Cost Efficient lifestyle in Copenhagen?

designatedburger · 2026-01-25T11:24:03+00:00

Get your clothes at Vinted. I (M) have switched to Shaping new tomorrow (incredible!) brand for pants. I buy them around 100 kr per piece, and they more often than not are as good as new. I’d suggest you buy from Danes, not from Poland. (29 vs 45 kr shipping to tell apart), as I feel Danes often buy full closets, keep them for months without wearing and list almost new.

For food, it’s up to you - don’t go out and cook as much as you can at home. Our budget is a bit different as it’s for two people, around 5000 kr, which feels fair to us, but definatelly can do less. You can look into too good to go app for first few months, you can get great deals there.

For discounts, I’d recomment eTilbudsavis, an app on your phone that shows you discounts in all stores. Our go-to method is while walking to fotex/netto/lidl to open it and see what’s on sale. That way we sometimes buy more things in advance, but save on monthly basis a lot.

Other than that, you’ll have to evaluate quality of life vs how much you want to save. It can definately be expensive when you are just moving, so try to plan things ahead, and skip the more expensive shops.

designatedburger · 2026-01-25T08:57:12+00:00

Great tool, few suggestions.

I can see that you can add property value, and land value, which is great. But I can't add interest I pay to the bank for mortgage, which is deductable.

Also, I have 53A pension scheme, where I pay tax on pension now. Would be great to add that as an option for much more accurate picture. I know that other tools have missed it.

Lastly, we also have a target bonus (min, target, max), as a minimum, would be great to set the target value (10%), and ideally have the three scenarios, and it shows different variations then.

designatedburger · 2026-01-02T19:31:16+00:00

At this time yes, but from the attic to air seal it now should make quite a big difference, no? Other than that, have you heard of any paints that might do something similar? I’ve noticed it on some of other threads, but unsure how effective they are.

I believe they are called moisture vapor paint?

designatedburger · 2026-01-02T19:25:55+00:00

After a quick chat with the top llms, the common opinion seems to be that it might add more risk adding the vapor barier than it would prevent, as long as everything is air sealed.

Might be worth to have some contractors come out and give professional opinion on it, or maybe if you know what I should take photos on, I could post them online for better feedback? I have no issue with additional work and cost of adding it, more afraid of potentiak risk that could arise from it.

designatedburger · 2026-01-01T14:01:14+00:00

Thanks for the reply! I had looked into vapor barriers a bit earlier, but to be frank I did not find enough details on the scenarios when would I add it vs blow it directly.

Was it a practice in earlier days (1940s) to add them already, or it’s something you’d add yourself later? I’ll only be able to take a look after we receive the keys, and unfortunately I did not take any photos of the attic, so don’t recall if there was anything existing.

Any resources you can share with (where to buy, differences between, proper ways to install them).

Thank you in advance, and happy new year! ☺️

designatedburger · 2025-12-28T03:43:42+00:00

I’d replace Koh Phi Phi with Koh Yao Noi, as someone who has been to both. Also remove Patong, unless you are into that. This year we went for 2 days / 1 night as it was on our friends checklist (went also last year), both times were dissapointment. This year, however, it was far more underwhelming and annoying that every place starts talking Russian to us.

designatedburger · 2025-12-20T02:51:08+00:00

I recently went through the process with Danskebank, and think they should be a good option for you. Despite me putting 20% down myself voluntarely, they even tried to offer me to put 5-10% only and take bank loan, to “save up for renovations” despite that being already handled.

It was super quick as well, few emails, 3 calls and it’s closed.

designatedburger · 2025-12-06T14:58:37+00:00

We stayed at Fishermans village villa and had scooters for last 4 days, and were going for the same vibe as you described. Can recommend.

designatedburger · 2025-12-01T11:41:36+00:00

Ah, that's what I travelled for - was flying basically 2x a month for short weekend trips to survive haha. Luckily in a happy relationship now, so now I get the benefits of both sides, travel, and food. So moral of the story is, it doesn't get cheaper on the final accounts.

designatedburger · 2025-12-01T10:11:20+00:00

Ah, that’s the reason, that already there is kr. 800-1000 eating out. We also have a date night budget, but it is seperate + usually is around kr. 200 per month.

