COST OF LIVING IN THE NETHERLANDS (living in the netherlands as an american)

In this episode, Michelle and Alex share their costs as Americans living abroad in the Netherlands. How expensive is the Netherlands? What's it like living in the Netherlands as an American? We love it here, but are we actually able to afford it with the housing and energy crises? We break down all of our living expenses in the Netherlands so you'll better understand the cost of living in Holland.
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00:00 Introduction
00:38 Utilities
02:08 Taxes and contents insurance
02:57 Transit
03:24 Internet and cell phone service
04:55 Health insurance
07:32 Bookkeeping
07:49 Groceries
08:58 Rent
11:49 Breakdown and comparison to the US
14:12 Wrap up
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WHO IS BUNCHARTED?
We're Michelle and Alex, an American expat couple living abroad in the Netherlands. 🇳🇱
In 2020, we quit our jobs to travel the world, and... well, that didn't happen. So in 2022, we decided to make an even BIGGER change by packing up our lives (and our cats 🐈) and moving from Austin, Texas, in the US, to Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. Subscribe for new videos like this every week!

[@buncharted]

THIS VIDEO IS OUTDATED. Watch the 2023 update here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpTIgJ2hZ92Gqc0 Also: if you're an American exploring a move to the Netherlands, check out our 15-page moving guide. It includes all of the stuff we learned along the way and links and contact info for everything you'll need from immigration to buying furniture when you arrive. buncharted.gumroad.com/l/help-me-move-to-the-netherlands

[@0cypher0]

The main reason that health insurance in the Netherlands is so much cheaper than the US is that it's government mandated, so everyone pays in. Doesn't matter that you are young and in great health, it's basically a solidarity based system that keeps the price relatively low for everyone.

[@deetgeluid]

Plus you have zorgtoeslag, so everyone can get healthcare, no matter of your income.

[@lindaraterink6451]

Also prices on medicine, equipement? (not sure about that) and doctors, nurses incomes are regulated.

[@headcode]

And the insurance providers there aren't just trying to make billions in profits while lobbying government to write laws in their favor

[@SanneHoekstra]

I think your reply doesn’t do justice to the difference in health insurance between The Netherlands and the US. The government in The Netherlands dictates the basic health insurance coverage (basically covering all regular needs), with an own risk of EUR 385; and it dictates that all residents are required to have (this) basic health insurance. Second, health insurance parties determine their prices for this package independently, the government is not involved in the pricing and they pay no dime in the coverage, nor do they guarantee anything; fully market mechanism. Even with these constraints the cheapest insurance is EUR 131,95 per month. If you break your leg, get cancer, have a heart attack, you don’t pay more than the EUR 385 own risk. My view is that the health insurance cost in the US is higher because of other factors than regular market dynamics.

[@BabzV]

Health care in the US is profit driven, unlike here in the Netherlands. Plus the salaries of doctors are insanely high in comparison to here, which also reflects in the bill.

[@tarquinmidwinter2056]

We retired to NL from UK 8yrs ago. We thought life her would be more expensive, so were very careful initially. We bought a cheap house and cheap car etc. We had some savings and expected that these would go down year on year, but in fact they've gone up. Life here is less expensive than we had expected. Some things (motoring, clothes) are more expensive, but others (groceries, council tax) are cheaper. Can't comment on rent, as we sold a house in the UK and bought one here with the proceeds, but generally housing is cheaper the further away you are from Amsterdam and the Randstad.

[@rgasta7765]

How much did you pay for the house?

[@tarquinmidwinter2056]

@@rgasta7765 €190k for a raw newbuild tussenwoning. About €250k once we'd got it kitted out and decorated. Bear in mind this was 9yrs ago. Asking price for a house on the same block is now €400k. Also bear in mind this is about 90km east of Amsterdam.

[@rgasta7765]

@@tarquinmidwinter2056 wow great appreciation

[@exarder1377]

Got lucky on housing, small cheap 60 year old apartment easily goes for 300K now.

[@nlx78]

How did you experience the Brexit lie campaign and eventually the vote to leave the EU as someone from the UK living abroad?

[@ageoflove1980]

When you eventually buy a property be very aware of "erfpacht". Larger cities can have this, epecially Amsterdam, while smaller towns usually dont. Its a weird situation where you buy the property, but not the land on which its built. That land you have to rent from the city. Sometimes you will see that for example the rent for the next 20 years is included, after that you will have to renegotiate. This could be 100's of Euros a month. Further more, apartments are also always part of a "VVE", basically the community of owners that takes care of the builing as a whole. This includes things like roofing, elevators, cleaning of common hallways, foundations, things like that. This can also cost 100's of Euro's. This can lead to the weird situation that even though you fully own the apartment, you still have to pay like 500 a month. To avoid these additional monthly fees, look at single family homes in the suburbs or smaller towns. The land on which the house is build is almost always included and obviously you wont have any shared costs with other owners. Housing prices therefore can be very deceptive. One 300k home may be way more expensive than another 300k home in reality.

[@autohmae]

The most similar to VVE would be "home owners association' in the US, I think.

[@RemziCavdar]

I would like to add extra context as another Dutch person. Vereniging van Eigenaars (VvE) is comparable to a homeowner association, except it's required by law for apartments here. Basically the law states that if you have a building which is subdivided a VvE is required for the upkeep (joint/collative upkeep paid by and/or done by the owners of the apartments). In America it may not be required to join a homeowner association, but here it's not only mandatory but you can even get fines if the owners of apartments within a building neglect to do any maintenance, the municipality/local government can even force/order the VvE to do upkeep and give fines, in the worse case scenario the local government could do the maintenance themselves and fine the VvE. Keep this in mind if you are going to buy an apartment. Make sure the VvE is active and if not make it active by actively participating in it and paying the upkeep together. In the end it's cheaper then getting fined through the teeth.

