It has always seemed unfair to me to confuse a cheapskate with a rat. They are completely different categories.The miser has every right in the world to spend little. The money is theirs. If they want to buy a second-hand car, wear the same coat for twenty years, or ask for tap water at a restaurant, they are perfectly free to do so. Their austerity is paid for by them, and no one has any reason to reproach them for it.The cheapskate plays a different sport. His specialty consists of managing to have the expense that corresponds to him end up coming out of the money of those around him. He is an expert at shifting small costs onto others. He is not a swindler or a liar; he is someone who, simply, manages to make it you who ends up paying a part of what corresponds to him.The penny-pincher saves their own money without harming anyone. The cheapskate saves with other people's money.We all know one. There is that person who, after ordering the most expensive wine, the steak, and dessert, suggests splitting the bill because "it's much easier that way." On the other hand, the day they only order a salad and a mineral water, they propose dividing the bill based on what each person consumed.But there are bolder ones. After splitting the bill, he discreetly collects the receipt before anyone can react. He approaches the bar and asks for an invoice in his company's name. In other words, he gets his friends to pay for part of his meal and, furthermore, he deducts it. If he manages to deduct the expense, from three diners onwards, the cheapskate is already making money from the lunch. It's not bad at all.My best friend told me that he used to have lunch once a year with an old university classmate. When they brought the bill, my friend, even though he knew he had already paid the previous year, would politely reach for his wallet. Then the other would say to him: "Are you paying this year?" "Yes, this one and the last one," he would always think to himself. And, out of politeness, he would keep quiet and pay. In the end, he decided not to call him to go to lunch again.We all understand that a friend might go through a bad patch and not be able to pay. What is hard to accept is discovering that someone is turning friendship into a permanent funding model.The cheapskate is also the one who calls you to have you review a contract "because you know about these things," the one who asks you to introduce them to a client even if it could affect your own business, the one who needs you to dedicate an afternoon to them because "it costs you nothing," but who, when you are the one who needs a favor, is usually very busy.The stingy person does not consider themselves stingy. They define themselves as a practical person who knows how to take advantage of opportunities.I have already said it: the miser protects his own money; the rat makes business with yours.

Heat, beach, mountains, lunches, gatherings with friends, picnics, dinners by the sea, late meals, and a host of activities have filled our holidays, but have also thrown our spending and habits out of control. Now, upon returning, the scene of opening the fridge and finding almost nothing is repeated in many homes.

Grocery shopping is part of everyday life, but it's not always an easy task. That's why the BonpreuEsclat app has become essential for many users.

When he was young, Pedro Escudero (Astorga, 1975) was on track to become a professional tennis player. He is from the same generation as Carles Moyà and Albert Costa. But a serious injury forced him to give up racquet sports. He went to the United States to recover and there he earned a scholarship to study in the country and stay. Since then, he has accumulated three decades as an investor on Wall Street, in recent years with his own fund with a return above that of the S&P 500. He is now launching a fund in Spain "to democratize elite investment" with which he plans to raise up to 2 billion euros, starting with stakes of 500 euros. The subscription period has begun once approved by the Luxembourg regulator with authorization to be marketed in Spain.

Josep Soler, founder and executive advisor of EFPA Spain (Spanish Association of Financial Advisors and Planners), believes that there is a need to improve financial literacy, one of the tasks he has been promoting for years. Furthermore, an effort must be made to incentivize, through taxation, citizens to move from saving to investing.

Catalan households allocate 43.5 out of every 100 euros of their income to basic expenses, such as housing, groceries, and energy consumption (electricity, water, and fuel). This amount, which represents an average of 1,342 euros per month, is part of the third Planeta Propietario Barometer. The analysis, prepared by the Mutual Association of Property Owners, reveals the highest figure since the study began. It shows that household bills, which consume a significant portion of the minimum wage (SMI) – €1,184 per month last year – mean that 3 out of 10 Catalans have difficulty paying for these basic expenses. Households where the family depends on a single minimum wage earner must allocate more than their entire net income to basic expenses, leaving no room for savings or unexpected costs. However, Catalonia is not the autonomous community where basic expenses consume the largest share of income. Ahead of them are the Balearic Islands, with 50.1%, Andalusia (49%), the Canary Islands (47.9%), and the Community of Madrid (46.2%), according to the same study, based on interviews and questions posed to 2,339 men and women over 18 years of age, distributed across autonomous communities according to their weight in the total. Housing, which limits rents in high-demand areas, is a key factor.

