Photo by Annette Fischer on Unsplash

It’s the end of the year, which means the Snook and I have both been diving deep into our financial accounts for 2020. While we have combined finances, I tend to track the month-to-month micro expenses and budget while he looks after the long-term retirement planning and investments. (If you’re interested in how we track everything, there’s a bit at the end of this post.) We’ve also now been in Germany for four months, which means we can start to get a comparison for the cost of living here vs. in Australia. I figured some of you are probably curious about how it works out. (All amounts below have been converted to AUD for comparison’s sake.)

The tl;dr: We didn’t move here to make money. While our income is roughly the same, the cost of living is higher (especially as we’ve gone from a house we own outright to one that we are renting). We are also paying a lot more in taxes, and for health insurance. That said, we don’t have kids; we don’t have cars; and we were already saving a lot of our income. We’re just not saving quite as much as we would’ve been otherwise. So why do it? For a new experience and adventure, and getting to travel all around Europe. While we’ve definitely been enjoying the experience, Covid has rather put a damper on the travel. I’m optimistic for 2021 though… 🤞

Income: In terms of salaries, both of our companies made us offers in line with the going rate in Munich. For the Snook, that worked out to a slight pay increase from Sydney. For me, it was a slight decrease. (However, I changed job families at the same time so I’m not sure whether that would have been the case if I’d stayed in the same role.) We kept our existing stock grants. We also received relocation grants to offset the cost of packing up our lives and moving halfway around the world, and given that we did a lot of that work ourselves, we were able to save some of that.

Accommodation: Based on quick search of comparable units in Sydney, we are paying 1.3x that for our place in Germany (including rent, utilities, and Internet). However, the apartment we’re renting is fully furnished, centrally located, and bigger than our place in Sydney. We could definitely save money by getting a smaller place farther away from the city center, but we made a conscious decision that the expense was worth it (especially as we are under Covid lockdown and working from home). We are also renting out our house back in Sydney, which helps to offset some of the added expense.

Groceries: I did a comparison of January to August 2020 (living in Sydney) against September to December 2020 (living in Munich). In Australia, we were spending about $520 AUD per month, and in Germany that’s gone up to $640 AUD. I suspect we cook a lot more than most folks and probably make more elaborate meals, so we were probably already spending a lot by Australian standards. One factor for the increase here is that we aren’t able to buy in bulk the way we were before. That’s partly because we don’t have the storage space (in our pantry or freezer), and partly because the supermarket quantities are just smaller in general here. We also had some added expense here in that we needed to build up our pantry staples (spices, baking ingredients, etc). We definitely eat less red meat here than we did in Oz, and we’ve only had lamb once. (We just found a Turkish grocery though with decently priced lamb, so I expect that will go up a bit!) In both places, we get a veggie box delivered every two weeks.

Health insurance and medical: In Australia we paid the Medicare levy plus a contribution to the Snook’s employer, and we were both covered under their plan. That amounted to about 2.3% of our gross income. The model in Germany is slightly different, in that health insurance is private but mandatory. We are with Techniker Krankenkasse, and the cost is about 4.5% of our income. That includes a special surcharge because we don’t have children (presumably because we’ll be a bigger drain on the system someday! 😳). That said, there are different options here and we suspect we’re paying at the top end, so we may end up switching to something cheaper in the future. I’ve also got no idea how much optical/dental is covered, so that may affect it as well. I stocked up on contact lenses before  I left Australia, but I need to find us a German dentist…

In terms of medical expenses, it’s too early to tell really. We’ve both had initial check-ups with a GP here, and while the appointments were free, we paid out-of-pocket for a few different tests and treatments. (For example, my blood test didn’t show evidence of my last measles vaccination, so I paid to get one. We’re also both now on Vitamin D supplements.) As far as I can tell, basically no drugs are sold over the counter here – not even paracetamol! – and you have to speak to a pharmacist for everything. I stocked up my prescriptions before I left Oz, so it remains to be seen what they’ll cost me here. I can tell you that a box of 80 tampons costs €2.80 in the supermarket here, which is about $4.40 AUD. This is massively cheaper than in Australia, where that would only buy you a box of 16 or 20 at most!

Phone and internet: Our internet cost is included in our rent here, but the Snook has done some research and concluded that home internet plans look to be cheaper in Germany. (“What we paid $100 for there, you’d get for like €35 here.”) On the flipside, it looks like mobile plans are way more expensive in Germany. A 40GB plan from Telstra will set you back $55, but the equivalent here is like $95. However, the German plan does include 5G as well as roaming across Europe. (We’re fortunate in that work covers our mobile phones.)

