Your Guide to Smart Spending | July 22

💰️ Not Happy With Your Purchase? Speak Up

Not satisfied with the quality of something you bought? Don’t just sigh and move on. In Germany — and across the EU — you’re legally entitled to a two-year statutory warranty (“Gewährleistung”) on new consumer goods (electronics, household appliance, furniture, and even clothes). The product must have a defect that existed at the time of delivery – if the product wears down from normal use, that’s not covered.

I recently tested this in action: my Fitbit smartwatch died at 1.5 years old after succumbing to sun and pool water despite being allegedly waterproof. Only a couple of emails later, Fitbit not only replaced it — they upgraded me to a newer model.

Apart from legal protection, many brands also offer product warranties or go above and beyond to keep customers satisfied — even when they’re not legally required to. Liforme sent me a brand-new yoga mat (worth €120) when mine lost its grip. Amazon immediately refunds money for products that are not typically returnable (like beauty or food items) if you complain about their quality — and you don't even have to send them back. Wolt and HelloFresh give you partial refunds if you raise an issue with a dish or ingredients you received, nearly no questions asked.

Even if the brand doesn’t have an official refund policy for your case, it’s always worth asking (nicely): “What can you do about this?” You’d be surprised how many brands would rather keep you as a future customer by making it right with you.

🔥 This Week’s Best Deals

🎧 90 Days of Podcasts and Audiobooks Free

If you mostly use Spotify for podcasts, here’s a way to save three months of subscription fees. Podimo, a Danish podcast and audiobook app that recently launched in Germany, is offering a free 90-day trial if you sign up until July 27. Think Spotify Premium meets Audible: most audiobooks are in German, but the podcast lineup includes all the English-language hits from Huberman Lab and The Tim Ferriss Show to Radiolab and every other podcast you think of. There are also many podcasts for German language learners, such as Coffee Break German, Easy German, News in Slow German and more. Get your free 90-day trial here.

🛍️ Amazon Launches Haul

Amazon is trying to take on Temu and Shein with its new “Haul” section — a curated feed of ultra-cheap finds (think under €20). It’s mobile-only and delivery takes 1–2 weeks, presumably because most of it ships from China. Shipping is free on orders over €25, and there’s a sliding discount if you buy more: 5% off if you spend over €50, 10% off over €75.

Should you care? Maybe. A lot of what you see on regular Amazon already comes from Chinese suppliers — same product, same photo, just a made-up “brand” name slapped on and triple the price. Haul cuts that middle step and the price markup, so if you’re not in a rush and don’t have high expectations on quality, this might be worth a look. Explore Haul here.

📎 SteuerGo: €5 Discount on Tax Returns

The tax deadline is just around the corner — you’ve got until July 31 to file your 2024 return without penalty if filing is mandatory for you. SteuerGo is one of the easiest tools for doing this: a modern online tax service that walks you through your return step by step, available in English, German, Polish and Russian. The code FRUEH-5 gets you €5 off (from the regular price of €34.95) until Jul 25.

If you’re not required to file, this deadline doesn’t apply to you – you can still submit your declaration voluntarily for up to 4 years back, and you probably should because filing a tax return allows you to deduct commuting costs (by any means of transportation, even if you bike), work-from-home flat rate, moving expenses, cleaning services and many other things. It takes about 20 minutes to potentially get a few hundred euros back — don’t miss the opportunity!

Not sure where to start? Read my Tax Return 101 guide and then check this and this article to learn more about tax deductions. Or skip all that and just follow SteuerGo’s built-in questionnaire that helps you figure out what you can deduct. File your tax return here.

🎁 Freebies

• Kinder Milch-Schnitte: If you’ve been reading Smart Living for some time, you know we don’t skip a Kinder freebie around here. Buy the 10-pack promotional pack with the “Jetzt gratis testen” label. You’ll find a code inside the packaging — enter it at this link, fill out the form, and get your money back. Valid until October 31.

• Eat Natural bars: Apparently Ferrero makes fruit and nut bars under Eat Natural brand (who knew?), and now you can test a whole pack for free. Buy either a single bar or a 3-pack multipack, photograph the receipt and upload it here. Valid until August 17, capped at 30,000 redemptions.

• Granini FRESH: Buy any 0.75L bottle from the FRESH range (lightly sparkling fruit juice blends like peach or grapefruit-rosemary) until September 30, and upload your receipt at here until October 14. Limited to 8,000 redemptions weekly, so best to submit early in the week.

Money-back promos are one of the most underrated ways to save money on shopping in Germany. Some offers from the previous issues (see here, here, here and here) are still running too — check them out! If you want to test more food products for free, take a look at the Rewe product test page as well.