Munich salaries vs. cost of living

right on men! so no OG, not jealous. in fact i just got a 10% raise. buddy, can you spare a dime?

When the revolution comes. They will be the first to be levelled by the levellers.

What a beautiful day (hey hey), I'm the king of all time, And nothing is impossible,
In my all powerful mind.

You've got me singing that now - though I always preferred that last EP they did - 'Just the One'.

hey go easy on this person
76000 is not that much in the San Francisco areawhere they come from. the poverty line out there is something like 50 or 60 k


from http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cf...=19&ItemID=6360

Sorry. It's 76,000 euros, not dllars. And I am aware of the taxes.
I am new to the forum, so I just posted a reply to an earlier questions, silly me!! Then I proceeded to read on...god people! What's with the attitude?? I feel like I am in 7th grade in a new school and all the kids are super clique-y...NO ONE is boasting of anything. Just wondering if my salary is enough since half of it will go to taxes, and around 40K (euros) does not seem like a lot. But it is true, "comfortable" lifestyle is a relative term by all means. And even though I have visited Germany before, from my touristy outings I can't really tell how much furniture or groceries will cost. Just trying to make some estimates. And someone also rightfully mentioned, San Francisco IS expensive. An average 1 bedroom price is $1,200-1,600 monthly, UNFURNISHED and not even in the best of neighborhoods. A dinner out for two, about 50-70$ on average.

even worse.

@katja - That equates to about $98,000 dollars gross plus paid car. I think for someone who is 24/25 that is going to be enough to live on reasonably well in any country you care to mention with whatever taxes. Why do you even ask?

Congratulations. That's more than enough to live comfortably here.

Hi - In case any of you were wondering, I am considerably richer than yoooouuuuuuu.
/Jimbo points out that this is a joke only English people are likely to get, and even then they have to have been Harry Enfield fans. When he was funny.

@Katja
Pardon my inquisitiveness, but what line of work are you in?

Sex toys...just kidding, software engineer

We should partner then. I am in same business

well, i won't say on this forum how much i earn, but i took your figure of €76k seriously. I thought it was a fair question but not knowing what lifestyle you are coming from it is hard to answer, which is why i said it is not much if you are used to a high-spending consumer-oriented lifestyle. It will get you a good single lifestyle in Munich but there will always be people earning more.

I have recently bought a flat here, i have a wife who is not earning any more and i am starting to struggle on my income (but not seriously, just that in recent years i have never really had to think about how much i am spending, now i do). I have a good salary from a good company with good benefits. I still wouldn't say no to another 20k a year, EVER.

It is all relative, as they say.

Just saw this thread... I'm a native SF person and moved here. Bottom line I found rents to be about 1/2 of "The City". Going out to eat can be from 30-50% more (though I find it's tougher to find a good variety of really good meals for under 7 Euros... nothing like going to the Mission or Tenderloin for Indian). Cocktails... double (and you're not going to get half your drinks for free from your regular bar so that adds more)... but beer... much cheaper and much better.

Overall I find myself spending the same amount here as I did in SF (minus the SF mortgage payment!).

Many other interesting points to make on the Munich/SF transition (good and bad), but won't go into all that.

Thanks. No Seriously, I am making 76,000(GROSS, BRUTTO) Euros and getting the Car Allowance, and this
is not much , as you say in San Francisco, I can go get a good thai meal cheap, and I'm sure
that seafood and asian food are not that good in Munich as they are in SF.
I looked at apartments online, and just to compare , a 1000 dollar single room studio, gets
me a 3 bedroom in Munich for 850 Euro...
I think I will be able to maintain my lifesystle and be okay, I don't run out and get prada/gucci shoes everyday...you know, just every other day ;-]

Hi - we're a middle aged gay couple from North London earning about €150,000 a year - do you think we'll be able to get by on that in Munich? Jellied eels are, so we hear, fuck off expensive in Munich.

Are you sure that is 3 bedroom? Here when they say a 'three room' apartment that includes the living room i.e. 2 bedrooms. Just that price sounds cheap for 3 bedrooms...

Good luck, you will live be able to live well here :-)

February 23rd 1999 was the day he was funny wasn't it?

stop having a go! It was a fair question. One that i was confronted with when i was supposed to take a UK contract. I have never had UK contract before (discounting work placements and McDonalds) so i had no clue how much the salary i was offered really translated into appartments and pints at the pub. i wish i had the opportunity to ask for advice from such an experienced forum (WITHOUT getting attacked!!!)

it said 3 room... i guess that is two bedrooms...i forgot to mention my deadbeat boyfriend is coming with me, just kidding, he is cool, but must learn german before he can start working
...so I will be the main earner for us. I think a 3 room place is a minimum for us,
that is why I am look in the 800-900 Euro ballpark, which is a bargain to San Francisco...
so I guess 76000 Euro for two , Gross salary...

k

@Katja - depends what your boyfriend's line of work is... I don't speak German (yet!) and I am working here. So are several colleagues

He is an International Relations major, speaks Russian, English, and Spanish, but not german
I guess it's not the language of Love... anyways, i hope his chances of getting work are going
to be good.. he is quite sharp...
what are some good places to send him to for Jobs ? I guess Monster .de and such ?

thank you guys...

hmm, you sure you are not in porn business?
Software is not a new term for softcore or softporn is it?

How's about Russia, England or Spain?

monster.de, gulp.de, jobpilot.de and jobserve.com would probably be the favourite search sites.

has there ever been anyone who posted "i just signed a contract for 30k a year. Will I be able to live on that in Munich. BTW, I am currently living in Fargo, North Dakota"?.