Dining out and booze: This has been such a weird year because of Covid. During April to August in Sydney, we spent around $243/month on dining out or takeaway food, and $158/month on booze. In Germany, it’s been $265 and $190 respectively. I’m actually a bit mystified by the dining amounts, as I don’t feel like we’ve gone out or had delivery much at all! I guess the few times we have, we’ve splurged and gone for something nice. Restaurant food is definitely more expensive here, but booze in general is cheaper. Most of the booze bill was in building up the cocktail bar supplies, so our actual monthly cost here will be far less.

Grooming: I’ve only managed to have one visit to the salon since I’ve been in Germany, and a colour & cut set me back €125. That works out to just about $200 AUD, which is slightly less than I paid for a visit to my hipster stylist in Newtown. So I reckon it’s going to work out about the same.

Transportation: We’ve barely gone anywhere in the last nine months, but just for the sake of it, let’s pretend we were commuting daily. Back in Sydney, I’d take the bus to and from the CBD to my office and it was $2.24 each way. That’s $22.40 AUD per week. If I were taking a train though, it would be minimum $3.61 each way for a total of $36.10. In Munich, my commute (four stops on the train) would cost me €2.80 each way, which works out to about $44.60 per week. So public transportation is a bit more here. That said, one of the advantages of our apartment is it’s an easy walking/riding distance to both of our offices. If I ride my bike, I can get to the AWS office in about 15 minutes (on a route that is mostly on separated cycleways and completely flat, so a big advantage over Sydney).

How we track everything: For our daily spending, I use YNAB and do a weekly reconciliation of all our accounts. I’ve been using this since 2014, but I’ve actually got monthly spending data for us going back to 2010. (Referral link if you want to sign up.) YNAB is nice because it syncs to our phones and we can record any cash payments instantly. At the end of each month, I have a shared Google spreadsheet that I update with our income, spending (on needs, wants, and charity), net worth, and graphs showing our progress towards retirement. For tracking our retirement and investment accounts, the Snook really likes Sharesight. (Referral link if you want to sign up.) He also has a Google spreadsheet he uses for planning.

Banking: The most pain-free way we could get a bank account here to get paid was through N26, a German neobank. We were able to get free accounts set up in minutes, and they provide a Mastercard debit card as well as Apple & Android Pay. However, we’ve found that some smaller merchants will only accept girocard, which you can only get through one of the traditional banks. So we’ll probably end up setting up a joint account at one of those eventually. We also set up Transferwise accounts before we left Australia, which make it easier if we need to send money back and forth.

Tax services: Ugh, don’t even ask. I’m going to end up filing in three different countries next year! Fortunately our employers pay for a tax agent to assist for the first year, but after that we’ll be on our own. Yeah, it’s going to suck.

I hope that answers some of your questions! Let me know if you want any more info and I’ll share what I can.

The Snook is a big fan of Stella Parks’s recipes, and at some point in the last year, I bookmarked her Classic Chocolate Yule Log with the idea of challenging him to make it for Christmas. Folks, I didn’t think he’d actually do it. I throw out these ridiculous schemes and he’s usually game for an attempt, but I figured with this one, he’d roll his eyes and settle for something simpler. Instead he blew me away. I mean, look at that! THERE’S A PISTACHIO PASTE FROG. This is literally 200% better than I expected, and I knew he was a good baker. I’m still amazed, and we’ve already eaten most of it. Lucky for you, he documented a great deal of the preparation.

This was a multiple day endeavour, and it all started with him making the homemade pistachio paste. We ended up ordering the pistachios from Amazon.de, because they were the only ones we could find that weren’t already roasted and salted. We couldn’t find orange flower water at all, so he just left it out.

The next day, he toasted sugar in a skillet in the oven. He took that photo to show the difference in the toasted sugar vs. untoasted.

The next step was to use the pistachio paste to make pistachio buttercream frosting. He ended up doing a lot of complicated math to adjust the quantity of the recipe, but all you need to know is: he had to separate some eggs, mix them with the toasted sugar, and add booze. Then he cooked the mixture over a makeshift double-boiler until it reached the appropriate temperature. Then he whipped it in the KitchenAid, added loads of butter, and then eventually the pistachio paste. The end result looked a lot like guacamole!

Next up were the meringue mushrooms. For these he had to mix egg whites with toasted sugar and vanilla (we couldn’t find cream of tartar so he used a tiny bit of vinegar) and then again cook this mixture on the double-boiler. Then he whipped it up, put it in a piping bag, and piped out dozens of mushroom caps and stems. He used his finger to smooth the points, and they cooked in a low oven for the better part of a day. He finished them by rubbing on cocoa powder to look like dirt.