[@RemziCavdar]

@@autohmae Indeed, but there is a small difference. It's not always required in the US, but here in The Netherlands it's mandatory by law when buying/owning an apartment.

[@gerrittlighthart]

@@RemziCavdar Right, a VvE for apartments is like a condo association or a strata in Canada or one of the other countries that uses that form of ownership. If you can, it's definitely a good idea to look into how the VvE is managed, what the monthly fees are, what their budget/reserves and upcoming costs are, etc. before making a purchase.

[@RemziCavdar]

@@gerrittlighthart Indeed, and participation is mandatory by law here (for apartments - meaning a building subdivided). The fees are mandatory etc.. So you don't have a choice not to participate lol 😆😂

[@annekekramer3835]

For 2300 a month you can buy quite the house. I would recommend buying, always. Rent is money wasted, mortgage is money saved. Yes, house prices are through the roof, but looking at your budget, I highly recommend buying. The is no way you would pay 2300 on interest (the money post that is wasted). Even if you would have a mortgage of 2300, then still about half of that is money you store in the house and you get back when you sell it.

[@henkvandervossen6616]

Forgotten is that you get a tax credit for mortgage interest payments. Assume it to be app 30%

[@daviddutch8652]

You should really visit Amersfoort, it's a beautiful 750 year old city that has most conveniences of the big cities only a lot more green and nature.

[@itllbe]

Long term plans already, ey? Great! Draw a line between Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Utrecht. Everything within the triangle is 'de Randstad' (most industrialised part of NL) and will be premium priced. The further you go outside of it, the more housing prices will drop.

[@g1ftfromtheg0ds67]

And the more you will enjoy

[@jasmikko]

Excellent content. I like the flow of the discussion

[@theonijkerk3012]

If you are planning on moving to a smaller city, look at Arnhem, capital of the Province of Gelderland. I've lived there most of my adult life and I loved it there. It has a bit of an international atmosphere, there are hills in the city, lots og green, national parks right outside the city and the River Rhine. Good public transport (trolley busses) and train station with trains in all directions. For instance: 35 minutes to Utrecht, 58 minutes to Amsterdam South, 1 hr and 5 minutes to Amsterdam Central and also the ICE, German high speed train, stops in Arnhem, it will take you to Cologne in 2 hours.

[@The16Lucy16]

I would recommend visiting Arnhem to see how you like the city. The city is also pretty close to Germany if you ever want to do a short trip to a Christmas market for example! The train connections to the rest of the country are really good and there are a lot of cultural options if you like that. Hope you guys have fun exploring the country and find a nice city to call home!

[@cibablea]

Oh man you two are the jam. So helpful for serious consideration. You’re a great team. Thank you.

[@Roman500]

Really cool video, you guys are very good at this!

[@hoiranjoung8054]

Great information! We, a small family, are moving to Netherlands in a couple of months. As a person who has lived in NYC for several years, I found comparisons btw US and Netherlands were especially useful. Thanks!

[@vangestelwijnen]

Enjoy living in the Netherlands! Welcome!

[@justmethenetherlands2218]

welcome to our country

[@GHOST-in-the-MACHINE]

I think the biggest advice I can give you is to stay out of big cities. Personally I can only speak for Noord-Holland, as that's where I was born and raised, but the closer you get to Amsterdam, the more unnecessarily expensive it gets with no real added benefits to a small family, especially if you have younger kids. If you still want to live in a "big city", go to Alkmaar or Heerhugowaard. If you want a small city with a "big city feeling", you'll like Schagen or Hoorn. Den Helder is incredibly well connected to the rest of the country. Towns like Julianadorp, Anna Paulowna, Hippolytushoef, etc, are great small towns for young kids with good connections to bigger cities through PT (Anna Paulowna is a town with its own train connection even). In Noord Brabant where my family is from, you want to stay away from places like Eindhoven, Tilburg, Den Bosch, etc, but towns with great connections there are places like Vught, Rosmalen, and Best, or even Uden and Helmond, but especially Oss, which is between Den Bosch and Nijmegen, and Nijmegen can very easily get you throughout the country by just a single train.

[@hoiranjoung8054]

@@GHOST-in-the-MACHINE Thank you!

[@wernerklomp311]

If you stay outside the big city's you can buy a decent sized house for 1/3rd of those cost.

[@peterf1]

As someone from the US looking to retire to NL, this is incredibly helpful. By my calculations even as retirees we'll save on healthcare, which is impressive. Housing costs are soaring as you know, but I'm optimistic the aggressive housing construction plan will eventually help with that and I have to say, outside of the hyper-desirable AMS and ROT markets rents are reasonable. To me, the great unknown are property taxes. Having trouble finding good data on that. Anyone care to answer what's the combined local and other property tax as a percent of property value?

[@sanderdevink8193]

If you own or rent a home, you must pay the so called 'municipal taxes'. Every year, the municipality in which you live calculates the value of your house on 1 January of the previous year, the so-called WOZ value. Based on this value, you pay property tax: 0.0431% (in Amsterdam, where I live, for example, it is 0.1%) of the WOZ value. If your house is worth 300K, the tax will be: 129.3 euros / year Then there are a number of fixed taxes for example Amsterdam; Waste charge: 1 person household 344 euros / year 2 or more person household 459 euros / year sewage charge: 152.50 euros / year In addition to these municipal charges, you also pay a water tax (this also differs per municipality). For Amsterdam this is about 375 euros / year

[@peterf1]

@@sanderdevink8193 Dank u wel! Dat is erg handig.

[@tarquinmidwinter2056]

I pay €77 a month local tax on a property worth about 400k. Also €18.20 a month for water and €29.29 a month sewage. We are about 90km east of Amsterdam.

