– If you want to have the same lifestyle as before now that everything is more expensive, people almost have to take away their savings, says Helene Hagen. The friends around the lunch table in Kristiansand have not changed their lifestyle that much. Although they are more aware of food prices and buy more used clothes. Like many other Norwegians, they think more about finances now than they did before. – There will be less savings when more of the salary goes to expenses and high interest, says Ine Gundersen. Do you recognise your self? What do you need answers to in order to keep your finances on track? At the bottom of the case, you can ask us questions. Once you’ve asked questions, we’ll hunt down the answers to what you should do. You will find the answers in a new article on news’s website in a few days. What shall we do? Figures from Statistics Norway show that Norwegians are now using up their savings. This is according to Pål Sletten, who is section manager for the national accounts. – During the pandemic, households saved an unusually large amount, but this gradually decreased through 2022, says Sletten. In the 4th quarter of last year, the savings rate was negative. This means that consumption was higher than income. Pål Sletten is responsible for the national accounts at Statistics Norway. He says people’s consumption is still surprisingly high. Photo: Kristie M. Gutterød Before the weekend, new figures came in which show that consumption is still high. – If we disregard car purchases, the consumption of goods has decreased gradually ever since the pandemic. But the consumption of services has continued to increase, despite expensive times and interest rate increases. It has surprised us a little, says Sletten. Astri Kaastrup and Reitna Skara notice that the animal season eats away at saved funds. – Now that I have weeded out a number of expenses, I wonder what to do if prices rise even more, says Astri. What are you wondering? Ask your questions about finances further down in the case. – People will get backwards Journalist and author Marie Olaussen runs the Instagram account with the tabloid name “Hvordan bli rik”. The account has almost 50,000 followers. Increasingly, Olaussen receives messages from desperate Norwegians who are struggling with the economy. Her impression is also that those who have buffer accounts are using them up. – I feel that people are worried. Many are completely scrappy and almost live from hand to mouth, says Olaussen. She had to take charge of her own finances herself four years ago. Then she didn’t have enough money to pay for the EU inspection on the car and the credit card debt was sky high. Author and journalist Marie Olaussen experiences that many people feel physically unwell at the thought of having to clean up their finances. Photo: Privat Now the mother of two has turned her finances around and has NOK 400,000 in funds and no credit card debt. – What is your advice to people to “save” their savings? – The first step is to go into the online bank and be a bit of a detective in your own spending. Look at all the moves for the last four weeks and put a red cross next to any expenses you think were unnecessary. Then I think some of them will get backwards, says Olaussen. Andrea Frøyland and Emil Aukan work every weekend to get the finances going. Their mortgage has become NOK 4,000 more expensive in the past year. – We have to cut back on everything. When we have the opportunity to be social, it is not always possible because we have to prioritize the economy, they say. – Makes us vulnerable Economic expert Hallgeir Kvadsheim believes that the Norwegian private economy is now very divided. – For some, 2023 will be a completely livable year, while for others it will go in the completely wrong direction, he says. Hallgeir Kvadsheim says people should be more aware of the big expenses such as mortgage interest and the price of insurance. – Try to get these expenses down, he says. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news Kvadsheim says a survey last autumn showed that one million Norwegians do not have enough money available to pay an expense of NOK 19,000. – Now there may be even more people who are missing this buffer account. That makes us very vulnerable and could lead to more families having problems beyond 2023, he says. Ask your question here. There are certainly more people wondering the same thing as you. Hello! Welcome to dialogue at news. Since you are logged in to other news services, you do not have to log in again here, but we need your consent to our terms of use for online dialogue
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People use up their savings – ask us questions about finances – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
