MONEY SAVING TIPS FOR LIVING IN SWITZERLAND - That We Actually Use and Recommend
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- Опубліковано 6 чер 2024
- Here are all the money saving tips for living in Switzerland that we actually use and recommend. I've split them into categories of accommodation, healthcare, food, transport & travel and others. These include things like: SBB half-fare travel card, supersaver tickets, shopping at Lidl and Aldi, using Salt internet and many more. If there are any other tips you have that I haven't mentioned, make sure to tell about them in the comments section.
❖ Other videos you might enjoy ❖
- Costs of living in Switzerland: • SWITZERLAND IN NUMBERS...
- How we furnished our Swiss apartment with second hand furniture: • HOW TO FURNISH YOUR AP...
♕ Useful links ♕
- Switzerland Federal Statistical Office - The Swiss consumer price index (CPI) 2021: bit.ly/3dElZdr
- Search engine for Swiss rentals, health insurances and many other things: en.comparis.ch/
- How to cancel and switch health insurance: bit.ly/3bLBUEb
- Coop Supercard: www.supercard.ch/content/supe...
- Migros Cumulus card: www.migros.ch/fr/cumulus.html
- Too Good To Go app: toogoodtogo.co.uk/en-gb
- SBB Half-fare travel card: bit.ly/3svzjFc
- Example of daily travel card/ travel pass from Neuchatel city: bit.ly/3dRalvY
- Lyca Mobile: www.lycamobile.ch/en/
- Salt internet provider: bit.ly/3dXKdiG
- Airbnb: bit.ly/2ZidmwF
❤ Things we use, love and recommend ❤
- Get up to £50 (or 65$) off your first Airbnb booking: bit.ly/2ZidmwF
- Get an international transfer up to 600CHF without fees through TransferWise: bit.ly/2Qxx5aT
- Join us at Duolingo and learn languages for free: bit.ly/3amhNgo
- Try Epidemic Sound for 30 days for free: bit.ly/3tyRTgs
- DJI Mini 2 Drone: bit.ly/37fJVzU
- Grow your UA-cam channel with TubeBuddy (it's free to use!): bit.ly/3uDAxPW
✨ Subscribe for videos about Switzerland, moving and living here ✨
- Follow us on Instagram: / our_swiss_adventure
- Our Komoot account: www.komoot.com/user/107112172...
- For any inquiries or collaborations: ourswissadventure@gmail.com
♫ Music & sounds ♫
- Epidemic Sound: bit.ly/3tyRTgs
- Zapsplat: www.zapsplat.com/
- UA-cam Audio Library
Intro: (0:00)
3 biggest expenses in Switzerland: (0:30)
Tips for accommodation: (1:15)
Tips for healthcare: (2:50)
Tips for food: (5:06)
Tips for transport & travel: (8:18)
All other tips: (12:16)
Outro: (14:44)
♫ Music & sounds ♫
- Epidemic Sound: www.epidemicsound.com/
- Zapsplat: www.zapsplat.com/
- UA-cam Audio Library
#Switzerland #HowToSaveMoney #Money - Навчання та стиль
First week in Switzerland was a shocker for me as I was spending 5x more a week for food alone! I was saving a lot on food by taking a trip to the grocery daily to buy those 50-70% off produce that expires the next day :P I cook them the same day! Thanks for your tips, too!
I completely understand you! We had to cut down a lot on buying meat, fish and meat alternatives because they were all so expensive.
That's a good tip too! Just a bit unpredictable as to what you'll get to eat that evening. 😅
Amazing tips, thank you so much!
I found using tutti and Ricardo for second stuff is quite handy. Swiss people normally keep things in very good condition so second hand stuff here really in good conditions and sometimes even for free.
Thanks for your recommendations! I've never heard of tutti before.
Our entire flat is furnished second hand from facebook marketplace and you are right, most of the stuff is in good condition👍
Thank you for the video, very useful ;)
You are welcome!😉
Love the Too Good to Go tip, thank you!
