Simple trick helps me keep my spending under control
Whether it’s shopping in the supermarket, the utility bill for the rented apartment, a new smartphone, television or game console – wherever you look, consumer prices in Germany are rising almost constantly. If you want to keep the money together, you have to hope for great offers or impose some rules on yourself. A simple trick helps me, which I’m going to share with you now.
German consumers between skyrocketing prices: This trick helps me to keep calm
Between skyrocketing prices, wherever you look, it’s not always easy to keep track: What can I still afford? is at all anything else about the month at the end of the money or vice versa? Can I afford this or that purchase or do you, like more and more consumers in Germany, already have to plan a large part of your income for everyday expenses?
Unfortunately, I can’t offer a simple solution for all money problems, that would be too nice, wouldn’t it? There is probably no single savings tip that frees all Germans from their financial worries. But a simple trick helps meto stick to my rules and not to spend more money than I can afford – because that can lead you into evil abysses.
I have set myself an – approximate – upper limit of what I am willing to spend, especially for more expensive purchases such as a new television, the next smartphone if my current one gives up the ghost, or other products – primarily in the field of technology. I don’t calculate one price against the other, but compare.
Cold rent vs Smart TV: This is how I know what a new device may cost
You probably know that from other areas, if you can’t imagine sizes directly: how many soccer fields fit into one hectare? Exactly, I have no idea, but the soccer fields help with the idea. Just as I compare prices with monthly rents. For this I take my first own apartment as a reference, rent excluding bills was around 520 euros at the time.
A decent one I can’t get an OLED television for the price of a cold rent. My consequence: Then it doesn’t have to be an OLED panel. Because buying a television for the price of which I could pay two and a half months’ rent – that’s out of the question for me.
The system also works when choosing a new mobile phone, because to be honest: my smartphone is definitely not worth a full month’s rent. So I’m at home in the lower middle class. So far I can get everything I need for a maximum of 350 euros, and I don’t have to be annoyed by the high prices of the top smartphones.
But there are also devices for which I am willing to spend more: Grob has my thumb my PlayStation 5 cost between 5 and 6 weeks of rental time. I admit that I would have paid a few more euros after the long wait – fortunately it wasn’t necessary. If a few more games are added in the near future, sooner or later I’ll be approaching the end of the second month of cold rent.
We help you to choose the right Smart TV:
PlayStation, television, smartphone: buy or rent for six months?
Putting the three examples together paints an amazing picture: For the same money I spent on my current smartphone, I could have an average 4K TV and the price of the PlayStation 5 too be able to live carefree for almost half a year.
However, the approach does not work for all expenses: what has to, has to. And when it comes to really high expenses, such as a new car, what good does it do to know that the money could also be used to pay five years’ rent? But this change of perspective is often a great help to me in deciding whether or when I should spend more money on a product. The next time you think about a major purchase, the comparison will hopefully help you too. To make sure it fits your circumstances, remember to compare it to your actual rental cost.
