{"id":188025,"date":"2026-02-23T05:35:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T04:35:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/jeg-har-skuffet-mit-regneark-men-jeg-fortryder-intet\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T11:10:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T10:10:21","slug":"living-on-dkk-50-a-day-my-spreadsheet-is-disappointed-im-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/living-on-dkk-50-a-day-my-spreadsheet-is-disappointed-im-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Living on DKK 50 a day: My spreadsheet is disappointed. I\u2019m not"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the first time in two weeks, the card terminal wants me to approve an amount with three digits. I place my phone against it. Beep. I\u2019m DKK 113 the poorer. The bartender hands me two large draught beers. My evening is under way, and my meticulous savings plan has been derailed.<\/p>\n

I am halfway through an experiment in which I have only DKK 1,500 (EUR 200) to live on for the entire month of February in Copenhagen. A survey by the Danish trade union DM last year showed that 26 per cent of its student members lived on less.<\/p>\n

\n

THE study<\/p>\n

In August 2025, the trade union DM published an analysis<\/strong> with the title ‘SU-reformen forventes at p\u00e5virke hver anden studerendes studietid’<\/em><\/a> [Reform of SU grant is expected to affect the period of study for every second student.]<\/em><\/p>\n

The survey on student finances was conducted among the trade union’s own student members. 26 per cent of respondents said they have less than DKK 1,500 [or EUR 200] available per month after expenses.<\/p>\n

Expenses for rent, water, heating, electricity, internet, phone, and insurance are not included, as these are defined as fixed expenses in DM\u2019s study.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Personally, I usually spend almost four times as much. But surely it is possible, I thought. And for the first two weeks I found myself in a financial state of flow. I started gaming it, counting things, and hoarding money to see just how little I could get away with in terms of spending.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Living on DKK 50 a day: My unexpected obsession with savings<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

But the spreadsheet engine that has fuelled my motivation so far is now running on empty. I\u2019m bored.<\/p>\n

Back to the consumer society<\/strong><\/p>\n

The savings expert Sune Bj\u00f8rn Andersen, whom I spoke to in the first instalment of this series, quite rightly predicted that the first week would be driven by curiosity. But as the days gradually merge into porridge and lentil stew, it no longer feels like there is much left to be curious about.<\/p>\n

My obsessive Excel high over the past couple of weeks has given me a small financial buffer of just under DKK 300<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At this stage of the experiment, I have in all likelihood cracked the code to living cheaply: legumes and cycling. But as a newsroom colleague pointed out to me, this doesn\u2019t really make me any wiser about another \u2014 and probably more important \u2014 facet of the experiment: Can I live well<\/em> for DKK 1,500 a month? Can I have fun?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m stubborn. I can eat porridge with protein powder for lunch every day. So long as it only affects me. The problem is: What happens when it starts affecting other people? Besides, I\u2019ve started to have doubts about my own strategy \u2014 because why save at all if I\u2019m not going to spend the savings on anything?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to re-enter consumer society. Because what\u2019s the point of saving \u2014 or for that matter living \u2014 if it\u2019s devoid of pleasure?<\/p>\n

My mental exit from the slow lane and on to the motorway of hedonism leads me towards one of the places that I\u2019ve feared the most during the experiment: The Copenhagen beer bar.<\/p>\n

A bad, well-considered, decision<\/strong><\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t been a good boyfriend since my girlfriend returned from a study trip to Africa right in the middle of my savings experiment. It is easy to be frugal when it\u2019s just me, but when it affects others, I feel stingy.<\/p>\n

My obsessive Excel high over the past couple of weeks has given me a small financial buffer of just under DKK 300.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Can you live on DKK 50 a day in Copenhagen? A student experiment<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The surplus was actually intended as a backup in case the snow forced me off my bike and onto the metro. But priorities shift quickly. So I\u2019m taking my partner out on a date.<\/p>\n

We go for a walk in the city and end up at a basement bar somewhere between N\u00f8rreport station and the lakes. We could have found somewhere cheaper maybe. But there is an icy, biting, wind out here, and the prospect of warm shelter, has us giving up on any hunt for a good deal.
\n
\nMy fear of beer bars is not only due to the outrageous prices in this city. It is also due to the sly mechanism that is baked into their business model: As you consume their products, you gradually lose your judgement \u2014 and your primary defence against buying more.<\/p>\n

