Inside Gekås: Shoppers Reveal Their Budgets and Spending Habits

Five shoppers at Gekås in Ullared share their receipts and the truth about their budgets.

Gekås is a massive department store with 82 (!) cash registers. During the summer, doors open at 6:00 AM, and there's already a line.

Each year, 133 million items pass through the registers, meaning the store is essentially emptied three times a week during peak season. The average customer spends 15 SEK per minute.

How does this impact personal finances?

Here, five shoppers share how much they budgeted and what they actually spent.

Martina Larsson, 24, Ingrid Larsson, 55, Eva Larsson, age undisclosed, Trelleborg.

• Purchased: Horse gear, dog gear, pillows, and some groceries, like sausages.
• Receipt: 12,000 SEK (exactly).
• Budget: 10,000 SEK.
• Result: Exceeded by 2,000 SEK, a 20% increase.

What happened?

"It was the pillows," says grandmother Eva Larsson.

"But it doesn't matter, this was what we planned to do today," she adds.

The three generations from Trelleborg have a tradition of a girls' day. Once a year, they drive to Gekås and shop together. A couple of thousand SEK here or there doesn't matter, they say.

"We do this mainly to meet," says Ingrid Larsson.

Alexandra Johansson, 25, Norrköping.

• Purchased: Storage boxes in various sizes, mainly for flour and other pantry items.
• Receipt: 1,527 SEK.
• Budget: 2,000 SEK.
• Result: Nearly 500 SEK under budget. The focus was storage, and the boxes were unexpectedly cheap, allowing Alexandra Johansson to spend less than planned.

She usually shops at Gekås once a year. This time, she was in the area and decided to stop by the store.

"I've been on a road trip on the West Coast with my mom, so we decided to finish here in Ullared," she says.

What are you most satisfied with?

"I bought a few different things, but the best are the storage boxes. The most expensive one cost 49 SEK, I'm very pleased with that."

Anna Lundh, 51, and Claes Lundh, 51, from Skene.

• Purchased: Everything for the outdoor kitchen.
• Receipt: 6,101.40 SEK
• Budget: 6,000 SEK.
• Result: Exceeded by a hundred SEK.

So close to staying within budget?

"We did, at first. But then we added Snickers and gum, and it went over," say Anna and Claes Lundh.

The focus was to equip the newly built outdoor kitchen: cushions, blankets, potted plants, a pizza oven, and a pizza paddle.

"Or an unusually large fly swatter, you can use it for whatever you want," says Claes Lundh.

An ice bucket is also part of the new kitchen equipment. Now they have everything they need—or almost.

"Everything except a chalkboard. They had one, but it was too small. So we'll buy that elsewhere," says Anna Lundh.

Marita Kölborg, Falköping, with Helene Kölborg and Liam Kölborg, Vara.

• Purchased: Clothes and yarn.
• Receipt: 5,684 SEK.
• Budget: 6,000 SEK.
• Result: Solidly under budget.

The Kölborg family aimed to stay under 6,000 SEK and did so brilliantly. Yet, they don't keep a close watch while shopping in the store.

"But it can't be too much, we have to be able to get out of there," says Helene Kölborg.

Normally, the family shops at Gekås a couple of times a year. Marita Kölborg hoards yarn, "good quality," she says.

"Plastic bags are also very cheap. Plus, it's nice that everything is in one place."

Is shopping fun, or a necessary evil?

"It's fun!" all three say.

Emelie and Jonatan Erikson and son Frank, 1.5 years old, who live in Ullared.

• Purchased: Food, baby products, buckets for the farm animals.
• Receipt: 3,533 SEK.
• Budget: No exact amount, "we expected to land around there."
• Result: Everyday shopping that stayed within limits.

The Erikson family is just six minutes from Gekås, so for them, it's not a shopping temple but a local convenience store. Today, baby products were the main items on the shopping list, "but there was a bit of everything." Plastic buckets for the barn, for example.

Maria Rydhagen & Jens Christian at Gekås, Ullared