I love it too! Everything we can do to reduce food waste is great!😊
Thank you, dear! Great tips and an amazing smile 🤩
Thank you! 😃
I just moved to Switzerland and this is gold. Thank you!!!
Welcome to Switzerland!😊🇨🇭
Always such great videos! In comparison to other comments, I think this all depends upon where you're from. Overall, I have found living in Switzerland much cheaper than living in the US. Groceries cost only a little more, but the quality is much higher, and because the stores are close by, I buy only what I need as opposed to bulking up and buying a lot of what I don't. Also, because it's generally more enjoyable I am also more comfortable with a smaller home. And I don't need the car at all. In the end I save about 25% compared to the US. Utilities are much less as well. I spent about $500-1000/month in the US alone on utilities and was destroying the environment using non-renewable energy. I also don't have yard work. Household maintenance costs are much lower because the homes are smaller and better built. Also, in the US I did a lot of impulse buying to compensate for being stressed and generally feeling inadequate. I feel the Swiss are far less status conscious as well so I don't spend as much on material things of any kind. In Switzerland, I don't mind spending money on things like restaurants because I know the staff is getting paid well. With housing, a decent apartment in many places in the US is well over $2500/month and in Switzerland that buys a luxury place in many places. I was paying $4500 for a mediocre place in the US. I find it easy to find a decent hotel in Switzerland for $100-200/night. In the US it's like $300-500 for a mediocre one. And at the end of the day one is in Switzerland and that's priceless and life changing.
It sounds that overall you are much happier in Switzerland than you were in the US, which is good to hear!😊
I agree with you that it's all relative to your background, and also what you want from life.
I have to say I'm surprised by the utility and housing costs in the US. Where about in the US did you live?
Hi Erika, the daily card also allow you to get bus in the city where you go, and in a city like Zurich means a lot😁😁
Yes, it's great!😀 Just have to be organised enough to get these daily travel card/pass in advance (which we sometimes struggle with haha) 😂
Moving to Switzerland in a couple of weeks! Watching all your videos one by one! Thanks for such detailed content
Greetings from India
@@sumanthkaranth2556 Hi! Thanks for watching and glad that the videos have been helpful for you.🙂 Good luck with the move!
Very helpful, Erika!! Thanks for the tips. With that prepaid Handy- SMS do you have access to Internet, too? Could you give the links to Handy-SMS and to-go-Internet?
You're welcome!😃
For Lyca mobile yes, you can have access to internet too. They give you two options- just put some money on it and it gets spend as you call/txt people or use internet; or pick a bundle that will have set limits (for example, 1gb of internet+500 calls+500 SMS).
Lyca Mobile sim: www.lycamobile.ch/en/
Salt internet sim for a portable internet router: fiber.salt.ch/en/mobile/plans/surf we have the unlimited 17.50CHF one
UPDATE ON SALT INTERNET: Recently (in the past month or two) the internet quality provided by Salt has gone down a lot. It has never been amazing, but it was sufficient for what we needed (Whatsapp calls, watching YT videos, steaming things on Netflix). However, we don't find Salt internet reliable anymore and sometimes we even struggle with simple things like watching something on Netflix in the evening, as the stream keeps buffering. I am not sure if this is just a temporary problem and if it's a problem just in our area (Neuchatel). But because of the issues we've had, I can't recommend it to you guys anymore.
If you still want to find a cheaper internet option, look into Digital Republic. They provide internet, which is also a SIM-based. They have 3 speed options at different price points and you can do a 1 month trial for free.😊
UPDATE 2: We have now cancelled Salt and switched to the Digital Republic's 10CHF plan and it works well for us. 😊
Haha! We have now cancelled Salt completely and switched to Digital Republic 10CHF plan, which seems to work well for us. 😊
Beautiful
Do you have any money saving tips that you'd like to share?😃
Your videos are really helpful. A question about Salt Internet
have you encountered any usage quota or speed reductions after a certain usage ? Salt says its unlimited internet means 500 GB.
