How to save money in Belgium

Hello everyone,

Did you plan your budget before your move to Belgium? If so, how did you go about it?

How do you save money in your day to day life? Do you find there are any areas where you can't cut costs?

Do you have any tips about saving money in Belgium? For example, getting the best deals on accommodation, grocery shopping and dining out, the best value transportation, etc..

Are there any apps or websites that have helped you to save money?

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Priscilla

Hello Priscilla,

The management of the monthly budget, the eternal question for the majority of families. Here are some possible tracks:
- Monthly income must be divided into three parts:
A) 1/3 for the rental of the accommodation
B) 1/3 for fixed costs (consumer loans, rental expenses, food, etc.)
C) 1/3 for all the rest ... (unexpected, savings, exit, ...)
- The use of Internet sites for comparison of prices whether for:
A) energy (gas, electricity, ...) http://www.comparateur-energie.be/
B) access to the media (TV, fixed telephone, mobile phone, internet, ...) https://www.astel.be/
C) Food Purchase https://www.superbudget.be/?&wtd=J2U8smEzTehoWdP4
D) the supply of vouchers https://www.facealacrise.be/bon-plan-belgique/
E) fuel https://belgique.carbu.com/index.php/me ... gique / BE / 0
- Group purchases are interesting but not always possible:
A) http://www.killmybill.be/fr/achats-grou ... -belgique /
- Miscellaneous purchases:
A) http://www.troc.com/be/
B) https://www.petitfute.com/p242-belgique ... -friperie /
C) ...

For the rest, everyone decides how to lead his life ...

Sorry to said, but the only really saving budget in Belgium is to go monthly in Germany. There all products are sometime at half price.
Regards,
Valentin

valentinpica wrote:

Sorry to said, but the only really saving budget in Belgium is to go monthly in Germany. There all products are sometime at half price.
Regards,
Valentin


Hello Valentin,

So in this case, if I follow your reasoning, the Belgian who lives next to the French border must go shopping in Germany also ..........

Cross-border purchases (Belgium-Germany) (Belgium-France) (Belgium-Luxembourg) (Belgium-Netherlands) have always existed and can actually be financially attractive. But when you start really taking all the costs (Traveling expenses, wear and tear of the vehicle, etc.) into account, the profit drastically decreases .... And not everyone has the material and financial possibility to do that kind of thing.

Hence, it is more interesting to give several basic tracks and to favor short circuits.

Another good way to save is that you keep tracking your expenses in a spreadsheet.

It helps to have a certain amount you are comfortable to part with automatically transferred to a savings account every month, you can do than on your own using netbanking.