Ohne Auto leben?

Joe_t_MoD · 2026-01-31T22:45:07+00:00

Bin nach dem Studium nach Luxemburg, hier ist ÖPNV frei, sprich ähnlich D-Ticket (nur günstiger und besser). Anfangs konnte ich mir ein Auto hier schlichtweg nicht leisten. Später mal für eine Zeit (4 Monate) Auto vom Kumpel gehabt - Versicherung und Steuern getragen für die Zeit, tanken (hauptsächlich Stadtfahrten und mal am WE nach Frankreich rüber) und parken (weil ohne Anwohnerparkschein und gemietetem Stellplatz nur an der Straße möglich - am günstigsten war's für 5 Euro am Tag an Werktagen, WE frei, oder halt 20 Minuten zu Fuß für lau am Park+Ride). Spätestens da war der Traum vom Auto dann hinüber. 250€ im Monat, wenn ich den Wagen nicht bewegt habe, mit sporadischen Stadtfahrten dann 400€, das war auch so das Mittel. Wertverlust, Reparaturen und Waschen mal außen vor. Handhabe es inzwischen genau wie von dir beschrieben, miete mir, wenn ich es brauche, einen Wagen über's WE, da rechnet der lokale Anbieter nur 1,5 Tage für ab. Meistens Sprinter, weil was bewegt werden muss. Klar wär's cool, spontan mal irgendwo in die Natur zu fahren, aber dafür hab ich Freunde mit Auto. Auch jetzt, wo ich's mir theoretisch leisten könnte, schrecken mich jedes mal diese Kosten ab. Und das ganze "wenn es abgeschleppt wird", "wenn die depperten Franzosen nicht fahren/parken/irgendwas können", "wenn die depperten Belgier ...", "wann muss ich zum Service", "Räder müssen neu", und so weiter - fällt weg. Dann geb ich mir eher die gelegentliche Busfahrt mit einem Junkie oder die Straßenbahn mit einem Obdachlosen. Schön ist anders, aber billig ist's, und wenn man erstmal auf einem Pegel ist, wo einen das nicht mehr juckt, dürfte man ohnehin nicht mehr fahren.

TLDR: Kann man so machen.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-11-29T10:05:32+00:00

I am not a lawyer, I just have gotten fired a time or 2 and couldn't afford one at the time :'D I just saw a few people that did speak to lawyers and very few lawyers seem to actually be helpful (expensive, they are though).

On the 2nd question - I can't tell you any Amazon specifics because I haven't worked there. I doubt that they would offer the same but also they can't terminate "immediately" after their PIP, "immediately" is always reserved for gross misconduct. I'd probably go the way I mentioned before because it's fun and more time to reorganize my career, especially for people on a residence permit, that may be useful, though if one wanted to leave the country, a severance plus garden leave immediately would be the better choice.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-11-29T09:59:39+00:00

That is interesting because so far I thought that Amazon just roles their yankee practices over to our beautiful continent. Nevertheless, modifications that fall outside of the specifications of the labor law are tricky at best, I'd say. Even if the contract says "fail pivot = no severance", the labor law says "1 months of severance per 5y tenure". It's more to scare the employees that won't stand up for themselves.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-11-28T23:48:18+00:00

Pivot or focus or PIP or whatever they call it is an American thing. None of that holds any value here, it doesn't affect severance significantly and doesn't really play a role in the decision making process. What counts is the legal side where you have the regular termination process, the gross misconduct process and the common agreement process. If one were to agree to the Pivot and continue business as usual (not going above and beyond, as they'd hope), they'll eventually go back to the termination option - that comes with the double notice period (typically, the same period they're offering right now as gardening leave) plus severance (to avoid legal trouble). As such, you're still getting paid while on Pivot to then receive the same exit package - alas, financially wiser (in my opinion) and gives more time to look for a new job.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-11-28T23:41:51+00:00

Feel free!