[@stanbasov42]

​@@tarquinmidwinter2056Leiden?

[@tarquinmidwinter2056]

@@stanbasov42 Apeldoorn. Leiden is south of Amsterdam and (I suspect) almost as expensive, though it is a lovely city.

[@timvanranderaad7833]

As someone who was born in the Netherlands I would recommend that you visit Utrecht, it's a really beautiful city

[@PH61a]

I totally agree: a super beautiful old and modern city with over 365K inhabitants. Canals that look totally different than the ones in other Dutch cities. Foreigners often call it a smaller version of Amsterdam, with less tourists and therefore more authentic Dutch. Disadvantage: probably not less expensive than Rotterdam!

[@lmusima3275]

Yes I was in the Netherlands for 6 days recently. Im from the UK. I was staying in Amsterdam near the airport. I wasn’t too far from Utrecht but next time.

[@tomhermens7698]

Don't tell them.

[@joycedominguez8997]

@@Man-in-the-green lol 😂

[@Apipoulai]

@@Man-in-the-green amsterdam is a tourist trap. Utrech is a great place to live and work

[@leendertvandervlugt7837]

Keep it going, great video!!

[@ShanuWral]

Very helpful information. Thanks so much!

[@pel666]

As a Dutchy, get out of that appartment as soon as possible...I think you can buy (a decent old house in a cheaper town) for half the amount you are paying right now, and that's a lot of difference you can spend on other areas. Chase your perfect spot from that location if needed, the returns are immediate and you can save some.

[@detrechter5416]

Have a look at Alkmaar also….this historical small city is called Little Amsterdam because of the canals. It’s close to the sea and the dunes. And just 35 minutes to Amsterdam.

[@mlcline2]

Thank you! Great information :) We’re a family of 3 starting our research to move there after military retirement. We spend $3900 😳 on rent in CA, so housing seems much more affordable for us there.

[@jeroswat]

Thanks for this video. It's really helpful for people moving to NL. I saw a similar video before moving to Rotterdam and the biggest saving I learned was to get Budget mobile for phones. I pay 60 euros for 3 lines with unlimited data, call and text.

[@19wladimir56]

As of your reaction on the rent for an appointment for instance, you should look at surrounding villages. Are you go to the village is usually cheaper than living in the city. If you figure out there is a lot of public transport. It doesn’t matter if you live in Rotterdam or somewhere in the neighbourhood it’s just a tip

[@chillzzx4353]

Employers in the Netherlands do pay part of your health insurance too, it's lumped in the employee salary taxes (ZVW between 5.5-7%)... Being self employed, you need to pay those taxes too. being self employed you don't need a bookkeeper, you could do it yourself, but yes, it's easier, especially if you don't know what and where to pay.

[@rubenjanssen8491]

i would say for peopleself employed and not grown up here in the netherlands i would say it is almost mandetory. because our taxlaws be wierd man

[@peppapotato]

OOOooo thank you, who is your book keeper too? *writes down all good people* I am learning so much! Thanks guys!

[@Klaas_L]

What are the things you are looking for in a smaller city you want to move to eventually? How much smaller are we talking, what are must haves, does location matter (in proximity of something) etc. I could (and I am fairly certain other Dutches here too) come up with a few places worth checking out for you if I had a little bit more information.

[@VintageCR]

Tip: have a look at the city Deventer, there is a bunch of new apartments build mostly small due to the actual need for living. and the prices as far as i could tell aren't too bad.

[@buncharted]

i have a feeling that’ll be where we end up!

[@yunusarik8627]

@@buncharted You could consider Arnhem as well. Especially the Schuytgraaf neighbourhood. Relatieve high density of expats for the region, close to other significant towns/cities and eveything you need, nature included.

[@jaymartell3397]

Super helpful - thank you for sharing this video. So many great, interesting videos on KZbin but without the dollars and cents numbers - any farm, antique car, vacation home rehab/repair or move to Portugal video is lacking . . . I wish more folks would share the budget, profit/loss numbers so people can understand if these projects are feasible from a financial perspective.

[@nomirrors3552]

Thank you for creating these kinds of videos. I'm comparing living in the Netherlands and Berlin.

[@CroweDharmaReloaded]

Hey neighbours! I live in Schiedam which is located very well near Rotterdam, Delft and the Hague and has much more affordable housing and excellent public transport options. Definitely check it out sometime when you start looking around.

[@henrimuldre]

@@Man-in-the-green Who hurt you?

[@RacingPepe]

@@henrimuldre Amsterdam and Rotterdam will never get along. It's okay.

[@peterschoemaker9]

Nice and interesting video! Maybe you can have a look at Utrecht, it is in the middle of the Netherlands.

[@DubG9]

Hello! Thank you for this video! I am an American who is in the process of moving to Amsterdam for a post-doc. This video helped me a lot.

[@rainieralbertsz4165]

Like mentioned by others, moving out of the randstad will greatly reduce housing costs so for sure look into that. Now for festivities look into carnaval (ASAP) big celebrations in the more southern provinces.

[@chubbymoth5810]

Once it stops raining, have a look around. Rotterdam is a really nice city to live in though, have a look in Delfshaven. When buying a house owning the soil can be important, in many cities those are land leases.

[@laurenwilliams777]

For the algo 🎉 Great vid. Thanks guys.

[@hape3862]

Hey, I've just found your channel and immediately subscribed. Greetings from Germany!

[@buncharted]

welcome :)

[@anjelmusic]

I just moved to the NL this week and was starting to wonder the same thing! Thank you for sharing!

[@suryasmith5]

Hi good day, how isit going so far. Which part of NL are you staying?