On the final day, it was time to bake the cake. He used one of our oven trays and spread the batter, and then baked it for only 12 minutes (because it’s so thin). He took it out and let it cool to nearly room temperature. Then he spread on the pistachio buttercream and rolled it up. He left it rolled up to set for a short time, and we were amazed to see that it didn’t crack at all! He cut off a bit to fashion the branch…

…and then it was time to decorate! He made chocolate ganache (with cream, melted chocolate, and sugar) to ice the log and to glue the mushrooms together, and he used fork tines to sculpt the “bark”. He dusted the whole thing with cocoa and pistachio dust, and he used some of the leftover pistachio paste to fashion a tiny tree frog. Isn’t it AMAZING? The best part is that it tastes so good – like the chocolate cake of your dreams. He’s the best. ❤️ Thanks, Snookums…

So this is a thing that I’m doing now. It was partly inspired by the fact that I’ve had to do some Twitch streaming in recent months for my new job, and I’ve been learning more how it works. It was also partly inspired by the fact that we’re in lockdown in Germany, and I think I’m really, really missing having people around. (Besides Rodd, of course, who is great, but this extrovert needs a crowd, right?)

And so I decided to stream myself knitting, live on Twitch, and I’ve kept it up at least once a week since. I generally go for about an hour at a time, and some days I’ve done an extra session in the evening (which works out better for the folks in the US). If you haven’t ever used Twitch before, it started nearly ten years ago as a platform where people live-streamed themselves playing video games, but nowadays there’s all sorts of creative content on there. It’s one-way – not a video-chat like Zoom or Hangouts – and the only way you interact with the streamer is through text chat. You don’t need an account to watch a stream, but if you sign up, you can subscribe to different channels and get a notification when they go live.

Here’s what the end result looks like when I stream, but in the photo at the top of this post you can see what it looks like on my end. I have two cameras set up – a webcam sitting on my monitor pointed at my face, and then my iPhone pointed down at what I’m knitting. (I’ve used a small flexible tripod to attach the iPhone to the end of my microphone arm, which works well for getting it in the right position.) I have some LED lights set up on either side of the monitor so you can see what I’m doing. I wear headphones with a microphone so I can talk. I use software called OBS to pull everything together and send the stream to Twitch. Before I start, I set up some “scenes” with different layouts of cameras and images so I can switch to different views. I keep the Twitch site open on the other screen so I can see the chat and respond to any messages that come through.

Things that have worked well: Using the iPhone with the OBS Camera app to show the actual knitting has worked great! It’s got good resolution and I’m able to position it just right thanks to the microphone arm. I’ve been pleasantly surprised how many folks have watched the stream and joined in the chat. It’s never more than a few at a time, but it’s early days and I’m sure I’ll build up an audience as I go. Lastly, I’m surprised each time I do this by how quickly the hour passes by. I thought that it would be torturous sitting there talking into the void by myself, but I find that I actually really enjoy it! Maybe I should’ve been a deejay. 😂 Videos on Twitch only last for maximum two weeks, so I’ve been archiving each “episode” over to a playlist on my YouTube channel and I’ve picked up some additional views there.

What hasn’t worked well: Because I’m using the microphone arm to hold the iPhone in position, I haven’t been able to use my fancy microphone for audio. I tried mounting my iPhone on the ring light and pointing it down, but the view wasn’t as good. I feel like the video is more important, so I’ve accepted the trade-off with only having the headphone mic for narration. I’d also love to be able to play some music on the stream, but Twitch Soundtrack is thus far only for Windows 10.  Also, my MacBook Pro is due for an upgrade and doesn’t have a lot of memory, so it struggles sometimes and the fan runs constantly when I’m streaming. I tried sharing my desktop to show off a pattern on Ravelry and it really didn’t like that, so now I restrict my OBS scenes to just webcams and static images. I also suspect our home internet connection upload speed isn’t great, and on a couple of occasions I’ve had the stream die in the middle and then reconnect. Not much I can do about that though…

And because I was having such fun with the knitting streams, I decided to have a go with sewing as well! I was able to reorient everything around to point at my sewing table where I live-streamed myself over two days making the Peppermint Mag Ruffle Sleeve Top. It took me about eight hours all up, which I did in four separate streaming sessions. That included assembling the pattern, doing a Full Bust Adjustment, cutting the pieces, sewing the shirt, making continuous bias binding and attaching it to the neckline (rather than using facings), setting in the sleeves, and hemming the shirt, all while using French seams throughout. The fabric is some leftover quilting cotton, and I think it turned out pretty great!