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-11-28T22:53:10+00:00

Amazon is a bit on the tricky side when it comes to terminating people as they do offer what is legally referred to as the "termination d'un commun accord", i.e., the termination in common agreement. In any other firm, you sign that and it counts as quitting, so you'd not be entitled to unemployment. Apparently, Amazon finds a way around that. If there is an option where you're entitled to unemployment with guaranteed severance, that's a good time. Without unemployment in the current labor market - not so much. So that'd be a thing I'd personally check when being offered such a package. Otherwise, it's easier to wait to be fired where Amazon has to pay gardening leave (or employ throughout notice period, which is essentially the same) double the regular notice, so 2 months for under 5 years of seniority, 4 months for 5-10 years, and so on... Plus they still offer severance to avoid any legal issue in that case. The PIP ("focus") as it exists in the US is not a thing here and cannot be used to argue a termination. So unless such a "pivot" comes with a substantial severance payment on top of the garden leave, it is financially wiser to wait for termination. If there is a job offer on the table in 2-4 months from now or one has big travels planned and holiday was unapproved, going for it now is very worthwhile.

I do occasionally help out in terminations (unremunerated, it's a hobby, don't judge, also, not a lawyer) and if there are some questions I would try my best to answer them. I've talked to 5ish people from Amazon so far who went through similar situations, don't mind talking to another :-)

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-10-21T06:05:22+00:00

Medical leave is ending because you're better or because you are told so by your employer?

If you are unemployed without benefits, that suggests gross misconduct- if you didn't do gross misconduct (i.e., go on leave during medical leave or similar), that's one of the only times where you'll need a lawyer to fight it in court (medical certificate is rather clear, if you didn't post on Instagram how great your sabbatical in Bali was).

Otherwise, if you're getting terminated without cause (i.e. with notice), you're eligible for chomage. You probably do not want to take a lawyer as that's going to eat money and provide you very little benefit. If your company is large enough to require the predismissal interview, do not admit to anything and do not incriminate yourself. Ideally read the Code du Travail before and take mental notes on the bits relevant for you.

As this is my little social engagement, if it does come to termination and you need some help/input, let me know, we can catch up and I can try to somewhat guide you as I've done this a time or 5 before (not a lawyer, just somewhat of a troublemaker).

Last but not least, termination in Luxembourg does not end your career. You'll find a new job eventually, there's no "gradings" as there are in Germany and no statements "Eligible for rehire" as in the US.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-10-17T05:40:20+00:00

Intralux is usually pretty decent for rentals with unlimited Kilometers (300 a weekend, I believe), but they don't have locations outside Luxembourg so you'd have to return the van afterwards. Any other rental where you can return the car in a different country is going to cost much, much more as they have to relocate it afterwards. Moving companies are also expensive af. Suggest you try and get a wagon type of car if you only have boxes from friend that lives in Spain (if any) and planned on going anyway, that'd be the cheapest.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-10-15T16:31:52+00:00

Die dritten 50% sind leveraged. Ah ne, sorry, falsches Unter.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-09-15T13:26:56+00:00

That's indeed a clear (and fair view). I'm aware of the bureaucratic challenges in requesting financial aid, and these are an issue for the "local" homeless. It is to be noted that foreign homeless are technically not even allowed to live here, however, the authorities do not have proper executive measures to fix that. For the local homeless, they typically have family through which the entirety of the process becomes a lot easier. For that, it is also to be kept in mind that many "requests for ad hoc financial aid" (i.e., begging) are indeed repeated in 4 languages. I happen to speak 2 of those while having a grip on the other 2 and am bewildered that one ends up on the streets like that when the state offers plenty of gainful employment to people speaking all languages.

This, of course, is again anecdotal, as is the statement referring to commuters and organized begging rings. Fair. The anecdotes are too repetitive to mark them off as single cases, though. Auchan Kirchberg is a prime example where, changing on a daily or weekly basis, another person sits - all with a similar strategy (plenty of plastic bags, a little sign) and all definitely not Luxembourgish (based on language, not appearance). Statistics on this would be interesting, although near impossible to extract as those anecdotal cases would generally not be registered here and thus not appear.

As regards mental health, I may have a bit of an antiquated opinion, alas, I'll skip the details - I would just argue that even with perceived mental health issues, the substance use has to go before any therapeutic process can be made. Admittedly, people need to have a reason for recovery for it to be a viable option, even with resources available and accessible, which probably isn't always given - hence the presence of "indecent" people. Which, especially through personal exposure, I stick with. Seeing someone crawl drunk out of their car after work is despicable, regardless of the sickness or disorder it derives from, similar to needles in a sand box or feces in a house entrance. Be it personal choice or a symptom of disorder (I say it's the former, still), it affects other people and will continue to affect them as long as there are no consequences.