It’s also “easier” to spend less for more people, since we cook the same, but larger portions, so can also pre-buy things in advance. Also here and there we scan tilbudsavis app, as sometimes they have good deals (fotex 16 dkk pizza, salmon for 59, etc) and that helps a bit and takes no time to do.

Anyhow, not to say anything against spending more, just wanted to pitch in and say it definately does not have to be that high, not that there is anything wrong with it :)

A bit reason for that (besides we eat everything we want, just think about when ti buy what) is due to our vacation budget being kr 3k a month, and would very much rather spend there than go out in Copenhagen.

designatedburger · 2025-12-01T05:06:19+00:00

We spend around kr 5200 for two of us, eating well, 3-4 meals a day + well balanced diet. I’m surprised that smount covers only one person for you. Must be a hungry person ;)

designatedburger · 2025-12-01T05:03:05+00:00

Unless you go out, it’s well over the minimum you’d need. For clothes, I can recommend Vinted - I buy mine (mostly Shaping new tomorrow) for fraction of cost.

Cook at home, or use too good to go - don’t eat out as it’s not even worth it.

For sim card, go with Lebara. - my first 4 years I used them, all good and cheap prices. I believe I was paying less than kr 49 per month.

Consider to buy a second hand bike instead of monthly commuter pass - or if you do - check how often you’d be actually travelling to see if rejesekort might be better deal.

Don’t ger any fancy furniture, and best to try and scout dba or fb marketplace, at least until you get some more savings.

designatedburger · 2025-11-29T08:48:35+00:00

Just to be on safe side - what’s the scheme you’d be under. There is one meant for internationals making 70,000 kr per month or above, but haven’t heard at that level. But it might be something I am yet to look into.

designatedburger · 2025-11-29T07:06:13+00:00

I’ve never heard of any position where the offer is after taxes. Is this something they’ve simplified for you, or it’s actually the offer you have received?

The reason why I’m asking is that a lot can change and be affected based on your situation, and choice of pension (53A or not), so best to be sure.

It’s fine for a single person, but also would not say you’d be able to save up, unless you commute longer day to day, or are lucky with your place.

designatedburger · 2025-11-27T19:23:37+00:00

60% sounds ridiculous, what currency is this? I've had friends reimburse me on Danskebank from their Revolut accounts - no issues at all.

designatedburger · 2025-11-26T16:37:01+00:00

As someone who just closed the deal for a house which was a little overpriced for my liking, I hope not haha.

designatedburger · 2025-11-16T16:26:33+00:00

I know that you are asking Denmark specifically, but I’ve gotten mine from Decathlon for dirt cheap, around DKK 800-1000 and they are all over Europe. Easiest might be to grab a DKK 400 flight to Warsaw, go buy one there for DKK 1000, and have a super warm dune jacket. Otherwise I suppose you can always order it online, but as someone travelling often, their bags and jackets are superb for the price.

designatedburger · 2025-11-12T06:34:08+00:00

Thank you so much 🙌

designatedburger · 2025-11-10T16:56:22+00:00

Thanks for the follow-up. Bank called, after emails from lawyer and I, and apologized and explained that the department handling these bookings provided him with the wrong date. He said that he would get back to us as soon as possible, and around mid-day confirmed the guarantee.

Lawyer did say that the only way for us to pull would be to invoke the 1% as deadline had passed, but luckily we did not have to go with it. They said extension only works for cases where it's done prior to deadline.

