Interview with our budget expert about fixed costs and savings

We interviewed our budget manager and coach Anja Naujoks-Burger about the fixed costs and how you can save on this by doing a fixed costs scan.

1. What are fixed costs?

"Fixed costs are costs that you have entered into as an obligation and that come back every month, quarterly or annually. The fixed costs are not one-off costs but recurring costs. Many fixed costs are closed for a longer period. You often can't just stop paying fixed costs. Examples of fixed costs are rental obligations, obligations for gas, water and electricity, insurance and subscriptions."

2. What categories of fixed costs are there?

"You have different categories of fixed costs. Roughly speaking, you can distinguish the following groups:

Housing costs
These are the interest costs of your mortgage and the repayment thereof if you have a house for sale, or the rental costs if you have a rental property. Costs that also fall under this are gas, water and light or service costs.

Insurance
With insurance you can think of health insurance, liability insurance, travel insurance, contents insurance, life insurance and car insurance.

Taxes
Then, of course, we have the taxes. If you have income, you pay income tax in the Netherlands or pay payroll taxes. This category also includes the property tax if you own a home, and the municipal taxes and water board tax for all residents. For car owners, we still count the motor vehicle tax.

Within the Dutch tax system, you may be entitled to allowances. If you have children, you may be entitled to a Child Budget. If your children are at childcare, you may also be entitled to childcare allowance. If your income is not too high, you can receive a compensation for the healthcare costs in the form of the Care Allowance, or in your rent costs as Rent Allowance.

Subscriptions and hobbies/interests
Examples of subscriptions are TV/internet/telephone subscriptions, a subscription to the gym, other associations or the library.

With many subscriptions that you take out, it does not matter how often you use them. Think, for example, of your television and internet subscription, the subscription to the gym or a subscription to the newspaper. If you read the newspaper every day, this subscription will cost you the same as you never open it and throw it unread with the old paper.

With a mobile phone subscription, it does matter how much you call what the costs are."

3. Can you save on all fasting?

"Often rental costs are fixed for a year and these rarely go down. If you have bought a home, your housing costs are usually fixed for five to ten years. The taxes are also difficult to save on, because they are set by law. The fixed costs on which you can save the easiest are gas, and electricity, insurance and subscriptions and hobbies."

4. How does the fixed cost scan work?

"Together with you, I map out the fixed costs. Of the fixed costs that fall into a category on which you can save, I investigate whether a cheaper alternative is available under roughly the same conditions. It is very important that the conditions of an insurance policy are carefully considered. If you can save, but the coverage is only half of the coverage you need, then this is actually not a saving and you throw money away as yet."

5. How much can you save by a fixed cost scan?

"That depends on how consciously someone is already working on the fixed costs. If you have already purchased sharply, you can save less on gas and electricity and insurance than if you have been with the same company for years. It also depends on each case how much you want and can save on subscriptions. It is always enlightening to make clear which subscriptions you have and how much use you make of them.

On average, with a fixed costs scan you save between 100 and 1,000 EUR per year."

6. What are other smart saving tips?

"The smartest thing is to at least take out your gas and electricity and health insurance every year. For gas and electricity there are discounts for switchers every year, which sometimes saves you 50 to 150 EUR.

With health insurance, it is very important to look at the coverage and the conditions, so that you do not lose out in terms of coverage that you need. With gas and electricity, it is also smart to check what exactly you are shutting down and for what period."

Do you have other questions about fixed costs or do you want to have a fixed costs scan done with us? Please feel free to contact us  .