2817 Euro/month in Germany. Is it enough to live comfortably?

Question

Hi all,

I am being offered a job in Cologne, Germany with a salary of 2817 EUR/month before taxes and deductions. Is it a reasonable amount of money for a single person?.. What deductions do I have to count on apart from income tax (I guess about 500 EUR) and the "solidarity tax" (I guess 25 EUR)? How much per month should I expect to pay for groceries, rent and public transportation?

Thank you!!

Answer 1

The German Tax System is one of the most complicated so it's not possible to tell you here via yahoo and now how much exactly it will be. And i'm not really an expert on this as well.

But some basic things.. and all on condition that you are a german citizen.

When you earn 2817EUR/month:

TAXES:

tax on wages:  491.16 EUR

solidarity tax for east germany: 27.01EUR

if you're affiliated to a religion then church tax will be 44.20EUR

NATIONAL INSURANCE:

pension fund: 280.29 EUR

publ. unemployment insurance: 46.48 EUR

health insurance: 228.18 EUR

care insurance: 30.99 EUR

So that's a total of 562.37 EUR taxes and 585.94 social insurance...  = 1148.31 EUR

That means, when you earn 2817EUR/month you actually will see 1668.69 EUR/month on your bank account because the 1148.31 EUR (and more) have to be paid by your employer already.

Your net income will be 1668.69 EUR.

BUT: And now comes the point where it gets very complicated (depends on you).. you could add many many different things like additional insurance costs, costs for driving to work, things you need for the job... and millions of other things at your annual tax declaration  which CAN (perhaps) reduce your income taxes so at the end maybe you get some of it back. But that's too much to explain here.

Get used to buy a tax software every year or to take a walk to your tax advisor :-) .

Ok... and something more: It's possible that you'll get additional taxless earnings ... that depends on your job and the employer.. so your income might be higher.

Of course how much your flat will cost depends on the flat itself and the region. But you can calculate with about 11EUR/m² for a rental flat in Cologne.

For example a 30m² flat will cost about 330 EUR.

About transportation... i'm not from Cologne so i can't tell you how much it will be exactly.. but assume that a monthly pass for public transportation will cost about 70 EUR.

Groceries... well...  what should i tell you... i don't know what you want to eat or how much of it...  but i would say it should be between 100 to 200 EUR / month for normal groceries (no restaurants or something like that)

Answer 2

h**l yes...very reasonable.. What do you think? Congratualtions but why would you go around blabbering about that. You can probably live in NY or SF on that much and cologne has a much lower cost of living.  Many (but not all )europeans have a lower monthly income ... most young people earn much less 1000-1500 euros so I think you can easily afford your own place. Probably you can rent a furnished apartment for 500 euros somewhere in the city more in the center..  

Of course foriegners also have to pay more sometimes because they dont know how much to pay for an apartment, need showers and other fancy kitchen appliances... and have to eat in restaraunts.. and wear imported clothes... If you avoid any of these pitfalls your 2817 will go much farther...

Hope my biting sarcasm was helpful ... but if you can earn that much you ought o be able to make a budget for yourself and know how to leave alone.. be frugal, use a knife and fork etc...

Answer 3

Knowing the tax system in the Netherlands, slightly different from the tax system in Germany, I guess you are going to pay a lot more than you expect.

Ask your future employer how much money to expect after taxes.

In Europe it can be up to 60% of your income in the higher pay, (you will be in mid or lower income groups.)

With about 1500 Euro after taxes you can live a good life, but you will need to find a cheap appartment. (Again on base of the prices in the Netherlands, but the prices and incomes are comparable.)

(I made a rough guess how much you might have left after all deductions, but it is a really rough guess.)