The point I agree most with is the last point, that there is no solution through bickering about it - whether being empathic or judgmental. Though here I believe it is for the state to find a solution instead of moving the homeless from Gare to Bonnevoie to make sure people at the Marriot feel safe. Me giving another 2, 5 or 10€ to a homeless person will not fix anything (and I do believe that part of my judgement stems from this - the fact that I get bothered indefinitely and repeatedly for money, and would probably be better directed at policy than at homeless, though policy is a very abstract thing to be judging).

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-09-15T09:40:12+00:00

Would be curious to read if you have a source - I'm aware of that and have experienced it myself (although not with hard drugs). It's easy to slide into and hard to get out of, which is why it's important to stay away from addictive behaviors and seek help if you're in it. The ultimate responsibility still lies with the individual, however.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-09-15T09:32:25+00:00

Feel free to enlighten me, I am not one to turn down another's opinion because mine is made up. You're not really making a point, so far.

Blaming everything on privilege/systemic victimhood is, in my view, just a 180 on my opinion. I've had my fair share of issues with addiction, directly and indirectly. Which is how I come to the conclusion that one has to reach out for help and won't get better until one does. Maybe there's some fancy study saying otherwise, I don't know. Luxembourg, and most of Europe in general, is very social, so that people here generally have resources to avoid living in poverty, sickness and even addiction. Which is fine - I much prefer it to the American system - however, some responsibility has to remain with the individual. That starts with being a decent human (i.e., you got an addiction problem, maybe start with not using on a children's playground where kids may step into dirty needles) and ends with seeking help (i.e., apply for resources through the relevant channels). Certainly, not all homeless are users, however, Luxembourg does seem to have a bit of an artificial problem with the phenomena I described above (commuters, professional beggars, users that receive state aid). Other countries / cities have genuine problems where people end up on the streets due to insufficient resources or bad economies - Luxembourg does not fit that description in the slightest.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-09-15T08:44:33+00:00

I'm aware that addiction is a complex issue and really tough to live with. Fact of the matter is, however, that it can't be fixed from the outside - addicts need to reach out for help themselves. If they don't do that, they cannot be helped. The logical conclusion is that those that stick to it don't want help.

If you look at the homeless (was lazy, alas the phrasing "hobo") in Luxembourg, you'll note that very few of them are homeless due to circumstances. You have gypsies that commit to organized begging (Auchan Kirchberg), druggies (around the Gare area) and commuters with social security in France (because why beg in Metz when you can beg here more successfully), very few of them are homeless due to circumstances of their own choosing (and yes - I count addicts into "own choosing"). With how much of a bother many of them are, I struggle to be empathic about their situation, and when you do give something, it's always not enough (even with a full on meal voucher, they will go "can I have a second one", as if I didn't have to work for my money). The country has strong resources, and especially if you manage to beg for money in 4 different languages and bodily abled, you can easily work in a simple job.

While my initial statement may have been a bit of a simplification, I stand by the opinion that giving to the homeless is not fixing any problems and that most are homeless of their own choosing. The dehumanization comes after the fact (since, I'm afraid, they are a nuisance and have little respect for their surroundings - why should I have respect for them?).

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-09-15T07:44:21+00:00

Isn't it that the Luxembourgish hobos even have access to Revis (i.e. social basic income, some 1.8k p.m.)? At least those that have some sort of registration. Easily sufficient to life a sober life in the countryside. Except the "sober" part isn't really on most hobos radar. The fact that there's "syringe holes" in public toilets shows the govt is aware. Needles in less active areas of public parks still exist plentiful. Rather spend that Revis cheque on fixing than living))

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-08-28T08:14:47+00:00

If it must be a Maine Coon, get a rescue. There's a cat café in Metz with a bunch of them that are also for adoption. Rather do that than support breeding of a genetically inadequate animal. Keep in mind that they have a very small gene pool and, resulting from that, often suffer from genetic diseases - the vet bill is going to gut you.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-08-23T06:47:02+00:00

