He’s Italian, mid-60s, lives in our building in Spain, and he keeps receipts the way some people keep photos. Not because he’s obsessed with saving. Because that’s how he was taught to run a household: know the numbers, keep the week predictable, and don’t turn small inconveniences into expensive problems.
Over three months, we compared notes once a week and logged everything into the same simple categories. No spying, no weirdness. He wanted to see how a Spanish family budget compared to his. I wanted to see what “Italian frugal” actually looks like when it’s not a stereotype.
The surprising part wasn’t that his total was lower. It was that his life looked fuller while spending less. More social time, better food, fewer stress purchases, and almost no “financial hangover” after a normal week.
On paper, his average month came out to €2,090. Using the European Central Bank reference rate from 12 December 2025, that’s about $2,452 when you convert €1 to $1.1731. That conversion isn’t the flex. The point is what costs simply don’t show up in his life, and how that changes everything.
Italy doesn’t make people magically better with money. It just produces adults who assume a few things Americans often treat as optional.
The three-month ledger and the numbers that kept repeating
We tracked three months because one month is a liar. One month has birthday dinners, travel, weird bills, and the emotional spending that happens when you’re tired and irritated.
Three months showed patterns.
His household is two adults, no kids at home, living a normal resident life in Spain. The budget below is the three-month monthly average, rounded.
Housing and home
- Rent: €950
- Utilities (electric, gas, water): €145
- Internet and mobile: €52
- Household basics: €55
Subtotal: €1,202
Food
- Groceries: €340
- Market top-ups (fish, fruit, bread): €85
- Eating out: €165
Subtotal: €590
Transport
- Public transport: €38
- Occasional taxi: €12
Subtotal: €50
Health and pharmacy
- Pharmacy: €22
- One private visit averaged out: €45
Subtotal: €67
Life and misc
- Clothes and shoes: €55
- Gifts and family obligations: €60
- Home maintenance: €35
- Small fun money: €31
Subtotal: €181
Total monthly average: €2,090
Now compare that with Italy’s own context: Italy’s national statistics office estimated average monthly household consumption spending in 2024 at €2,755. That’s across all household types, including bigger households and different cost structures. Still, it’s a useful reality check: his spending isn’t “unbelievably low.” It’s normal-adult low, achieved by not buying the same kinds of stability Americans often have to buy. Istat
Two things were immediately obvious:
- His budget had almost no volatility, week to week.
- His spending wasn’t built around deprivation. It was built around avoiding expensive defaults.
That second part is the whole story.
The expense he doesn’t have, and Americans forget to subtract
If you want the one-line reason his budget feels bigger, it’s this: he doesn’t pay monthly for private stability.
Americans hear “$5,000 take-home” and assume someone should be fine. Then they watch that person get eaten alive by the cost of staying stable: cars, healthcare, and the convenience spending that comes from living in a system that drains you.
Start with the most brutal example: cars.
AAA’s 2025 estimate for the average annual cost to own and operate a new vehicle driven 15,000 miles was $11,577, which is about $965 a month. That’s not a luxury car. That’s the baseline cost of running the thing you need to access work, food, school, and life in much of the U.S. AAA
My neighbor’s monthly transport spend was €50. Some months it was less. No car payment. No insurance. No gas spikes. No surprise repairs that wipe out the month’s savings.
He’s not morally superior. His life is just built so that walking and public transport are normal. That one structural difference changes what “saving money” even means.
Now add healthcare. In the U.S., even people with employer coverage often pay meaningful premiums and still deal with out-of-pocket costs. KFF’s 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey puts average annual premiums at $9,325 for single coverage and $26,993 for family coverage, with workers contributing a share on average. KFF
In his life, healthcare shows up as small pharmacy spending and occasional private visits for speed. It is not a second rent payment.
So when Americans ask how Europeans “live better on less,” the answer is often boring: their budget is missing two giant lines.
Food is cheaper when the week isn’t a constant improv show
I expected his grocery spend to be lower because he’s older and eats simply. What surprised me was how consistent it was.
Groceries plus market top-ups averaged €425 a month. Eating out averaged €165. That eating out wasn’t big dinners every weekend. It was small, frequent, social: coffee, a menu lunch, a couple of evenings that were about being outside, not performing a lifestyle.
His trick is not a trick, it’s a routine.
He shops twice a week, small baskets, predictable items, and he treats the market as a quality upgrade, not an excuse to overspend. He buys food that becomes two meals, not one. He cooks in ways that create leftovers on purpose. Nothing fancy, just practiced.
This is where a lot of Americans fail in Europe. They keep an American rhythm, and then feel confused when their European costs climb. If you don’t have the habit of a mid-day meal, you end up snacking and buying convenience, and convenience is always where budgets die.
He said one line that stuck with me: he doesn’t “decide” what to eat every night. He has three default dinners and rotates them. That single decision prevents the 7 p.m. spiral that turns into delivery and regret.