We drink draught beers in the warm indoors. By the time I leave, I have spent one thirteenth of this month\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

An economic trilemma<\/h3>\n

I have promised to cook dinner.<\/p>\n

It is an opportunity to soothe my guilty conscience.<\/p>\n

My girlfriend and I live together and share most expenses \u2014 including many of the expenses that I have to cover from my DKK 1,500. My project therefore puts me in a dilemma, actually a ‘trilemma’. She either eats the same budget lentils as I do until March (not great). Or we eat separately (even worse). Or she continues living as usual but pays a disproportionately larger share of our food costs.<\/p>\n

It gave me a feeling of happiness that cannot be portioned out and stored in the fridge<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She has chosen the latter. But this imbalance troubles me. It clashes with my own self-image that I have to be supported by someone else \u2014 and especially by my partner. It is as if I am a dependent, ‘leeching’ off of her. Perhaps I can tip the balance temporarily with a good meal.<\/p>\n

So I stroll out of the F\u00f8tex<\/em> supermarket with DKK 172 of ingredients for a nice evening at home: pasta, soft drinks, and a heavy bag of my partner\u2019s favourite sweets from a glowing shelf of pick\u2019n\u2019mix<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I spent DKK 285 today. This is ten times my average daily spend so far in February.<\/p>\n

I could probably have turned that amount into a lentil stew that would have kept me going for the rest of the experiment, but the evening gave me something else. It gave me a sense of being an equal partner who was generous \u2014 someone who gives. It gave me a feeling of happiness and this can’t be divvied up into portions and stored in the fridge.<\/p>\n

Now I just hope that Copenhagen won\u2019t be hit by another snowstorm.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO<\/strong>: Save more, live more: Student budget hacks for Copenhagen<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Poor boyfriend, lousy boyfriend?<\/h3>\n

My savings experiment is only a four-week simulation, and I will probably survive it. But it has made me reflect on the role of money in romantic relationships.<\/p>\n

Love is the only thing that matters. That is certainly the Walt Disney-like message they will have us believe. But the American vox pops my Instagram algorithm serves me suggest the exact opposite: nothing is more important than income.<\/p>\n

A survey by Aller Media<\/em> in 2025 seems to land somewhere in the middle. 62 per cent of Nordic women say they expect their partner to take primary financial responsibility. One in five secretly wish to be provided for by their partner. Half of Danish women over 60 expect their partner to contribute financial stability.<\/p>\n

Sweetie? How would you feel if I only ever had DKK 1,500 to live on? Would that be a problem?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At the same time, 64 per cent say that emotional safety and practical stability are the most important things in a relationship. For just under half, the most important thing is that their partner is mentally present. 43 per cent say that the most important thing is that their partner can show, and talk about, their emotions.<\/p>\n

Are money and emotional presence both necessary? Or can a deficit on one front be compensated by a surplus on the other?<\/p>\n

\u00bbSweetie?\u00ab I ask my partner a few days after our night out. \u00bbHow would you feel if I only ever had DKK 1,500 to live on? Would that be a problem?\u00ab<\/p>\n

It would probably end up being annoying, she replies. At least if we didn\u2019t find new ways of being together.<\/p>\n

This sounds, reassuring? I am certainly left with a sense that I would be a lousy boyfriend if I dragged our standard of living down. I can also see how it affects my friends \u2014 they know I\u2019m doing the experiment, so they have started paying for my beers when we meet after lectures.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to keep sponging off my partner and my friends. But I find it hard not to feel like a failure if I end the month \u2014 and the experiment \u2014 in the red.<\/p>\n

Do I simply suffer from scarcity anxiey? I find myself thinking back to a school trip to Austria when I was in 7th grade, which for me ended up being all about \u2026 money. That\u2019s a story for next week.<\/p>\n