Thanks for watching and I'm glad you found the videos helpful.👍😊
According to the information they provide, there shouldn't be reduction in speed, but then we also never really reach the 500gb.
However, recently (in the past month/two) the Salt internet quality has gone down a lot. It's not reliable anymore and sometimes we even struggle with simple things like watching something on Netflix in the evening. I am not sure if this is just a temporary problem and if it's a problem just in our area (Neuchatel). But because of the issues we've had, I can't recommend it anymore at the moment.
We have been thinking of trying the internet from Digital Republic, which is also a SIM-based internet, but we haven't ordered that one yet, so not sure how good it is. But you can look into it, if you want. I think they have a free month trial, so you can try it out.🙂
I'm fairly sure that you can never be refused LaMal health insurance in Switzerland
If you are switching insurers send the letter recommended and keep the receipt
It's very unlikely that you would have a problem but at least it's a small backup
Hi! Sorry, I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'you can never be refused LaMal health insurance in Switzerland'. Which situations are you talking about? Could you please elaborate on that. Thanks!👍😊
Hello nice videos. Very informative. Thank you!! I don't understand when people keep saying Switzerland is the most expensive country. Of course the minimum wage is 20 ch and over. So what do you expect. I live there, and I live in New York City. New York City is expensive too it's close, and the quality is not there!
Hi! Thanks for watching!🙂
I totally get what you mean. I think most people who moved to Switzerland previously lived in countries where things were cheaper, if you make a direct comparison. So it's natural for us to convert back to our old currency and be shocked by the prices.
But also not all prices here scale up the same way. For example we found that the amount we spend on groceries here is maybe 3 times more than before, with the salary being less than 2 times more; whereas electronics here are very similar in price to the UK.
I agree with this comment
Thank you for your informative video. currently we are looking for an apartment and it's hard to find, will be nice if you share some website or links regarding to it. thanks in advance.
Hi! Thanks for watching! Sorry you are having troubles finding a flat.
To find our apartment, we mainly used www.homegate.ch because their app allows you to search custom selected areas and it's also super easy to create and save search lists. Many people also use en.comparis.ch since it gathers offers from all other sites. There are also www.immoscout24.ch , www.immostreet.ch and www.anibis.ch
If you trying to find a flat in a bigger city like Zurich or Lausanne, the market is much more competitive, so flats come up and go much faster than in smaller towns. Also bare in mind that the flat contracts here end at the end of each quarter, so you can start renting from 1st of January/April/July/October. That's why you'll see flats adverts appearing closer to those handover times.
Unless someone wants to leave early and they will want someone to 'take over their contract', aka, move in between the official contract times. For 'contract takeover' people often advertise their flats in Facebook groups.
I previously made a video about how to find and rent a flat here in Switzerland. Maybe it will be useful to you - ua-cam.com/video/8la1evhW9f8/v-deo.html
@@OurSwissAdventure wow super useful!
@@OurSwissAdventure thank you so much.
The COOP Supercard is the best. You can actually make money with it.
Is that via collecting points or in some other way?😃
@@OurSwissAdventure From the points and also from the "sammelpässe" or loyalty promotions. So for instance, I made a certain number of shopping days and I got a 50 CHF co-op card.
@@LisaCulton Ah, I see. That's great to know, thanks! So far I've only seen the loyalty passports/promotions to collect stamps for stuff like towels. Will have to look out for other offers.
@@OurSwissAdventure You can activate the Sammelpässe online or in the app. Sometimes it has to do for example with their bio products, or canned goods (conserves), or fresh fruits and veg and then you will get free products or points multiplier (20X). Sometimes I forget that what is activated (because I activate everything) and then I'm surprised when I get the coupons for free products in the app. I had 2 today.