[@tomz7137]

You should visit Leeuwarden, its a city in the north of the Netherlands. It's a ''bigger'' city, (nowhere near as big as Rotterdam though). BUT housing prices are half that of Rotterdam while stil having the feel of living in a bigger city.

[@BeepSterr]

Im thinking of doing the opposite, so this kind of video is actually really useful ❤

[@mindwis3]

Austin, home of the ACA ... did you ever go to one of their after show meetings on sunday? Nice video, i expected less difference but that rental in Austin must have cost an arm and a leg.

[@HeikoEbeling]

Energy consumption is extremely seasonal. Because of the differences in temperature between the seasons, nearly all of the energy (mostly gas) is used in the winter months. Monthly billing based on the actual consumption would cause serious financial problems for many people during the cold months. The solution with the monthly advances and the yearly bill makes the energy costs manageable for most people, especially the ones who are most likely to have financial problems. In return, the energy companies get a free loan from their customers out of it, which is used to buy the gas in advance when it is cheaper (usually summertime, when demand is lower).

[@buncharted]

ah ha - that makes sense! thank you!

[@joanneswyckmans5921]

it used to be 0.25 euro per kwh. also keep in mind, usa is 110/120v, eu is 230/240.

[@MatthijsvanDuin]

Voltage is irrelevant, voltage would only matter if you were paying per amp-hour instead of per (kilo-)watt-hour

[@kenjindomini]

Thank you! This is the first cost of living video I've seen that isnt from broke college students and specifically about Rotterdam. I'm moving my family from Massachusetts to Rotterdam next year and this is the most in depth coverage Ive seen so far.

[@buncharted]

good luck on the move!

[@HermanJongeling]

Bernie Sanders told you ….

[@SoloonaCruise]

Just be aware there is a mandotory 'own risk' eigen risico if you use certain parts of healthcare it is about 385 euro per year per adult. This f.i. some labwork, hosptal care.

[@jelle_smid]

Housing prices outside of de Randstad are a bit more realistic. Especially when you buy the house compared to renting. Also regarding the monthly installments on the energybill: what happens is that you provide your meterreading at moving in/start of contract. Based on historic consumption on that adress you get a monthly installment proposition. This will act as a savingsaccount for the year. At the end of the year you provide your meterreading again (manual or smart meter) and the actual usage (usage X price = actual cost) will be deducted from your paid installments. The difference you get returned or need to pay extra depending on your usage. This prevents the situation where one would pay €1 in july for actual usage and €500 in february and maybe getting into huge financial issues during the winter. This way you spread it into even amounts.

[@spookee74]

Nice comparison videos i love them. I would like to add that when you're self-employed it's not mandatory to have a bookkeeper, you can do it yourself if you now how to do it. It's my advise to use one, but still not mandatory.

[@micheltibon6552]

When you are going to look for a place to live in the Netherlands and don't want to be car dependent look for the places where the international trains stop. The Belgium bound ICE train does Breda, Rotterdam, Schiphol and Amsterdam. The commute between Breda and Amsterdam is one hour. The Germany bound IC train from Amsterdam has two trunks or options. Via Utrecht, Driebergen, Veenendaal, Ede-Wageningen and Arnhem. The other via Hilversum, Amersfoort, Apeldoorn and Deventer. The commute on the Germany bound train is one hour and 15 minutes or 30 minutes. Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Hilversum and Amersfoort are core cities of the Randstad and housing is less affordable depending on your means. Living in these cities give you quick access to Amsterdam, Brussel and Dusseldorf airports.

[@quirilei7568]

You should check out Schiedam (just check which neighbourhood), it’s one of the cheapest cities to live in the entire country and is next to Rotterdam, connected to the city with public transport (metro, tram, bus, train).

[@wonderland1911]

Which neighbourhoods would you recommend?

[@EdwinVossen]

Interessanting to hear the differences with the US! ☺️ Breda could be a good option for you in the future. Beautiful city, not too big, not too small. The housing prices are (a lot) lower than in Rotterdam and you still have a central location in the rest of the Netherlands.

[@buncharted]

we are looking in breda! 😄

[@996pat]

@@buncharted appartement rent prices for the size you guys are looking for are around 800/1000 a month in breda but like you said there's allot of people wanting those. House prices for most appartements are around 250k and a normal house depending on size would be around 300k

[@xColdNostalgia]

Omg as a Dutch person I'm baffled at the grocery budget for 2 people! Do you throw a lot of dinner parties or do you have children? Do you buy a lot of Vegetarische Slager at Albert Heijn? That coupled with the health insurance and rent was most shocking to me :P

[@joycedominguez8997]

I live in the US born and raised and I'm stunned by their grocery bill and insurance. They're paying out too much on groceries for sure for two people I don't know what they're eating. And they say they're vegan so they're not buying meat which is expensive. I'm one person and I spend about $200 a month, sorry I don't know euros. Me spending $200 a month, I have plenty of food. As far as health insurance I guess I'm lucky because I have never paid for insurance. They talk about the "cobra" plans the an employer will offer, but I've never known anyone that paid for that insurance because it's too pricey. I always held down a full time job and my insurance was always paid for by the company. I'm currently disabled and the government pays my insurance now.

