Cost of living - Germany -unbelievable

[Xenophon]

True, but I rememebr nearly crying every month when I'd see 55% of my wages disappearing to the tax man ...

Aye, that would be a bitch and no mistake.

[BlasterBates]

I wish people would just stop going on and on about this mythical "rip off Britain". These same people have usually never lived abroad.

How much do you pay for your current account ? Nowt I would guess. I pay a monthly fee - rip off Europe !!

And you haven't seen the outrageous prices you have to pay for second hand cars in France. Rip off Europe !!

And the rates here. Rip off... well you get the idea.

So please shut the **** up.

Seriously.

No its isn't to do with rip off Britain, it is a valid observation that Germany is dirt cheap, and believe me it is really cheap. I commute between Switzerland and Germany and visit the UK regularly, no where is as cheap as Germany. I can pick up a great second-hand car for a couple of thousand Euro's. A night out with meal included wouldn't cost more than about 20 EUR.

[NotAllThere]

My mortgage is at 3.5%
My rates are higher than I'd get in the UK, even before the collapse of sterling
My overall rate of tax is 20%
Public transport is reliable, extensive and cheap
Streets are clean and crime is low
The weather is better.

But a snickers bar costs 75p. Rip off europe.

Except Germany - where we do most of our shopping.

[expat]

True, but I rememebr nearly crying every month when I'd see 55% of my wages disappearing to the tax man ...

Compare a UK salary: tax on the top =

40% income tax
1% uncapped Employee's NIC
12.8% Employer's NIC
-----
53.8%

Not too different IMHO.

[sasguru]

Forgot the price of coffee.
Most people's biggest cost is housing.
Rent and house prices much less in Germany, and quality much better.

[snaw]

Compare a UK salary: tax on the top =

40% income tax
1% uncapped Employee's NIC
12.8% Employer's NIC
-----
53.8%

Not too different IMHO.

Don't get your figures (I'm not all that great at this, so excuse my igfnorance) - but I htought if you earned 100k in the UK you'd pay something like 35% of your wages in tax, inc NI. Where you getting 53.8%?

Doesn't take too much pay to hit the heights in Holland btw ...

[expat]

Don't get your figures (I'm not all that great at this, so excuse my igfnorance) - but I htought if you earned 100k in the UK you'd pay something like 35% of your wages in tax, inc NI. Where you getting 53.8%?

Doesn't take too much pay to hit the heights in Holland btw ...

From the figures that I quoted in the arithmetic. I did say that was "on the top", we could compare overall rates instead.

35% is indeed more like it as an overall rate on say 100k in the UK. I have just received my latest NL salary slip: it shows a total deductions rate of 35.5%. I have no idea where the 55% that someone else quoted comes from.

[snaw]

From the figures that I quoted in the arithmetic. I did say that was "on the top", we could compare overall rates instead.

35% is indeed more like it as an overall rate on say 100k in the UK. I have just received my latest NL salary slip: it shows a total deductions rate of 35.5%. I have no idea where the 55% that someone else quoted comes from.

That was me, when I was living there - and I distinctly remember paying out more in tax than I was earning. That was around 8 years ago so perhaps things have changed ...

[expat]

That was me, when I was living there - and I distinctly remember paying out more in tax than I was earning. That was around 8 years ago so perhaps things have changed ...

If you are a foreigner you must sign up to the 30% deal (get 30% of your salary tax free, but few other expenses claimable). If you're Dutch then you'll pay more but you'll get more for your money, like a health service and a pension.

[gingerjedi]

A few years ago whilst on an 8 day sabbatical to Oktoberfest me and a mate went to watch Bayern Munich v VFB Stuttgart and it only cost us 12 Euro per ticket, whilst finding our seats we were so impressed with being able to buy beer and sausages at the top of the stand we didn't bother sitting down.

The VFB fans sang 'you'll never walk alone' in perfect English.

I don't know why the English tend to berate the Germans? Culturally there’s not an awful lot of difference, they just tend to have a more sensible attitude to almost everything.