As part of my team’s Christmas festivities, we held a virtual Cocktails and Pizza making competition. I knew that my pizza wasn’t going to win any awards (#teampineapple), so I decided I had to go all-out on the drink. Since there were points for creativity, I felt like I need to go SEASONAL and SPECTACULAR. After some research on the Internet, I settled on the aptly named Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire. 🌰🔥

I did run into some problems with the recipe though. First hurdle – chestnut syrup. We couldn’t find any! So I had to make my own using this recipe. First step – roast the chestnuts.

I’d never actually done that before. You have to cut an X on the curved side so they A) don’t explode and B) are easier to peel after. Once they popped open, I peeled the skins off and then mixed up the syrup.

There’s a lot of spice in there! After letting it simmer, I strained it and we stored it in a bottle in the fridge.

The next hurdle – eggnog! It turns out that it’s not available in Germany. Undaunted, I decided to make my own using Alton Brown’s recipe. First step was to beat egg yolks with sugar in the mixer…

At the same time, I began heating the milk, heavy cream, and nutmeg on the stove.

Then I had to bring them together by “tempering” – pouring just a tiny bit of the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture while the Snook whisked like crazy to avoid making scrambled eggs. I added more milk until we were past the danger point and then we combined them fully. Then it went into the fridge to chill (along with a bit of brandy). Once that was cold, I whipped up the remaining egg whites with sugar and then we folded that into the cold nog.

Okay, so with all the prep done it was finally time to make the drink! I started by filling a rocks glass 3/4 of the way full with egg nog. Then I added another shot of brandy for extra kick and a few bar spoons full of the chestnut syrup. After a stir, it was time for the FLAMES. I poured a tiny bit of Stroh 80 (a 160-proof Austrian spiced rum) over the back of the bar spoon to float it on top of the drink, and then I lit it on fire. 🔥 After blowing it out, I garnished with a sprinkle of cinnamon…

I’m happy to say that all my hard work won the Best Cocktail award! Also, it’s very taste and festive, and I will be working my way through the rest of that nog over the next few days. ❤️🏆

As for the pizza… I went very, very quick and easy.

That’s a packet of pre-made German pizza tough. I also bought a big handful of salami pretzels to go on top, along with canned pineapple. I mixed up a fresh sauce from canned tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, oregano, garlic, and olive oil, and I had some leftover grated Emmental cheese. I also couldn’t resist cutting up some of the salami-kabel-trommel to put on top.

Here it is ready for the oven! And fifteen minutes later…

Hey, even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good. 😜 #teampineapple

I’ve always loved riding a bicycle, ever since I was a kid, but there were several years after university where I didn’t regularly ride. Mostly it’s because I lived in big cities (London and then Sydney) that aren’t super conducive to cycling. I eventually got a bike in Sydney and even commuted for a while, but honestly, it never felt very fun or safe there. In fact, at times the attitude towards cyclists felt downright hostile. As the Wikipedia page for “Cycling in Sydney” states,

Cycling in Australia has, until recently, been a minority interest sport, and hostility on the road is also common. One Danish cyclist, Thomas Andersen, who had cycled around the world for four years, singled out Sydney in 2014 as being the worst city he had visited for cyclists.

Not only are Australian drivers hostile, but separated cycleways are few and far between. Sydney is also pretty hilly, and in the summer even a short ride will get you sweaty. There is also a mandatory helmet law, which puts off a lot of casual riders. As a result, the percentage of trips in Sydney that are made by bicycle is less than 2%.

Guess what? In Munich it’s closer to 20%.

In Munich, lots of people ride bikes. I’ve seen old people, business people, parents towing kids and dogs in trailers, delivery people, all sorts. Sometimes they’re in lycra and helmets kitted out like serious athletes, but most of the time they’re just normal folks going about their day. (This photo and others are screengrabs from a video I filmed of a ride through Munich today.)

We sold our bikes in Sydney before we left, mostly because we weren’t sure whether we’d have appropriate storage for them in our Munich apartment. Once we were settled here, I started looking on FB Marketplace and Ebay for bikes. Around the same time, we had a presentation at work from the folks at Swapfiets. This is a Dutch company that offers fixed price rental for bikes, and they take care of all the maintenance for you. We decided to give it a try, reasoning that we could always cancel if we decided cycling here wasn’t going to work. Swapfiets offer a few different types of bikes in Munich, including a cruiser-style (with no gears) and a luxury “e-bike” (with an electric motor). We went with the middle option – 7-speed hub gear commuter bikes with dynamo-powered front and back lights. All of their bikes have a distinctive blue front tire as well as both a chain and tire lock for security. (While this is an unsolicited endorsement, if you want to sign up and use my referral code “KRISTINE77165” we’ll both get a a €7.50 discount!)

