Gunther Marder declares war on casual, stupid Swedish consumption.
– It is the small purchases we treat ourselves to that have very large consequences for our economy. It’s the latte on the way to work, the shopping lunch and the chocolate cake that slip into the shopping basket when we shop, says Günther Mårder.
All the little purchases that we think don’t matter because they are so small and insignificant.
– But they have major consequences for our economy, he says.
Follow your digital footprint
In order to see where the money is going, he thinks that you should make sure to get digital receipts for your purchases.
– See if you could remove one item per receipt. Then you add them up to a total each month. It adds up to a lot of money over time.
Then you can think what you could have gotten instead if you didn’t take out those unnecessary little rewards.
Günther Mårder has made himself known as Sweden’s stingiest man after telling about several different saving tips such as eating animal feed for breakfast in Swedens radioor how you can eat your colleagues’ leftovers at lunch instead of your lunch box in SVT News.
On News24 has he previously advised on a cheap Valentine’s Day and how to make a low bid on the home purchase.
1.Refuse wholesale
Günther Mårder refuses to wholesale. It makes you buy more than you need, and it increases the risk of food waste.
– The Big Deal is an economic culprit. They don’t have packages with two doughnuts. They have 12-packs. And what are you going to do with 12 more doughnuts?
Buying more than you need and then throwing away 30 percent is not the thrift’s tune.
– I shop small instead. I go to the store almost every day and buy what is on extra price or with an expiration date the same day or the next day. Then you can often save around 50 percent on the product’s price.
Besides, it will be more fun.
– I rarely know what we are going to cook for dinner, it becomes like a little adventure.
2. The dumbest expense?
Günther Mårder also refuses a gym card.
– An enormous number of Swedes have training cards. I don’t understand that when you have magical conditions for exercising in nature.
In addition, there is a large number of outdoor gyms in many parts of the country, where you do not have to pay a single kroner.
– In the municipality where I live there is a fully equipped outdoor gym of fantastic character. We have all the conditions to train completely free of charge. Still, we throw away these thousands of dollars every year, says Günther Mårder.
He also thinks that you should think about what you can do in your everyday life to sweat.
– Like fixing and donating in the garden, cutting the grass or chopping firewood for a few hours.
Then there are also other effects, such as making the plot nice or lowering your electricity costs in the winter.
– I mow the grass with a hand mower. Not because it’s the easiest, but because it’s a way to get exercise while getting a positive result.
3. A timeless fashion lion
There is also a lot of money to save in the wardrobe.
– There is an urge to follow fashion. But if you look in your closet and ask yourself what you still use after 5 or 10 years, you’ll see that it’s the timeless things.
He thinks you should avoid this year’s color and this year’s trend.
– Avoid the extreme. The fashion industry is structured in a way to make you buy things that you think are ugly in two or three years. Dare to stand aside, says Günther Mårder.
4. Repair old coats
Besides, there is a lot of money in learning to fix things.
– If you patch and mend, you will save thousands, instead of buying new ones all the time.
To make more difficult things, you can also go to the tailor.
– There are often good prices on tailors, especially if you go to what the media usually call vulnerable areas. There is almost always a tailor there and they often have good prices, says Günther Mårder.
Serious actors
But he wants to be careful about which companies he gives money to.
– Jab usually always checks what a company’s turnover is and investigates whether it seems that they are running a serious business. I often go for low prices, but only among actors I know are not doing black business, he says.
He thinks the same about tire changes, hairdressers and restaurants.
– If it seems that a company shouldn’t merge, it probably won’t. Take your money elsewhere.
Günther Mårder sees his wallet as a democratic tool. Instead of seeing himself as a passive consumer, he wants you to think of every penny you spend as a vote in an election.
– What we spend money on is the society we want tomorrow. Do we want to fatten serious and good companies or do we want to build a world of criminal gangs that launder money?
This also applies to large companies that have nothing to do with crime.
– Big giants of low-price brands from China such as Alibaba, Wish and Temu are growing up. Full of cheap crap products. Is that what we want, or do we want something better? I will not support a world I do not want.
5. The electricity bill – when Günther became TOO stingy
There are times when even Günther Mårder had to crawl to the cross. There are 6 people in his family, and although he thinks it’s possible to save on pretty much everything, the family has given up on at least one occasion.
– It concerned the indoor temperature.
In recent years, the electricity bills in the winter months have dragged on by many thousands of Swedish kroner for most households. Turning off the underfloor heating or lowering the thermostat can therefore radically lower your electricity consumption.
– I think it works perfectly to have 17 degrees at home. Or 16. Or 15. You can wear a wool sweater and long underpants.
Cost SEK 1,000 per day
Such a day occurred two winters ago. Günther Mårder saw on his app for the electricity booking that the electricity price rose – first to 4 and then upwards of 10 kroner per kilowatt hour.
– On the worst days, electricity can cost 800 to 1000 kroner per day. There are maybe only 10 days a year that it is like that. But then I’m happy to switch and save half of it.
But then the family said stop. They refused to have 15 degrees at home.
– I got resistance, a lot of it. My partner packed the bag and was going to check into the hotel. After a quick estimate, I realized that the total cost had then become even worse. So I gave up and we met halfway, 18 degrees. But it was still cheaper than if we had had 21 degrees indoors all winter, says Günther Mårder.
5: A philosophy emerges
Regardless of whether it’s about electricity prices or shopping for groceries for dinner, everything starts with knowledge.
– First you have to know what you are doing, so that you can then use that knowledge for change. If you want to have money left over for other things, your knowledge of what your money goes to will lead to changes and improvements in your life, concludes Günther Mårder.
Read more about finances and savings:
Ordinary families now pay over 10,000 for food – a month
What does Sweden’s stingiest man do on Valentine’s Day
The expert on the record refund: Don’t waste the money
The expert: What is the best form of savings – and why is it ISK?