@@LisaCulton Okay, thanks for explaining! I'm currently playing their Shake&Win game, won some vouchers and free products already 👍
Hello Erika.. Very nice your videos.. I'm new in Switzerland and thinking to have this mobile Wifi internet of Salt for my home, but I'm a little concerned about the speed and quality of the connection. Does it work well for you at your home?
Hi! Thanks for watching and hope you are settling well in Switzerland!👍
I guess it depends how are you planning to use your internet.
For us, considering we only use it to stream videos and netflix, as well as Zoom calls, the quality is good enough. However, sometimes in peak hours the internet is slower than desired. So I would say it's good but not amazing, because it's essentially mobile internet and not fibre optic or similar.
Everything said though, I still think it's good for the price and would recommend it to others.😊
Hope this makes sense!😅
Great.. I think that will be enough for us also.. I bought that! I’m enjoying the life here, thanks!!
@@OurSwissAdventure I got that from Salt and it’s working well! I’m satisfied with that, thanks for the tip! I’m enjoying Switzerland a lot, thanks!!
@@thiagokleis5240 That's excellent!👍 Glad you are🙂
Thanks for your videos? Where do ypu came from exactly?I mean ur origin country? Are there apartments already furnished in Switzerland? The rent include all the fees? Thanks
You're welcome! I am from Latvia originally, but lived in the UK for 7 years before this.
There are some furnished ones, but most apartments come unfurnished. The rent tends to include some bills, but not all; it depends on the contract. I talk about all the different fees and bills that we have encountered in this video - ua-cam.com/video/cSyn1eoWpVo/v-deo.html I think it would be useful for you to watch to understand what kinds of fees to expect when renting a flat in Switzerland. 🙂 Let me know if you have any further questions.
I would also recommend Neon card which gives you a free current account (i.e. Swiss IBAN etc.) and a contactless MasterCard. Unlike in the UK (where banks pay you to switch over to them), almost all banks in Switzerland charge annual fee OR require a bulky deposit (CHF 10,000+) for the privilege to bank with them for free. With Neon, you can hit the ground running from day one.
Awesome, thanks for a recommendation! Is this Neon card a debit or credit card?
@@OurSwissAdventure No prob! It is a debit card so you need to wire some money to use it (i.e. ideal for salary payments). The account itself is managed by a Swiss bank (Hypothekarbank Lenzburg) so all deposits are insured up to CHF 100k just like any other current account in Switzerland.
@@geeqla great! Thank you for the information 😊
Is crossing the border to France to buy your groceries a good money saving option? Do you do that? Where do you shop for grocieres? Thanks som much really liked your video!
Glad you enjoyed it! 😃
Yes, it is a good option to save money, especially if you do a big shop; and many people do that here. The supermarkets just across the border are literally targeting the Swiss residents who come there for a shopping day trip haha! You just need to watch out for the limits of certain items + total item value that you are allowed to bring in without being taxed on it.
Personally we don't do it, as we don't have a car. Plus I think for a lot of the things we eat, like produce, dairy and eggs, we'd still prefer to buy them locally produced, as it seems a bit more environmentally friendly. 😊
We try to get most of the stuff from Lidl, as it is cheaper, but we also buy things from Migros and Coop, if there are particular things we like there or they have special offers (I activate a lot of Coop discount and points vouchers in the app).
People should support the country they live in.
@@ilovesuisse1 Trust me, your country's national economy won't be impacted by your choice to shop for food across the border to save a few francs. If it's quick, worthwhile, and you're on a budget, do it lol
It depends where you live and the size of your shopping
I live alone about 2km from the French border but for me I just shop in Switzerland
For a family of 4 it could be certainly worth making the trip
i live in vaud and go shopping to Evian in france, its cheaper and there are real bakeries with real good pastries 😍
What is the best app to sell and buy used items and machines such as printers, industrial items
Hi! I'm not sure about the apps for this sorry.