Despite the positive macroeconomic data with which Spain closed 2025, the reality is that this hasn't translated into immediate benefits for families. During 2025, household savings in Spain declined. And, at the same time, Spanish households are taking out more and more loans. Thus, the household savings rate has seen a full year of progressive decline, as recently published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) with the third-quarter data. The proportion of household savings relative to gross disposable income stands at 12%, the lowest figure since the last quarter of 2023, meaning that they saved €11.084 billion less than the previous year. Specifically, between July and September, this figure fell by one-tenth of a percentage point compared to the previous quarter and by slightly more than one percentage point compared to the same period of the previous year, after adjusting for seasonal and calendar effects. Excluding these impacts, the household savings rate stood at 4.6% of net disposable income, compared to 6% a year ago. Thus, taking into account the balance of capital transfers from the sector, households registered a financing need of €7.537 billion (compared to the €3.588 billion estimated for the same quarter of 2024), explains Europa Press. According to the INE (National Statistics Institute), the Spanish economy registered a financing capacity vis-à-vis the rest of the world of €19.350 billion in the third quarter, representing 4.6% of the gross domestic product (GDP) for that period and a decrease of €487 million compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Parallel to the fall in savings, credit to households is increasing. Credit granted by financial institutions to households and non-profit organizations in Spain grew by 4.3% in November 2025 compared to the same month in 2024, reaching €723.6 billion, while financing to businesses increased by 0.6%, totaling €949.19 billion. Compared to November 2024, credit granted to households amounted to €25.586 billion and lending to businesses rose by €3.389 billion. On a month-on-month basis, financing to households increased by €15.016 billion in November compared to October, representing a 2% increase. Meanwhile, credit to businesses decreased by €331 million month-on-month, a 0.06% drop. Meanwhile, gross income in the State increased by 6% in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2024, due to the increase in compensation of resident employees and, to a lesser extent, the growth of the gross operating surplus.

Catalans who are able to set aside a portion of their income generally invest more in assets than the average Spaniard. Specifically, they invest almost €3,000 more per year in various investment instruments, such as deposits, stocks, and shares in investment funds. They also show a greater preference than the Spanish average for investing in stocks, bonds, and fixed-income products, as well as cryptocurrencies. This is all revealed in a study conducted by Fidelity International, one of the world's largest asset managers, which indicates that, on average, residents of Catalonia who are able to save allocate an average of €13,900 per year to different investments, compared to less than €11,200 for the rest of the population. The asset manager, which produces a report on European investor sentiment, interviewed a total of 1,000 people in Spain, 160 of whom reside in Catalonia. However, the possibility of investing is not a habit accessible to everyone. According to Idescat, the at-risk-of-poverty rate was 17.4% last year, and around 10% of salaried workers fall into the category of those whose jobs do not lift them out of poverty and who have few or no opportunities for social mobility. This means they are excluded from any possibility of saving and, therefore, of investing. In any case, despite investing more in absolute terms than the national average, this does not mean they are the ones who allocate the largest portion of their income to savings. As reflected in an analysis by the Unión de Créditos Inmobiliarios (UCI), last year the average savings of Catalans stood at 18.4% of their income, above the national average (17.8%), but below that of the Basque Country (23.5%), Castilla-La Mancha (20.9%), Aragon (19.6%), La Rioja (19.2%), and the Balearic Islands (18.7%). One factor that could explain why the proportion of income allocated to savings in Catalonia—the fourth-highest region in terms of per capita income, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics—is lower than in other regions could be the higher cost of living. In fact, in Madrid, the region with the highest per capita income, this proportion is even lower, at 16.4%, according to the same study. In both Catalonia and Madrid, inflation in 2024 was 2.9%, above the national average of 2.8%. Data from the Bank of Spain on savings, which calculates savings as a percentage of gross disposable income after adjusting for seasonal and calendar effects, placed it at 12.4% in the second quarter of this year for the country as a whole, compared to 12.8% in the previous quarter.

The stock market and capital markets have yet to fully capture the interest of Spanish families. The level of investment by Spanish households in these markets remains low compared to other eurozone countries. Currently, savings allocated to listed shares, bonds, investment funds, and other products represent the equivalent of 66% of gross domestic product (GDP), well below the European average (94%). This figure also differs significantly from economies such as Denmark (194%) and the Netherlands (164%), according to the latest report from the Association of Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), covering the first half of this year.

Direct deposited salaries of at least €900 will receive an additional €150, while for salaries of €1,500 or more, the reward will increase to €250. In addition, customers who prefer this instead of a direct deposit can opt for a Samsung television or a coupon of between €200 and €400 to use on the Facilitea consumer portal, which offers a wide range of electronics, home, mobility, sports, and leisure products.

The Stock market crash in response to tariffs imposed by the White House In most countries around the world, the impact is very different in the United States than in Europe. On both sides of the Atlantic, stock markets play quite different roles within the economy: in the US, they are a key element, both for the business sector and for families, while in Europe, they play a more secondary role.