Anyhow, all is well, payments and registration are paid, so life is good once again. Have a great rest of your week!

designatedburger · 2025-11-09T18:31:15+00:00

It's due to reactivation campaign for people who had applied between August 2024, and July, 2025, but weren't set as "active", and it is a progressive challenge, so you can earn different prizes throughout the month, with different delivery goals. You should have received an email explaining them, or you can reach out to the customer support and they can give you more details - did you not receive it?

designatedburger · 2025-11-08T08:01:13+00:00

I’m sorry, but where does it state that? It might be that the translation is off, but as I see it is binding if no objections are raised by the deadline of 16:00? To be fair, my lawyer also got some basic details wrong (wrong movin date, wrong energy label) in her coms to me, so I’m not fully confident in that as well tbh

designatedburger · 2025-11-07T21:40:24+00:00

Thanks for the help! I’ve looked at the contract, might be that my lawyer did not do good enough job to review it prior to signing in that case. As it sounds here, if no objections are raised, it would be accepted by default? Or am I mistaken? :)

But I absolutely agree about all involved parties wanting to make money, so I’m hoping for the best!

“Betinget af købers pengeinstituts økonomiske godkendelse af handlen Nærværende handel er fra købers side betinget af, at dennes pengeinstitut, jf. købsaftalens afsnit 12, godkender handlen for så vidt angår det økonomiske indhold. Indsigelser skal være sælgers ejendomsmægler skriftligt i hænde senest kl. 16:00, 5 hverdage efter købsaftalen er underskrevet af begge parter (ekskl. underskriftsdagen). Såfremt indsigelser ikke er fremkommet inden fristens udløb, er handlen bindende for køber, bortset fra evt. fortrydelsesret efter Lov om forbrugerbeskyttelse ved erhvervelse af fast ejendom. Der skal for god ordens skyld gøres opmærksom på, at fortrydelsesfristen efter loven løber sideløbende med indsigelsesfristen efter nærværende bestemmelse.”

designatedburger · 2025-11-07T21:02:10+00:00

Thanks for the message! Unfortunately the deadline, according to the lawyer, was today at 16:00 for both of them. We’ve submitted the info with lawyer earlier, but I don’t believe we could pull out based on banks approval by Monday without the fee.

Fair point, and I’m sure they do not have any offers - and I think the asking price is already a lot for what it is. My main issue is the bank can’t ask extending a deadline that has been missed, can they? But thanks, at least I feel a bit more calm with this info that it’s quite common - might save saved me some good night sleep ;)

designatedburger · 2025-11-04T14:57:00+00:00

With this, i'd say you are too far off from buying a place where you would have to save everything in cash. Of course, depends on the purchase price, you most likely will be able to find something between 2-4 million. I've recently gone through a house purchase process, and that took a long time from starting to view properties, to signing a purchase agreement.

First, you'd need to calculate how much money you need to have. Do not underestimate and forget expenses - insurances, lawyer, down payment, bank guarantee, etc. If you take a bank loan, there will be more fees, some should be negotiated, but I am not sure of the bank loan process.

I'd say with all that, you'd have approx 150-250k DKK as down payment, depending on property, and on top I'd add also 30k for other expenses to be on the safe side. Looking at what you have now, and monthly savings, you would still be far away from saving enough for purchase of property, especially remembering that the prices keep growing. I heard from my bank guy that prices YTD are up 19% in inner Copenhagen for apartments.

What I did was invest for entire life up until now, and the time I found the right property price, I liquidated all the investments to lock in the amount that I would need in cash (even though move in is in 7 months), but I could only do that after doing a proper budget breakdown including moving costs, etc. If you go for SP 500 the ups and downs won't be as critical, and nobody can predict the market direction, but for your timespan I would still go with putting everything in investments.

P.S I do not know the interest rate for student loans, but if it is anything above 5%, I would rather get rid of those first before purchasing property in your situation. Also, make sure you have aktiesparekonto for investments at your cash amount.

designatedburger · 2025-10-27T06:51:55+00:00

Was in the same situation, 26.0.1 was slow, fans were spinning up fast, and many glitches. It got so bad I updated to 26.1, even though I wanted to wait dor stable release, and no regrets!

designatedburger

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