Cost of living in Amsterdam

Hi Everyone,

A friend of mine received an offer from Amsterdam. He will be living there for a year to work on his doctorate thesis and receive a stipend of 1.200 EUR/month.

We are already looking for information on the Internet and asking the people who made the offer, but I would also like to hear some personal opinions from those TT members who are familiar with the city and its living conditions.

The first question is, how much more does he need (or whether he can survive with 1.200 EUR/month there)? Lodging is NOT part of the package and he does not know the details of health insurance yet. Since the deal is for a year only, he will probably need a furnished flat (one bedroom or possibly studio).

Any ideas/advice?

Thanks

I finished working on a project in Ams in November - it isn't a cheap city. I would add that I was on rather a bit more than your friend will be getting, but I knew students.
In many respects, it is comparable to the more expensive places in Germany like Munich in prices (food & accom), but there are still some possibilities at the lower end for people on student type budgets.

Your friend may be able to find a room in a flat-share for 300-400 Eur/mo and that would incl extras like power gas and most importantly access to the DSL. Health insurance can be had under the public scheme for almost nothing but he needs a local SOFI number. If he wants, there are usually a few jobs around suitable for non-NL speakers like bar-work, etc., especially in the tourist areas.

If he smokes alot of dope then maybe the savings will be worth it..

It took more than an hour for someone to crack a dope joke. TT is losing its touch .

Thanks hughk. I sent him the information you provided.

Another detail might be useful here. He is 36 and he is a project manager in an NGO. There is a chance that he will continue his job via remote access and receive part of his salary on top of the stipend for the duration of his stay. In other words, we are not talking about a classical student situation here.

Also, being single, he is coming to Amsterdam alone and does not have to take care of anyone else.

That may change very quickly, Dutch girls can be very friendly and there is no language barrier, as they all speak better English than some British people I know.

If your friend chooses to receive his income in the NL , he may qualify for the 25% foreigners tax break. This means that your pay tax only on 75% of your income and lasts up to 10 years (but you only ever get it once). The downside is that you can't write off much against taxes in the NL. There may be advantages to keeping his income outside the NL particularly if he wants to qualify for full-time student status.

It comes down to how you want to live. Live in a good apartment in a decent part of town and say good bye to up to 2000 Eur/month, on the other hand if you can compromise then you can get by with a lot less. Like MUC, a semi-decent furnished studio can be had for about 7-800 Eur. The advantage of flat sharing is that things like the internet connection are a done deal. Otherwise expect to pay about the same as in Germany.

Bicycles are cheap. The current standard reconditioned model can be had for about 80Eur. I forget the price of a month ticket there but as a student, he may still qualify for a discounted. Beer isn't so cheap and is a tad pricier than Germany but less than the UK.

A good place to look for addresses and so on is expatica.com's NL section but it is more relevant to someone with a classic job/income situation.