Before I came to Europe, all I knew was it was impossible to see and experience because it was so cost prohibitive. Then I started looking up airfare. Then hotel prices. Then checking out tourist forums to see what daily budgets people had made for food. I couldn’t even imagine what the cost of living in Germany might be.
Then it hit me:
I sort of already definitely lived in a high-cost area so living abroad probably was going to be about the same.
So when I talk with people here, especially Americans not from the coasts, and the cost of living in Wiesbaden (and sometimes Europe in general) comes up, I am always surprised how expensive everyone thought or thinks living here is. To me, this was a dream come true. My one-way ticket via Icelandair in February 2015 was ~400 €, a meal out + beer is roughly 11 €. These were amazing deals to me. Since then, the past 5 years have been an experiment in living between currencies, and as long as the Euro and Dollar play nicely, I like to bank in dollars where I can. Going forward though, this relationship isn’t looking so great for the dollar so I’ve switched to euro banking almost exclusively.
I do understand Wiesbaden / Germany is more expensive than perhaps places from the midwest or south, but if you’re from a coastal city or some other costly area compared to income, read on for some numbers on what it’s like here.
Monthly Mandatory Costs
I took costs from this site, which in my opinion is quite accurate. My monthly expenditures are right around the same costs. As a breakdown, I / or others roughly spend (on essentials I feel I don’t have much control over or I absolutely could not live without) per month (in Wiesbaden):
This amount is just my estimates for myself, and includes a mostly organic and free range diet. Though I’ve eliminated meat from my diet at home about by 90%, this was the price with meat included. Also depends on how active on Pinterest I am that month.
Same as restaurants, this is my rough-ish cost on a very socially active month. I’m including the odd nights out just for a drink(s).
For more on what Cold vs. Warm rent is, click here. The website I linked in the intro says closer to 1200 €, however I broke this down to show Nebenkosten separately below. This cost is for a one bedroom in Stadtmitte.
More on Nebenkosten.
Electricity (heating is electric or gas based mostly, but heating oil also exists somewhat commonly) is generally not paid for by the landlord, gas is sometimes not either.
The rough cost of a monthly RMV pass for Wiesbaden/Mainz.
Internet is fast in Germany, and if you’d like help picking a provider, try using Check24.
This is a Telekom pre-paid plan, with 5gb per month I use and love.
More on phones here.
Gas is definitely more expensive than a lot of places in the states. The taxes here are higher. This cost assumes a 40L gas tank (common) filled twice.
Now, is this how every American / expat will experience it? And are these my total expenses every month? No, there will clearly be costs if you have children, shop a lot, go out a lot, etc. I also have expenses in America in dollars which I haven’t covered here, as they don’t affect my real cost of living. The numbers above though are what I believe one would experience here, if you were interested solely in the actual “cost of living in Germany” figures.
What other mandatory costs have I experienced?
Health insurance: 8.9% of pay
Mandatory pension: 8.9% of pay
Visas: roughly 50 – 100 € per renewal
But not every time, I could not tell you what the pattern here is.
Healthcare: by law no more than 10 € in total per prescription medication, often times only 5 € when using public health insurance. Hospital stays are covered, ambulance is 10 €, doctor visits are free.
TV / Radio / Internet Tax: 18,50 € per month, with the option to pay quarterly for a discount, which I do, so this turns out to be 52,50 € per quarter.
Be aware: every household (not person) will be expected to pay this regardless if one is under the American government system or not. If you are under SOFA, you will need to find out how to apply for exemption.
“They” will come find you to collect this tax.
Some fun costs!
Not that it’s a ton of fun to spend money, but items in the “fun” category might be:
Sports teams: 300 € per year for memberships
Museums: 10 € for adults
Nurburgring: 25 – 30 € per lap
Castle visits: 6 € to get into my favorite castle
Bars: beers are usually around 3 – 4 €, cocktails start around 8 €, wine is between 4-10 € per glass
Casino: 2,50 € to get in, plenty of 5,00 € and 10,00 € minimum tables in Wiesbaden
Spas (Thermebads):
5,00 € per hour in the summer
6,50 € per hour in the winter
Hotels: 100 € per night
Though I use AirBnB and generally find these to be better for the budget, but also more fun in general. This link will save you some money on your booking!
Random costs I found in my banking statements:
Didn’t know how else to put these, but since I’ve paid for some of this in the States as well, here’s some other life costs for Germany:
Taxi from train station to city center: 10 – 12 €
Train to airport from WI HBF: 4,55 €
Shuttle from WI to FRA: 55 €
Locksmith: 65 € (this was a sad day spent sitting out in the cold)
Gym membership: 45 € per month, a half yearly fee of approx. 45 €, and usually a one time registration fee of around 99 € is also applied.
Speeding tickets: anywhere from 10 – 50 €
Parking tickets: 10 – 15 €
Resident parking permit for street parking: 27 € for two years
Dry cleaning: 1 € per shirt, 4 € for a sweater, € 8,50 for a suit
Tailor: 20 € for having a dress magically shrunk to my size, and it looked amazing when done.
Schufa report: 30 €, this is a credit report for German customers.
Any advices?
Farmer’s markets can actually save one a bit of money here, vs the expensive artisanal experience back in the states (in more urban areas). They’re also fun to visit and pick out the exact amount of food you need.
Since COVID, German retailers are catching on to needing to accept more card and digital payments to keep up with the times. I’ve been able to use my phone to pay all summer in about 80% of the places I regularly visit (grocery store, bakery, and that’s it. #pandemiclife) and I am anticipating this will continue on in the future. There have been a few forum posts and news articles that pop up describing the uptick in useage, but will older generations pick this up too? Unknown. I’m guessing no.
