Opening a bank account

The normal bank account in Germany is called a Girokonto. There are several types, according to the banks you look at. Normally, if you open an account at bank with physical point of sales, there will be fees for the account. Those fees can go up to 5-10 Euro per month! Naturally, to an East-European like me this sounds crazy: as a bank client, they should be happy to have me!

Exception for the fees: students and people who deposit more than 1000-1200 Euro per month in the account. You can just receive your salary in this account and thus avoid those stupid fees.

How to open it?

You will definitely need your Meldebescheinigung for this plus a copy of your ID document. If you already have a job offer, it will help to also bring your work contract with you to show them that you are reliable.

With all those documents, just go to the closest bank and ask them for a Girokonto. Before selecting a bank, consider the following: does the bank have an ATM near your place and near your working place? If you withdraw cash from another bank or banking group, there are fees up to 10 Euro per withdrawal. The most widespread banks are Sparkasse, Postbank, Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank.

I would not recommend any of them! Try to get an account at DKB (Deutsche Kredit Bank). There are no fees whatsoever and you get a free VISA debit-credit card with which you can withdraw cash anywhere in the world (incl. Germany) for free! They also give you interest on both the normal Girokonto and on the VISA amount that you have! No other bank will give you interest rates on a Girokonto.

They are not easy though: I tried 3 times until they accepted me. In the end I managed to sneak in through the Lufthansa Miles and More programme. 

Internet Banking

This is the awesome feature that eventually will close the physical banks. Almost every bank in Germany offers it free of charge. You can pay your invoices (Rechnungen) and transfer money in every EU country without paying a cent! Make sure you register for this at your bank of choice.

For every transaction you will need to use a TAN number for increased security. A list of 100 TAN numbers will arrive separately from your username and password. Some banks like Postbank also offer mobile TAN: you get this special number on you mobile phone. Unfortunately, DKB does not yet offer this.

Next article will be about the best possibility to save your money, the Tagesgeldkonto!

Questions? Just ask below

Gas pricing

If you drive a car in Germany, you know how much gas costs here: around 1,5-1,6 Euro per liter. I don't need to tell you that this is quite high, when we know that countries with higher living standard, like Switzerland, have cheaper prices. 


Why so expensive?
The first component is the Produkteinstandpreis, or the price at which the petrol is bought at the Rotterdam stock exchange. This is 56 cent. The next one is the Deckungsbeitrag, or the surcharge for the oil companies to be able to cover their costs: 10,8 cent per liter. This also includes their profit! Then comes the energy tax (including the ecology tax), which is 65 cent. According to the experts, as this is measured by the liter and not by the price, the German state is not profiting from a higher price. The total collected sum is 40 Billion Euro per year...I would call that a good profit. The last part is the VAT, 19% or 25 cent. 


Boycotting
According to Bild, there is a facebook group asking consumers not to visit a gas station on 1st March. Allegedly, the group (or event?) already has 500.000 fans. I could not find this group on facebook, otherwise I would immediately join it!
On second thought, Big Oil has the lowest share of the price! It is against the government tax that we should unite.


Pendlerpauschale
This is the commuting allowance, literally: the money that you get per kilometer (30 cent) on the distance between home and work. ADAC and the Taxpayer Union (TU) have asked the government to increase this allowance, as it is becoming obsolete with the constantly increasing gas price. The TU calculated the yearly cost for an average driver (50km to work, 220 days per year): 4466 Euro, while the allowance sums up to 3300 Euro! The overall car spending could reach 53 cent per kilometer.


The answer from the government is NO. Of course, Germany now needs money for Greece. Dear readers, tighten your belts in Germany so that our Greek neighbours can be saved...


What do you think?

Mülltrennung

What is it?

It means garbage separation. In other words, each specific kind of garbage has its own container and is picked up at different times of the month.

What types of garbage are there?

There is biological waste (simply known as Biomüll), which is collected in dark green containers. The most common bio waste are of course the food rests. If your Bio container is a long way from you (for example, on the street and you live on the second floor), you can get paper bags for free from your local grocery store. In this way, you can collect this trash until it is enough to merit getting down to the street :)

Paper and glass are also collected separately. Some German families find the paper container too expensive and don't have it. They use the containers at their workplaces or dump their paper directly at the collection company. 

Glass is collected in large green containers with holes for each type: green glass, brown, white, etc. Those containers are found in each neighborhood and people know their locations.

All kind of wrappings, cans, nylon bags and tetra packs are collected in the so-called Gelber Sack. This is collected every two weeks from in front of your house. All you have to do is fill it, tie it and leave it in front on the day of the pickup. The local waste management companies distribute the yellow garbage bags and the neighborhood schedules free of charge.

Why is it important?

Germans are environment freaks and if you mess up your garbage separation, it can be interpreted as a crime against the environment. So, be careful where you put your trash!

Questions? Leave a comment!

Parking

Germany is full of paid parking garages, but it seems parking places are never enough here.

Types of parking

There are many multi-storey parking houses in Germany, as Germans like to use space rationally.  The normal open-air parkings are few and depending on the area one lives in. Naturally, for big cities like Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt and Hamburg the closed multi-level parkings are a must.

Costs

Depending on the city: from 2-3 Euro per hour up to 5-10. Free parking is also possible and there are usually signs on the streets telling you on which day of the week and during which hours you can park for free. Always use a Parkuhr, showing the inspecting official when you came! Some paid inner city parking places also let you park for free after a certain hour and during the weekend.

