own IT company, with 25 employees. Did you live financially differently during that period?
“Enormously different. Every day I went out to eat because I was too busy and tired to do my own shopping and cooking. I remember going to a conference in Amsterdam and tapping 60 euros at the parking meter.

In 2008 it occurred to me that I wanted something different. I fired myself so I wouldn’t have to go to the office every day. I started traveling and along the way I discovered that by being frugal I might never have to work again. Four years later I sold my company. So I already had a buffer that was supplemented with this sale. I get 1500 euros a month from that.”

How much do you save on groceries?
,,I never go for A brands in the supermarket and I buy a lot from the container with products that are almost past their expiry date. Because I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t have to buy a crate of lager or bottles of wine. This also makes a huge difference in the catering industry, especially in these times. I stopped for my health, but the money I save is a nice side effect.

Our bread maker has been baking the tastiest bread for ten years, it smells wonderful when you wake up. This costs between 50 cents and one euro per loaf. I take this fresh bread with me when I have to go somewhere to avoid buying expensive sandwiches. I also always have a couple of cappers with water in the car, in case someone gets thirsty.”

What are your ultimate saving tips?
,,I have taken out our Netflix subscription in Turkey, which is cheaper. At Lidl we can charge our electric cars for free. We use P+R in major cities, which saves parking costs. We exchange jigsaw puzzles at the community center instead of buying new ones. And I left the Randstad. In a Brabant village you get twice as much house for your money.”

Economical with everything but your hobby is flying?!
,,Twelve hours every two years you have to fly to keep your license, renting a plane is 150 euros per hour, times twelve: serious money for a rascal like me. But the freedom, it makes me so happy. I also like to take people with me and then we share the costs. And I am not frugal to save, but to enjoy life.”

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