// $ earn --vs-save

Earn more vs. save more

Cutting costs works once. Earning more works every month and has no upper limit, whatever the frugality gurus say. Compare the two, invested over the years.

Education, not advice. I don’t know your situation, and past returns promise nothing. Check my numbers, then make your own call. You’re a grown-up.

// how it is calculated

No black box.

Both amounts are invested monthly at the same return.
Extra income is after tax. In high-tax countries a raise can lose half on the way to your account. The state celebrates your raise more than you do.

earn-more – notes

# everything runs in your browser
# nothing is stored or sent
$ share --link
✓ your numbers travel in the link, not to a server

// the background

Read the why.

Build28 Sept 20268 min

Why earning more beats saving more

You can’t save your way below zero. The maths of €100 saved versus €500 earned, and why much of Europe keeps about half of every extra euro.

Read

Build28 Sept 20268 min

Your first side business next to a job

Contract, registration, VAT, health insurance, invoices: the no-drama checklist for a first side business in Germany in 2026. Sell first, build later.

Read

// more tools

While you’re at it.

All tools

$ pension --reality-check Pension gap What the state promises, what the budget can afford, and the hole in between. Open $ compound --monthly 300 Compound interest What a boring monthly savings plan turns into. Before and after inflation. Open $ freedom --when Freedom number Your savings rate decides when you’re financially free. Not your boss, not a ministry. Open $ fees --compare Fund fees What 1.5% a year costs you over 30 years. Sit down first. Open