How to save money in Iceland

Your union may help with costs beyond your pay and working conditions. Depending on your union, you may find help with:

• Time off: holiday-home rentals, flights or accommodation.
• Health: a psychologist, physical therapy, dental care or other medical costs.
• Exercise: gym fees, fitness classes or equipment.
• Learning: courses, tuition or study materials.
• Family: children's activities or school supplies.

See what VR's member fund, Efling's grants, BHM's holiday fund and Sameyki's grants (say: SAH-meh-kee) cover. These are examples, not a list of benefits for every member.

Find your union on your payslip or ask your employer. Check its current rules before paying: eligibility, available funds and receipts differ.

For furniture, electronics and household items, try Bland.is, a site where people and shops list used and new goods. You agree on collection and payment with the seller.

For clothes and other used goods, try Red Cross shops, Góði hirðirinn (say: GOH-thi HEER-thir-in, meaning “the good shepherd”), a reuse shop run by SORPA, or Hertex, the Salvation Army's second-hand shops. Check each site for current locations.

Some shops sell last season's clothes and shoes at lower prices. They may call these shops “outlets.” The goods are older stock, not necessarily damaged. Sizes and stock vary.

In Reykjavík, the Skeifan and Faxafen area (say: SKAY-van, FAX-a-fen) has several of these shops close together: the 66°Norður outlet (Faxafen 12), ZO•ON Outlet and Sportís (Skeifan 11), Útilíf (Skeifan 11d) and Icewear Outlet (Fákafen 9). Holtagarðar is another shopping area where shops may sell older stock. Check the shop's own site for its current location and prices before going.

Some brands also hold a lagersala (say: LAH-ger-sah-la, meaning “warehouse sale”), with bigger discounts for a short time. Autumn is a good time to buy winter clothes this way.

See which shops have sales right now in Discounts and sales in The Companion Edition.

If you use Nova, an Icelandic phone company, its FyrirÞig offers (say: FEER-ir theeg, meaning “for you”) include “2 fyrir 1” (say: tveir FIR-ir einn, meaning “two for one”). You need a Nova phone plan. Open the offer in the Nova app, get the code and check where and when it works before booking. Some offers cover cinema, food or activities.

Banks also have different kinds of rewards. Fríða (say: FREE-tha) is Íslandsbanki's programme in its app. Activate an offer, pay with an Íslandsbanki card and get money back into the account you chose, usually in a monthly refund. It is not an instant price cut.

Aukakrónur (say: OW-kah-KROW-nur, meaning “extra krónur”) is Landsbankinn's programme. Eligible cards collect value that you can spend with partners. Arion Rewards, called Arion fríðindi (say: FREE-thin-di, meaning “benefits”) in Icelandic, offers different benefits based on the services you use. It is not the same as cash back at every shop.

Check your own card or phone provider's current conditions. Do not sign up for a paid service just for a discount without comparing the total cost.

A voucher lets you pay for something now and use it later. Hópkaup (say: HOHP-koeyp, meaning “group buy”) is one place to find offers for goods or services. Aha also lists discounted vouchers, but these are not necessarily group-buy offers.

Before paying, check the expiry date, booking rules and what is included. Hópkaup says some deals only become active if enough people buy them. A discount only helps if you will use the voucher.

For current offers, see Discounts and sales in The Companion Edition.

For groceries, compare the price per kilo or litre, not only the shelf price. The ASÍ price comparison site lets you search products and compare unit prices. No shop is cheapest for everything.

For clothes, look for end-of-season sales if you can wait. Shopping centres such as Kringlan and Smáralind announce their current offers and sale periods on their own sites.

Sale dates change. Check the current offer before making a trip.

For bank accounts, pensions and investing, see Money & investment. This page covers everyday spending.