Ok mate, cool story.
"okmate" is what my friends say — flatly, eyes already drifting toward the door because when I started explaining how you can fly to Lisbon using points collected during your weekly Thuisbezorgd delivery (honestly you can). I get carried away and make it sound far too complicated, that the interest is then lost. Which is why I started to write it down instead.
My real-job is a producer in the advertising world, where a huge part of the job is to get the best possible outcome for your budget. This entails picking the right team and tools to do the job for you in the most efficient way. My fellow producers know, it's important that we bring the calm to the chaos and that's something that can help massively when it comes to arranging your lifestyle and making financial decisions.
I genuinely do spend a worrying amount of time researching which solution is the most beneficial and cost efficient to my lifestyle. Embarassing reveal: Once a colleague got me an "I ❤️ Spreadsheets" mug because they noticed how much I really do love them to help something make sense for myself and others.
Be it trying to work out "Which bank account works best for me?". "Which scheme provides the most Flying Blue points?". "What's the most efficient way to go to workout at the gym or a class without being tied to a contract?". Honestly. I put in the hours to find what works.
Sure, I could use Claude, Gemini or ChatGPT (and I do!), but honestly, it sucks for this stuff. Most of the time the pricing is out of date, the calculations are nonsensical and I spend more time saying "That doesn't make sense" when I could just figure it out myself.
So I thought, why not just publish these findings to a blog on topics you couldn't find answers to elsewhere? I can't be the only one needing this info! Sure, this at face value, is probably just going to become another personal finance and loyalty-scheme blog for people living in the Netherlands. But it's going to be about how I assessed whether it worked for my lifestyle, doing some of the hard breakdowns and reading between the fineprint, to help you make decisions if it works for you too.
What you'll find here
- Points & Miles — gosh I love these things.
- Personal Finance — talk about providers.
- Deals — only if something is worth making a big deal about.
- General Tips — generally a good idea to consider
The fine print
I'm not a financial advisor. I'm a person who reads the terms and conditions for fun, tracks prices in spreadsheets nobody asked for, and has genuinely ruined at least three dinner parties explaining transfer bonuses. This blog exists so I can bore the internet instead of the people I love.
Everything here is opinion and personal experience, not financial advice. Rules & T&C's change — check the latest before making decisions. Always verify the current deals/offerings before you make a move. Speaking about financial efficiency at a party comes at your own risk. Ok mate...