“45 thousand euros on 12 accounts”

How much money is in your savings account? We ask a different Dutch person every week. Because although we talk more and more about money, we never talk about how much we earn and save. This week: 40-year-old Tim, who has dreamed of income from real estate since he was young.

profession: truck driver
net income: 3100 euros
Living situation: The house that the owner occupies with his wife and children

Team Savings Account

How much money is in your savings account?

“Currently 45,000 euros.”

What do you think of this amount?

“Ja fa,” answers Flemish Tim. “I think it's too little. Three months ago I paid off the mortgage on the apartment I rent. Then I paid 30,000 euros in one payment. The apartment rent brings 730 euros a month.

“I bought that apartment in 2007. I lived there for the first six years, and then we bought the house we live in now. We have now also completely demolished the house and rebuilt it. We have always kept that first apartment and are now renting it out. By chance, yesterday I saw an apartment Another one for rent. Maybe I'll make an offer.”

Where do real estate investments come from?

“It provides passive income. We still have a mortgage on our house. Part of that is tax deductible.”

Investing in real estate has always been my goal and dream. I had previously considered student housing, but decided against it. “These rules are more complicated, so I will choose apartments now.”

You are now renting an apartment. How did the road get there?

“I bought my first apartment on my own. From day one, I always worked hard and had multiple jobs. I started in a factory and would garden before or after work.

I took up everything that could make money. I collect every euro, and I often work 7 days a week.

When I bought my first apartment in 2007, I had saved 25 thousand euros. The apartment cost €125,000, so I took out a €100,000 mortgage. I received buyer's costs from my father. Later I met my wife and she moved in with me.

One day my father called that a house had become available on their street. That was a very old house and that woman had died. There were quarrels in the family around the house. We've used this family feud quite a bit.

“They asked 150,000 euros for the house, and in the end I was able to buy it for 100,000 euros. I first rented it for 450 euros a month. Then we demolished it and built a new house there. We moved there ourselves in 2016. We have been renting the other apartment since That moment.

Do you want to stop being a truck driver?

“I like to work. But I don't want to work. I see that many colleagues who are approaching retirement age still have to work.

I don't want that later. I want to work because I love working. I still work a lot now and my friends sometimes wonder why. Financially things are going well. However, I still work long hours. I leave at 3am and then get home somewhere between 5 and 6pm.

Now that the apartment is paid for, we can often save around 2,000 euros per month.

What does a savings strategy look like?

“I manage everything regarding the money. My wife doesn't interfere with that. I have 12 accounts and all the money is divided between them. I know exactly how it works.

The most important rule for me for a current account is this: 1000 euros equals 0 euros. I see that 1,000 euros as a 0 line. “This means you will never end up in the negative zone. Sometimes the bill might reach 800 euros, but the next month it should reach 1,000 euros again.”

What about all the other savings accounts?

“I go to work by bike every day. Thanks to the agreement with the business, I get 200 euros a month. I always put that in a separate account called the bicycle allowance. In the meantime I have already collected 9,000 euros.

Then my wife and I have a separate checking account. I give both of us a free budget of €530 per month. Then I have a separate current account where I transfer my surpluses of €530.

“Then we have a joint savings account with €12,000 in it. Then I have a pension pot, which the bank actually charges. I can't access that. There's €5,000 in it, but the stones are a pension.

Then there is a pot called Extra, which contains 8,246 euros. I have been very strict with myself and can easily deprive myself of things in order to save. I like to bite the bullet to achieve goals. That's what this jar is for. If I want something, I can get it from here.

Then there's the rental income account, the holiday pot, and two new savings accounts because the interest rate is higher there. You can deposit a maximum of €500 into it every month, so I opened an account in my name first and later opened another account in my wife's name. I also have a mutual fund, but there's not much in it either.

How can you further arrange expenses?

“My wife gets 140 euros a week for groceries. In addition, in Belgium she also gets food vouchers from her employer. That's 168 euros, which is what she gets. It should be possible with that budget. In this regard, so do I.” Somewhat autistic when it comes to money.Can't eat caviar every day, I sometimes say.

Would you like to change something in your financial situation?

“I have a good financial outlook, and it started at a young age. My parents made me feel very fearful when it came to money. It may not be really positive, but it also brought something to me.

“I later left home, because living alone costs money. When I started living alone, I knew that life was expensive. That's why I started writing down every issue. The first thing I bought was a notebook and a pen.

When I met my wife later, it naturally led to an argument. If we went to the seaside for a day, I would catch up on everything and start writing in the evening. “I can now track that publicly in an app.”

What is your best financial advice?

“With financial insight, people feel that they are no longer allowed to do anything. As far as I'm concerned, it just depends on how you look at it. Recently I went into the forest with the kids and we had something to eat afterwards. I lost 14 euros for the whole day .

If I leave it to my wife, she goes to an indoor playground, buys food and drinks, and at the end of the day she spends 60-70 euros. While these kids in the forest are also having a very good day. You can save a lot with these options.”

Savings account Mike (23 years old): “I have €83,000 in savings”

Money (doesn't) make you happy: “I don't need a rich man”

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