Everyday Life in Germany
Costs and Budgetting
The cost of living in Germany is relatively high by Australian standards through prices for accommodation, likely to be your major expense, vary across the country. Student discounts, including in supermarkets and pubs, may help stretch your Euro a little further.
According to the German Association of Student Services Organisations (Deutsches Studentenwerk), German students have an average of 770 euros per month available to them, while foreign students only have around 630 euros. However it would not be unreasonable to consider an income of 1,000 euros a more satisfactory amount for basic living.
The Federal Foreign Office offered the following as a typical budget in 2007
250 euros a month for rent, 86 for travel, 37 for books and materials, 50 for telephone, Internet, radio and television, 60 for health insurance, 160 for food and drink and 57 for clothes – making a total of 700 euros.
A good site for investigating many aspects of living in Germany is About Germany, where you can find not just information about costs but about etiquette, culture, climate and weather, guides to cities and regions, and a host of other details needed to adjust to German life.
Rent
Generally, students have to reckon on spending one third of their monthly budget on rent. However, prices differ substantially between town and country and between the old states of western Germany and the new states of eastern Germany, Saxony, Saxony-Anhält, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Brandenburg and Thuringia. Thus while monthly rents in major Western cities such as Frankfurt/Main, Hamburg or Munich are around 310 euros, they are much cheaper in Dresden, Jena or Ilmenau at around 186 euros. See our accommodation pages for more information.
Utility Costs
As in Australia costs for utilities like electricity, gas and heating, and water are generally not included in the rent you pay in the private market. You have to pay these extra – but not to your landlord or landlady; in most cases, you pay the municipal water and electricity works direct.
As a tenant, you are entitled to look for your own gas and electricity supplier. The following websites provide information on this: www.stromseite.de and www.verivox.de/power/.
Prices and Shopping
For prices in Germany, see the following websites:
Federal Statistical Office
DAAD website on “Living in Germany/ Eating and Shopping"
Work
You may want to supplement your income through part-time work. As in Australia many students, almost 70%, do some part time work. Note for the purposes of your visa that you can only supplement your income and cannot rely on work to enable you to survive. Realistically it is certainly the case that under the restriction of hours for Australian and other non-EU students that apply you would not be able to rely entirely on income from work to live. See our Work and Work restrictions page for more information.
Health
It is a requirement of your visa that you have health insurance. For details please see our Health and Insurance page
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Food
Food supplied in university cafeteria and dining halls is cheaper by comparison with the off campus eateries and they are thus very popular with students. Food is also usually obtainable at weekly markets in most places as well as via discount shops. In big cities and some towns you will find major shops are frequently open until 10:00pm.
Concessions
Students in Germany are entitled to number of concessions, frequently more than you will have been used to in Australia and they may be quite important in improving your standard of living while on a low income.
Information on special deals for students can be found at the sites below, though the list is not exhaustive. In particular you ask among fellow students once you arrive since local knowledge is often a better and faster way to find out how the system works.
International Student Identity Card (ISIC)
You should also make sure you obtain an International Student Identity Card once you arrive. This international ID card is recognised worldwide and earns students price reductions and discounts in more than 110 countries. It costs 10 euros, is valid for 16 months and is available from student travel agents, student councils or from the student services organisation at university.
Banking
Current accounts (Girokonto) are the most common form of account in Germany. Practically everybody who works has a current account on to which the (monthly) salary is paid. Also, regular costs, like rent, electricity, plus other bills are also generally paid via the current account.
If you have to pay a bill or fees (for example, to register at university), you will normally do this by bank transfer. The account holder hands in a payment form to the bank, which then transfers the specified sum to the specified account. Another, often cheaper, alternative is to use the self-service terminal (often located in the lobby to the bank) to make the bank transfer or just use online banking.
Standing orders are used when you instruct your bank to send a specified sum at regular intervals to a specified recipient on a fixed date. The bank then does this as specified: monthly, quarterly or yearly. This is useful for monthly payments like rent or electricity, which always have to be paid on the 3rd of each month.
If you issue a direct debit authorisation, you allow a recipient (for example, a phone company) to debit a certain amount from your account. Often, newspaper subscriptions or membership fees (e.g. tenant association or health club) are paid like this.
Which bank you choose will depend completely on what services you expect from your bank and what you are prepared to pay for these.
You can find a list of the most common banks with links and background information on the following websites:
Before you open a bank account, make sure that you inform yourself in detail about the terms and conditions. The following questions will help you do this:
- How high are the monthly bank charges?
- Does the bank offer special rates for students?
- Can "standing orders" and "direct debits" be issued – and what do they cost?
- How expensive are international bank transfers?
- Does the bank offer home or online banking?
- Do you immediately get an EC-card when you open the account?
- What cash dispensers/ATMs can you withdraw money from free of charge?
- Is withdrawing money abroad no problem?
- Do you get a credit card – and, if so, what are the terms and conditions?
- Are you allowed to overdraw the account? If yes, how high is the interest?
- After opening the account, can you immediately withdraw money from cash dispensers/ATMs?
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- You can also use the Internet to get a quick overview of the terms and conditions offered by the various banks. Find out everything you need to know about banks and costs by checking out the following websites:
- www.forium.de/do/displayFirstPageKonten,
- www.banktip.de/rubrik2/13830/karten/Girokonto-Rechner.htm.
For further information, see the DAAD website: Germany/ Living in Germany/ Money transactions:
http://www.daad.de/deutschland/deutschland/leben-in-deutschland/06200.en.html
Transport
Public transport in Germany is generally good, with frequent service and a wide variety of options available, including buses, underground and above ground trains and in some places trams. Bicycle lanes are also not uncommon making cycling another attractive option, though Australians may find the climate outside of summer a bit of a challenge.
Tickets for buses and short distances with a train must be bought at a ticket machine. The price of each ticket is often related to the distance travelled and is divided into zones. Ticket machines can be difficult to use. If you are unable to purchase the ticket you require just ask another traveller who is purchasing a ticket. “Schwarzfahren” (travelling without a ticket) is not permitted and incurs a fine of at least 30 euros on all busses and trains.
If you use public transport regularly then special discounted tickets can be purchased from the local public transport company. Tickets with ten trips at reduced prices or monthly or yearly tickets can be purchased. Ticket issuing offices have information on the type of ticket best suited to you.
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