This article was first written in Danish and published on 17 February. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em>
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I\u2019m not"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/","name":"University Post","description":"Independent of management","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/#\/schema\/person\/e1908cd8311a35e02aac6c2ba2f3cf1f","name":"Malthe Granau","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b138ad7ddcb02836f970efb1640e0634158dbaa8e0065fdbd8fd1a47bf73f342?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b138ad7ddcb02836f970efb1640e0634158dbaa8e0065fdbd8fd1a47bf73f342?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b138ad7ddcb02836f970efb1640e0634158dbaa8e0065fdbd8fd1a47bf73f342?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Malthe Granau"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/"],"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/author\/malthe_granau\/"}]}},"advancedCustomFields":{"expression":{"term_id":14,"name":"Portrait Article","slug":"portrait_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":14,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":796,"filter":"raw"},"enable_comments":true,"align_content":"aligncenter","feature_color":"#ea3535","article_updated":"","layout_group":[{"acf_fc_layout":"Headline","use_post_title":true,"headline":"","style":"slim","highlighted_words":"disappointed. not","text_size":"small"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":187945,"id":187945,"title":"DSC_5515[1]","filename":"dsc_55151.jpg","filesize":365731,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/living-on-dkk-50-a-day-my-spreadsheet-is-disappointed-im-not\/dsc_55151\/","alt":"","author":"110","description":"","caption":"","name":"dsc_55151","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":188025,"date":"2026-02-16 15:23:41","modified":"2026-02-17 09:26:27","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1527,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151-480x322.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":322,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151-768x515.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":515,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151-1280x858.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":858,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151.jpg","1536x1536-width":1527,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151.jpg","2048x2048-width":1527,"2048x2048-height":1024,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151-290x194.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":194,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151-700x469.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":469,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151-990x664.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":664}},"style":"full","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"The University Post\u2019s student reporter is living on DKK 1,500 for the month of February. He has proven to himself that he can, in fact, live on next to nothing \u2014 but the experiment has also led him to reflect on the role of money in romantic relationships."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Savings exercise","text":"Eksperimentet har bev\u00e6get sig ind i en ny fase. Sparekoden er kn\u00e6kket, men er det nok til et godt liv? Og er man d\u00f8mt til at fejle som partner, hvis man er fattig?","use_post_excerpt":true},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>For the first time in two weeks, the card terminal wants me to approve an amount with three digits. I place my phone against it. Beep. I\u2019m DKK 113 the poorer. The bartender hands me two large draught beers. My evening is under way, and my meticulous savings plan has been derailed.<\/p>\n<p>I am halfway through an experiment in which I have only DKK 1,500 (EUR 200) to live on for the entire month of February in Copenhagen. A survey by the Danish trade union DM last year showed that 26 per cent of its student members lived on less.<\/p>\n<div class=\"factbox\">\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">THE study<\/p>\n<p><strong>In August 2025, the trade union DM published an analysis<\/strong> with the title ‘<a href=\"https:\/\/dm.dk\/media\/lbrit3cq\/su-reformen-forventes-at-paavirke-hver-anden-studerendes-studietid-eko-29082025.pdf\"><em>SU-reformen forventes at p\u00e5virke hver anden studerendes studietid’<\/em><\/a> [<em>Reform of SU grant is expected to affect the period of study for every second student.]<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The survey on student finances was conducted among the trade union’s own student members. 26 per cent of respondents said they have less than DKK 1,500 [or EUR 200] available per month after expenses.<\/p>\n<p>Expenses for rent, water, heating, electricity, internet, phone, and insurance are not included, as these are defined as fixed expenses in DM\u2019s study.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Personally, I usually spend almost four times as much. But surely it is possible, I thought. And for the first two weeks I found myself in a financial state of flow. I started gaming it, counting things, and hoarding money to see just how little I could get away with in terms of spending.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/living-on-dkk-50-a-day-my-unexpected-obsession-with-savings\/\"><em>Living on DKK 50 a day: My unexpected obsession with savings<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>But the spreadsheet engine that has fuelled my motivation so far is now running on empty. I\u2019m bored.