bobMorane

Mine is Winsim too!! I asked them, and apparently, UK is still on their zone1 list (covered EU roaming) until 30.06.2023. I may need to switch to prepaid options after that date! 

Thank you, Papp. BTW, I contacted my phone operator again, and apparently, their roaming policy treats the UK and most of the other EU countries with the domestic conditions. So, I guess no need to spend on a pay as you go SIM anymore! 

We planned to visit London for a few days. My current German SIM has no reasonable roaming plan for data and phone calls in the UK. So, my options are to buy a pay-as-you-go UK SIM card or a German one with a reasonable roaming plan. What is your recommendation? Thanks!

I sent it to the head of their HQ, and I received the appropriate response!

I'm seeking advice on properly sending my complaint to government institutions! Let's say that we faced a problem at the school or a local institute, and we tried but didn't find a solution there. Now we want to address the next persons in the government hierarchy. Assume the local institute is managed by its state's headquarter in Stuttgart, and the HQ is under the ministry of education for Baden Württemberg. Such a chain of organizational hierarchy can also be applied to other similar situations.   So, if I want to send a nice proper complaint email, to which organization should I send it? The headquarter or the ministry office? Also, whom should be addressed? the director of the institute or the general contact email address of the organization or the ministry? or should I first send it to the HQ while cc'ing the director or the ministry?   My concern is, how is the culture here regarding such complaints, especially if I want it to be considered and not simply ignored in the bureaucratic pipeline? Also, without causing any misinterpretation! Also, what if my first try doesn't bring me any reply?

To give an update about the result, my Schönheitsreparaturen doesn't cover anything under 120€, so I sent a claim to the insurance. After a couple of interrogation rounds by the insurance company, they categorized it under "wear and tear,". They said that, presumably, I've been applying too much pressure on the door handle recently. Otherwise, it'd be filed under intentional damages due to deliberate excessive force! Either way, the insurance doesn't see itself bound to pay me the repair cost.   This 80€ repair isn't a real pain nor a life-changing situation for me. But, it made me realize how much I can rely on such an insurance type (or that company) if I accidentally cause more serious property damage in the future. 

No hard feelings, but shouldn't I take that advice when I'm the landlord myself?  What is the bureaucratic process if I want to fix it myself and get reimbursed as well? 

So, what do you suggest I do? 

I broke the balcony's door handle which is one of these Twist Handle models. I prefer to replace it myself instead of asking the landlord to send a technician to the apartment. The new one costs around 80 Euros. But I'm sure a technician would charge the landlord (or me) much more than that. My question is if I buy a new one and replace it myself, would my haftpflichtversicherung reimburse the cost of the handle? What is a convenient way to handle these issues without causing any complications between insurance, the landlord, and the tenant?

But when I retire, I do not earn the same wage to rent the same apartment! That's why we decided to buy a place/house to not pay a high rent 30 years from now. Unless you can tell me about other options to make and save more money besides an employment salary. I know one way might be to invest in real estate, which has its own in-depth discussion on when and how to buy what. But I'm also interested to know about other possible options to make more money in Germany.

I'm around 40, and my wife and I are both employed at the moment. I work in a technical field where you can earn about 90k annually if you reach a management level. This may happen in about 5 years from now if I can be that good/lucky!!  On the other hand, we are planning to buy a house, and according to the current market, we may need to pay about 1.5-2K more each month for financing. Putting it all together, I think only relying on our salary does not brings us enough saving in the long term. Otherwise, we need to cut many expenses such as traveling, kids' extra programs, etc.    You may say, "don't be greedy and live with what you have." But personally, I'm eager to know how one can make more money in Germany. Of course, I cannot have two 40hr/w full-time jobs. But what are other options to have direct or indirect earnings besides your main employment?  No need to mention that I meant legitimate options only!

We went there today, and the lady who processed our application was so kind and pleasant. She just asked if we had read all the documents and understood them and had any questions. I also missed the chance to give my perfect elevator pitch, like what we do to land a job at an interview! 

Amen!

Are they seriously going to ask me questions from the Naturalisation test content? Yes, I got 32 out of 33 points. But I only practiced it to do a written test, not to have an intellectual discussion over it in German! Geez! That's a nightmare!  

We applied for the naturalization process a while ago, and a few days ago, they sent us some documents (Loyalitätserklärung, etc.) to read and sign (in their office). The documents are clear as they generally say that we should behave well and be respectful of Germany and what the current version of Germany is built upon. No problem with that part!   But, I wonder if the Einburgerung officer is going to ask us any tricky questions that I should be prepared for? Or will he ask us to talk about our understanding of the documents? In that case, I need to memorize some German jargon to use for explaining my attitudes toward concepts such as their specific democratic system, human rights, etc.