Why earning €1,400 spare monthly doesn't guarantee savings

€1,800 salary, €450 rent, zero savings

Days before payday, half the staff checks their bank accounts every few hours. Nothing unusual there. The surprise comes when one employee admits he doesn’t even check if he’s been paid. The reason isn’t mysterious: a salaried worker earning between €1,800 and €1,900 a month, with no children or pets and paying €450 in rent, confesses he has saved nothing. Not even €2,000. He "lives paycheck to paycheck," barely making it to the end of the month. The rest of the office nods in agreement.

The conversation starts with numbers that don’t add up. The person asking the question pays €520 in rent and estimates his non-housing expenses at €200-250 a month, without depriving himself of much. His colleague, however, has €1,400 left over each month after paying rent. Where does it go?

Where do €1,400 a month disappear?

Initial explanations point to small, repeated costs. A common calculation: coffee at a bar, a drink, a pack of cigarettes, and a couple of euros in vending machines total about €15 a day; multiplied, this creates the feeling that half your salary vanishes on trivialities without anyone noticing. Added to this, according to another forum user, is eating out for breakfast (€3.50), lunch menus during split shifts, and loose €5 bills spent at the office vending machine.

Another breakdown puts figures on weekend leisure: going out Friday and Saturday at €50 per day equals €400 a month, before counting dinners, tickets, or travel.

Subscriptions, installments, and Instagram posturing

The second block involves auto-renewing fees. A bundled pay-TV package runs around €100 a month, and those who pay it admit they could save €60-70 by leveraging promotions. On top of that come HBO, Amazon Prime, football packages, plus individual movies bought for €3.99 based on algorithm recommendations.

Then there are installment payments. Half the household—mobile phones, laptops, appliances—is bought on credit, meaning some people carry a sort of mortgage on items that last only two years. Above all, there’s the showcase: photos of paella, a €12 drink, a weekend in Tenerife, the next in Palma, then Chiclana. A recurring interpretation suggests this machinery of appearance accumulates €2,000-3,000 a year and burns through it in September, when help from family is needed.

Why does big shopping cost double depending on who does it?

The difference lies in how you shop, not how much you eat: a major monthly grocery and household run can cost €70, or skyrocket to €150-200 with the same cart, excluding daily trips to the supermarket downstairs. Compared to a single bulk purchase, convenience charges interest.

A liter of ammonia costing €0.70, diluted in a spray bottle, works as well as a degreaser priced at €1.70 or €2.50. A whole chicken and a bag of rice yield more than their chopped and pre-cooked versions, and a portion of cup rice costs €1.50 when the packet sells for less. According to another participant, much fresh food ends up in the fridge until it’s thrown away.

From €1,000 to €3,500 in spending: scenarios discussed

A person without a mortgage, who walks to work, eats at home, and pays no gym, hairdresser, or drinks declares €1,000 in fixed monthly expenses, of which €400 are professional. He adds an ironic touch: the secret lies in grandparents’ pensions.

At the other extreme, unchecked escalation. With Just Eat, cafés, a house cleaner, seasonal clothes, a new phone, and a rented car, spending reaches €1,700 a month. Adding a new TV, sofa, console, moving to a better apartment, and trips with hotels pushes the figure to €2,200. If the home is a villa with a pool far from work, the scenario sits at €3,500 a month. As one forum user summarizes, those who have, spend: it’s rare to spend little when your pocket is comfortable.

Does tracking expenses in Excel help?

The answer depends on whom you ask. Some defend personal accounting as a control tool: knowing what comes in, what goes out, recording every purchase, anticipating IBI (property tax) or vehicle tax. The argument is that without measurement, nothing can be improved.

Opposing views consider it unnecessary: writing things down doesn’t reduce spending, and it’s more useful to know the hourly value of your labor or fair prices for goods. Most agree on the essentials: the problem isn’t the lack of Excel, but the lack of discipline. A recurring example: a user noted that when mentioning he watched fewer series recently, saving time and money, his peers were genuinely surprised.

---

The final twist comes from a case that breaks the narrative. A female colleague who complained every month about not making ends meet was revealed to automatically transfer half her salary into a savings account upon payment.