[@xColdNostalgia]

@@joycedominguez8997 Thanks for the insight, I understand the insurance much better now! Groceries are still a mystery to me, euro's and dollars are like same value right now, and my man and I spend between €250-300 a month here for the two of us and that includes meat. Vegetables are really cheap here too, unless you only buy the pre-cut ones I guess? But even a fresh and pre-cut stirfry mix, that feeds 3 people royally, costs only €1.50! At the expensive supermarket it's still under 3 bucks. My (American) boyfriend was actually surprised by how cheaply you can prepare a healthy meal here. All to say, I still don't understand how one gets to €500. Name brand snacks, fresh fish? Disregard for weekly sales? At any rate, always interesting to see the contrast 🙂

[@joycedominguez8997]

@@xColdNostalgia you're welcome. Have a wonderful day. 😉

[@ericbus3457]

I think it depends on how much you are willing to pay. As a Dutch family of 3, we pay about 100 euros for the base groceries every week. And then about 50 euros each week for additional things like fruit and vegetables. That's excluding my personal lunch of about 90 euros per month. Can we safe on those expenses. Sure! Do we need to? Not really. As long as you are comfortable paying it, I think you can easily spend much more then required.

[@Stavoren]

it’s just my wife and I and our “normal” grocery budget for a week is like $200-300 week. that doesn’t include the costco run which is about once a month and dining out. it is what it is🤷🏼‍♂️

[@karenbrown4866]

This is so so useful. Im looking to move to the netherlands and lo ve to live iin rotterdam however i believe rental is cheaper outside city. Great work guys 👍

[@gauss850]

Bookkeeper is not compulsory. You can learn it yourself and cut these unneeded expenses. By the way, if you are a freelancer then there are some ways to save for retirement with tax benefits. Regarding small towns: nearby Rotterdam try Breda or Roosendaal. Den Bosch and Nijmegen are also very lovely.

[@lioneldemun6033]

My wife and I pay for 3 old derelict ( for US standards) village houses we own in the South of France 3.000 € local taxes per year.Quite lot for that kind of real estate . I pay 50 € for both our cellphones, seems slightly cheaper than in the NL.

[@johannobel1691]

If you're going to switch the mobile phones to KPN, or the internet-connection to T-Mobile, you might get extra discounts on all subscriptions. I'm not sure what T-Mobile offers, since I have KPN for all subscriptions myself. Ofcourse, make sure you're outside out the contractterm (so most likely the internet-connection will be out of contract the soonest).

[@Dorbian]

The rent costs are actually really high, but coming to NL from a different country doesn't give you a lot of options. Rotterdam is indeed very expensive to live, for reference, I bought a house close to Amsterdam and I pay about 600 in mortgage, if you would be living in social housing ( which is income capped ) you can get benefits from the government on rental costs and live in a fairly reasonable house for a fair price. But the 2000+ is probably due it being a private rental

[@Peritashmustdie]

i live in a small town in the netherlands and my rent is roughly 600 to 700 euros and thats for a 2 bedroom family home, the costs of living in a large city is way higher. if you want to live here in the netherlands consider going to smal towns. public transit is good enough and you can get to bigger citys in 1 to 2 hours (depending on location) you dont realy need your own car to get anny where in the netherlands.

[@dhanaberkers1516]

interesting video! As a resident of the Netherlands I would recommend s-Hertogenbosch to check it out. Beautiful city but smaller and more friendly than the Randstad. From there you can travel to Eindhoven, Nijmegen, Utrecht and Amsterdam in about 30-60 minutes. We do celebrate 'under the rivers' carnival in February, then the city is turned upside down with party people 🤣

[@daankersten9494]

Come this week with Carnaval 🎉

[@leendertvandervlugt7837]

I also live in the netherlands, near rotterdam, i would advise you to look up krimpen aan de ijssel, or near villages. Or take a tour through the near villages

[@Mr-wt4eo]

Lidl is a great shop to go to for your groceries. Pretty cheap and good quality

[@missnight73]

No it's NOT cheap!

[@pfmsch4901]

Move East (Gelderland) or North (Groningen), with cheaper cost of living, however you need car(-s) for mobility. Working from home and by Internet can be from anywhere in The Netherlands.

[@gsternfeld]

It’s funny how perspectives differ. You consider EUR58 cheap for 1Gbps Internet. Here in Singapore I get that for EUR25.50 including a branded WiFi6 router 😄

[@bas7492]

Dental insurance has a maximum compensation, which is usually about twice the amount you pay for it. So if you pay 250 per year for the insurance, it will at most cover about 500 euro cost per year. I don't think the financial risk, that the insurance covers, is worth the insurance premium. Unless you know or expect to have dental problems.

[@JandJwalks]

If you’re still looking for long term plans consider Tilburg. It is called the Rotterdam of the South’s. A nice reasonable priced city. If you want we have video’s of the city on our channel but we also love to show you around.

[@prizzmhf]

Remark about dental, some basic work is included in the basic insurance like pulling a tooth, basic filing and dental hygenist x2 a year.

[@Cryptoshell]

If you like Rotterdam and still want to be close look towards neighbouring villages. Like, Berkel en Rodenrijs, Pijnacker etc. You would be still super close to the Rotterdam city centre with the metro (10-15 minutes) and would get more bang for buck when looking to buy a home.

[@maartent9697]

Since you're a internet geek, you could look for Delta internet when they're laying or planning on fiber connections in your area their install is free of charge. They have 1gb up/down :)

[@buncharted]

we have that with kpn!

[@ronnie9187]

I would be careful buying a house on the short term, since due to the extreme low interest of past years, the prices are unrealisticly high. As we return to more normal interest levels, the house prices will probably drop in the next years. Meaning if you buy for the short time, you may end up loosing money and renting is a saver option for the next two or three years.

[@prizzmhf]

If you dont mind where you live. Deventer, Zwolle, apeldoorn. All have beter prices and are 1-1:15 hour from 'the randstad'. If you are ok with living in the boondocks look at the smaller cities.

[@randar1969]

But as native civilian living in social housing i pay 365 euro/rent month right in the center of Amsterdam which is even more expensive then Rotterdam on average. for a 2 room apartment with small garden there is a very big rent difference between social and non social renting.

