To Johan Persson33, and Karin Löf30, who now drives The Instagram account @Sparmakarnasharing an interest in personal finance was something the couple discovered already during one of their first dates.
At a gas station, Johan asked what her salary was.
– I remember that she answered the question very naturally. For my part, I was interested in her view on finances and that it was fun to see how she reacted to that question. Because that’s a question you don’t ask in Sweden. It’s jante, the 33-year-old adds News24 and further states:
– Somewhere we started to realize that we are both crazy interested in personal finance, savings and investments. We started talking about goals in life, financial goals, saving in mutual funds, how money is a powerful tool in life but that it is not the money itself that is the driving force, but rather some kind of search for freedom.
Already early in the relationship, the couple became cohabitants.
– We usually joke that it was for financial reasons and not for love. We both felt that “why do we live in two apartments when we are basically with each other 24/7?”, Johan says with a laugh.
Partner? This is how you divide the finances with your partner
First savings goal: A trip to Mexico
Apart from personal finances, Karin Löf and Johan Persson have a great interest in travelling, and this was also the starting point for their joint savings.
– I have been involved in, for example, Uganda and Nepal. Johan has backpacked around Southeast Asia and so on, but neither of us had been to the other side of the Atlantic, so we decided that we want to go to Mexico together, says Karin and continues:
– That was probably the first concrete goal we had together, i.e. how do we do financially to put together such a trip. What do we want to prioritize? Activities? Standard of living? That was the most short-term goal. Then we started talking saving in a larger context, such as financial freedom and how we want to live in the future.
This is how you save 100,000 in a year – without losing motivation
The “Sparmaks” aim for financial freedom
Since then, a lot has happened and the goals have both become more and bigger. One such was to build your own house, and two years ago the 200 square meter villa, just outside Gothenburg, was finished – or yes, “finished”.
– We have invested a lot of money in that house and in order to make it possible we need to have structure and be disciplined with our finances. As project people, we also like to do a lot ourselves and learn things, so we have built the entire upper floor ourselves, and by that we really mean ourselves, says Johan.
– We have hammered, nailed, painted, built walls, wallpapered, laid floors and everything else. We are not done and probably never will be. We will finish building our garage, build a bathroom upstairs, lay tiles, fix the garden, and so on. There is work to be done.
Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT
But the couple’s overall goal is something else: financial freedom.
– And by that we don’t mean financial independence. There is a difference. Financial freedom for us means that we have enough money to live on our passive income, that we don’t necessarily need to have jobs that bring us income. For example, we want to be able to start projects for charity or just devote ourselves to things that are full of pleasure. It may come when it comes, but the forecast says that we will end up there in about 10-15 years if we continue to invest as we are doing today.
Partner? This is how much you should have in the savings account according to the expert
This is how much Karin Löf and Johan Persson save a month
When Nyheter24 asks how much Karin Löf and Johan Persson estimate they have saved in recent years, it is difficult to give a concrete figure.
– But as I said, we have put millions down on our house, we have millions invested in various assets, so it will be quite a bit, notes Johan.
Currently, the couple saves between SEK 20,000 and 30,000 a month.
– However, we have not done that all along. It has taken time and we are constantly learning from ourselves. That’s what I think it’s all about, says Johan and elaborates:
– It is not enough to “put out fires”, i.e. find some small things that save you a little money every now and then. It’s about behaviour, being able to value things. Finding out what is important to yourself and being able to remove expenses that do not mean anything. You have to practice it.
Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT
At the same time, Johan emphasizes that they “did not receive any inheritance or fancy jobs”.
– But we have found a way that we love to live and through that we manage to save a lot of money. The important thing for us is not to remove the fun stuff. We spend a lot of money on activities we love, good food, good clothes and so on. We have only found a way where we removed all the “I have no idea” costs.
Read more articles about saving here:
The luxury trap experts: This is how much you should save every month
That’s how much Swedes save at your age
Common mistakes when saving for your child – the economist: “Difficult”