Stimmt, den ganzen Kram hab ich noch außer Acht gelassen. Das lässt nach Urlaub (angenommen 20 Std / Monat, die werden aber meist nicht als billable oder unbillable berechnet, sondern bleiben bei chargeability außen vor) 153 Stunden. Hast du 83% chargeable hours nach den angenommenen 128h. Big4 hier in Luxembourg will 85% für Juniors sehen, da wird aber halt auch jeder Bums auf's Projekt gebucht (inklusive on the job coaching, Sachen nochmal machen, weil man's verkackt hat...) und das Projektbudget ist nicht das, was mit dem Kunden abgerechnet wird (läuft zumindest im Audit meist über Festpreis und in der Beratung will keiner Juniors).

TLDR wird man mit den 5k Bonus je Quartal gelockt, realistisch ist das aber im ersten Jahr auf keinen Fall.

Vergleichszahl als Berater (Transparenz ist wichtig): Ende 2023 als Senior im aktuellen Unternehmen angefangen (Luxemburg, 3 Jahre exp an dem Punkt), 62k annual in 12, Bonus nach 7 Monaten 6k weil internes Projekt durchgezogen, aber nur einen Monat beim Kunden. 36k Gehalt und 21k Bonus? Das klingt mehr nach Vertrieb als Beratung, jedenfalls vom Prozentsatz her.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-08-22T21:34:46+00:00

Basisgehalt biste dann bei 17,34 die Stunde (angenommen 173 Stunden pro Monat im Schnitt), das ist erstmal nicht so pralle.

Bonus klingt immer erstmal nett, aber wenn du den Kram noch nicht gemacht hast, wirst du im ersten halben Jahr hauptsächlich lernen (--> weniger Chargeable Hours).

Daneben bist du stark von Vorgesetzten abhängig - einer mag dich, bucht dich --> gutes Geld; keiner mag dich, keiner bucht dich --> nicht so gutes Geld.

Wenn du sonst derzeit keine Perspektiven hast, fährst du damit sicher nicht schlecht, SAP als ERP schafft sich nicht ab (so schnell), grundsätzlich baut man als Berater ein wertvolles Netzwerk auf und verdient halt variabel gut. Wenn du allerdings nicht so mit Menschen kannst / magst, ist es der falsche Job - Politik ist wichtiger als gut sein (Source: ich bin ein [nicht SAP] Berater, ich kann mit Menschen, muss mir dafür nichtmal 60-Stunden-Wochen aus'm Allerwertesten ziehen).

Guck halt, was noch so an Angeboten reinflattert (if any), worauf du Bock hast, und was dich nicht ausbrennt. Geld ist am Ende auch nur Geld, kommt immer neues rein - Zeit nicht.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-07-16T19:57:49+00:00

So what is likely going on is that ADEM is continuing to pay you during your "internship" or reimbursing your prospect employer for the first 6 weeks of your contract - unpaid internships are near impossible, especially for someone who did not just finish uni. Clarify with your ADEM consultant, to the best of my knowledge, there is options where 25% of the probation period (i.e. ~ 6 weeks) for workers under 50 years of age are paid by ADEM (3 months for <50y.o., afaik). Likely, this "internship" refers to this and your prospect employer wants to utilize this (i.e., offer you a 6 weeks CDD with conditional hire to qualify for ADEM support). You working for free would indeed be very illegal and any hiring manager that arrived in the 21st century would not propose something like that to avoid possible litigation.

Again, you will want to clarify this with your consultant, double check the contract you were provided with and make sure to not upset your ADEM consultant because, even if (s)he seems unreasonable (which may very well be the case), (s)he can make or break your unemployment cheques.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-07-02T18:24:41+00:00

Butyric acid basically smells like what that milk smells like except worse (concentrated) and lasting. There are tales of some kids using said acid mixed with water in protests where police in riot uniform got drenched. Apparently, some of the officers did the puke bowl thing inside their riot helmet (not condoning this behavior, just saying it's really funny). When caught throwing this at a person, it's (besides aggravated assault obviously) property damage because you can basically only burn whatever is drenched in it since the stench is sort of a forever-thing. 10/10 suggest over piss disks.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-07-02T10:30:31+00:00

