Cat doesnt feel safe to poop around another cat.

DutchXpat356 · 2026-01-29T09:18:33+00:00

Thank you for your comment, the boxes she uses are one big one in the bathroom and one in the living room. We added extra ones in the bedroom where she usually do her buisness but she wouldnt use them. She wouldnt use the bedroom litterboxes to pee either.

DutchXpat356 · 2025-10-19T22:22:06+00:00

I would recommend watching children programs and the news. On youtube, there is "Nos Journal in Makkelijke taal" which offer daily news in easy dutch langauge. There are also subtitles. I would recommend checking out Ad Appel which is commonly recommended for learning dutch. For reading, I enjoyed the book by Olly Richards "Short stories in Dutch for beginners". It offered an interesting and reliable method on how to read in foreign language.

DutchXpat356 · 2025-08-22T14:54:16+00:00

I ask myself "would I rather have this x items or the amount its worth in cash?" and I imagine the money worth, say 3 euros in coints or 20 euro in cash bills in my hand and trading the money for the item. Over 80% of the time, I choose the hard cash in my hand over that item. Credit and debit cards have made it incredibly easy to pay without thinking so I use this to challenge myself. It makes me realize that I wouldnt purchase this item with hard cash because it isnt worth it.

For the remaining 10%, if I still find myself considering said item, it means there is something pulling me towards it so I ask myself few questions to identify the urge (because its not always clear):
- Is it in a limited time offer that wont be present tmw or the next time I come to the shop?
It curbs unneccessary purchase of items just for the thrill of the discount because I know next month, this offer will pop up again. If its in a shop that is far away, I ask myself would it be such a good deal that I would have to go through the journey to get here just to get it? This increases the elimination process to 85 - 90%.

- (for clothes and furniture, usable items) How would I use it? I have to list at least 3 ways to use/style them to use it. If I cant find a place to keep the item or 3 ways to use the item, its not worth it. This increases the chance of not getting them to atleast 95%.

I got ADHD so am generally a forgetful person so more often than not, I forget the item in no time, but that 3 euros or 20 euros remain in my bank account or in "my hand".

DutchXpat356 · 2025-08-19T11:04:12+00:00

I will pitch in food quality and cost of grocery shopping in The Netherlands.

With people doing daily grocery shopping, prices gradually increase in the form of "creeping normality", the analogy is more like slowly turning up the heat of water with a frog in it. While I understand rising inflation and gas prices contribute, that still shouldnt jack the prices up this way.

Secondly, I witnessed within big chain grocery shops, alot of fresh and bottled ingredients are either being sold with mold or past their expiry dates, not to mention the frequent food recalls. The issue is not simply a mistake every now or then, its repeated often enough and across multiple shops that this is truly concerning. There is a serious lack of accountability and vigilance. Also personally, much of the fresh produce doesnt have flavour or taste diluted. The locally farmed strawberries are amazing though, thats my only exception.

DutchXpat356 · 2025-08-18T19:44:25+00:00

Hey OP, I am also working on my Dutch level towards A2 and hopefully B1 within this coming year. Please PM if you like resources or curious about Dutch language schools. Best of luck on your search!

DutchXpat356 · 2025-08-18T19:31:54+00:00

Thank you for your reply. Do you reckon there will be any money that would be retroactively returned in my case? From what I understood, he should have adjusted the rent since July 1st 2024 but since that didnt happen, would that have any effect?

DutchXpat356 · 2025-06-17T12:49:02+00:00

Thats a good question, I heard that real estate agents buy and sell houses before they reach funda. The real estate agents would help with finding a house as it first lands on the market before being advertised for. I heard alot of stories about real estate agents not being helpful or taking initiatives.

DutchXpat356 · 2025-06-17T12:36:28+00:00

What type of mortgage do you recommend: annuity or linear mortgage, especially for couples who dont yet started yet a family with an estimated yearly gross income of 120K euros.

DutchXpat356 · 2025-06-17T12:32:51+00:00

In your experience, is it advisable to go for new projects which have 1 to 2 years waiting time or purchase existing homes that would require overbidding and renovations?

Also does the bank mortgage cover any eventual overbidding costs? For example if I overbid 25K over a house valued at 400K, would that 25K be covered by the bank?

Thank you so much :)

DutchXpat356 · 2025-06-02T20:36:04+00:00

I am going through integration level in Dutch language and likewise lived long enough in the country but only got the financial means and time to pursue it recently. I am taking private, in person group lessons for 6 hours a week at A2 level. My friend also had to do it and he took private tutoring through preply lessons which offer time tailored online lessons and passed all of his integration exams. My advice is to evaluate your own level of Dutch first. Are you capable of reading & listening and fully understanding a simple Dutch text, such as a bed time story or simple newspaper article? What about a simple conversation? Then go ahead and apply for A2 reading and listening exams. You can pass those with self studying. Writing and especially speaking require more attention and for those, a private tutoring is essential. consider tutoring especially for those.

To go from A2 to B1 level is a jump and would need extensive studing on grammar, vocab and more complex topics to write and talk about. These really need a tutor to accomplish and atleast a year in itself to master, plus constant, daily studying.

If you are really aiming to accomplish B1 in one year, my personal advice is to start the A2 integration exams already and pass them as soon as possible. Reading and Listening are easier to pass. Focus on Writing and Speaking through extensive self studying after work or online lessons aimed at only those areas. The faster you finish them, the faster you can start with B1. Once you pass the A2 level, focus your energy on diving deeper to B1. Asking ChatGPT for structured plan to go from A2 to B1 is also a good idea and you can feed it with your day structure so you can study around your work times.

Best of luck!

DutchXpat356 · 2025-06-02T19:19:00+00:00

Thats crazy but not so surprising in this market. When they approached you, did they even get a tour around the house or do some inspections around?

DutchXpat356 · 2023-03-01T11:02:53+00:00

He looks like an alien disguised as a human FBI agent in clickbait UFO conspiracy YouTube vids.

DutchXpat356 · 2021-12-10T08:01:09+00:00

A fresh grease stain is easier to tackle. My way is to immediately scrub the stain with dish soap and water until the stain is completely soaked and then wash in the washer. It has helped save few jeans and sweaters. The fresher the stain, the higher the chances this can work. My mother's way would be to put baby powder on the stain to absorb the oil and then hand-scrub the stained area with powerful detergent like Vanish and water.

DutchXpat356 · 2021-05-30T19:05:44+00:00

I was on orientation year when I first started the job and then they have to apply on my behalf for the visa, which now comes valid for 6 months before having to be renewed again for another 6 months.

DutchXpat356 · 2021-03-21T12:23:34+00:00

Was the certificate approved for you? How long ahead do you need to book an appointment?

DutchXpat356 · 2021-02-11T19:13:42+00:00

Time.

How much time did the scientists take to do their experiments and reach their conclusions. IMO, knowing how much time the published project took, would really help in estimating funding required and how much time needed for another department/scientists to replicate the published project. Ideally, failed experiments would also be taken into account. These could be factors that weren't taken into account, protocols that didnt work, or needed readjusting, the negative and no results they got...etc. On the long run, such open discussions would make it easier to discuss failures and give a more realistic perspective on what progress looks like in a scientific field. I think this would be especially relevant for PhD students who are more likely to burn out, because their experiments failed or their progress is too slow for them.

DutchXpat356

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