@katja and her United Nations squeeze

Welcome to Munich (when you come). I'm new too.

I can imagine it will be very different from Frisco. I would consider a trip out first to check it out and find a flat. Get your bosses to pay and also to line you up with a relocation service who will drive you around some flats so you can be up and running when you arrive.

Finding a decent flat here is, well, testing.

Any more nasty comments from TTers and I'll sock you one.

I say ditch the boyfriend and lavish some of that lovely money on a poor starving (yet extremely talented and good looking) boy who will really appreciate it.

Now she's gonna think we are a bunch of perves . . . (!)

(rubs polyester "slacks" and drools)

Be carefull, UNFURNISHED in Germany gives new meaning to the word. Be prepared to buy a kitchen when you move in. Mr Lodge (advertised here) did really good by us when he found a furnished house right outside Munich. I am 10 minutes from my office in Liam on the West side of Munich. I have my wife and two children here and we do OK on a little less that 75K.

Listen Mate,

with 52,000euro a year you should be doing quite well! Just remember to keep all of your receits, you can use just about everything here as a tax reduction, given a good enough reason. Good luck...

Listen Mate,

with 52,000euro a year you should be doing quite well! Just remember to keep all of your receits, you can use just about everything here as a tax reduction, given a good enough reason. Good luck...

Those that are jealous: At least a 3rd of that 75k will be taxed at 45% (highest tax bracket).

So, she ain't earning loads more than you (after tax)... whatever you may think. However, she may be rather good at what she does, and hence may be worth the money. Now there's a thought!

Still, I know a guy that just started with Boston Consulting. E 100k + car + all expenses. 27 years old, speaks not-so-good german (writes it well, however). It is his first job. He has a PhD in Engineering, but is just a normal business consultant at Boston. Writes most of his reports in English anyway...

Right! I'm off to win the lottery.

Don't worry I don't think anyone here is a perve, well at least not judging from any of these postings. I am russian, and believe me, it is hard to top the sleaziness of russian men.

Hang around TT for some more time and I am sure that opinion will change in no time

Yeah, I think roots is right... and being from SF you don't figure all those posts on craigslist rants/raves or casual encounters are from Russian guys?

@Katja Good for you. Cracking Salary. Puts you in the top 10% for our profession. Hope it's a German contract with 30 days hols etc. Shop around for your private Health care (Your company should pay half anyway) and careful when you fill out all your forms. you can save money by opting out of the Religious tax which goes to those kiddy fiddlers in the Catholic church.

Good luck

DO NOT use Mr. Lodge - the rudest, most unco-operataive letting agency I have ever dealt with. I cannot stress strongly enough how much I urge you to use somebody else or do it privately.

@Jimbo
Can you give a couple of examples please? I am not trying to be argumentative, I'm actually interested since I've seen a lot of positive feedback for them on the site... Thanks.

there is a whole thread on bad experiences with Mr-Let. you don't haver to just take Jimbo's word for it.

Always a pleasure Mr. Winnfield - why don't you have a look at this whole thread devoted to the slimey and unfair working practices of Mr. Lodge. As you can see, not everybody hates Mr. Lodge, but in my personal experience they were hugely unfair, and I would never recommend using them - had my company not been footing the bill I would certainly have sought a legal resolution, and feel quite sure that I would have won.

Thanks for that - I'd missed that thread!

Sorry to here that but it was not my experience but then again they found my furnished house the same day. I also did not deal directly with them. In my opinion it is critical to find and have your company pay for a relocation company here who will deal with these people directly so you don't have. They will do so many things for you and give tips and help you settle in. The services and support they provide is worth the money.

In additon she may want to find a furnished apt which not too many agencies do.

All true, but Mr. Lodge charge a month's rent (i.e. over €1k), for shabby service - I'm sure there are better ways. I would speak to a complete relocation agent - i.e. somebody that can help with everything - cheaper, and probably better.

hi everyone,

found this forum while i was searching for tax rates in germany. i am offered a postdoc position for 60000 euros in munich. from what i read here, it sounds like what i could take home after tax cuts is around 2500 euros a month.
the other post doc jobs i am offered here in the us pay around $40-45k. i thought that i would be making more in germany (with 60k euro a year). but did not realize the higher tax cuts.
one of the reasons i wanted to take the job in munich was that i could save some money. is it possible to save money making 60k?

thanks all for your inputs!

You single postdoc? Bringing family will make a big difference. Assuming you're single, fancy a reasonable, one bedroom pad in a reasonably central part of town I should think 60k will be just fine - allow say 1k for rent and you've still got €1,500 to play with every month (roughly) which should be plenty to keep a single guy ticking over quite nicely - your lifestyle can get quite expensive in MUC though - I intended to save money and ended up no better off when I left than when I arrived. Well, except for a girlfriend that is. (only because I was out practically every night).

Yeah Jimbo...How can you save money when you keep buying rounds upon rounds of Baby Guinesses at GMs every night?

@ postdoc

I stand to be corrected but if you are working for a government agency as a post-doc (university, scientific institute etc) the wage for post-docs is set and is considerably lower that 60,000 (I'll try to find out exactly how much). If this is the case, just double check with your employer that you got the right information.

If you are working in the free market then maybe there is flexibility in the wages. Hopefully for you, that is the case.

thanks jimbo for your reply. yes, i am single (and female if it makes a difference

i don't get out of bed for less than eleventy billion dollars but that's just me