Jeroen: ‘My mother had a piggy bank with compartments, I made a digital version of it’ | Money

You spend 1140 euros per month on groceries. Why do you consider yourself a super saver?
“That’s quite a lot, isn’t it? I go to the Albert Heijn every week, so I am certainly not a great saver there. But I used to be really one big spender† Fifteen years ago I changed course. That was also the beginning of my own company. I started guiding entrepreneurs financially.”

What was the reason?
“I sold my house with a loss of 20,000 euros. In one fell swoop I was in debt and I had no buffer. At the time, I was earning fine as a controller at a multinational, but I spent everything on travel, catering and clothing. It just had to be different. I started spending 70 percent of my earnings and saving the rest. I do that to this day. When I had enough buffer, I hold 15,000 euros, I started investing with that 30 percent.”

How did you approach investing?
“I’ve actually tried everything, but I think for 99.9 percent of people it makes the most sense to invest in a diversified basket of stocks. My biggest lesson is that you learn what you don’t know. I don’t know how a market develops. I see my investments as a buffer. It is also my disability insurance and my pension accrual. I don’t take money out of it.”

What change did this turn around bring about in yourself?
,,Peace. Now that I don’t spend everything, I’m not under constant pressure to perform to pay my bills.”

What do you economize on?
“We have a good income, but I believe in keeping our fixed costs as low as possible. An average car costs you 1000 euros per month. Our car is almost 15 years old and I can deduct the 460 euros in costs for a large part of the tax. That includes everything: road tax, petrol. Sometimes I doubt the durability, but using up something also feels sustainable.

,,In addition, I taught myself another cutback: I make an annual list of my insurance policies and see if it can be cheaper. Take out health insurance: if there is nothing wrong with you, it is always cheaper not to take out physiotherapy or dental insurance. If something happens, it’s always cheaper to pay for it yourself. People tend to over-insure themselves out of fear. I also did that with energy, but that is not possible at the moment.”

Do you have a financial system?
,,My mother had a Brabantia piggy bank with different compartments. I made a digital version of that. Every month I transfer a fixed amount to various digital jars for things such as clothing, the car, vacations. When I go shopping, I always have money in that jar. At one point I got into a phase where I started to find it difficult to spend money, this helps me with this. That way I know that I have reserved money especially for it, so that I can spend it.”

So you went from big spender to be frugal with your expenses?
,,I see that with some wealthy customers, they find it really difficult to spend money, because if you invest it, it pays off. They would rather pot it up than scatter it. But it’s also about having a good life. For example, putting 500 euros a month aside for vacation. Holidays are important to me and with the jar I give myself permission to spend it.”

Do you have another dream that you would like to fulfill with your money?
,,The three of us want to travel the world for a year. That means not working for a year and such a trip costs a lot of money. But I see my investments as a flexible pension. If I continue like this, I can retire in 10 years. If I take a year off, my retirement age just moves up one year.”

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