Jorik Bisschop (26) is account manager New Business at a hygiene & safety market leader. He has been using Flow for a year, has been investing in index funds, individual shares, crypto, and gold since he was 22 and prefers to spend his money on his poisonous frogs.
Plundering savings account
“Before I started using Flow, I had no idea how much of my money went to my fixed costs each month. All direct debits were deducted from the same account where my money came in. There were times when I only had 25 euros left in my account and I panicked because I still needed to pay for my health insurance. Actually, I had to withdraw a bit from my savings account every month, because otherwise, I couldn't make ends meet.”
17 direct debits
“When I started using Flow a year ago, I really had a good overview of my financial situation. What did I see? I had 17 pre-authorized payments running every month, ranging from subscriptions and insurance policies to my mortgage. I simply had no idea! But now I do, and now I know exactly how much I have to spend. You have to sit down and set everything up in the app once, but after that, you don't have to worry about it anymore. Flow automatically divides my money into different jars: fixed expenses, groceries, savings, and investments. The app is simply amazing.”
Watching money grow
“When I was young, I would often receive money from family members for my birthday. The next day, I would take it to the bank to put it in my savings account. When I turned 16 I started working in a supermarket, which allowed me to save even more. Actually, I really wanted to buy a quad bike. But once I finally saved up the needed 2,700 euros, I changed my mind. I thought that it would be a shame to spend all this money on such a thing. So I decided to save up for my driver's license instead. I remember how much I enjoyed watching my money grow. Well, I still do, haha!”
A bit painful
“My biggest expense was my house, which I bought when I was 24. When I bought it, I had to put in a down payment of almost 20,000 euros. I managed to do so because I had saved enough. Another big purchase was my motorcycle, which was five years ago already. I paid for it in cash—3600 euros in bills of fifty. My goodness, the amount of money I had in my hands! That stung a little bit. After all, it's just numbers when it's in your bank account, but it's a different story when you're actually holding it in your hands. Fortunately, it wasn't a bad purchase at all. I still enjoy driving my motorcycle on summer days.”
Investing in gold
“Every month, Flow automatically transfers 401 euros to my investment pot. 400 euros of this money goes to my index trackers at Meesman, and that one euro is for the storage cost of my gold. A while ago, I bought gold through an intermediary, just to see what it would do. I also invest in Bitcoin and buy shares at DeGiro, but that's not quite my cup of tea. It's nice to do it on the side and spread out my risk, but I find investing in indexes a lot easier for the long term.”
Substantial discounts
“When one of my subscriptions is about to end, I always call various providers to look for the best offer. It takes about half an hour, but sometimes you can get really big discounts that are not listed on their website. This was the case with my internet and TV subscription from Ziggo, a while ago. Normally it costs almost 90 euros a month, and I got it for less than fifty euros. When I wanted a discount again a year later, it wasn't possible. At KPN they gave me a free soundbar worth 300 euros. Without thinking, I switched providers. I receive sales training at work, and some techniques I can also use for this kind of thing. But, training or not, I would recommend everyone to try it for themselves.”
Poisonous frogs
“The thing I love most is spending money on my hobbies, which is my animals. I have a nice cat, and aquariums with fish. I also have a large birdcage in my garden in which I keep all sorts of birds. Also, I have my paludarium with poisonous frogs. I think they're incredibly cool animals. Really, my house is a bit like a tropical rainforest. My most expensive frog was 55 euros, but he's sadly not alive anymore, haha. The best part is when my frogs and birds have children, who I can then sell. With that money, I can buy new animals or food. That's how my hobbies pay for themselves a bit.”
Automatic systems
“In addition to my fixed salary, I can earn monthly bonuses. The bonus is different and depends, among other things, on the turnover that I have made. What I think is great about Flow is that I can set it up so that when extra money comes in, it is automatically distributed over my savings and investment accounts. My monthly bonus is automatically used to top up my savings account up to 15,000 euros, and if there's anything left, it goes to my investment funds. My extra money is then invested through Meesman, in addition to my monthly deposit of 400 euros. It would be a bit of a pain in the neck to have to do all that manually. With Flow, you only have to set it up once and then it all happens automatically.”
Automatic index investing with Flow & Meesman
With low-interest rates on savings accounts and rising stock prices, a lot of people are struck with 'the investment fever'. However, for many investing is a daunting endeavor and a source of stress: How well are my companies doing? Are stock prices rising or falling? Did I make the right decisions?
Index investing is an honest and simple way of investing, allowing your capital to grow in the long term. At Meesman you can make regular monthly payments into your account. The investing then takes care of itself. This matches the money methods in the Flow app perfectly. Flow+Meesman let you set up your investing the way you like it. Set it, forget it and let your money grow.
Get started with automatic investing via Flow and Meesman. Learn more about Meesman if you’re not a customer yet.
