- Verzekeringen : verplicht WA en vaak inboedel, rechtsbijstand - Belastingen - Sparen voor onzekere tijden - Sparen voor reizen
9 months ago
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Missing is saving money. Almost every traditional Dutch household budget includes it. Its usually not for something specific but its more like its seen as a virtue in its own right. It could be used later in life for a downpayment on a house, unexpected repairs on a car or a special holiday to a desirable bucket list destination. How much each month should be saved really depends on the amount of disposable income of course but I'd say a 100 a month is on the low end of the spectrum. But I suggest you include in a dedicated category because, like I said, it makes your budget seem more "Dutch".
9 months ago (edited)
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I think taxes is missing. And in my opinion the transportation is not nearly high enough but I guess it depends. Like if someone takes a train to work that would be way more, but if they mostly bike and only take the train a couple times a month that's alright.
9 months ago
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I think it is accurate, with the only additions that pension is something that might be covered by your employer (so those 250 could be like savings) and restaurants at 300 means that you really go out to nice places every weekend and the 175 at "fun" could also be a one off rather than a constant. As other people mentioned in comments, it is a lot about lifestyle choices..
9 months ago
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As others mention, €300 for groceries is a lot. Although cooking for 1 is harder than for two. We budget €500 per month for groceries for two. You could do some batch cooking or perhaps use something like Sortedfood YouTube channel's Sidekick to spread ingredients over dishes in a smart way. When busy using meals from catering services might be a healthier option than supermarkets meals. they are between €6 €10 per meal and delivery is frozen or fresh for the fridge. We use Freasy from Rotterdam and het Weerdje from Zelhem. Recently I started to appreciate tinned food more in terms of no waste and price. I grew up with all fresh
9 months ago
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There's municipality and water taxes, depending on the city they can be around 80 euros a month. I believe you can look up online what they are for any given city.
9 months ago
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It does. The silly high rent or house prices is why I don't live in Amsterdam or the Hague.
9 months ago
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I'm looking for work in the Netherlands. This helps me give an average of what people spend. I'm looking outside of Amesterdam though. Is the budget the same? Thanks!
9 months ago
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Move to the countryside folks. I think I’m done with like 2000 per month
9 months ago
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The Hague seems about right for free market. I live with my partner with my monthlys being about 1350€/mth. Living alone the rent alone would kill me more than it already does. Easily double what I currently expense. But I mentioned free market. Theres also quite generous government assistance for social housing and stuff. Which can bring down monthlys. So you dont have to be on market rates and you dont have to be struggling either.
9 months ago (edited)
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I don't know about other people, but the people I know would spend about half that on restaurants/ drinks per month because most people eat at home
9 months ago
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300 for groceries is a LOT though, I can do for like half that if you go to the right supermarkets (lidl/aldi)
9 months ago
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Pension is usually payed by your employer. So its not something you have to keep in mind in budget overall. Unless you are doing extra saving in pension. Dont forget the bsgw. It can be yearly or monthly
9 months ago
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Hi man, welcome back. Only commenting on the Amsterdam section, as I don't live in Den Haag. Rent seems about right, depending on where you live and the state of your house. However, a lot of people live in social housing. Their rent is on average around 550. I used to live at the spuistraat (about 25 meters from your old home!) and paid only 400 in rent. And did you know that as of July 1th we have a new rent regulation law, that sees to regulating a lot of the former vrije sector huur. A lot of former quite expensive houses are now rent controlled. Utilities seem on the low side. I think utilities alone are 250 (don't forget waterschapsbelasting and gemeentelijke belasting). 300 in groceries is on the low side for me, but I never order takeout and hardly ever go to restaurants, so it might be right for you. I don't get why you include the pension. Are you self employed? Most people with a loondienstbaan have a pensioen partly paid by their employer and nobody thinks of that as expense. Technically I pay around 250 for my pensioen, but since I don't see it on my bank account, I don't count that as income or savings/expenses. Looking forward to your video!
9 months ago
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Utilities\phone\streaming can be much more expensive Utilities: depending on insulation and\or m³ electricity, gas, water can be €50 to €250 a month. Fiber Internet at home+tv:€30 to €100 a month Iphone 15 with 20gb datalimit is €55 p\m at odido(tmobile). Low end phone or used with 20gb is about €15-€20. Any streaming: hbo\viaplay\netflix\spotify\premium adds about €10 a month each. Some fiber at home providers have some bundles or some streaming included. Streaming is a really complicated mess
9 months ago
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It’s all about lifestyle. But like your overview shows, The Hague may be a little bit less expensive on housing. Other than that not much difference. Take care David…
9 months ago
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Groceries and restaurants/drinks seem way too high for a single person. Even if you go to a restaurant four times a month you wouldn't be spending that much. If transportation includes transportation needed to get to work (i.e., your job doesn't give you compensation for that), then it might be more. If it's fully covered maybe not, but I can see eighty euros being a reasonable average overall.
9 months ago
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David Wen
People living in The Netherlands 🇳🇱, can I get your input? Does this monthly budget make sense for living in a big city? (Single person, assume they can afford to live in the city, lives alone, full-time job)
What's missing/wrong? (Would love any feedback you have)
Doing an analysis for a video...thanks so much 🙏
On another note...I just came back from the US (interesting times) and look forward to enjoying the summer in NL. Hope you have a nice one,
David ☀️
9 months ago | [YT] | 48