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German postdoc budget
Oct. 18th, 2014 04:11 pmSince I'm leaving Germany soon, I wanted to write down my current monthly budget, mostly so that I can look back with nostalgia on the relative comfort and simplicity of life here.
The basics of life here are simple and cheap. Groceries are inexpensive. A liter of milk is €0.70 (or $3.38/gal), the most expensive ground coffee at the store is €6.50 for 500 grams ($7.52/lb), apples are €2 per kilo, a loaf of fresh-baked bread is around €1-2, 500g of ground pork/beef is €4 ($4.60 per lb), and a case of twenty half-liter beers is €12 (plus bottle deposit). The grocery store is less than a ten minute walk from my apartment and is open until nearly midnight six days a week (and closed all day Sunday, like all shops).
Not needing to have a car is a huge source of savings. The city is abundantly walkable and bikeable, and, like all German cities, offers comprehensive public transportation. My commute to work is a 30 minute walk through a park. I bring the dog. Public transport tickets are €2.50 ($3.19) for a single trip, €4.90 ($6.25) for a day pass, and €63 ($80) for a month pass.
Long-distance transportation starts to get expensive. A round-trip train ticket to Berlin (284 km / 172 miles by road) on the high-speed ICE train costs €136 ($173) full-fare and takes 1 hour 42 minutes (average speed: 167 km/hr or 104 MPH). However, if you have a discount card and book a few days in advance, it costs only €59 ($75) round-trip. The cost-conscious can travel by rideshare or by bus for as little as €11 each way. Gasoline costs $8-9/gallon, so driving costs about the same as taking the train, and also takes longer. The ICE train is a dream and I will miss it.
Without insurance, a basic visit to the doctor costs €10.20 (although any diagnostic tests can rack up a bill in the €100's), getting a filling at the dentist costs around €60, and a ride in an ambulance around €200. (As a non-tax-paying "foreign guest researcher," I don't pay into the German social system, so these are the prices I pay. Germans, or foreigners with actual work contracts, pay less, since their insurance takes care of it.)
| income | (€2300) | Tax-free academic stipend, 27.6k€/yr = 35k$/yr |
| income tax | 0 | |
| rent | €395.76 | Nice 1 bedroom apt in hip part of town |
| energy | €107.00 | €33 for electricity, €74 for gas |
| health insurance and personal liability insurance | €44.80 | special private insurance for foreign guest researchers |
| transportation in-city | €20.00 | tram tickets |
| car insurance | 0 | car-free! |
| cellphone plan | €15.00 | 3 GB per month at 3G/4G speed |
| DSL + landline phone | €24.95 | Vodafone DSL6000 |
| dog liability insurance | €5.09 | legally required, €10M coverage |
| dog tax | €11.00 | |
| dog food | €10.00 | She's a small dog! |
| university cafeteria | ~€150.00 | estimate, main meal of the day |
| transfer to savings | €1000.00 | |
| student loan payment | $103.72 | lingering American expense! |
| Netflix | $7.99 | |
| Amazon(.de) prime | 0 | Free with academic email addr, total lifesaver! |
| unaccounted | (balance) | eating out, weekend travel, groceries, etc |
The basics of life here are simple and cheap. Groceries are inexpensive. A liter of milk is €0.70 (or $3.38/gal), the most expensive ground coffee at the store is €6.50 for 500 grams ($7.52/lb), apples are €2 per kilo, a loaf of fresh-baked bread is around €1-2, 500g of ground pork/beef is €4 ($4.60 per lb), and a case of twenty half-liter beers is €12 (plus bottle deposit). The grocery store is less than a ten minute walk from my apartment and is open until nearly midnight six days a week (and closed all day Sunday, like all shops).
Not needing to have a car is a huge source of savings. The city is abundantly walkable and bikeable, and, like all German cities, offers comprehensive public transportation. My commute to work is a 30 minute walk through a park. I bring the dog. Public transport tickets are €2.50 ($3.19) for a single trip, €4.90 ($6.25) for a day pass, and €63 ($80) for a month pass.
Long-distance transportation starts to get expensive. A round-trip train ticket to Berlin (284 km / 172 miles by road) on the high-speed ICE train costs €136 ($173) full-fare and takes 1 hour 42 minutes (average speed: 167 km/hr or 104 MPH). However, if you have a discount card and book a few days in advance, it costs only €59 ($75) round-trip. The cost-conscious can travel by rideshare or by bus for as little as €11 each way. Gasoline costs $8-9/gallon, so driving costs about the same as taking the train, and also takes longer. The ICE train is a dream and I will miss it.
Without insurance, a basic visit to the doctor costs €10.20 (although any diagnostic tests can rack up a bill in the €100's), getting a filling at the dentist costs around €60, and a ride in an ambulance around €200. (As a non-tax-paying "foreign guest researcher," I don't pay into the German social system, so these are the prices I pay. Germans, or foreigners with actual work contracts, pay less, since their insurance takes care of it.)
