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A store-brand pizza here in Germany costs me 66 cents at Kaufland, and it's better quality than Tombstone hahahaha. I don't know where this 7 euro figure is coming from.
I don't pay over 100 euros on groceries per month here, and my rent includes internet, water and electricity for 255 euros a month (I live with one roommate, so we share a kitchen/bathroom obviously).
Germany is really not much more expensive than the states, especially since a car here is not a necessity.
I said 30 euros per month, not per week. You must be from the US or Canada if you make a statement like that. I hardly have to drive at all because distances are so small here. I can walk or cycle everywhere yet always use the car if I need to. In Germany distances will generally be larger so people generally have to spend more.
Lidl has the best quality food here, not Aldi.
i can read so i know you said " per month "
that is absurdly low , 30 euro per week on diesel or petrol would be low for most people in my country ( ireland )
i spend 50 at least , i dont use public transport but your figure is still miles below the average for any european nation ( 360 euro per anum ), most mainland european countries are far bigger than the netherlands and the thread is about germany , even in germany , not everyone lives in a city with a metro etc
lidl is decent but aldi is definatley viewed as superior in ireland , they both have the same market share here more or less , around 15% combined , tesco has about 25% of the market but is falling quite rapidly due to the rise of aldi and lidl who are only here since around 2000
Aldi better thal Lidl? Both are cheap low end stores but I would say here Lidl is a bit better at least in my imagination. Aldi is kind of ghetto
If I did not go anywhere on the weekend I could get by on 30 in diesel per week or if like today I bike the 20km (one way) to work a couple of days I can get by on 30 a week no problem (10 for the work week 20 for weekend) unless I am going somewhere further than normal. For my car 10 Euro is about 110 Km.
My 3 bedroom appartment is 500 euro and with utilitys close to 700. I am looking for a smaller place as my daughter is back to staying at her moms during the week and will pay around 350 before utilitys for a one bedroom place and this is a fairly expensive part of Germany.
Food-hmmmm +/- 250 a month including lunch at work, occasional döner or pizza and beer and wine and other stuff like wash stuff rasors...
Mobile 25 per month, cable+normal phone(which I don´t need but it comes with the package) + high speed internet 40.
I pay about 500 per year for car insurance, 230 for tax.
Of course Edeka and Rewe have often very nice stores, but their traditional grocery concept is extremely inefficient. So you get very little stuff and poor quality for your money. The quality of their store brands is inferior to the equivalents from Aldi or Lidl. I think that Penny, Real, Kaisers and Norma will have big difficutlies to survive. At least Real will not survive the next ten years.
Where you gonna get a monthly pass for 45 Euros? Village?
Such stupid statements are the reason why I have signed in the forum. I really hate it when people write bull**** about other countries. Of course I really hate it, too if germans write nonsens about other countries.
I live in Düsseldorf (Metropolregion Rhein-Ruhr) and the monthly ticket prices starts at 41,23 Euro. You see such prices are very common in the metropolitain areas of germany. If you get Hartz-IV (kind of social benefit system for unemployed or for other people with lower income) you can buy a "Sozialticket" for only 29,99 Euro.
The prices for electricity in germany are way to high. In my opinion the energy transition in germany is the wrong way. We pay now around 26 cents or 36 US-Cents. Most people have to pay around 27,5 Cents or 38 US-Cents. More than 40 US-Cents, I think that is not that common. The average american pay 12 US-Cents. The electricity prices are at least 3 times higher than in the US. On the other side the average american household consumes 10.800 kw/h per anno. The average german household consumes 3359 kw/h per anno. But I think the heating in the US is often included in the electricity bill.
The biggest part of the fees for the university are the cost for free use of the public transportation system. I think it's a really good system. When I studied 15 years ago, there were a lot of students who only signed in the unsiversity only to get the "Semester-Ticket". There is no cheaper way to use the public transportation.
Aldi better thal Lidl? Both are cheap low end stores but I would say here Lidl is a bit better at least in my imagination. Aldi is kind of ghetto
If I did not go anywhere on the weekend I could get by on 30 in diesel per week or if like today I bike the 20km (one way) to work a couple of days I can get by on 30 a week no problem (10 for the work week 20 for weekend) unless I am going somewhere further than normal. For my car 10 Euro is about 110 Km.