[@richard-riku]

The UK also has the same energy billing concept that they estimate your annual total and divide it by 12, correcting it based on actual meter readings from time to time. I think this is because many people cannot run a household budget successfully and would get into debt in the winter when the energy bills are higher. I live in Finland and we are billed every 2 months based on the actual usage of the previous 2 months. Perhaps people are able to budget their living costs better here.

[@ferrer985]

about the taxes, every household pays taxes/fees for water system usage (waterschappen), property taxes (onroerend zakenbelastig OZB) and waste management (afvalstoffenheffing). The tarifs vary per county.

[@macten6819]

Judging by the price you probably live in one of the newer built luxury apartment towers like the Zalmhaventoren, Cooltoren or one of the high rises on the Kop van Zuid. A more normal price would be 1300-1500 for an apartment in the open market in Rotterdam.

[@deetgeluid]

That small city could be Zutphen. Go visit, it’s gorgeous!

[@ammalyrical5646]

With the energy bill, especially electricity you actually do pay for what you use. They estimate and that's what you pay monthly but generally either you or someone from the power company checks your meter and that's how they know if you have to pay extra or get money back. It's also what they use in next year's estimation. If you haven't seen a person like that, it most likely is either because it was measured before you moved in or when the previous renters were there (if it's a rental). If you bought the home or it's a newly built rental then it's probably because the meter was 0 when you moved in. At my place I'm not even the one who pays the utilities but I've still let those people in for several years in a row.

[@ammalyrical5646]

for the prices: How are your groceries so expensive? Do you buy name brand stuff for everything? I'm single and vegan. My budget is 150-200 a month and I never really go over. I'm usually at the lower end of the budget. I don't know if anything suitable will become available in Leeuwarden in you timeframe but I'd recommend looking around in Friesland/Groningen. The former is definitely cheaper (if you don't get the heavily overpriced 1900/month rentals that were clearly put on the market by an American because most places don't even hit 1000/month here, and that includes utilities, or it did a year ago. My costs are set so I don't know how much that has changed. If it's an indicator: people here find a rent of 500/month expensive and 800/month exorbitant. That's not to say it doesn't exist for bigger houses, but it doesn't for me, I don't have that money. Seriously: your monthly rent is more than my monthly income, your initial budget for rent was higher than my monthly income. Granted, I'm handicapped so that has an impact on my income. I still don't like the rents in the Randstad though. I've studied in Amsterdam in the past and lived in places around it, Zaanstad has its gorgeous places, and the rents were still insane, for a student. And that was 6 years ago. Fun fact: my grocery budget was 15-20 EUR a week once upon a time. And I could buy the things I wanted for that. I was very deal savvy though so I usually got discounted stuff if it was what I wanted. I still don't understand how that budget ever worked but it did, somehow.

[@ChallieWallie]

I would like to add that there is a thing called 'zorgtoeslag'. Healthcare Subsidy. When your income is below a certain rate, you get subsidy from the government for your health insurance premium. You need to apply for it at the Belastingdienst. How much you get depends on your income. I strongly advise you to check it out since it is more than a few euros ;)

[@buncharted]

immigrants here with self-employment permits aren't eligible for government subsidies. but yeah, this and subsidies for things like housing are amazing for those that need it!

[@tonyhd4929]

Thanks for the great info... do u mind asking, what are the requirements to apply for a Residency Permit..?

[@buncharted]

there are many resident permits to choose from. i recommend taking a look at the IND’s website for more info. if you’re looking to start or relocate a business here and you’re self-employed, watch our “how we moved to the netherlands video” - that’s how we did it :)

[@tonyhd4929]

@@buncharted thanks a lot :)

[@tonyhd4929]

@@buncharted im planning to move with my partner to the Netherlands, & yes im a Digital Nomad...

[@tonyhd4929]

​@@buncharted do u have a link on where to hire an Immigration attorney? or is it available in the IND website? thanks again

[@quirijndegreef]

First time here on your channel. I just wanted to say, that I liked it. And welcome in the Netherlands.

[@buncharted]

thank you :)

[@Bricolage-ph]

Birth control is covered by the basic insurance up to 20 years old, after that you can usually get it covered by a supplementary insurance. Also I believe birth control is rather cheap in NL. Mine was about € 30,- for a 12 months.

[@buncharted]

ah right! the concept of paying full price for prescriptions is new for us, since they’re prohibitively expensive in the united states 🙃

[@juliebrooke6099]

Birth control is free in the U.K.

[@NJKoopmeiners]

@@bunchartedplease be aware that it is a political choice to have a country run like the US or the Netherlands. People in the US are being extorted and their ability to go against this are actively diminished, by allowing big money to have such a big influence on politics. Please don’t entice people to move here because the conditions are awesome and conditions in the US are shit, we are a small country, but the most densely populated country with a housing problem already. Entice people to make a change at home. Become an activist yourself. Love your fellow middle and low class Americans, be they Republicans or Democrats.

[@DennisBishop]

Thanks (as always) for the great information! Could you comment on how much you pay for your income tax? How you handle reporting to the NL while at the same time dealing with the US Internal Revenue Service? Understandably, you probably don't want to share how much you earn but maybe do something like offer percentages or even based on a dummy amount you might earn... Also, looking forward to your bike-related adventures. It would be great if you went though the process of selecting and buying bikes. We're looking at moving to Leiden next Spring and are very excited about ditching car culture and riding our bikes!

[@buncharted]

we do income taxes for the first time early next year so i don’t have anything other than what i’ve been told by my bookkeeper! and regarding the IRS, you have to file, but most people working abroad won’t pay anything (unless you earn above a certain amount after dutch taxes).

[@buncharted]

oh and bike video is coming VERY soon!