Wrong parking

Simply don't do it if you dont want to pay a fine of 15 Euro! And yes, parking on the opposite side of the street (towards incoming traffic) is also considered wrong parking.

Also don't be tempted to park in front of residental blocs or houses: the owners will remove your vehicle and you will even have to pay for the removal.

Anything to add? Leave a comment

Winterräumpflicht

What is it?

This is the obligation of every house owner to clear the area in front of his house (and also around the house, if there is a public walkway) during the winter months when it snows. 

Basically, you need to clean the snow and make sure the walkway is safe for pedestrians.

Why is it important?

If you don't own a house, this should not be a problem for you! If you live in a block of flats and you don't pay a Hausmeister (a facility manager), then it is worth to inform yourself if you need to do it and when you need to do it. It can be that the lodgers have a schedule for every apartment.

This is important, because if someone slips and falls in front of your house and you haven't cleared it, you may find yourself in a courtroom, most likely paying for the person's medical bill. This is not going to be cheap!

How to do it?

Well, you need around 10-15 minutes or up to half an hour, depending on your strength and the area you need to clean. You can find big snow shovels in the local grocery store and in every Baumarkt like Praktiker. It is also good to buy some Streusalz, to get rid of the ice.

No time?

You are working 8-10 hours a day and you find no time for this? Try asking in the neighbourhood if someone would like to do it for you. A reasonable pay is around 10-15 Euro for one time. Youngsters would be happy to do it.

What do you think?

Haftpflichtversicherung

This is is the cheapest and most important insurance that you can have in Germany.

What is it?

Haftpflichtversicherung insures you in case you break someone's camera or glasses. As everything is crazy expensive in Germany, I recommend you to have this insurance. There are different options and extent of the coverage which increases the price, of course.

Germans love insurances, so there are things like Hundehaftpflichversicherung (by law) which insures you if your dog bites someone.

How much does it cost?

Normally, for a single person, it costs around 30-40 Euro. For a couple, in a life-partner tariff, it can go up to 50-70 Euro per year.

Where to do it?

Any of the insurance companies would do, like Allianz, Axa, Cosmosdirekt, etc. You can also use a comparison website like Check24 or even better Transparo

Questions? Leave a comment!

Kirchensteuer

This is one of the things in Germany I will never understand as a foreigner!

What is it?

It is basically a church tax. Yes, you read right! If you are working in Germany and you are belonging to one of the official religions (catholic, protestant, etc.), you will have to pay it.

How do the officials know what religion I am?

Remember the Meldebescheinigung? Well, there you wrote it and now they know it.

What is it for?

I have talked to many Germans about that and I have always expressed my amazement to them concerning this topic. I simply cannot understand why a secular and democratic state collects taxes for its churches! Where is the separation of religion and state?!

Apparently, the church in Germany is doing a lot more than in other countries (especially in my country, Bulgaria). It is administering schools, kindergartens and is doing a lot for society. I have heard some Germans saying that if you don't pay your Kirchensteuer, the chance of getting your child in a kindergarten is lower than if you pay. The officials will never tell you the reason behind it, but it can be that...

If you don't pay this tax, you cannot baptize your child in Germany, you cannot have a church marriage and you cannot have a church burial.

How much is it?

It is between 20 and 50 Euro per month, depending on how much you earn. A good average value is around 35 Euro.

How to avoid it?

This is pretty simple: when you fill in the forms for your Meldebescheinigung, simply write that you have no religion (or not applicable). If you are a religious person (and belonging to one of the official religions here) and you don't want to give up your faith just like that, then you will have to swallow it and pay up.

Remark: for the eastern Block, Eastern Orthodox is not an official religion here, so you are safe.

Note: the church tax has nothing to do with visiting a church! You can still visit a holy place, without paying the tax, don't worry!

Questions? Just post a comment and I will try to answer it!

Meldebescheinigung

As promised, here is the article on this basic and very important document:

What is it?

It shows where you live, i.e. your official address in Germany. Normally, if you are visiting someone here or getting a visit, you need to have this document, if you encounter a stubborn official. I would say that if you are staying more than just a couple of weeks, it would make sense to go and get one from the Einwohnermeldeamt. This is not applicable when you are just touring the country and you are moving from place to place in hotels or whatever.

Where to get it?

You can get the Meldebescheinigung from the Einwohnermeldeamt. This is normally part of the town administration, called the Bürgeramt. It makes sense to check the working hours of your local Bürgeramt, as they are often very restricted! The German officials, or Beamten, don't like to work so much ;)

How to get it?

You need to go personally to the Einwohnermeldeamt and bring your passport or ID card. Just say you are new in town and would like to get a Meldebescheinigung. They will make a copy of the passport and give you a couple of pages to fill out. You need to write your address, sex, religion (needed for the Kirchensteuer, if applicable; I will cover this church tax in a separate article), etc.

It saves time if you print and fill out their forms as much as you can even before you go to the Einwohnermeldeamt. Normally, the needed forms are online on the website of the Bürgeramt. It helps if you speak a little German to orient yourself around!

What do I need it for?

This document is needed for almost everything you could imagine, as it certifies your official address in Germany.

You would need it for:

- opening a bank account

- registering a car and getting the licence plates (will be covered as a separate topic)

- getting a job

- getting a job permit (depending where you come from; will be covered)

- getting into the health insurance system (will be covered)

- etc...

Costs

There are official fees for this document, depending on the town you are in. They vary between 5 and 10 Euro. Last time I needed a Meldebescheinigung for a friend, they did not charge me, though!

Questions? Just post a comment and I will try to answer it!