How to use REKA checks

For the last four years, my husband has been getting pay slips to order REKA checks from his company at a discount of 20%. REKA checks can be used to pay for holidays in Switzerland and have been around for decades.

But like most things during our first few years here, my expat brain could handle only so much stimulation, and so the REKA check stuff would get recycled with all of the other mail that wasn't absolutely necessary to figure out.

But now, after being here for almost four years, I have energy to figure out some new stuff. So when the REKA info arrived a couple of weeks ago, I actually ordered CHF 500 worth of REKA checks, which meant I got them for CHF 400 with the 20% discount. After receiving the checks in the mail, I went directly to the train station to buy overnight train tickets to Lake Bled and used them all up in one big payment. And they worked so great, the very next day, I ordered another CHF 400 worth.

So here's what you do if you get REKA stuff from your company: take the pay slip to the bank and pay it. About a week later, the mailman will ring your bell and you'll sign to receive your checks. If you order CHF 500 worth, you'll get one envelope with CHF 300 (all in CHF 10 denominations) and two envelopes, each with two CHF 50 denominations.

REKA has a website that shows all the places you can use REKA checks, but this website, like many Swiss websites, has much to be desired and almost never functions properly. So here's all you need to know:

You can use REKA checks for anything SBB/CFF/FFS. And that should be all you need to make them worth it. You can use the checks for buying local train tickets in the automated machines. You can use to checks to buy a ticket to Paris. You can use the checks to pay for an entire SBB vacation. And you can use them to buy your GA or half-price card.

If your company doesn't give you REKA checks at a discount, you can also buy them at COOP, but this is not such a great deal as you will only get a benefit of 3% (what a typical Swiss discount!). But still, if you're buying a GA or something pricey, it's an option if you want to save a bit of money.

If anyone has experience with REKA checks or just wants to comment on how to save money in Switzerland, please leave a comment.

Death and Taxes

Guest Post by Kristi from the blog A to Z.

Someone once said death and taxes were the only two things one could be certain of. This person obviously didn't visit Switzerland.

You can also be certain that Switzerland is frackin expensive. I am not going to bore you with how expensive, it is a popular topic that you can simply read up on by googling "Switzerland" or "Swiss" or "most expensive but beautiful place in the world". No higher pay, lower tax economics lesson will save you from the sticker shock (which will result in you curling up in a corner while violently shaking. You revert to an old thumb sucking habit you kicked at age eight and ironically, shock treatment is what it takes to snap out of it). You can arm yourself though with knowledge, and everyone knows knowledge is power.

So let's talk food shopping. Yes, I was all dramatic so we could talk about how to save time and money while food shopping. You are either intrigued or let down, but either way you want to read what is next as a result, don't you?

Tips for Saving Time:


1. Get to know your food store or stores: Become familiar with the aisles, the product placement, opening/closing hours, and general feel. I would do this before you plan to shop - just walk in and check things out. I went to a different store last Sunday and it easily doubled my shopping time because I couldn't find the canned beans.

2. Check out your staples and take notes: On the same mapping expedition, take notes with particular focus on your staples. What is the German word for milk, where are the eggs located (if you are American, this may shock you), how are things packaged (cute pics of animals on packaging identifies your meat), you learn that you are responsible for labeling and barcoding produce, etc. You will find yourself gawking at all the yogurt options and marvel at how few options you have for chips (paprika anyone?). If you are lucky, someone may mistake you for taking inventory and ask you where the cheddar cheese is. You can just point "thatta way" then shamelessly giggle when they still can't find it, trust me...it's fun.

3. Plan your attack: I make menu plans once a week and stick to them. This may or may not keep you out of the store multiple times per week, but I am convinced it is why I can shop once or twice a week, never needing to go that third time. My menu plans consist of one pot meals that last two days or the recycling of ingredients into different dishes.

4. Learn how to convert to grams: You stare at the package of chicken, you wonder if 12 chf is reasonable for .206 kg of meat...you go home and Google it and you find out you have been had. The sooner you figure out how to convert to kg or g, the less time you will spend looking at a package of meat while scratching your head. Rule of thumb, one kg = 2ish lbs.

Tips for Saving Money:


1. Shop an hour before closing time: You will find many items drastically discounted at closing time. This is great if you are a meat eater - as many times you can find certain proteins discounted up to 50%. Be sure to either freeze or use this deeply discounted meat immediately as it is likely discounted for a reason, like death if you consume it tomorrow.

2. Check out the items sold in bulk: There is nothing better than discovering the 500g produce deals, 1.20 chf for 10 cloves of garlic...hell yeah! 12 chf for .890kg of chicken breast, pinch me...I must be dreaming. Buying in bulk can definitely bring about a good deal, you just have to look for it.

3. Produce is good AND cheap: The produce is so amazing compared to what I had back home and I can't believe I am about to say this, cheap! I want to pet it sometimes because it is so pretty and colorful and cheap. I try to make produce heavy dinners at least twice a week. I have also learned what turns quickly so I can make sure I use that particular item in the beginning of the week, saving the produce that doesn't turn immediately for the end of the week.

4. Store brands are your friend: The food stores here carry a discount store brand for many items and I have found most to be of high quality. While I can't say they are "cheap", they are less expensive than your branded items.

5. Use re-useable bags: Unlike in the States where bags are free at check out, they charge you 30 rappen (30 cents) per grocery bag. They are actually quite lovely bags, but you are still wasting money and spitting in Mother Earth's face. I brought three over from the States and am quite happy I did so, they have served me well.