I’ve been experimenting with recording some of my rides. I don’t have a GoPro or anything; I’m just using my iPhone with a handlebar mount that I bought. This was a ride I filmed last week going around the Theriesenwiese and Bavaria Park. It’s bumpy and rough, but you get the idea. (I’ve sped it up; I’m not a very fast rider!) The remarkable thing is that from our house – which again, is really close to the city center – you can ride quite a while without ever having to go on a main road. You can just as easily get to Westpark, which is a massive park with beer gardens, playing fields, and picnic spots.

However, sometimes you want to ride into more trafficked areas. I rode into the city today to visit a special bakery and pick up some Christmas treats. It was about 3.5km (2 miles) each way. I filmed my ride, and I’ve grabbed a few screenshots to show you some of the cycling infrastructure I encountered. (Apologies for the blur!)

Our neighbourhood is directly next to the Theriesenwiese, the massive open showgrounds where the Oktoberfest happens each year. There’s a big, heavily trafficked ring road around it full of cars, but across the middle there are paved areas that you can ride across. To get to it, rather than crossing the road I can go down a ramp with stairs and zip through a tunnel straight on the Wiese. Much faster and safer! If you watch that little video above, you can see me go down the ramp and across the Wiese…

On the other side of the Wiese, there are some quiet residential side streets. This one is labelled “Fahrradstraße” (bicycle street), which means motor vehicles are limited to 30 km/h (19 mph) and cyclists are allowed to use the full width of the road.

Most of the main roads in Munich have separated cycleways alongside them. This is the one that runs along Lindwurmstraße all the way up to Sendlinger Tor. In most cases there’s one on each side of the road, so you ride in the direction of traffic. As you can see, while the cycleway is completely separated from the traffic, there’s no real barrier between the pedestrian area. It’s literally just, like, a difference in the paving. Most pedestrians seem quite conscientious of cyclists though, and it’s become quite natural to me when walking to look out for bikes. The cycleways vary in width, and sometimes there’s not a lot of room for overtaking so faster riders will occasionally swing onto the pedestrian part to pass. I am not a fast rider, and I am content to pootle along in the cycleway watching for pedestrians and knowing I’m not going to get flattened by a truck.

Of course, there are still places where you have to cross main roads. At Sendlinger Tor there is a major intersection where Lindwurmstraße runs into Sonnenstraße, and it’s a very busy wide street with the added complication of Strassenbahn (tram) tracks. There the separated cycleway turns into a dedicated bicycle lane on the road, complete with its own traffic light! I was a little confused about how to turn left the first time I hit this intersection until I realised they use the same trick as Melbourne – hook turns! As a cyclist, you ride straight across the road and there is a dedicated spot for you to turn to the left and wait for the signal to continue onwards.

Of course, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. There is a small bit – only about 100m – along Sonnenstraße where there is construction blocking the bike path, so you’re forced to ride alongside traffic. Thankfully, as soon as you get around the construction there is a ramp that takes you back up onto the separated cycleway.

Oh hey, look, I made it to the bakery!

The return trip on the way home is much the same, albeit on the other side of the road. I’m pleased to see that for the most part, German cyclists follow the rules of the road and don’t run red lights and such. A few do, but not nearly as bad as I’ve seen back in Australia.

For some reason, the first part of the return cycleway on Lindwurmstraße is on the road. Presumably it’s because there is a park on the right, and the footpath isn’t wide enough? At any rate, there’s only a short stretch before the cycleway separates again. And then it’s an easy ride back to the Theriesenwiese.

One last thing – a few months back, the city turned part of the Wiese into a “Fahrrad-Übungsplatz” (bicycle practice area). They painted lines and lanes and cars and traffic lights on some of the concrete areas, and anyone can go and use them to practice their cycling skills. How cute is that?

So that’s cycling in Munich. It’s amazing what a difference some infrastructure makes! More people cycle, which makes more pedestrians and drivers aware, which makes it safer, which means more people cycle! It does crack me up though how negative the  “cycling in Munich” Wikipedia page sounds. I don’t think the people who wrote it understand how good they have it! As I said to the Snook, unless we move to Copenhagen, this is probably the best it’s ever gonna get for us in terms of cycling. That said, it’s supposed to snow tomorrow… so I guess we’ll see how that affects things! 🚴‍♂️❄️