But I would recommend looking at anibis.ch and ricardo.ch, people sell all sorts on there, I've seen industrial equipment there too.
Also from a quick google I found these two sites below that seem to sell used equipment, it might be possible to submit things to sell through them.
www.expondo.ch/fr/materiel-industriel-occasion/
www.equipements-pro.ch/en
I bought a hair trimmer before coming here, because I know it gonna be very expensive to do hair cut here in salon 😅
Oh wow, that's what I call 'prepared for Switzerland'! 😅
Go to Cut’n’Color, just get your hair cut and blow dry it yourself, cheaper.
Hi. What is the average monthly health insurance to pay in Swiss?
Hi! It all depends on what plan you have and where you live. But let's say it's the cheapest plan with the franchise of 2500CHF. In that case for an adult I would say that it can be between 200 and 350CHF per month.
Yeah with the supercard, you can actually get - 20% on the demi tarif CFF so 148CHF instead of 185CHF 🍾🍾🍾
Daamn, I wish I knew that before!🤣 Thanks for the awesome tip!👍😉
Can I just check- is that only if you are a Hello Family club member?🙂
@@OurSwissAdventure yes exact but everybody can be
@@ashujoodha7906 okay, cool! And do you have to pay for this membership?
@@OurSwissAdventure no it's free
Where might you buy second hand furniture?
There are a few different websites, for example anibis.ch and ricardo.ch . Although we didn't use those, we bought everything from Facebook marketplace 👍
Where can I buy lycamobile?
You can order it online on their website - www.lycamobile.ch/en/
I heard different CANTONS have grossly different taxation brackets. So choosing the neighbourhood in your CANTON will drastically impact your annual taxation. Do you have thoughts on this?
Hi Joa! It's true that taxation varies a lot depending on the canton. From what I know, the tax should be the same across one canton, so I don't think the exact neighborhood will matter.
Some people indeed will target to work in the canton with lowest taxes. Some will even go as far as working in one canton and living in the other due to the difference in tax/salary/costs of living.
What I would say is that although taxes in some cantons will be much lower, what you'll often see is that the cost of living there will be higher. For example, we live in Neuchatel, which has one of the highest taxes, however, average rent here is one of the lowest.
What also happens is that the lower taxing cantons will have more companies there, which is good. But then it's also more competitive when it comes to, for example, finding a job or a place to live.
If you want to find the 'best deal' for you, you should probably consider the taxes, but also the cost of living (rent, health insurance) in the cantons you are interested in.
There is a good tax calculator here - en.comparis.ch/steuern/quellensteuerrechner/quellensteuervergleich
@@OurSwissAdventure oh thank you for that link and advice. you are very kind to reply. the flats in my canton look affordable then I watched the rental breakdown, with garbage collection fees, add other hidden fees, health insurance, which I think I will go for a mid range one, so I don't get caught out. Sounds like in Switzerland everyone gets to know a lot about money and pay attention to details that perhaps they didn't before moving there. A healthy perspective I suppose. My company will help me out until I get established, obviously all the paper work and really understanding how to adjust lifestyle to costs. Do you know anything about GYMS? If not that is an easy find I suppose. Thank you again.
@@OurSwissAdventure And just checking now, seems low rents equal higher taxes. My canton is at a whopping 10 percent! Zurich is at 8 percent. But I do know rents in Zurich are triple my canton, and flats smaller. And searching I see there are 2 smaller cantons within my canton. I feel like I am opening a Russian doll, information within information and so on. Thanks again.
@@emailacct3657 Yes, it's true, especially since Switzerland has some different extra payments to consider that might not exist elsewhere. Unfortunately I hear that the Swiss themselves consider money topic a taboo, so the expats might actually share with you more money-saving tips than the locals haha😅
Gyms are costly (as everything else), could be around 70-100CHF per month, but at the moment some are running offers, since they are looking to bring customers back after covid. Can't give you specific recommendations, as currently we aren't members of any. I know there is a chain called Let's go, our friends go there, they seem to like it.
