How to save money in Belgium?

One important principle is that potential earnings are technically unlimited, whilst expenditures can only be reduced so much. Time spent on reducing expenditures can also be spent on developing more valuable skills or working more hours. If your goal is to have more money left to save, all these options should be taken into account.

That said, try to save with a purpose. For example, parents who tell their children to save their money have good intentions. But it actually doesn't make much sense as a 12 year old to put your €50 birthday money into a savings account. That €50 can buy you a lot of fun at 12 years of age, but it's a trivial amount of savings by the time you're an adult. So spend it while it's the most valuable.

That principle is still true to some degree for young adults vs seniors. You'll be at your wealthiest by the time you retire, but you will never be able to have the same experiences with all that money as when you were young and healthy. There's an interesting book titled "Die With Zero". It argues that you should spend all your money before you die. Even objections like charity or leaving money to your children are easily rebutted: essentially you should give the money away when your children need it the most (in their 20s and 30s), rather than when you die at 80 when they'll already be on their way to retirement themselves.

/r/belgium Thread