If you want the shorthand: less decision-making means less spending. It’s not willpower. It’s design.
Housing and utilities, and the comfort choices Americans underestimate
His rent is €950, and that’s why his budget works. That rent is not a miracle. It’s the result of choosing a place that’s functional instead of cinematic.
Americans often choose housing with their eyes and then try to fix the consequences with spending. A cold apartment becomes expensive because you flee it. A noisy apartment becomes expensive because you can’t rest. A far apartment becomes expensive because you start paying for taxis and convenience.
He chose boring on purpose: a neighborhood that isn’t trendy, a building that’s well-run, and an apartment that stays comfortable. The utility spend averaged €145 a month because the place is efficient enough that he isn’t constantly fighting the seasons.
This is where the “Europe is cheap” myth breaks. Europe can be cheaper, but old buildings can also punish you. You can lose your savings to bad insulation and bad windows faster than you think.
His rule is simple: comfort is not a luxury. Comfort is what keeps you from spending money to escape your own home. A calm home protects the budget.
He also doesn’t chase constant upgrades. No monthly subscription creep. No “smart home” purchases. The home spending is boring, and boring is the point.
The weekly rhythm that keeps his spending flat
The money part is half the story. The other half is time.
He runs his week like a resident, not a consumer.
Monday and Thursday are errand days, short loops, same shops. Tuesday is a longer walk day. Wednesday is the day he visits family or friends. Friday is the day he cooks something bigger. Weekends are social, but not expensive-social.
The key is that his social life is not built around big spending. It’s built around showing up. Coffee. Walks. A menu lunch. A shared table at someone’s house. He doesn’t need a big “night out” to feel like he has a life.
That matters because spending is often emotional regulation. If your week feels empty, you fill it with purchases. If your week has small rituals, you don’t need to buy stimulation.
I watched him avoid the classic trap that hits Americans hard: reward spending after annoying tasks. He does admin, then he goes for a walk. He doesn’t do admin, then buy himself something because he “deserves it.”
If you want the real secret, it’s this: timing beats willpower. His week makes the good behavior the default.
The American mistakes that recreate U.S. financial stress in Europe
This is the part people don’t want to hear. Many Americans don’t fail in Europe because Europe is expensive. They fail because they bring a U.S. spending pattern into a different system and then act shocked when the math breaks.
The most common mistakes we see:
- Paying for a “temporary” furnished rental for far too long
That premium becomes your new normal, and you never rebuild the buffer. - Keeping the car out of habit
If you don’t need it daily, it becomes a monthly leak, and those leaks add up. - Turning dinner into the main event every day
It’s expensive, it’s tiring, and it pushes you into constant convenience. - Buying comfort because you didn’t choose a comfortable apartment
Noisy, cold, far, badly managed housing forces you into spending as a coping strategy. - Trying to solve loneliness with consumption
Trips, shopping, dining, constant entertainment, and then the budget starts to look American again.
My neighbor isn’t living better because he discovered a hack. He’s living better because he doesn’t let the week become chaotic. He keeps the baseline stable, so the “fun” spending doesn’t need to be dramatic.
Your first seven days copying the Italian pattern without moving countries
If you want to steal what works from his approach, don’t start with cutting expenses. Start with building defaults that stop the money leaks.
Here’s a clean seven-day reset you can run anywhere in Europe, and honestly in the U.S. too, if your city allows it.
- Pick your default transport for the week
Walk and public transport first, taxis only when you truly need them. Make the cheap option automatic. - Lock three default dinners
Simple, repeatable meals you can cook when tired. You’re reducing decision fatigue, not auditioning for a cookbook. - Do two small shopping runs instead of one big emotional run
One supermarket, one market top-up. Buy food that becomes two meals. - Choose one social habit that costs almost nothing
A weekly walk, a café meet, a language exchange, a park routine. Social life does not need a receipt. - Audit subscriptions and “small monthly” expenses
Kill what you don’t use. Keep what truly makes life easier. - Fix one housing comfort problem
Blackout curtains, a fan, better bedding, whatever makes you sleep. If your home is miserable, your budget will suffer. - Track one week of spending honestly
Not forever, just one week. You don’t need obsession. You need clarity.
The goal isn’t to become a different person. It’s to build a week that doesn’t require constant self-control. That’s what I learned from him, and it’s why his budget feels bigger than mine even when the total is smaller.
Italy didn’t magically teach him to be good with money. It taught him to make life run on routines instead of purchases. That’s a skill you can steal.
About the Author: Ruben, co-founder of Gamintraveler.com since 2014, is a seasoned traveler from Spain who has explored over 100 countries since 2009. Known for his extensive travel adventures across South America, Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Africa, Ruben combines his passion for adventurous yet sustainable living with his love for cycling, highlighted by his remarkable 5-month bicycle journey from Spain to Norway. He currently resides in Spain, where he continues sharing his travel experiences with his partner, Rachel, and their son, Han.