My 3 bedroom appartment is 500 euro and with utilitys close to 700. I am looking for a smaller place as my daughter is back to staying at her moms during the week and will pay around 350 before utilitys for a one bedroom place and this is a fairly expensive part of Germany.
Food-hmmmm +/- 250 a month including lunch at work, occasional döner or pizza and beer and wine and other stuff like wash stuff rasors...
Mobile 25 per month, cable+normal phone(which I don´t need but it comes with the package) + high speed internet 40.
I pay about 500 per year for car insurance, 230 for tax.
well i have heard it said that alid and lidl stores in germany are much less glossy than in ireland , more like a warehouse
Of course Edeka and Rewe have often very nice stores, but their traditional grocery concept is extremely inefficient. So you get very little stuff and poor quality for your money. The quality of their store brands is inferior to the equivalents from Aldi or Lidl. I think that Penny, Real, Kaisers and Norma will have big difficutlies to survive. At least Real will not survive the next ten years.
Globus? Penny is owned by REWE as the cheap version. Ja Netto is more ghetto than even Aldi:-)
That's completely nonsense. The cheapest coffee in the USA at grocery stores is the Aldi-Kaffee ;-). Aldi sells this coffee for 4,99 USD per 17,6 oz (500g). The coffee is produced in Germany. This coffee cost 2,79 Euro or 3,85 USD in Germany. In contrast to the USA almost all grocery stores in Germany offers a 500g package of coffee for 2,79 Euro. Coffee and tea are much more expensive in the USA than in Germany.
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the German version of a tombstone pizza (Wagner) will cost you around $7.
Bull****. The normal price for these pizza is 2,59 Euro. Doesn't matter in which grocery store you shop. You mentioned that you buy such a pizza for 4 Euro in your area. That's nonsense. In contrast to the US, grocery prices in germany don't differ that much from area to area. Sometimes you see differences of 10 cents from region to region. But that's all. BTW Edeka sells these pizza this week for 1,66 Euro. It is very easy to find such offers. When you see such an offer buy 3 or 5 and put them in your freezer, so you have never to buy them for 2,59 Euro, because only stupid people spend such an amount for a frozen pizza. Buy the store brand pizza from Aldi or Lidl. There you get 2 pizza for 2,49 Euro, that the normal price. From the peperoni one you will get 3 for 2,49 Euro. By buying Wagner or Tombstone Pizza you will only pay for the advertising and makes the shareholder of Nestle happy.
Even corn flakes, a generic american product, are cheaper in germany than in the US. Corn flakes in Germany cost 1,89 Euro per Kilo (Aldi) or 1,61 Euro per 850g (Lidl), and other discounter have the same price. Corn flakes at Aldi in the US cost 1,69 USD per 18 oz (510g) or 3,31 USD per Kilo or 2,40 Euro. Other stores in the US had normally higher prices than Aldi. The corn flakes in the US cost 49% more than in germany. All my calculations are without the additional sales tax in the US.
1 kg flour cost 0,35 Euro in Germany. At Aldi in the US 1 kg flour cost 0,51 Euro, at walmart it cost 0,63 Euro. Or chocolate and other candies are much cheaper in germany than in the US.
Most groceries are cheaper in germany than in the US. Beef, bananas, canned soop and canned tuna are some exceptions.
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You are charged for bags at a grocery store and you have to bag your item yourself but it's only around a $1 and the Germans say it's exercising...
Of course. The bags in the US aren't free, you pay them with your normal groceries. In Germany mostly bad educated low income people buy plastic bags, smarter people use baskets or reusable bags. Of course I bag my grocery for my self, what else should I do on the checkout? to stare in the space? I put / throw the stuff in the cart or put it in a cardbord box that I have found in the store. In my opinion that makes so much more sense than these rotating bag carousel. The cashier puts often only two items in one bag. The hole checkout process takes much longer.
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Cell phones...there's no "pay as you go" unlimited plans here...There are contracts and the pricing isn't too bad.
That's wrong. Of course you can get prepaid phone with flatrates for 25 or 30 Euro per month.
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Internet: This is where I have the biggest issue: I'm paying nearly $70 dollars a month for DSL and that's the only thing available in my area..