[@nanokmusic]

Thanks for the informative video! My wife and I are keen to move to the Netherlands through DAFT. I understand there's something called foreign earned income exclusion where if you earn less than about 112,000 USD a year (as of 2022), you don't pay any taxes to the IRS. You still have to file a tax return though. Our biggest concern is that the Netherlands has something called worldwide wealth tax. We have savings in the US which are invested in equities. If immigrating to the Netherlands, we would have to pay 1-2% that amount each year. Do you have any experience with this?

[@buncharted]

​@@nanokmusic no experience paying (we moved here in 2022, so the first time we'll pay is 2023) but am aware of it and prepared for it. you should speak with a tax professional in the netherlands though, as it's not as simple as an annual 1-2% tax on all of your worldwide wealth (it isn't that bad).

[@Snowshowslow]

Hey that's nice :) Leiden is my home town ^^ Anything you want to know about it? Please be aware, though, that Leiden is a very popular place to live - much more so than most cities of comparable size. So expect it to be hard to find a place to rent. With the rising interest rates, the market to buy a house has cooled down a little, but houses are still expensive (although I don't know what your home market is like).

[@RemKaioh]

Thank you! Me and my significant other plan to move here in a year

[@ArchAngelNL]

I would advise you guys to look at some small towns around Rotterdam. Housing is WAY cheaper there than in the city itself. most public transportation will still get you to the city within half an hour. I live in Hellevoetsluis myself which is half an hour west of Rotterdam by car. I was however born and raised there on the south side of the city. City's like Spijkenisse, Barendrecht, Hellevoetsluis and Brielle have great access to the city by public transportation.

[@s1351-null]

Agreed I live just outside of Rotterdam in a quiet town in a small single family home. And while I was extremely lucky when I bought this house (bought before house prices went crazy and when interest rates were still low), it's still somewhat affordable here and you can buy a decent place with a mortgage payment between 800-1500/month. It takes me about 25 minutes to get to Rotterdam CS with my electric bicycle or 20-30 minutes with public transport.

[@rolandhuydecoper4090]

39 euro is council tax for council services, which you pay if you are a registered as a resident of a council (Rotterdam in your case). This is based on number of persons registered at your address. This pays for: sewage, garbage disposal, pest control, local road upkeep etc. This is Not for the property you are renting. Owner pays this to the council (and you eventually through your rent) which is much more, think in the 5-10000 euro range for a low/medium value home (around 2% of property value, differs per council).

[@RealConstructor]

These numbers can’t be right. I pay (and I’m single) to my municipality a tax for my property as an owner €270 a year. I also pay €216 for the municipal sewage system and €256 for sanitation/garbage disposal. Besides that I pay to the Waterboard two or three taxes, one is for all the pumps, dykes, locks, levies so we can keep living on land below sea level, and one tax for sewage treatment plants and surface water quality. I don’t know what I pay exactly to the Waterboard because I can’t find their tax bill (I just moved and everything is still in boxes), but it is about €300 a year. So if it really is €39/month for council tax it is a bargain and it’s for two persons.

[@maidenekker]

@@RealConstructor I agree, i pay over 900 euro's a year to the council and 280 for the waterboard.

[@Heartbeat-Pete]

Go live in a small city or village. We bought a house (325k) and pay €800,- per month. Tussenwoning by the water, 4 bedrooms, big bathroom, etc, etc. Rotterdam and cities like that are ridiculously expensive. Good luck in The Netherlands and nice to see people saying The Netherlands instead of Holland 👌🏻

[@the_real_Wieniet]

Nijmegen. is a nice city near the german border. And u can ask for rent compensation . In dutch it is huur toeslag korting

[@chasingtheAmericanDream]

Thank you for this video! How are you guys still liking the Netherlands? Would you say it is still cheaper than the U.S?

[@Nitzpitz]

Your rent is wayyyy up there! Btw if you have t-mobile for cell-phones, it is cheaper to get internet with them too. We pay even less for internet (1 GB)

[@buncharted]

ooh - i’ll check that out! thanks!

[@lupus9596]

I don't live in the NL but have travelled all over for work. 3 places stood out for me that had I wanted to go live there I wiuld go to Utrecht, Nijmegen, Leiden. I loved all three. Some advice though is that if you would like to travel on really cheap airfare then Eindhoven is where to get flights with the discount airlines, like Wizzair.

[@buncharted]

rotterdam and amsterdam have quite a few discount options as well. we’ve been really enjoying flying with transavia! it’s a much better experience than low cost airlines in the US.

[@Someone-somewhere621]

And Weeze is the airport next to Nijmegen.

[@McVeal]

Are you listing all your insurances here? If so, I would advice to take out some additional insurances such as travel insurance, liability insurance, law-assistance insurance. They are all fairly cheap (

[@buncharted]

i didn’t go into a ton of detail on my business expenses, but you’re right that i definitely should have mentioned liability insurance. is travel insurance for medical? that’s included in our health care plan. we have separate providers because we want KPN fiber and KPN doesn’t have unlimited calling/texting to the US, but t-mobile does! so that ended up making more economic sense.

