6 Best Ways to Save Money in Copenhagen

Denmark is the most expensive country in the European Union. Full 41% higher than the EU average. And in Denmark itself, Copenhagen is by far the most expensive place.

In a context of raising inflation, recession probably incoming, and uncertainty building up - it’s crucial to have low fixed costs, an emergency fund in place and be prepared for the worst.

In this video, I'll tell you the six most effective and highest leverage ways to lower your costs while at the same time living a comfortable and happy life, without making too many sacrifices.

Own a House or Apartment

Renting in Denmark can be borderline crazy. It's very, very expensive — especially in Copenhagen, and especially if you want a full flat for yourself or your family.
Unless you get a very good rent-control deal or public housing (and most people don't!), you'll be better off owning your place vs. renting out.
Because mortgages have been extremely cheap for long - though that is changing now! - the running costs of owning a flat are low. Even with the higher interests.
For example, I pay the same now for my 100 sqm flat in Islands Brygge area and new building with a gigantic garden than I did for my 50 sqm tiny rental. Easier said than done, but if you want more money in your pocket, this is the highest-leverage way to get there.
No surprise that, in a channel that dives a lot into financial independence, I spent a lot of time on this point.

Don't Own a Car

Denmark is one of the most expensive places in the world to buy and own a car. You pay a Vehicle Registration Tax (Registreringsafgift – RA) of (Source) that can reach over 150%.

!https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/d8c2f68b-5626-43d6-97fa-de4476ea7d21/Untitled.png
By the way, that's before applying the MOMS/VAT - So you need to add 25% on top of that. It's INSANE.
That's just buying the car. To own the car and use it is also very expensive.
Really — Instead, just bike or use public transport. In Copenhagen, the option are excellent so long you don’t live far off in the suburbs. You can even use the car-sharing services when you need one.
Easier said than done, but in my opinion you’ll be better off having a higher mortgage but living close to the city than far and needing a car. (Mortgages are cheap, cars are not).
I've been in Copenhagen for over ten years. I never once had a car. I have family - wife, two kids. So it's not that I'm a single bachelor here. In Copenhagen you can plan your life so you don't need a car.

If you expected a simple, boring "use Coupons in Netto, Fotex" video — sorry to disappoint. In this channel, we focus on the high-leverage items. Even if they're a hard knot to crack. Housing and transport are usually the two biggest fixed expenses for every family — so there you go.

The four other items are also "out of the box", if you could call them in that way. Let's go.

Avoid Bank Fees

Every time you use your Danish cards abroad, you pay hidden fees. If you pay in Euros, you pay 1,5% on top -- and if you pay in any other currency like dollars, or dihrams, or the like, you pay 2%.In practice, this means that every time you think you spend 1000 kr abroad, you actually spend 1020 kr. This might not sound like a lot, but if you travel a lot, or buy stuff from Amazon in Germany or the like, this can mean serious money.
For me, because I travel so much, if I would pay these fees -- and I don't, more on that in a second -- I would throw away over 1.000 kr each year (on average).
The way you avoid these fees is by getting a Revolut account. (There are quite a few good alternatives too -- e.g. Wise, or N26 account.) I say Revolut because it's just what I've been using for five or six years now.
In Revolut, you top up a pre-paid debit card with funds -- via your own Dankort, or via bank transfer -- and then you can spend the money without these ridiculous fees.

But that’s just foreign purchases fees - then there a whole list of fees you can negotiate with your bank, most of which I cover in my bank negotiation course (you should definitely check it out):

Fee to just have an account
Fees to pay bills or transfer money to friends in Denmark (in the same or other banks) via netbank
Fees to have a Dankort or a fancy credit card
Fees to deposit or withdraw money from your bank’s own ATMs
Fees to use your Dankort for more than 30K in one month
Fixed fees to transfer money abroad
...and probably many more that I don’t remember.

It’s not automatic that a bank will remove all these fees for you. It’s all a negotiation — and again I made a course on bank negotiation in Denmark (link in video description).

Work In a Big Company

The usual company - corporations, at least, but - to be fair - many of the small ones as well, provide employees with breakfast, lunch, gym membership, phone, internet connection, massage (in some cases), discounts for restaurants, etc., for the zoo, Tivoli, etc. Lots of perks.
Not that everyone can work for a company. But if you do - and I do - it will lower your costs dramatically.
In Maersk - for example - We’ve a fully equipped gym (saves 300 kr), breakfast and lunch every day (costs a bit, but low), phone plan, discounts in supermarkets, multiple types of clubs like running club, etc. It was similar when I worked in Carlsberg (plus the free beer).
This can mean serious money. I recon that my family saves thousands a month just on these because both and my wife work in corporate.

Use Government Free Stuff

There's a lot of free stuff in Denmark - so much so that I made a full video about it, linked over here. But in short:
Big One - EDUCATION. I studied my Masters in Denmark. It was free. All free. It's an incredible blessing. If you're an expat and want to further your education, you can do so while you work full-time as well. This is high-leverage, life-changing stuff.
Then - also cool: free office space. If you're an entrepreneur (or an aspiring entrepreneur), you've multiple startup hubs that offer free or almost free seats. Back many years ago that's how I started my (very unsuccessful!) second business.
If you’ve kids, there is a TON of free or very cheap services and activities - from giving birth, to all healthcare related checks and most vaccines, to then a heavily subsidized child care and kindergardens and after school activities.
Publicly Funded Content:
- DR - DR has tons of content (a la Netflix), podcasts, etc. You can even watch football: they streamed all the Euro 2020 for instance.
- eReolen. If you read dozens of books a year as I do, eReolen is a big plus: it has a big catalogue, also in English. All free. You can "loan" e-books, audiobooks, etc. It's fantastic.
- Danish classes. They're free for two years. I've my reservations on that as the best way to learn Danish, but, alas they're free anyway.

Don’t Buy Stuff in Denmark

Denmark is the most expensive country in the EU for consumer goods. It's brutal. That 25% MOMS/VAT is a killer.
Show iPhone prices, etc. between countries.
Thus, if you need to buy a new expensive electronic (for instance) you're better off buying it abroad. This applies to both in and outside the EU.
Disclaimer - This, mind, is not technically legal: if you bring goods of over 3.000 or so in value from outside the EU, you should be paying VAT at customs in the airport when you come back. But very few people do — and, in most cases, it might still be cheaper regardless.
If you don't want to do this, you have in DK a thriving market for second-hand items: all from electronics, to kids clothes, etc. It's excellent value most of the time: we've saved a ton in our family by getting some second-hand bulky things for our son that are otherwise in perfect state.

Now — Once you've saved a lot more money, and are ready to take that as a first stage to your journey to financial independence, you need to start INVESTING. For that, you should check the video up here, where I explain the simplest way to get started with that in Denmark and pay the lowest possible taxes.

Thanks for watching, see you soon!