@@emailacct3657 Haha, Switzerland is one big Russian doll, since cantons differ so much. Plus there's always new surprising info to learn here.😂😂 May I ask what canton are you moving to?
Moving to Geneva in a few months. I know my chances are very low, but is there a kind soul out there who’d be willing to jump on a zoom call to go through my monthly budget? I have no idea if it’s detailed or realistic enough for Swiss living…
I would suggest you find an expats in Geneva group on Facebook and ask there.🙂 I hear Geneva is quite expensive to live in, so I wouldn't want to make suggestions based on our Neuchatel rates.🙈
But in general, your rent will be the biggest expense and it should be no more than third of your income (that's if you have a salary). Then factor in other big expenses like: groceries (can be around 300-400CHF a month); health insurance, transport (if you have to commute for work/studies) and bills that are not included in your rent. These will form your basic expenses. Obviously, you will have other spendings on top of that, but those will largely depend on what kind of lifestyle you want to lead - do you want to eat out a lot, go to bars, travel around the country, buy things, etc etc.
With 4.5k per month can you save nearly 1k?
Is that 4.5k after taxes? How much of that would be rent? Where would you live? There are so many variables to consider.
Where do you find crepes?
You can just go on google maps and search for 'crepes' or 'creperie' near where you are. They are more common in the french-speaking part of Switzerland.
@@OurSwissAdventure thank you ❤️
European citizens can use their country's health insurance in Switzerland right?
Hi! If you are planning to move to Switzerland you will need to take out a Swiss health insurance, unless you qualify for one of these exceptions:
- pensioner who draws a pension exclusively in an EU or EFTA state
- cross-border worker who has insurance coverage in another EU or EFTA state
- student who is temporarily resident in Switzerland and has comparable insurance
- staff of international organizations, embassies, and consulates
If you’re an EU citizen visiting for less than three months, you’ll be eligible for state Swiss healthcare at a reduced cost through your European Health Insurance Card. Once you become an official resident or get a job, however, you’ll need to join a Swiss health insurance scheme.
Hope this answers your question. 🙂 You can read more about it here:
www.expatica.com/ch/healthcare/healthcare-basics/a-guide-to-swiss-health-insurance-693473/
But wages are proportional
Do you mean that the wages are higher, so you should be able to pay the higher prices of goods?🙂
In our experience, the wage for Mike's job is about double comparing to the same job in the UK. However, not all costs of different groups of goods or services scale up by the same amount, some are more than double the cost, some are less. And then there are some things like health and various other insurances that we didn't have to pay previously at all.🙂 So actually it's hard to say whether higher wages compensate for the higher prices, since there are so many variables, plus it depends on your individual situation (single vs double income, children vs none, your lifestyle, etc)
Sorry, that was a long response to a short statement, I just find this topic quite interesting.😅
Why don't you shop in Germany?
Actually shopping in France would be much closer for us. However, we don't have a car, so can't just easily pop over. Some of our friends do though.
Also we like to support local growers by buying Swiss fruits and vegetables.🙂
What is your rent for the house
It's 1220CHF without the bills. I talk through all the apartment costs in this video 😉 ua-cam.com/video/cSyn1eoWpVo/v-deo.html
well i am a swiss person adn salt dos not have sutch a good reputation
That' interesting to hear. 🙂 Can you let me know why it doesn't have a good reputation? Is it because of the internet speed?
How much do you both make? If you make CHF 200,000 I don't see what the issue is. Most people I know make +150K each and they are not even swiss.
We live off one salary, which is way below what you are describing here. I wouldn't want to disclose it here, but it's an average Swiss salary.
You are right, there are people that earn above 100 or 150k. In that case you can live really comfortably here and have no issues with local food prices for example.🙂👍
@@OurSwissAdventure Didn't mean to put you on the spot or anything. We are also moving to Zurich and will be living on one salary :)