And the thing I would say... it's not a holiday...
No, I'm not suffering. I'm living quite well really. But if people are thinking that life is a holiday just cos I'm overseas, then I think they don't know what I'm here for. I'm not here to enjoy myself. It's living in another country. Same as in Singapore.
My life is minimally different from what I have in Singapore.
My wife goes to work, I go and get food. Cook, (if you cook, you'll realize that prepping food takes a long time), clean, type my blog, read news, etc...
But I'm not here on a holiday... So I'm not visiting the Louvre, Effiel Tower, Notre Dame, etc... Like how many times am I supposed to visit those places? We're planning to travel to smaller places of interest maybe once or twice a month. Similar to our weekends in Singapore, we don't go out and wander much, we spend a lot of time at home or visiting parents/in-laws. So we aren't going to be doing anything out of the ordinary.
Going out costs money. And in Paris, going out costs a lot of money. So I'm not going to change my lifestyle just cos I'm living in another country. I'm the same person, just different location.
We do intend to travel around Europe a bit, cos we save on flights. It's like when in SG, we fly around Asia for holidays, cos it's cheaper. Similarly, now that we are in Europe, we'll probably travel around the region once or twice a year. Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and we'll visit Singapore every few months too.
I go back to my past and I think about my feelings about moving overseas and migrating.
Well... there's really not much difference between countries. Let's not look at countries with internal strife and war torn countries.
But... well... most countries are similar. Everyone tries to make a living. If you Work and spend less, then life is simple. If you want more and spend more, then life gets harder. Everyone lives roughly around the same way.
I used to cook everyday in Singapore, so cooking everyday now is pretty much normal.
If I am used to eating out in Singapore, then that would be a problem, cos in Singapore, I could get a meal for less than $5. But the cheapest lunch I can get is a sandwich at €5, and it's a miserable lunch. A cold sandwich, everyday... That's it. There is no cheaper food for a cheap lunch.
Most offices have a cafeteria where they serve highly subsidized food for staff, which is reasonable, considering it's not sustainable for staff to be eating out everyday. My wife gets a warm meal for less than €5 everyday with dessert.
Transport is a bit expensive. I went to a small town around 45 minutes away. The train ride cost me around €9 for the ride there and back. And some people stay in this town and travel to work, so imagine €9 expense EVERYDAY just on train rides. BUT... they also have a monthly pass, which is €75 per month and it's unlimited travel. Furthermore, most companies subsidize half of the cost of the transport pass every month, so that's not too bad too.
Looks like the company benefits are quite good here.
After some research, the pay here is around €50k per year. That's around €4,200 per month BEFORE tax. So if we estimate 30%-40% tax, we're looking at €2,520-€2,940 disposable income per month.
After deducting rent, insurance, utilities, phone/internet bills, transport, food... there's really not very much left. It's manageable living frugally, maybe a bit of luxuries once in awhile, but... life isn't like a party everyday.
Simply put... everyone has their own struggles. Same same, but different country.
I'll end by showing some of the food I obtain for free on a regular basis.
I get fruits and veges 3 times a week and bread around 3-4 times a week depending on whether I need them or not.
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