[@McVeal]

@@buncharted I'm not an insurance expert, and I don't know your health care plan, but in my case I do need extra medical insurance when travelling. In some cases you need extra medical travel insurance. For example if you go skiing or snowboarding. Another example is (which might apply to you) that in general the standard medical insurance covers costs abroad up to the amount that it would cost you if you would undergo the procedure in the Netherlands, so if you go to a more expensive country (which there aren't a lot of) like the US or Switzerland, you might need an extra travel medical insurance. I don't know if this is the case for every health care plan, so you should check this specifically since I'm assuming you plan on travelling to the US in some future :) The good news is that you only need the insurance for the dates that you are actually travelling. (it's still rather cheap so I just keep it turned on) Your choice to split the provider makes a lot of sense :)

[@marielvanhees9531]

I have lived in the US for 24 years. But I was born in NL and lived there till I was 14. I hope to move back some day with my little family and this video helps immensely with the idea other than cultural connections I already have and the "adulting" factors I have no experience with in NL. Have your occupations changed (like switching companies) since moving, with a slight income change to be able to compare the reoccurring costs accordingly? I am wondering if income is a big difference in the NL vs the US per occupation. In my experience the Dutch don't really speak to eachother about comparing income like Americans do. They don't let their jobs become their identity and focus on being able to enjoy life. America is all about financial profits and work work work. I'm just trying to make sure we're comfortable if we move. You sharing your experience is greatly appreciated!

[@buncharted]

we're self-employed, so we don't have personal experience here. that said, the average salary in NL, even in a tech job, is lower than in the US by a decent amount. but you're right that the netherlands has a much better standard of living and work/life balance, and things here are generally less expensive, so it usually works out.

[@lstop1738]

Check Woerden to live in. It's a smal city and its about 30min from every big city ( Utrecht, Rotterdam, Amsterdam ) bij public transport or car.

[@aldrixalkemadus]

tab water is a companie and sewer is munispality tax and sewer filtration tax wich you pay for 1 or 3 persons in the netherlands

[@RivMark643]

My husband and I worked at the same place in the US. We just quit our jobs and are moving to NL in 3 weeks. While with that company, we were fortunate to have an employer who offered insurance (since it isn’t required) AND heavily subsidized the cost for us. Although they underpaid everyone to also cover the benefits. The majority of my jobs in the US did not offer insurance or offered plans that were at too high a cost to me to be able to sign up for them. When we quit, the amount we would have had to pay ourselves to keep the insurance (which was a basic plan- no bells and whistles) was $1800 a month EACH.

[@buncharted]

yes! we talk about this a bit in the cost of living video that we just posted (it's a 2023 update to this video - highly recommend checking it out). but our health care cost as self-employed people here is the same as our own contribution in the US -- even though employers were paying MOST of the costs there. that's crazy. and yeah, we wouldn't be able to do this in the US, because the cost of insurance when you're self-employed is absolutely bananas.

[@janbouli]

Renting a housse or appartment especially in one of the major cities is far more expensive then buying one outside those major cities . I live in the most southern part of the Netherlands and I own a 4 bedroom row house with 150m2 garden , my mortgage is 310 euro's a month. You can buy a really nice appartment here for around 1200 a month.

[@MrJuzam]

Wow! As a native I must say that rent is gargantuan! I have some extra benefit having lived in the same spot for over 20 years, but I pay less then €500 rent each month. If you guys want to stay and buy a house, you'll be astonished at the morgage you'll pay. (hint, it'll be less)

[@Iflie]

Yeah if you can work from home you can save a TON not living in a big city with skyhigh free market rent. 500 euro is very little though. And in a small out of the way town you'd still be able to get good internet and big cities are not that far away, especially if you are used to U.S distances.

[@leutje38]

look for homes in the north Groningen or Drenthe ..or Friesland you wil be amaisd what the prices are

[@conniemendeszoon9789]

Rotterdam and Amsterdam do have a housing problem, but if you move to the Hague, you will find it more easy to find what your looking for, and way more cheaper, And the Hague is a very beautiful city, and very close to the Beach

[@buncharted]

the hague was where we ran into the situation michelle spoke about in the video. :( it was our first choice of where we wanted to live! we love den haag ❤️

[@s.stevens4520]

@@Man-in-the-green These people aren’t tourists. They want to live here!! Stop posting this comment over and over.

[@atropatene3596]

Michelle, are you going to be looking for a job here? Also just to clarify for people that don't know: not everyone in the Netherlands needs to pay these montly fees. Lower incomes get surtax to help pay. This can be up to €111 per month (for people making 22K a year or less). The absolute basic health insurance is around €125 a month, so those people would be paying €14 a month for health insurance.

[@buncharted]

good clarification - thank you! we were going to add some bits in here about the subsidizations offered by the government but we didn’t feel like we knew enough to speak about it confidently.

[@davevanbeers6944]

Welcome to the Netherlands, I hope you are happy here! Ooh I live like 15 minutes by metro from Rotterdam

[@mvdh877]

11:16 in a city it is of course different than in a village where I live. and apartments are expensive everywhere ... I pay for a 1-family house, 3 bedrooms, spacious living room and kitchen, bathroom with toilet, spacious front and rear garden 625 euros per month

[@koolklem7889]

How did you find your bookkeeping service or person ? I do that myself but can be good to know if I need to help a newcomer 😊

[@buncharted]

i use kees de boekhouder - it’s low cost and relies on you to do most of the work, but they have people that review your work and answer your questions. it’s great!

[@koolklem7889]

@@buncharted thanks. That's good to know.

[@Natena]

Im surprised about the heating installment you mentioned. I was also paying 120€ per month until I saw the real consumption in the app. And it was 500€ per month in this winter. ( its me and my wife and we only heat living room) Also don’t understand, what people eat, when they say 500€ is too much for 2 people. We spend 600€ on average. 😏

[@buncharted]

our apartment is new and has an A energy rating, which is nice (and one of a few things that helps us justify the extremely high rent, at least to ourselves 😆) groceries are different for everyone, i agree. we're vegetarian at home which tends to cost more, plus we have two cats, so that means buying cat food and litter. i would like to get better about buying stuff that's on sale though.

[@daphunman]

Buying a house is the outskirts of a medium sized city in the Netherlands, like Breda or Roosendaal will cost you around €1200 per month for a three to four bedroom house (rijtjeshuis, 1 gezinswoning)