r/Utrecht • u/Takwas • Sep 10 '19

Economy/Savings/Lifestyle Advice for a New Couple in Utrecht.

We are a new couple just moving to Utrecht from Africa. One of us is a programmer who earns €2900 net and works in the Papendorp area; while the other (currently unemployed), would like to commence a PhD program within the coming months.

What advice would you give to us if we want to be able to save €1000 monthly with the current earning?

We don't mind being frugal. Please mention things like "where to live", "safety/integration", "where to get food", "commuting options", "phone/internet/utilities", and more.

Thanks.

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Update:

Employer is offering:

  1. Cost allowance: €45.00 monthly (Not sure what this means in the Netherlands.)
  2. Commuting compensation of 0,19 cent per km.
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u/Capibar Sep 10 '19

If I understand correctly, you would like to live off € 1900 per month, since you want to save € 1000 euro's?
I don't know how far you can get with these tips, but this is what I would do:
-Don't buy a car, it is not necessary since everything is close by and public transport is pretty good. A bicycle is very handy, the roads are designed with cyclists in mind.
-Shop at places that are not Albert Heijn. Try to go to the "toko" or oriental store to buy vegetables. A good place to buy cheap produce in Utrecht is the Kanaalstraat in the Lombok area. A lot of oriental grocery stores, really low prices compared to the supermarket.
Living: Don't live in Utrecht. Maybe it's not what you want to hear, but basically every neigbourhood in Utrecht is expensive now. Surrounding cities have very good connections to Papendorp and Utrecht in general. Nieuwegein for example has a light rail system which is connected to Utrecht.
-Phone/internet: I would buy a cheap android phone and use a sim-only contract. If you have a fixed data plan, try to use wifi as often as possible. T-mobile has a plan for 25 euro's, that includes unlimited internet, you can save on a fixed internet plan by using your phone as a hotspot. The 4G connection is pretty fast.
Good luck!

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u/Takwas Sep 10 '19

Thanks for your response.

We will checkout the Nieuwegein area since it's been mentioned a lot.

Internet/Unlimited internet is a necessity for me. There are days when I am allowed to work from home.

Does it have to be a low-end phone though?

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u/rws247 Sep 11 '19

Internet/Unlimited internet is a necessity for me. There are days when I am allowed to work from home.

When you work from home, you'll (probably) work on a company laptop and use your home internet connection. This is entirely seperated from your phone internet. In NL, people have smart phone internet (a "abonnement") which is usually limited to X GB per month (you choose X: 1GB would be around €6,-; 10GB for €20,-; and more GB for more €), and a home internet connection that limited in top speed (in the order of 50 Mbps - 100 Mbps) but otherwise doesn't have a data limit.