The only two things you want to spend your money on this year

Do you want to have saved a buffer by the end of the year? Definitely do it. Cut back on, well, I don't know what.

Dutch people save an average of about 6 percent of their net salary. That amounts to about 20,000 euros on the side, which someone has saved on average. I say average, okay, I don't make statements about personal situations because that's better for everyone. The advice is even to set aside 10 percent of your salary – every month. But yes, you have people who are happy with certainty in their bank account and you have people who are happy with a brand new Louis on their arm, so to speak. And of course saving is more prudent. And better. Blah blah.

But from now on, you will spend your hard-earned money on two things. Not on that overpriced bag, sorry. Because there are really only two things in life worth your euros. Here they come.

1. Your bed
2. A cleaner

Sleep yourself happy. I mean it. Long-term poor sleep can lead to depression and also weight gain is lurking: you feel a bit ‘blah’ all day. This makes you more likely to snack. And oh, you know all those studies: who sleeps poorly is not a pleasant person during the day. If you sleep eight hours, your sense of happiness is also the greatest, as the figures show. Having a bed at home that is so comfortable that you think you are staying in a chic hotel every day: every, but really every cent worth it. I actually realize now that I have been sleeping ‘medium’ for years, now that I have a princess bed of two meters by two meters twenty, which is electric and can therefore be raised entirely. The feet can also be raised. Heaven on earth.

And then that cleaner. Think you don't need one? Well, you do. Because listen: you get free time in return. Not having to unclog that shower drain is already a gift in itself, but it's even nicer that you have those two or three hours a week left for things that make you happy. No joke. That makes you a happier person. And then you gladly pay those few tens.

But we are stingy and miserly, you know, in Holland. It is striking that even millionaires do not outsource annoying tasks at home ‘because they can do it themselves’. From other research it appears again that people who spent 40 euros on, for example, clothing or on something that would save them time, became happier when they got some extra time, but were still quicker to go shopping. Shame.

So learn, before you are grumpy with a sore neck from your worthless pillow. Saving you will do again after these two expenses. Promise.