Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Desde janeiro, eu tenho feito uma pequena poupança todos os meses. - Since January, I have been making a small saving every month.

Desde janeiro, eu tenho feito uma pequena poupança todos os meses.
= Since January, I have been making a small saving every month. (repeated / ongoing)

If you said:

Desde janeiro, eu faço uma pequena poupança todos os meses.

this would be understandable, but in European Portuguese it sounds more like a habitual fact, not strongly emphasizing the idea of “from January until now, repeatedly”. The version with tenho feito highlights the ongoing, repeated character more clearly.

You could also say:

Desde janeiro, eu tenho poupado um pouco de dinheiro todos os meses.

Here tenho poupado (I have been saving) focuses more directly on the act of saving money, not on the “saving” as a result.

Is tenho feito the same as the English present perfect (“I have done”)?

Not exactly. This is a very common source of confusion.

In English, present perfect (“I have done”) is very broad: result up to now, experiences, unspecified time, etc.
In European Portuguese, pretérito perfeito composto (tenho feito) is much narrower: it is mainly used for repeated or continuous actions from a point in the past up to now.

So:

Tenho feito uma pequena poupança desde janeiro.
≈ “I have been making a small saving since January.” (repeated/ongoing)

But for a single completed action like:

“I have bought a car.”

Portuguese normally uses pretérito perfeito simples, not tenho + participle:

Comprei um carro. (not tenho comprado um carro)

So do not automatically translate English “have done” with tenho feito. In European Portuguese, reserve ter + particípio mainly for repeated or ongoing actions from the past up to the present.

Why is desde janeiro used here, and what exactly does desde mean?

Desde means “since” when you talk about the starting point of an action that continues until now.

Desde janeiro, eu tenho feito…
= Since January, I have been doing…

You use desde:

with a specific point in time:
- desde janeiro (since January)
- desde 2022 (since 2022)
- desde ontem (since yesterday)
often together with present or pretérito perfeito composto when the situation still continues.

You do not use há or por in this sentence:

❌ Há janeiro, eu tenho feito… – incorrect
❌ Por janeiro, eu tenho feito… – incorrect

You could also say (very common in Portugal):

Desde janeiro que tenho feito uma pequena poupança todos os meses.

Here que just links the time expression to the clause; the meaning is practically the same: “Since January (that) I have been making …”

Could I say “Desde janeiro, eu estou a fazer uma pequena poupança…” instead?

You can say:

Desde janeiro, eu estou a fazer uma pequena poupança todos os meses.

and people will understand you, but there is a nuance:

estou a fazer = I am (currently) doing / in the process of doing
tenho feito = I have been doing it repeatedly or regularly up to now

Because the sentence already has “todos os meses” (every month), tenho feito is more natural in European Portuguese to express this repeated, habitual action from January until now.

Estou a fazer is usually more for something that is happening around now (this period, this week, these days) rather than a clearly repeated monthly habit from a specific past starting point.

Why is it uma pequena poupança and not um pequeno poupança?

Because poupança is a feminine noun in Portuguese.

a poupança = the saving / the savings (as a lump of money you’ve put aside)
uma poupança = a saving

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun:

uma pequena poupança
- uma (feminine singular)
- pequena (feminine singular)
- poupança (feminine singular)

So:

✅ uma pequena poupança
❌ um pequeno poupança (wrong gender agreement)

Why is the adjective before the noun: pequena poupança instead of poupança pequena?

In Portuguese, adjectives normally come after the noun:

uma poupança pequena

However, many common adjectives (like bom, mau, grande, pequeno, velho, novo) can come before or after the noun, and the position can slightly affect the nuance.

uma pequena poupança
sounds more like a set phrase: “a small amount of savings”, a bit more natural and idiomatic here.
uma poupança pequena
is also correct, but can sound more descriptive/neutral, like you are judging the size of that saving in a more literal way.

In this context, uma pequena poupança is the most idiomatic choice.

What exactly does poupança mean? Is it “saving”, “savings”, or “savings account”?

Poupança can mean:

Savings (money you have put aside)
- Tenho alguma poupança para emergências.
  = I have some savings for emergencies.
A saving (a saved amount)
- Consegui uma grande poupança na conta da luz.
  = I managed a big saving on the electricity bill.
In context, it can also refer to a savings account, especially in bank language:
- conta poupança or conta de poupança = savings account.

In your sentence:

uma pequena poupança
most naturally means “a small amount of money I’ve been putting aside”, i.e. some savings.

If you want to emphasize the act, you might say:

Tenho poupado um pouco de dinheiro todos os meses.
(I have been saving a bit of money every month.)

Why is it todos os meses and not todo mês like in some Brazilian Portuguese?

In European Portuguese, the standard way to say every month is:

todos os meses = literally “all the months”

You can also say:

todos os meses = every month
em todos os meses = in every month (more formal/emphatic)

The form todo mês is more typical of Brazilian Portuguese, especially in speech. In Portugal, todos os meses is strongly preferred.

Also note the spelling:

mês (singular, with accent)
meses (plural, no accent)

So the correct plural is meses, not mêses.

Could I say cada mês instead of todos os meses?

Yes, you can say:

Desde janeiro, eu tenho feito uma pequena poupança cada mês.

but in European Portuguese, todos os meses is far more natural in everyday speech.

Nuance:

todos os meses = standard, very common: “every month”
cada mês = also correct, feels a bit more formal, bookish, or “one by one” in tone.

So the original todos os meses is the most idiomatic choice for normal conversation.

Is it necessary to say eu, or could it just be Desde janeiro, tenho feito…?

The subject pronoun eu is optional here.

Desde janeiro, eu tenho feito uma pequena poupança todos os meses.
Desde janeiro, tenho feito uma pequena poupança todos os meses.

Both are correct.

In Portuguese, the verb ending usually makes the subject clear:

tenho → clearly first person singular (eu)

So speakers often omit the pronoun unless they want to add:

emphasis:
- Desde janeiro, eu tenho feito… (maybe contrasting with someone else who hasn’t)
or clarity in more complex sentences.

In a normal, neutral statement, omitting eu is very natural:

Desde janeiro, tenho feito uma pequena poupança todos os meses.

Could I put desde janeiro at the end, like “Eu tenho feito uma pequena poupança todos os meses desde janeiro”?

Yes, that is perfectly correct:

Eu tenho feito uma pequena poupança todos os meses desde janeiro.

Word order is quite flexible with time expressions. You can say:

Desde janeiro, eu tenho feito uma pequena poupança todos os meses.
Eu tenho feito uma pequena poupança todos os meses desde janeiro.
Eu, desde janeiro, tenho feito uma pequena poupança todos os meses. (more marked/emphatic)

They all mean the same; the difference is just what you highlight first. Putting desde janeiro at the beginning slightly emphasizes the starting point in time.