Phone with DSL internet cost 30 Euro by vodafone, even available in Spangdahlem.
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Gas....Again, it will be in your best interest to take some sort of public transportation. The gasoline is taxed at a ridiculous rate here. I would also recommend an Asian car if you want something cheap and very reliable.
Nonsense, yes the gas ist much more expensive in germany than in the US. In the US a litre cost about 0,97 USD or 0,70 Euro. In Germany it cost about 1,55 Euro. That is 2,2 times more. But distances in germany are much smaller than in the US. The average german drives about 14.000 km annual. If your car consumes 7 litres / 100 km, you will need 980 litres and that will cost 1500 Euro per year or 125 Euro per month. Is that really a big problem? The market share of japanese cars in germany is falling. 10 years ago after VW, Opel and Ford had the biggest market share. Today Mercedes is second, Audi is third and BMW is forth-placed.
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Also, make sure you shop Monday-Saturday because nothing is open on Sundays.
Though most gas stations are open. There you can buy a frozen pizza, too. Even there you will probably find a pizza for less than 4 Euro.
Last edited by Rozenn; 04-25-2014 at 05:40 PM..
Reason: Rude
I can't say anything about Globus. I think they are only in the South-West, they are from the Saarland? I know the next Globus to me is in Köln, but I was never there. But I have heard many positive thinks about them. Very large stores but far better than Real.
Here in Düsseldorf I know a really crappy Penny store. I have make the observation that the customers will fit to the appearance of the store. If the store is crap than the customers will be the same. Even when for example an Aldi store and a Penny store are closed together. The rundown people will shop in the rundown Penny rather than in the much nicer Aldi store. The staff at the Penny store looks like their customers, rundown and not that bright.
I live about 10 km away from the Aldi-Äquator. Some Aldi Nord stores are smaller, the interior looks terrible outdated. The stores are really dark and confusing. The staff wears ugly blue work coats, I guess that people in east germany around the 80's were dressed like that. The training at Aldi Nord seems to be worst compared to Aldi Süd. In my opinion Aldi Süd has by far the best skilled employees.
The LZ Lebensmittelzeitung has a ranking of the Discounters in Germany (only sales in Germany):
Discounter - Sales 2013 - Stores - Sales/Store
Aldi Süd - 15,640 Mrd Euro - 1.826 - 8,565 Mio Euro
Aldi Nord - 11,345 Mrd Euro - 2.425 - 4,678 Mio Euro
Lidl - 18,500 Mrd Euro - 3.246 - 5,699 Mio Euro
Netto - 12,900 Mrd. Euro - 4.095 - 3,150 Mio Euro
Penny - 7,400 Mrd. Euro - 2.229 - 3,320 Mio Euro
Norma - 3,025 Mrd. Euro - 1.286 - 2,352 Mio Euro
Netto (mit Hund) - 1,191 Mrd. Euro - 346 - 3,442 Mio Euro
The Netto (mit Hund) is a branch of a danish company. They have stores in north Germany. I have never been in one of them. They have a funny dog in their company sign. That's why they would called "Netto mit Hund" for not missed with the Netto branch of Edeka.
Penny seems to be better than Netto. I think Netto have a lot of old and small plus stores, that they take over.
The distance between Aldi Süd and the other discounters are astonishing.
well i have heard it said that alid and lidl stores in germany are much less glossy than in ireland , more like a warehouse
I don't know how Aldi Süd stores looks like in Ireland. But the stores of Aldi-Süd in Germany looks quite good. The stores of Aldi-Nord looks like warehouses, Aldi-Nord is much worse than Aldi-Süd. Aldi-Süd operates in West and South Germany and in Suisse, Austria, Slovenia, UK, Ireland, USA and Australia. I can't find a video of Aldi Süd stores in Germany, I have found a video of Aldi Hofer in Austria, that's Aldi-Süd and these stores looks really the same than Aldi-Süd stores in Germany:
The new one looks better than at this picture, it's really nice.
I know nothing about the architecture of Aldi or Lidl stores in Ireland. But I like the architecture of Aldi stores in the UK. They look really great compared to those in Germany.
In the last years Aldi-Süd and Lidl have invest a lot of money to refurbish their stores in Germany. Aldi-Nord have start to refurbish their stores, too, but I have never seen a new one.
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