I’m an American living in Berlin—I spend $2,680/month and make 6 figures working from home

Marcus and I share meals, utilities and housing prices. I cowl bills like my mobile phone, fitness center membership, journeys to the nail salon, transportation, and insurance coverage.

Every month, I spend $1,037 on lease, $275 on groceries, $362 on utilities together with Wi-Fi, warmth and parking, and $445 on personal medical health insurance. I stroll just about in all places, however between public transportation and the occasional Uber, I spend $142 month-to-month.

I additionally attempt to make investments about $1,000 into my retirement and brokerage accounts every month. Thanks to this strategy, I used to be capable of repay over $100,000 of scholar debt a few years in the past.

Being in Germany has allowed me to decelerate and get pleasure from life extra. I’ve extra experiences, I get to strive extra new issues, and really feel happier and much less harassed in consequence.

I’m capable of prioritize my well being and wellbeing

Making mates as an grownup in a overseas nation could be powerful, particularly with a language barrier.

I like going to the fitness center, in half as a result of I’ve made a number of mates there. So a lot camaraderie is developed when everyone seems to be there for an hour and struggling by means of a exercise. 

I additionally love getting massages and magnificence remedies. In the U.S., these can add up fairly shortly. Luckily, my medical health insurance covers therapeutic massages and remedies. 

It additionally provides a couple of sudden advantages, like a mountain retreat for a few weeks to deal with burnout, with a physician’s referral. 

Everything is natural 

We have entry to scrumptious native produce proper on our doorstep. Most price range retailers are strolling distance from my condominium and supply reasonably priced natural groceries. 

Cooking at home is a particular exercise for us, so we hardly ever eat out. We like to make Chinese dishes as a result of it reminds Marcus and I of our time in Beijing.

There’s an open-air market named Arminius Market Hall in our neighborhood that we get pleasure from. Everything is natural there as a result of Germany has actually robust meals legal guidelines about high quality, packaging, and components. 

We even have a extremely robust farmers’ union and farming tradition, so you will get to know the farmer that you just get your strawberries from, regardless of living in the guts of Berlin. 

There is high-quality housing inventory 

The high quality of the constructing we reside in is fairly unimaginable. Plenty of instances in larger U.S. cities, you would possibly spend half your revenue on one thing that’s falling aside. 

With our two cats, “Xiao Huang” (Little Yellow) and “Xiao Long Bao” (Soup Dumpling), we reside in a 1,100-square-foot, 2-bedroom, 1.5 tub, condominium with a balcony, heated flooring, and floor-to-ceiling home windows — for a fraction of my paycheck. Our lease can be over half my month-to-month wage in the U.S.

Germans are large homebodies, a lot in order that after they transfer, they usually take every thing with them, from their flooring to total kitchens.

When we moved in, there have been no lighting fixtures or lightbulbs included. But that meant we might furnish area the best way we needed.

There are secondhand thrift markets each weekend known as “Flohmarkts.” People like to barter and alternate issues, and I actually respect the sustainability of all of it.