3150 gross salary fair enough to live in Brugge area for a couple?

It could always be better. But lot of families live with it.

For a first job, conditions are honest. Even if you have six years of experience, prove it first. And after few months, try to renegotiate your contract.

phipiemar wrote:

It could always be better. But lot of families live with it.

For a first job, conditions are honest. Even if you have six years of experience, prove it first. And after few months, try to renegotiate your contract.

Wooot! i got a reply! Thank you alot phipie! Really appreciated your answer!

Well i am considering this, i don't want more than i worth, but at the same time i don't want also throw away my experience i accomplished all these years. I want a fair enough offer.  This is the second offer i got after a short negotiation we had. They say it is anyhow above the market's standards this salary in Belgium and especially in West Flanders. Which i read different data everywhere.

Anyhow can you make me a favour and give me some examples about an average amount per month for:
electricity, gas, water, super market for a couple expenses?

Thank you 

Hello Christine,

I understand you. But be logical too. Puts you in the place of an employer. A totally foreign candidate with an unverifiable experience abroad, how would you do to estimate what you'll give him as salary?

Now with the Belgian tax system, the more you have a big salary, more taxes will be high ... From this premise, it is better to try to get fringe benefits.
So explore some hypotheses :
- Meal-voucher: very interesting to ask after a while
- Language course: important for proper integration in the country --> http://www.inburgering.be/en/target-group
- PC bonus: private purchase computer equipment and Internet subscription can be completely repaid +/- next salary level and the company policy.
- ...

You can always scrape something but with the fact that your employer offers you a contract of 14 months out of 12. This is a good agreement.

Now the cost of living, it's a trick question because it will depend on your lifestyle ... On average, we perform the following calculation:
- 1/3 of net pay for housing with utilities included (water, gas, electricity ...)
- 1/3 of the net salary for the credit repayment (car, furniture, all fixed monthly fee, ...)
- 1/3 of net pay for all the rest ...

There are several ways to reduce some costs:
- Gas - electricity --> http://www.energyprice.be/
- Internet - TV - mobile --> http://www.meilleurtarif.be/index.php
- Car/home insurance --> (no english website known) https://www.comparatif-assurance-habitation.be/ --> For me, ETHIAS is my private choice for bank and insurance
- Food --> different shopping COLRUYT / LIDL / ALDI
- Furnitures --> http://www.troc.com/be/ - http://www.cashconverters.be/fr/who

And a general website, not fully updated but still interesting :
- https://www.justlanded.com/english/Belgium

That's enough for today, I think you have what to do with all these websites to visit ...

Philippe

Thank you alot Philippe for your time and your effort to write down all of these! Really appreciate it! Will do a full study on them! 

Have a nice day and drink a belgian beer on my name! 

No Belgian beer in the region. And I will not be in Belgium before end of October 

I will drink to your name it seems then as soon i land to Belgium, well it is fair enough! 

It depends on your housing but you could get a 2 bed and all bill, so long as you are careful with use (like 18 degrees in Winter) and so long as the housing is well insulated, all in and quite nice for around 800 euro a month, with water/gas/electricity making up around 100 euro. It does really depend on your consumption though. All I can say is I have a bigger house and my total combined utility bills for a large family for 200 euro per month.

Currylover wrote:

It depends on your housing but you could get a 2 bed and all bill, so long as you are careful with use (like 18 degrees in Winter) and so long as the housing is well insulated, all in and quite nice for around 800 euro a month, with water/gas/electricity making up around 100 euro. It does really depend on your consumption though. All I can say is I have a bigger house and my total combined utility bills for a large family for 200 euro per month.

Thank you Currylover so much! You provided me really useful informations as well! 

In my case,  2 bedrooms, 100 square meter flat, with bad energetic efficiency ¬450 kWh/mc - 93 eur/month for energy, 30 for water, 39 internet
Temperature is 22C average in the winter.
Energetic efficiency is relevant here, good ones going from 150 kWh/mc

Kdargo wrote:

In my case,  2 bedrooms, 100 square meter flat, with bad energetic efficiency ¬450 kWh/mc - 93 eur/month for energy, 30 for water, 39 internet
Temperature is 22C average in the winter.
Energetic efficiency is relevant here, good ones going from 150 kWh/mc

Thank you alot Kdargo! Do you have any clue about the whole proccedure to find a house? They say it takes some time the whole proccedure of finding a house to rent, because landlord choose the tenant between several candidates. Is that right?

It took me around 10 minutes to find a house, email to current occupant, then landlord. I knew the location already, went to see it, signed the contract. That was another 30 minutes.

Please don't listen to people telling you there are lines of candidates. Usually there is not. Rarely this are lines, especially if rent is particularly low in a highly desirable location, that is the exception.

Immoweb is the most commonly used website. Walking around neighbourhoods to pick up other properties not on immoweb is another. Keeping in contact with estate agents is another.

A typical time from finding a property to signing a contract is about a few days. Moving in, if you have nowhere to move out is usually less than a month, but depends on availability of the property. All you need to wait for is having an etat de lieu (obligatory for the 9 year contracts, not for fixed contracts which must be 3 years or less) and for money to clear bank accounts.

Generally speaking, I noticed that the demand tend to be bigger than offer.  That's why owners can be picky.  And they prefer couples over singles (and some owners are more relaxed renting to Belgians ). 
But there are exceptions. There are some flats that don't get rented easily. I see adverts on windows for weeks, sometimes 2 months.   It's a matter of luck, but is also like a sort of a job search. Personal charm counts 
In the end, all the expats I know  here managed to get a flat, so it's not mission impossible.

Kdargo wrote:

Generally speaking, I noticed that the demand tend to be bigger than offer.  That's why owners can be picky.  And they prefer couples over singles (and some owners are more relaxed renting to Belgians ). 
In the end, all the expats I know  here managed to get a flat, so it's not mission impossible.

Don't be surprised to be rejected under some made up pretense simply because you are a strange and scary foreigner from another EU country.
Your net salary will be very tight, but possible to live on especially since you can reduce your tax by claiming your unemployed husband as your dependent. Check with your payroll office if they are counting him as such.
As others stated, utilities are around 100/month. 65Eur from your employer will cover home internet and two phones. Unless you are calling Greece or other foreign EU country then you pay extra fees.
Finding flat is matter of luck. Some landlords would keep empty flats on the market for 6 to 8 months waiting for some special tenant while losing money. I cannot explain that, but it is a fact of life in Belgium. Be prepared to make a case for yourself or write some assay in order to secure the apartment. Make sure you visited the building and talked to at least one neighbor. My friend got stuck with a severe alcoholic as a neighbor and had to loose his deposit just to move from that place. Rental laws favor landlords in Belgium, be aware of that.
Anecdotally, I had a Greek co-worker in Belgium who quit and returned to Greece because she could not take it any longer over here....

Hello and thanks everyone for your replies. Unfortunately things didn't go like I thought here in Belgium. Does anyone knows where I should talk to, since I am not having the exact benefits o signed on my contract? Same happens also with my hubby, he signed to have a company car with fuel card, since 2 weeks he is using our car with our own expenses and it is not fun at all when also flat tire happened. So damn mad! They keep say to him every single day "by tomorrow".  So please if someone knows any agency I should visit and help me with my rights as an employee in Belgium I would really appreciated it. Thank you

Go to union...

http://www.abvv.be/

Don't loose your sleep over this. This is how things are done here, slow and inefficient or not at all. Adjust your expectations when in Belgium and you will be at peace.