The Dutch enter the new year full of financial good intentions
More than 80% of the Dutch have financial good intentions for the new year. Being more frugal (37%), less unnecessary spending (37%) and not being overdrawn (26%) are the top 3 good intentions. This is evident from research by the Money Wise platform among 1.000 Dutch people aged 18 and older.
Yet almost half (47%) of people do not yet know which changes in laws and regulations will affect their wallets as of 1 January. With the online tool 'What does this mean for me?' van Wijzer in geldzaken, every Dutch person can get a clear and personal overview of these changes.
Saving on groceries, shopping and energy most popular
For many people, the start of a new year is also an important time to see where they can save. In the top three are saving on daily groceries (38%), saving on shopping (33%) and saving on energy (27%). The latter is of course possible, for example, by switching to another supplier. 58% of people want to use energy more economically anyway, because of the increase in energy tax on 1 January. Young people (18-24 years) indicate remarkably more often that they want to save money on getting coffee and eating out. People who want to save on the costs of their health insurance can switch until 1 February 2019. 31% say they have already switched or are planning to do so.
Increase of low VAT rate reason for final sprint purchases taxed with 6%
An important change in 2019 is the increase of the low VAT rate from 6% to 9%. For this reason, more than 30% of people indicate that they will buy extra groceries before 1 January, 21% will go to the hairdresser before the turn of the year and 10% will already order theater or concert tickets for 2019. The VAT increase is for 43% of the respondents reason to buy groceries at a cheaper supermarket.
Other important changes as of January 1, 2019
For many people who make use of the Social Support Act, the monthly personal contribution will drop sharply. This has been maximized in 2019 at 17,50 per four weeks. Of the respondents who make use of the Wmo (12%), 27% are not aware of this change. Another important change is the extension of partner leave for the birth of a child from two to five days. 53% of people think this is a good idea, only 12% are not so enthusiastic about it. The childcare allowance and child benefit will also increase in 2019.
'What does this mean for me?' gives consumers insight
The changes in money matters do not work out the same for everyone and depend on the personal situation. With the online tool 'What does this mean for me?' Money Wise helps consumers gain insight into measures that are important for their personal financial situation. For each measure, it is made clear what changes, what financial consequences this can have and what you can do about it. The aim is to make consumers aware of the choices they can make to adjust their own finances. The personal overview can easily be printed, saved or sent by e-mail.
As long as the government continues to tighten the stranglehold of fixed costs, we as individuals can cut all we want, but we will continue to lag behind the facts. The government's newest milking machine is called climate change. So driving electric has been driving on coal until now. Adapting houses to the climate requires a huge investment from the homeowner and the question is, will they also get comfort back??. One then our pension funds, a small 1400 billion in cash. but stay on top of it. You can, so to speak, feed the whole world for a few years.
And what are we going to do, cut back nicely in a wealthy country with a growing economy, a tenner here and a tenner there, well that's getting along nicely and just running behind the facts. Finally, I must admit that the Netherlands is a good country to be born in, but sometimes you have to raise something….
Doing extra shopping before January 1 in order to save a few euros, or in other words hoarding for a few cents increase, seems like a nonsensical hassle to me. I can imagine saving on energy, my monthly advance amount has been increased by no less than 42 euros by the energy supplier, so that I can now pay 287 euros monthly. But yes, I have a cold house and there is little to save.
€287 for gas and electricity?
You can shower shorter (in 5 minutes you are also clean)
You can heat fewer rooms where you are hardly or not at all.
You can turn off your lights in places where you are not.
You can turn the heating down a degree.
And so there are countless savings to be made to get gas and electricity bills down.
But one thing is certain € 287 pm, if you implement these things your monthly amount will automatically go down..
I already take a short shower, 3 of the 6 rooms are never heated, LED lighting everywhere. the problem is that my outside walls have no cavity, and could not be insulated or could be insulated with a lot of effort and even more money, but the owner (a management company does not start with that) has no buildings on one side next to and behind my house but open bare space, the floor always feels cold despite insulation plates under the laminate. Even during the last warm summer, the temperature did not exceed 1 degrees. With a lot of effort I can reach 22,5 degrees in the winter months, but then the central heating is constantly on. If I set it lower, the temperature drops again.
Then don't talk about the increase in the energy bill because that counts for everyone. Talk to your landlord or move house.
287 euros per month for energy? I would have wished that when I still lived in the Netherlands. 450 euros I seem to remember! Double glazing, insulated walls, during the day the thermostat is set to 18 degrees and a thick sweater on. Unused rooms unheated… we had done everything, but the winter was cold.
And then here I am worried about a 3500 baht electricity bill. A friend of mine pays 300 baht for electricity every month.
But if I compare these expenses with those of the Netherlands, I am still 300 Euro cheaper! Or do I have to save here too?
But I agree with Dirk. The wealthy country of the Netherlands is a milking country. The biggest sport is not football, but collecting as much tax money and compulsory insurance as possible.