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Back to the consumer society<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The savings expert Sune Bj\u00f8rn Andersen, whom I spoke to in the first instalment of this series, quite rightly predicted that the first week would be driven by curiosity. But as the days gradually merge into porridge and lentil stew, it no longer feels like there is much left to be curious about.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>My obsessive Excel high over the past couple of weeks has given me a small financial buffer of just under DKK 300<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>At this stage of the experiment, I have in all likelihood cracked the code to living cheaply: legumes and cycling. But as a newsroom colleague pointed out to me, this doesn\u2019t really make me any wiser about another \u2014 and probably more important \u2014 facet of the experiment: Can I live <em>well<\/em> for DKK 1,500 a month? Can I have fun?<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m stubborn. I can eat porridge with protein powder for lunch every day. So long as it only affects me. The problem is: What happens when it starts affecting other people? Besides, I\u2019ve started to have doubts about my own strategy \u2014 because why save at all if I\u2019m not going to spend the savings on anything?<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s time to re-enter consumer society. Because what\u2019s the point of saving \u2014 or for that matter living \u2014 if it\u2019s devoid of pleasure?<\/p>\n<p>My mental exit from the slow lane and on to the motorway of hedonism leads me towards one of the places that I\u2019ve feared the most during the experiment: The Copenhagen beer bar.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A bad, well-considered, decision<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I haven\u2019t been a good boyfriend since my girlfriend returned from a study trip to Africa right in the middle of my savings experiment. It is easy to be frugal when it\u2019s just me, but when it affects others, I feel stingy.<\/p>\n<p>My obsessive Excel high over the past couple of weeks has given me a small financial buffer of just under DKK 300.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/can-you-live-on-dkk-50-a-day-in-copenhagen-a-student-experiment\/\">Can you live on DKK 50 a day in Copenhagen? A student experiment<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The surplus was actually intended as a backup in case the snow forced me off my bike and onto the metro. But priorities shift quickly. So I\u2019m taking my partner out on a date.<\/p>\n<p>We go for a walk in the city and end up at a basement bar somewhere between N\u00f8rreport station and the lakes. We could have found somewhere cheaper maybe. But there is an icy, biting, wind out here, and the prospect of warm shelter, has us giving up on any hunt for a good deal.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Image","image":{"ID":187940,"id":187940,"title":"\u00f8l","filename":"oel-scaled.jpg","filesize":530603,"url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oel-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/living-on-dkk-50-a-day-my-spreadsheet-is-disappointed-im-not\/oel-3\/","alt":"","author":"110","description":"","caption":"Med en gennemsnitspris p\u00e5 55 kroner er Danmark nummer syv p\u00e5 listen over h\u00f8jeste fad\u00f8lspriser i verden- Til sammenligning koster en fad\u00f8l i Vietnam omkring seks kroner (kilde: Numbeo).","name":"oel-3","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":188025,"date":"2026-02-16 15:14:58","modified":"2026-02-17 09:26:28","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2560,"height":2048,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oel-480x384.jpg","medium-width":480,"medium-height":384,"medium_large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oel-768x614.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":614,"large":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oel-1280x1024.jpg","large-width":1280,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oel-1536x1229.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1229,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oel-2048x1638.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1638,"featured-soft":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oel-290x232.jpg","featured-soft-width":290,"featured-soft-height":232,"featured-hard":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oel-290x180.jpg","featured-hard-width":290,"featured-hard-height":180,"narrow":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oel-700x560.jpg","narrow-width":700,"narrow-height":560,"extended":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/oel-990x792.jpg","extended-width":990,"extended-height":792}},"style":"narrow","text_placement":"metadata-below","image_link_url":"","image_link_title":"","caption_prefix":"","enable_alternative_caption":true,"alternative_caption":"With an average price of DKK 55, Denmark ranks seventh on the list of the world\u2019s most expensive draught beers. By comparison, a draught beer in Vietnam costs around DKK 6 (source: Numbeo)."},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>My fear of beer bars is not only due to the outrageous prices in this city. It is also due to the sly mechanism that is baked into their business model: As you consume their products, you gradually lose your judgement \u2014 and your primary defence against buying more.<\/p>\n<p>We drink draught beers in the warm indoors. By the time I leave, I have spent one thirteenth of this month\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n<h3>An economic trilemma<\/h3>\n<p>I have promised to cook dinner.<\/p>\n<p>It is an opportunity to soothe my guilty conscience.