Your Guide to Smart Spending – September 10

Buying pre-owned is a great way to save, but the same platforms work in the other direction too – clearing out the things you no longer use can put some money back in your pocket and clear space on your shelves too.

If you're willing to put in a bit of effort, Kleinanzeigen and Vinted will get you the most per item. Kleinanzeigen needs no introduction – it's the go-to for pretty much anything, from furniture to electronics. Vinted is the best option for clothes, shoes and accessories, though these days you can sell plenty of other things there too. The catch is that you're dealing with buyers directly: writing listings, answering messages, agreeing on prices and sorting out postage or pickup. It's more lucrative, but also more time-consuming, so it's the better choice when your items are worth enough to justify the hassle.

If you'd rather keep things simple, some platforms buy your stuff outright and handle the reselling themselves. You send in your items, they assess them and pay you a fixed amount – far less per item than selling directly, but the whole thing takes minutes instead of hours. Momox* is the big one in this category: use the Momox Books & Media section of the app/website for books, films, games and music (they will be later sold on Medimops*, which is where I buy all my books), and the Momox Clothes section to sell your clothes. On Zalando, you can sell some of the items you bought from them back through their resale program.

And finally, the old-school option: an actual flea market. In Berlin, a stand runs about €40 to €50, and you can split it with a friend or two if you don't have enough to fill one yourself. I did exactly that a couple of months ago – I cleared some clutter, made some cash and, unexpectedly, had a really fun day out of it. Highly recommend it as a weekend activity!

I went through a full-on beauty box era back when I was experimenting more with beauty products. If you've never tried a beauty box: you pay a fixed price and get a mix of full-size and travel-size products, and the total value is much higher than what you paid. It's usually a good deal if you're open to trying new products and brands.

The September box from Blissim* (formerly known as Glossybox) comes with a free Elizabeth Arden HPR-retinol and ceramide eye cream if you're a new customer and use the code ELIZABETHARDEN (advertisement) by September 30.

The Blissim box costs €17.95 a month with shipping included, and this offer comes with a three-month commitment; to stop after the November box, you need to cancel at least 15 days before the term ends (so by mid-November). Otherwise it continues as a normal monthly subscription, which you can cancel any time by the 12th of the month. Three boxes come to €53.85, and the eye cream alone (RRP €33.91) covers most of what you pay. Get your Blissim box here*.

ING* is one of Germany's biggest and best banks, and right now they're paying you €200 for opening your first current account by September 30. This works with the standard Girokonto or with the Girokonto Future (the same account plus €1 a month that goes to a social or environmental project of your choice). To get the bonus, tick ING's marketing consent box (Tipps für Sie persönlich), log into the ING app at least once with your credentials, and have two consecutive monthly deposits within the first four months – €1,000 each from age 28, or €700 if you're under 28 (partial payments work). The money has to come from salary, pension, Kindergeld or BAföG; self-transfers, cash deposits and money from selling investments don't count. The promo also works for joint accounts.

There's also a bonus on top if you also open your first Direct Depot, which takes the total to €300. A Depot is a securities account, which is where you hold investments like ETFs and stocks – ING's Depot* comes with a €100 Wunschgutschein gift voucher, which you can spend at hundreds of online and high-street shops. For the €100 voucher you need to open both accounts (in either order) by September 15, set up a savings plan of at least €100 per month, and have at least three savings plan executions by December 15. The depot isn't required for the €200 – think of it as a cherry on top.

The account also comes with a savings account, which is opened automatically with the current account if you don't already have one. New current account customers currently get 3.75% p.a. on this account for the first four months on balances up to €250,000; afterwards, the variable rate applies (currently 0.75%).

€200 is a high bonus for a free account, and €300 is possibly the highest I've ever seen in Germany. I'm planning to sign up for this one myself. Open your ING account here*.

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Money-back grocery and household product promos are one of the easiest ways to cut everyday costs. A lot of promotions from previous issues are still active – you can find them all here if you'd like to try more. For more free grocery products, Rewe product tests are worth a look as well.