What Swiss people spend money on

According to the Federal Statistical Office, an average Swiss household (2.2 people) receives a gross income of CHF 10'033 each month. After deducting the compulsory duties such as OASI/IV, health insurance and taxes, this leaves available income CHF 7'124. In an interview budget expert Andrea Schmid-Fischer provides the following advice: “In our consultations, taxes in particular prove to be an underestimated cost factor. Don’t forget to set asides reserves. It is also worth putting money aside early on for other foreseeable bills such as licence fees”. Beyond compulsory expenditures, Mr and Ms Swiss invest most of their money in living and energy (CHF 1'476), followed by travel (CHF 770) and food (CHF 632). Fun fact: when it comes to our stomachs, at over 130 francs meat is ranked first. Grilled steak, roasts and cervelats are popular. 

If you believe the New Year’s survey conducted by comparis, then apparently we are: Over half of the respondents put a sizeable proportion of their income into savings accounts – an average of CHF 1'551 a month according to the government’s statistics. In return, every tenth respondent nevertheless donates to charitable organisations.

Now, you may be asking: Why does everyone else have such a high income and opportunities to save and I don’t? The answer is simple: Watch out for the statistics trap! Big-income earners push the average value upwards. In reality, therefore, six out of ten households fall under these values. Households in the lowest income bracket (<CHF 5'000 net) are hit particularly hard: For them, saving is something that is impossible and they often have one debt on top of another. This leads to sad realities: Over half a million people here in Switzerland are affected by poverty. The most vulnerable of them are single parents with children under the age of 18 and seniors.

The question remains of where there is potential for savings day in day out. “People often spend an uncontrolled amount of money on clothes, shoes, haircuts, cosmetics or food,” says Andrea Schmid-Fischer. At CHF 542 each month, sport and culture beat books, clothes and shoes, which come in at CHF 211. This is topped by a whopping CHF 770 for mobility. Only CHF 122 of this is spent on the train, bus and tram, with the majority of the rest going on private cars. According to the latest calculations of TCS, a vehicle costs more than CHF 10’000 per year. Budget expert Andrea Schmid-Fischer therefore straight out calls cars “money grabbers”. In her work, she notices that people cut back even on food and education in order to cover the costs of cars. “In this case, we recommend alternatives such as Mobility, public transport or bikes”. The money pours in: You can save CHF 4’000 if you use Mobility in combination with public transport. Not to mention the comprehensive peace-of-mind package with fuel, maintenance and insurance.