<\/p>\n<p>My girlfriend and I live together and share most expenses \u2014 including many of the expenses that I have to cover from my DKK 1,500. My project therefore puts me in a dilemma, actually a ‘trilemma’. She either eats the same budget lentils as I do until March (not great). Or we eat separately (even worse). Or she continues living as usual but pays a disproportionately larger share of our food costs.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>It gave me a feeling of happiness that cannot be portioned out and stored in the fridge<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>She has chosen the latter. But this imbalance troubles me. It clashes with my own self-image that I have to be supported by someone else \u2014 and especially by my partner. It is as if I am a dependent, ‘leeching’ off of her. Perhaps I can tip the balance temporarily with a good meal.<\/p>\n<p>So I stroll out of the <em>F\u00f8tex<\/em> supermarket with DKK 172 of ingredients for a nice evening at home: pasta, soft drinks, and a heavy bag of my partner\u2019s favourite sweets from a glowing shelf of <em>pick\u2019n\u2019mix<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>I spent DKK 285 today. This is ten times my average daily spend so far in February.<\/p>\n<p>I could probably have turned that amount into a lentil stew that would have kept me going for the rest of the experiment, but the evening gave me something else. It gave me a sense of being an equal partner who was generous \u2014 someone who gives. It gave me a feeling of happiness and this can’t be divvied up into portions and stored in the fridge.<\/p>\n<p>Now I just hope that Copenhagen won\u2019t be hit by another snowstorm.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/save-more-live-more-student-budget-hacks-for-copenhagen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>Save more, live more: Student budget hacks for Copenhagen<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>Poor boyfriend, lousy boyfriend?<\/h3>\n<p>My savings experiment is only a four-week simulation, and I will probably survive it. But it has made me reflect on the role of money in romantic relationships.<\/p>\n<p>Love is the only thing that matters. That is certainly the Walt Disney-like message they will have us believe. But the American vox pops my Instagram algorithm serves me suggest the exact opposite: nothing is more important than income.<\/p>\n<p>A survey by <em>Aller Media<\/em> in 2025 seems to land somewhere in the middle. 62 per cent of Nordic women say they expect their partner to take primary financial responsibility. One in five secretly wish to be provided for by their partner. Half of Danish women over 60 expect their partner to contribute financial stability.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Sweetie? How would you feel if I only ever had DKK 1,500 to live on? Would that be a problem?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>At the same time, 64 per cent say that emotional safety and practical stability are the most important things in a relationship. For just under half, the most important thing is that their partner is mentally present. 43 per cent say that the most important thing is that their partner can show, and talk about, their emotions.<\/p>\n<p>Are money and emotional presence both necessary? Or can a deficit on one front be compensated by a surplus on the other?<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbSweetie?\u00ab I ask my partner a few days after our night out. \u00bbHow would you feel if I only ever had DKK 1,500 to live on? Would that be a problem?\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>It would probably end up being annoying, she replies. At least if we didn\u2019t find new ways of being together.<\/p>\n<p>This sounds, reassuring? I am certainly left with a sense that I would be a lousy boyfriend if I dragged our standard of living down. I can also see how it affects my friends \u2014 they know I\u2019m doing the experiment, so they have started paying for my beers when we meet after lectures.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t want to keep sponging off my partner and my friends. But I find it hard not to feel like a failure if I end the month \u2014 and the experiment \u2014 in the red.<\/p>\n<p>Do I simply suffer from scarcity anxiey? I find myself thinking back to a school trip to Austria when I was in 7th grade, which for me ended up being all about \u2026 money. That\u2019s a story for next week.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article was first written in Danish and published on 17 February. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.<\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with upcoming events and top University of Copenhagen stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":false,"references":false,"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":3792,"name":"Student life","slug":"student-life","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3792,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":160,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":14,"name":"Portrait Article","slug":"portrait_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":14,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":796,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[{"term_id":5468,"name":"Optional","slug":"optional-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5468,"taxonomy":"translation_priority","description":"","parent":0,"count":672,"filter":"raw"}]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/dsc_55151-1280x858.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188025"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":188081,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188025\/revisions\/188081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}