Amsterdam people, what's life like over there?

[zladuric]

Hi guys,

I have a few questions about life in Amsterdam, who's better than old people around these forums.

What's considered a decent salary there for a family of four (wife and me and hopefully in July two kids if all goes well)?

How much do I need for an appartment monthly in a decent neigborhood (somewhere where I can take a walk at night), maybe suburbs? What are monthly food costs etc?

How much (net or gross or both) is considered okay? I see on glassdoor that this position brings in about 50-55k yearly.

Some bastards are making me miserable by inviting me to a job interview at booking.com - now it is not a good time to move so I will most likely not take the offer. But I can at least go to the interview and see how I'd do, maybe to be able to try again next year or something.

[schietschijfje]

The average income in the Netherlands is around 35000 euro (gross)
Housing is expensive in Amsterdam, so are your groceries (tip: do NOT shop at Albert Heijn)
The demand for housing is higher than the supply. You either need luck or money to find an appartment.\
Most neighbourhood are conidered safe.

[Vercetti]

A lot of large noses live in Amsterdam.... :)

It's best to live in the suburbs, living in Amsterdam with a family is just crap. Not far from Amsterdam you can live very decent in a house with garden, for the price of a small 50m2 appt. in Amsterdam.

How long are you willing to travel to work?

[de-pizzabezorger]

i live 1 hour and 30 min from Amsterdam

its far yes but we have just build a new part of this town and there are still houses for sale

we also have some houses to rent but then you come in the older parts of our town
they are called save but you dont want to be there at party friday (once a year)

[Eindbaas]

Finding a house in A'dam is very hard and very very expensive, if I where you I would find a house in another city in the Randstad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randstad), vercetti said

[Vercetti]

It's up to you what you want. You say you can earn 50-55k in the Netherlands, but the question is if you are a local hire or an expat.
Expats pay 30% tax over their income, which is way less than you pay as a local hire.

Local hire:
For my calculations, i assumed 50k, including holiday allowance (which is about 1 month salary). This leaves you with about EUR 3900 per month (gross), after taxes about EUR 2.650.

Expat:
You end up with just over EUR 2.700 as an expat, so it doesn't make that much of a difference.

Housing
I don't know if you want to lease, or buy. And also it's important if your wife will work, of if she stays at home and take care of the kids. How much are you used to (m2 wise), what are you looking for?

If you have a car, you can easily live just outside Amsterdam. The public trainsport is fairly ok in the Netherlands, and you can live in for example Almere (great train connection), Zaandam, Aalsmeer etc. if you work in Amsterdam.

[zladuric]

Wow, hold on guys, I didn't get the job yet, just the interview :)

What you say actually makes sense. The forums and articles online say something similar, but it's somehow better to hear it from the people you know (at least online).

I think if we did come, we'd go for suburbs and rent a small house or a larger apartment. I do have a car but I hear public transport is pretty good up there?

And yes Frank, I'd work as an expat, at least in the beginning. My wife would probably try to find a job later, but we'd have to learn the language first.

[RPGforYOU]

Learn the language? :p

Just say godverdomme you will be completely integrated with that! :P

[de-pizzabezorger]

i think when ÂÂ*you know some englische you will come quit far here ;)

o yes RPG best idea ever if you dont want the job!

[zladuric]

godverdomme, will remember that. practiced it alot.