Hi everyone,
I have to make a big decision and have some problems with that…
I will start from beginning – I'm 26 years old engineer, currently working in Birmingham. Main target is to make the money for better living…
My current gross annual salary in UK is £31K = approx. €35K + I have yearly bonus of £5K
So all together it goes to £36K = €41k GROSS.
I recently applied for a job in NL for automation company and they offered mi job where i can earn (monthly) €3,200 + €250 + I will get yearly 8% from the holidays.
If you count it then you will get €41,400 gross basics and €44,712 (including 8%).
So now I have
€41,400 (incl. Bonus = €44,712) NL
€35k (incl. Bonus = €41k) UK
From that perspective you can clearly say that it is benefitial to move out from UK and go living in NL… BUT there is a lot of hidden costs i.e in UK I don't have to pay extra for insurance (it is all included) there is no requirement for private pension (gov pension is included) when I do the full breakdown based on basic salary I have
In UK
31K Gross is £2,040 nett per month
£450 – studio rent
£20 – phone contract with unlimited data
£80 – city communication
£20 - gym
£400 – food + going out on weekends
So basically if I don't buy any gadgets or clothes I have approx £1,100k = €1,250 left on my account
In NL
€41,400 Gross is (by using https://thetax.nl) = € 2,464 (or € 2,960 when I apply 30% ruling)
Min €800 for a studio – very difficult to find it for so low price…
€120 for health insurance
€250 for pension (I read that i can not opt out and the website thetax.nl doesn't count it as i can't find it)
€40 for the phone contract (is this correct for unlimited data?)
I have no clue about the city communication I will probably cycle, but let say extra €40 for buses
€40 – gym
€500 – food i think it is minimum because cost is bigger than in UK
All together it goes up to €1790
In that instance if I don't buy any gadgets or clothes I have approx €674 or €1170 (when applied 30% ruling)…
Guys please correct me if I'm wrong in my living cost calculation in NL… As currently I'm so unhappy about that as I would like to start new challenge (work) in differend coutry and have a change, but I wouldn't do it for SAME or LOWER wage … I only change when I have better salary (and I'm quite happy with my current job)
You see when i had a chat with HR about the salaries and they told me about 30% ruling € 2,960 which is £2604 i thought – yeah £600 more per month great! But when you include all of your expenses then that salary is lower on the end of the month…
Is the life in NL is so expensive? I need to make my decision by end of this month as my contract starts in January 2019, but I'm not sure at all…