The 3 biggest Swiss household expenses, and the only one you can cut every week

Updated regularly. Before you try to save money in Switzerland, it helps to know where the money actually goes. The Federal Statistical Office (BFS) measures this in its Household Budget Survey (HABE); the latest edition (2023 reporting year, published November 2025) shows three big blocks that together swallow more than half of gross income. The uncomfortable truth: the three biggest are almost impossible to move in the short term. The one large expense you can change every single week is groceries.

Rappn is the only neutral grocery price comparison app in Switzerland, with no commercial agreement with any retailer. Migros, Coop, Aldi, Lidl, Denner, Aligro and Otto's do not pay us to rank them, and nothing below is sponsored.

What are the biggest expenses in a Swiss household?

According to BFS (HABE 2023), the largest items for the average household are: housing and energy at CHF 1'449 per month (14.0 percent of gross income, the single largest consumption item), the obligatory charges of taxes (CHF 1'245, 12.0 percent) plus social insurance contributions (around 10.3 percent), and the mandatory basic health-insurance premium (around CHF 690, 6.7 percent). The obligatory expenses alone add up to CHF 3'154 per month, or 30.5 percent of gross income. Food comes only after that: around CHF 632 per month for food and non-alcoholic drinks bought for home (about 6.3 percent). Add eating out (restaurants and take-away) and the total rises noticeably further.

Why are groceries the only weekly lever?

Rent, taxes and social insurance are fixed by contract or by law, and change only at the next deadline at the earliest. Health insurance can at least be switched once a year (cancel by 30 November for a 1 January change); the AXA Wechselreport 2026 puts the average realised saving for active switchers at CHF 426 per year. But all of that happens at most once annually. Groceries, by contrast, you buy again every week, and each week a different promotion cycle decides where your basket is cheapest. That is what makes food the only large budget line you can influence continuously: Kassensturz (SRF) and K-Tipp have shown repeatedly that switching from name brands to budget own-brands saves 30 to 50 percent, and that the cheapest chain changes by week and category.

In what order should you tackle it?

Once you know how often each item can actually move, the order almost picks itself: lock in the big levers that open only once a year first, then build the weekly routine that works for you the rest of the year. That way you never miss a deadline, and you let the small weekly wins add up across twelve months.

1. Once a year: health insurance. This is the single biggest lever. Cancel by 30 November for a 1 January change. According to the AXA Wechselreport 2026, active switchers save CHF 426 per year on average, and a higher franchise can take the saving up to around CHF 1'540 per year.
2. Check telecom and subscriptions. Another once-a-year decision: moving from a standard mobile plan (Swisscom blue Mobile S, CHF 71.80 per month) to a cheaper provider (Wingo unlimited, CHF 27.95 per month) saves around CHF 526 per year. Once switched, the saving keeps running on its own.
3. Make groceries the weekly routine. Finally comes the only item that counts afresh every week. Budget own-brands cost 30 to 50 percent less than name brands, and the cheapest chain changes week after week.

You settle the big yearly decisions once and tick them off; groceries stay your weekly lever, the one that compounds across the whole year.

The catch: every chain rotates its promotions weekly, and the same item is cheapest at Migros one week, Coop the next, a discounter the week after. That research is exactly what the Rappn price comparison does for you. For the full breakdown of what an average household spends, see average household expenses; for how to cut the fixed costs once a year, see the fixed-cost switching calendar. Download Rappn and let it optimise your next weekly basket.