💵Livings costs and advice
This page goes over some of the costs of living here and also aims to provide some advice for people that wanna budget their money a bit
Groceries
Albert Heijn
This is one of the most expensive grocery stores. If you want to checkout the prices of goods they have a website. Unless you specifically like something in AH or you have the money to afford the markup it wouldn't really be a top recommendation.
BE AWARE OF AH TOGO MARKUP, they often times have a 25 - 50% markup on their already inflated prices. They are often located near metro stations for people that wanna go quickly in and out, but just beware that they have just outright stupid pricing.
Bonus Card
If you do decide to go to AH its highly recommended that you get a bonus card, to avoid carrying around added stuff you can just download the app and get a digital card, you can then just scan the barcode on the app during checkout and you can sometimes get discounts on certain items marked BONUS in the store or added to your Bonus Box in the app.
In the app also checkout the Bonus Box, this is a custom selection of items which you can apply a discount to.
Bonus Card sharing
While you likely cant get in trouble for using someone else's card if you decide to share your card basically the worst thing that can happen is that the AH deactivates your bonus card.
Custom cards
Due to the popularity of AH there is a community of people that share bonus cards which have special deals. You should just be able to download the images of the barcodes and then scan them at checkout the activate whatever deal is active on the bonus card of the person sharing.
Plain cards
Alternatively if you just forgot your bonus card but you still want some of the deals that just exist within the store then you can just get a plain card barcode from this website or this website this is a plain bonus card which should at least give you the normal deals in the store.
To reiterate, the BONUS discounts you will see in AH only apply if you have the card so if you just scan an item with a BONUS on it then this bonus will only apply if you actually scan a bonus card, something important to be aware of.
Dirk
This is one of the cheaper stores to my knowledge there is no app currently available but they have a website which includes various sections on stuff that is currently reduced in pricing, its a really nice grocery store if you are working with a budget. To my knowledge there aren't as many Dirk locations as AH but given the excellent public transport you should have no issue finding one at least somewhat close.
Spar
This is a somewhat similar principle to AH togo (at least in Amsterdam), these are usually smaller stores located in places where you quickly drop in and out, they also have a considerable markup so just keep that in mind. But they are usually conveniently situated so if you have the money then they might be a good spot to grab a quick lunch or a drink. Especially with the Spar on campus. Spar also has a website and an app.
Just not recommended if you are living on a tighter budget.
Lidl
Lidl is also on the cheaper side, it has a more built out tech side with a nice website which includes offers and product pricing. It also has an app with a costumer card similar to the bonus card from AH.
Jumbo
Jumbo is generally compared to AH in terms of pricing, as usual they have a website and an app. Jumbo similar to Lidl and AH also have also costumer card which you should be able to activate within the app.
If you wanna go to Jumbo vs AH it really depends on the product offerings and the pricing, if you have either equidistant from your home then it doesn't really matter too much which you go to, in general I'd recommend to just look at what they offer and see where you can get it for cheaper or at all.
Card sharing
Card sharing is also a thing here, for a random card generator checkout this website.
Additional advice and tips
Use existing travel routes to you're advantage
A really good strategy, especially if you don't have any grocery stores near you, is to see if there are any on the route to VU or just go to ones near VU, there is an AH XL (very large AH) here . There is also one near the metro station Amsterdam Zuid here which is nice to combine if you go to / come from the station anyways.
Also one thing of note is that VU does have a Spar on campus but remember the markup.
Avoid prepackaged
This applies to basically all grocery stores, they often sell like prepackaged vegetables or like boxes which contain all the stuff for a meal. But most of the time, especially the stuff in plastic bags, has a considerable markup and goes bad much faster. So just buy fresh stuff that ain't precut / prepackaged.
Grocery store summary
The general consensus with alot of people is that you should do most of your shopping at Dirk or Lidl then for maybe the last 10% of your groceries to to AH or Jumbo, and remember to always look at bonuses/discounts if you're on a tight buget.
Furniture
Stay minimal, if you are likely going to move out again soon I would recommend you stick to the bare essentials when it comes to furniture, its a common problem when moving out having to get rid of furniture, so unless you are ok dealing with that stress and potentially wasting money on furniture you have to quickly sell/discard just stick wih essentials.
IKEA
Kind of an obvious candidate, unless you are staying for a longer amount of time and maybe want some more high quality stuff IKEA is really good for 99% of what you need, they even do deliveries. You can easily kit out an entire room with anywhere from like 500 - 1000€
WhatsApp groups
One very easy way to get Furniture is to see if there is a group chat for the place you are living. Very often people moving out want to get rid of their furniture and will often sell it for extremely cheap or even just give it away since people rarely take it with them when moving, so its a great opportunity to snag really cheap furniture items.
If there is no existing WhatsApp group then I would strongly advise to make one. Its really beneficial to have at least some line of communication with your neighbors, you can just print out and hang an invite code in your hallway.
Appliances
While most places generally come stocked with the required appliances it can sometimes happen that you need something.
CoolBlue
If you need appliances on a more short term basis or just really don't want to buy them then CoolBlue offers a subscription based service for appliances on their website.
Health insurance
Finding insurance
If you are a working student you need Dutch health insurance, even if you have private.
If you need to find insurance, most commonly because you started working, then you can use this excellent tool to compare different plans. When deciding on which plan to get it depends on two things
You will use it, in which case you should actually compare the different offerings, it will still be free if you apply for the healthcare allowance but be sure to check what you are getting here and if it fits your needs.
You will likely not use it, this probably applies for most people if you are a healthy individual and/or already have health insurance in your home country and can just go to the doctors there. In this case it doesn't really matter what you pick, the health care allowance covers the price.
Getting it for free
If you are currently insured and have not applied do not be worried, still apply as normal and they will pay you for all the months after the fact.
This is probably the most important part, you want to apply for Zorgtoeslag (healthcare allowance) this is quite literally free money to pay for your entire health insurance, to apply for it go -> HERE
Be aware that if you apply for healthcare allowance for months which you are not insured you will have to pay this money back.
So make sure that when you apply for healthcare allowance, you only apply for the exact months you are covered. In the case you are working a parttime job this is precisely the months your work contract is valid.
support
Don't be afraid to contact the support, they are excellent at helping out, this can be a confusing process, and information can sometimes be weird when applying.
Also feel free to ask in the cs discord, we have already dealt with all kinds of issues and would be happy to help.
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