6. Choose your organics wisely: I find the regular items to be of such high standard that I buy very little organic (labeled Bio or Biological here). This is a very personal decision though so I won't tell you what to do. The more organic you buy, the more you spend so choose wisely. I am comforted by the fact that the Swiss are known to treat their animals well and the cow I just ate probably had a Swiss massage before it kicked it (no Swedish massage here, they like to protect Swiss jobs...I Kid!)

I want to leave you with this one last tip, SURRENDER. Surrender to the fact that food shopping here is different. Different is why you came here though so the earlier you let go of that 50-foot chip aisle, the quicker you will adjust and maybe even enjoy the experience. The Swiss do enjoy some Pringles so while they do not carry 12 varieties of Doritos, you can crack open a can of freeze dried potato snacks. A little familiarity never hurt an expat...

So do you have a food shopping tip or an embarrassing story? Can anyone spot the Pringles can?

For more by Kristi, visit her blog, From A to Z

8 Ways to Save Money in Switzerland, Part 2

Thanks to all who left comments about How to Save Money in Switzerland. Click here for Part Two. Read about my favorite flea markets and second-hand stores as well as the way Migros takes their budget brand just a little too far.

Eight Ways to Save Money in Switzerland

Welcome to Switzerland. Land of the most expensive Big Mac in the world. Land where a plate of Chinese food costs the equivalent of $25 (Come on, Chinese food?). Land where two rib eye steaks will set you back $35 at the meat store. Whew. It’s enough to make any former tightwad like me reconsider her Swiss residency. So how has a former American cheapskate survived living in der Schweiz for three years? Read on, my fellow money-savers, read on. Below is part one of a two-part series.

1. Grocery Shop after 5 p.m.
For those of you who work, shopping after 5 p.m. is probably the only option you have, but it’s a smart one. Many stores will add 25-50% discounts to perishable items towards closing time. At the grocery store inside the Coop City in Baden, for example, the clerks go around with their 50% stickers beginning at 5 p.m.--and yours truly is stalking them. This is how I’ve managed to buy 750 g of beef for CHF 3,75, two chicken breasts for CHF 3, and a 1.5 Liter of Fanta for CHF .90. (Yes, even soda is perishable in Switzerland).

2. Buy big items during the traditional sale months
January and July. That’s when I do most of my clothes and home accessory shopping in Switzerland. For example, my husband and I waited to buy some pillows for our outdoor furniture until July and were rewarded with a price of CHF 5 per pillow (originally CHF 40). So we bought seven pillows at Manor for less than the price one. To quote a Guinness ad, “Good things come to those who wait.” And if you hurry, there are still some sales out there left over from July as I write this.

3. Book hotels in Switzerland last-minute using rooms.ch
Planning an overnight trip in Switzerland? Chances are you don’t want to go if the weather’s bad anyhow. I spent a rainy weekend in Locarno a few months back and I wouldn’t have gone except I had booked a hotel and they wouldn’t let me cancel without penalty. So why not wait until last-minute and book your hotel on the Swiss Budget Hotel website, where last minute rooms around the country go for CHF 99 for two people.

4. Border Shop
If you live near a border town, shop there. I’ve written about the benefits of shopping in Germany before and I still go every month or two to stock up on things that are ridiculously priced in Switzerland like tortilla chips. At the Famila in Waldshut, Germany, not only are their Poco Loco tortilla chips tastier than anything I’ve found in Switzerland, but they also cost the equivalent of CHF 3 for a 450-gram bag. A 450-gram bag. Unheard of in Switzerland. And Moevenpick ice cream? We all know that costs at least CHF 10 in Switzerland, but in Germany, the same thing costs the equivalent of CHF 3,50.

Anyhow, I hope these tips will get you started on saving in Switzerland. If you have any tips to add, please leave a comment. Would love to know how to save even more money in this crazy country. Stay tuned next week for Part Two where we'll discuss budget store brands, discount stores (are they really cheaper?) and more.

America's Shameless Marketing of Debt

When I was shopping at home last week in the Chicago area (which was a lot since the prices are so much better than in Switzerland), it never failed that while at the cash register I was asked if I would like to save an additional 15% by opening a store credit card.

Now on one hand, this pleased me because I could understand exactly what I was being asked. But on the other hand, it scared me.

Every store in America appears to have its coordinating credit card. The Limited, Guess, Express, Kohl's, you name it, you'll get asked if you want their card. If I had been so inclined, I could have opened over 10 credit cards while I was home, flown back to Switzerland, and racked up debt for as long as I pleased.

Instead, I paid for everything with dollars, which appears to be as foreign to the salespeople as if I had whipped out some Swiss Francs. Holding my $50 bill up to the light, they stared at it like I was a counterfeit criminal. No wonder people use their credit cards. That kind of treatment is just uncalled for. It was all very different from handing over a similar amount in Switzerland, where 50 CHF is treated as pocket change and isn't given a second glance at the register.

Anyhow, the highlight of my US shopping trips happened at the GAP at the Chicago Outlet Mall. I found a headband in the sale section for 47 cents. Yes. I could not believe it, and had to buy it just on principal that in Switzerland you can't even buy a banana for that price. And as I took the headband to the counter, the salesman rang it up, with tax, to 51 cents. And then he added,

"Would you like to save an additional 15% today by opening a GAP credit card?"

It took everything in my power not to laugh. Common sense, it appears, has disappeared in America along with the concept of saving. But I, I took the path of a good Swiss resident, and paid my 51 cents right then and there. In cold, hard cash.