evildudette

Also really depends on your look.  I had been modelling for 4 years until I came to Germany (making enough to make a living) and here I really struggled to get any clients at all.  I quit and got an office job within 3 months. If you have a high fashion look then sure take your portfolio to the agencies, same as you would anywhere else.  If you want to model as a hobby, join model-kartei but watch out for creeps, same as any modelling website.

Get a new Steuerberater.

Starting a new business is tough, and when a major client fucks you over it has lasting financial effects for a few months. As a result, I'm tired of being poor. I'm tired of borrowing money from friends for bills and food. I want a reliable source of income again.   I don't want to get a job (which would take time anyway), I know I can make this work and that it will get better, it just sucks right now.   Edit: Just checked my account and a couple of contracts autorenewed today. Had no idea they were due this month. FFS.

That’s a Steuerbescheid. It doesn’t confirm submission, but tells you how much you owe/how much you get back.   You can always ask. If you received a refund you should at least know how much was sent to your bank account, but it’s a good idea to have a copy of the paperwork.

I've never heard of those being issued. At least, I've never received one.

What letter?

Perfect, thanks!  I remember coming out with a lovely 5kg pack of bacon the first time I went in there - don't fancy my chances so much on that one but there should be some goodies!

So I'm going to register to get a Metro card and my understanding is that it should only be used for business purchases.   However, I definitely remember an old housemate's father having one, and we would all pile in the car and load up on bulk groceries as they were cheaper and we certainly weren't the only people doing that.  Is this actually allowed? As there's no VAT on it do they report your purchases to the Finanzamt?      

For 2. - not if you do it properly. You have to call up and say specifically you want to Abmelden for the two weeks you are working fulltime freelance. They will put in the dates and you will automatically receive ALG1 again after those two weeks are up.  You will not receive ALG1 for that time, so the money you get from them at the end of the month will be less. They don't claim any money.   You cannot do this through the online portal. I tried to once as it wasn't full-time and didn't want to talk on the phone so I did it online as a temporary 'nebenberuflich' project lasting two days. That was a mistake as in that case, they did claim money from it.   As long as you do it properly you'll be fine.  

The real question is what drove you to quit in the first place. Will this new position fix those reasons? If not, its probably a waste of time. I think I read somewhere that of people who accept a counteroffer, they only stay with the company on average of one year more. The main reason for this is that the things that made them quit (long hours, terrible boss, poor culture etc) hadn't actually changed, they just decided to follow the money, which they quickly realised didn't make up for the other things.

I can't say whether it is correct or not, but I deal with the same Finanzamt as you.  When I registered as a freelancer I did not get a document like the one in the second link.  (They told me I didn't need a new tax number in my situation as I switched from a Gewerbe and to keep using that).  When I registered initially as a Kleinunternehmer (with the Gewerbe) I also did not receive the document they are talking about.   I think you are probably fine, the Finanzamt said you are fine and it matches my experience with the same Amt. Also, as you will simply be invoicing the new company, I'm not sure what they need it for right now or what they are expecting.

Well if you need a German speaking friend to fill in all zeros, you will definitely struggle with the full form. :p   When I was looking I couldn't find an English version - there is one floating about somewhere on the internet but it's old and no longer an exact match. 

Not that I know of, but after doing it a couple of times, surely you can just use your already submitted forms as a guide for which number goes where?

All I can think about are the number of times a day that would go off. When I change something from portrait to landscape, when I go and lie on the sofa after getting in from work, maybe if it’s in my pocket and I take off my trousers etc   Maybe it’s just because I don’t know what the app is really about, but it seems you would get a lot of false alarms.

  Honestly I'm shocked it's only 4 in 10.   My comments about not discussing penises do not apply in this instance. We always loudly disparage the penis to each other in front of the person who sent it and anyone else around.