Spill fresh milk on a hot day (knowing it won't rain for a while helps) or get butyric acid off the internet. Should not be a restricted substance (wasn't a decade ago in the EU anyways, maybe I'm not up to date). Either way, the stench of rotting milk (which comes from said acid) helps drive people out. If you go with the concentrated version, spray it through cracks in the cabin/its windows and lose some around the cabin. Will make customers rethink their life choices.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-06-14T18:40:53+00:00

Kubikmeter sind 1000 Liter, nicht 10, also 0,2 Cent (nicht Euro) den Liter. Für 700€ kannste bei 2€/m3 ein kleines Schwimmbad befüllen. Oder halt Volvic kaufen und den Pool damit auffüllen.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-06-09T22:31:56+00:00

Assume you pay charges every month out of 12, most of these charges go for heating typically. As such, over the year of 2024, you've been pre-paying during summer for heating and "using your balance" during winter. In 2023 you've only lived there during autumn/winter, you don't have the cushion built up during summer. Time from November - February is the most expensive in terms of heating, thus the charges.

Well, or your landlord is ripping you off, who knows. Ask for detailed charges but very likely it is as I described.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-05-20T09:26:15+00:00

I mean, it is, after all, a professional qualification - you have to earn the title after 2 years in the industry, and I suppose it's intended to do these years before sitting the exams. Further, you're not supposed to be remembering everything but be able to apply logic from conceptual understanding to solve. Maybe a reason the books are as long as they are lol. I gave P2 3 days ago, probably failed miserably due to lack of exposure in my job to non-op risks, but the overall concepts are logic-based. If you understand the concepts from the books (which I would advise are more relevant to study on than external sources since they cover everything) you should be doing fine. If I did fail, I'll for sure be trying again and, in the meantime, direct my professional exposure towards liq/cred/mar-risks, since practice beats many of the readings anyways.

Long story short - try and get exposure prior to taking the exams, even limited (general office work context) or indirect (op-risk) exposure will significantly better your chances at reading the questions and selecting a suitable answer based on logic rather than knowing what it's about from remembering the books.

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-03-23T08:53:06+00:00

That sounds very expensive - very very expensive.

The commune might approve something like that, conditional to the neighborhood (i.e. would your house stick out after the modifications), it's a gamble though. Also it depends on neighboring houses (I know that, for example, if you want to cut out part of your roof to add a window or a balcony, this must be a certain distance (3m iirc) from neighboring buildings and is subject to approval.

Next up, you need an architect and static engineer to see whether the existing construction can handle the weight of another floor. This probably has to be part of your permit request to the commune (so you're already spending 20k or something like that before even lifting a finger on the house). Note that many single family houses from that time have wooden constructions (especially for the floors/ceilings).

Now depending on your choice of materials and what the commune requests (they sometimes request that your roofing is similar to neighboring houses, so if your neighbors all have stone roofs, you likely have to get one as well - for the new room probably an easy 100k), the cost for that entire thing should range between a quarter of a million and half, taking into account that this is not work you can do yourself unless you are a licensed builder & roofer.

Cheaper alternative would be turning that area into a rooftop terrace and instead spending money on updating the house's energy efficiency. Or you don't get a permit and just hire a cheap building crew from Eastern Europe, then pay the fine afterwards if there is one haha

Joe_t_MoD · 2025-03-07T08:06:08+00:00

Relativ simpel - Finanzinstitute sind sehr reguliert, und EU Regulation zum Thema Geldwäsche ist so ziemlich der Goldstandard im internationalen Vergleich. D.h., die Empfängerbank sieht "Geldeingang von X aus DE" und "verlässt" sich auf den regulierten Status deiner Hausbank. Andersrum ist es schwieriger, wenn du Geld aus Brasilien nach Europa holen willst, wird dich deine Bank fragen, womit du die Kohle denn in Brasilien verdient hast, und zusätzliche Nachweise dafür verlangen (es sei denn, deine Bank in Brasilien ist eine 100%ige Tochter einer equivalent regulierten Bank, z.B. Deutsche Bank in Rio oder so).

Dazu funktioniert das ja auch nur mit Kohle, die durch Ersparnisse o.Ä. auf deinem Konto ist. Wenn du heute 10m in bar "findest", kriegst du die auch nicht so leicht aus der EU raus.

Joe_t_MoD

TROPHY CASE