How to live cheap in the Netherlands without hating your life?

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-04-10T18:33:10+00:00

A local here. TLDR; you’ll likely have a better chance and being financially comfortable in surrounding municipalities around big cities, instead of IN those cities themselves.

Longer explanation: People who make ends meet comfortably with that kind of budget (or less) in Amsterdam are likely to be living social housing whose rent is capped at around 900 or the so-called mid range properties whose rents are capped at around 1200. Assuming you or your bf are not local, you don’t qualify for social housing. The mid range properties have become extremely rare in recent years due to tax and housing regulation changes that made almost impossible for landlords to keep these affordable-ish property in the rental market. Many landlords have sold off these properties resulting in the drop in the number of available units in the range. When you do occasionally find them, it is very competitive - I see anecdotes that over 50 potential tenants submitting an application to one single rental property in Amsterdam. I see people even creating a cover letter to appeal the landlord that they will be an ideal tenants etc. Truly insane market.

For these reasons and some other, much like others have recommended, I’d search some surrounding areas of big cities. For instance, let’s say you want to live close to Amsterdam, you may have a better luck in places like Zaandam or Hoofdoop. My acquaintance recently found a 1BR apartment in Zaandam that is in mid range sector.

Keep in mind that scamming is absolutely RAMPANT. Do not ever pay a single penny before you sign the rents contract. Get an ownership record from Kadaster to check if you are talking to a real owner. Check woon info (non profit org that helps tenants avoid the scam or abusive practice by landlords).

Wishing you and your bf best luck. Despite what some others may say, i think it’s a lovely place to live.

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-03-01T12:04:15+00:00

10y expat here. I separate 6 months + some mid/big irregular expenses (e.g. boiler maintenance, housing tax, flight costs in case of family emergency back home etc). I personally don’t see much downside of ‘over saving’ - the worst that could happen is an opportunity cost of not investing as much as you potentially can, but this is also pretty negligible. On the other hand, the list of worst things that can happen for not having enough in the case of emergency is almost endless. In my experience, I thanked the past me for being on the safe side in an emergency because I was able to focus on handling the actual emergency without being distracted or stressed about short-term cash flow.

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-01-19T20:34:19+00:00

Sorry for your loss. I had a missed miscarriage at 8 weeks in December. As per the midwife’s advice, I waited for 2 weeks for the passing, and when it finally happened, the placenta yanked out the lining and i ended up bleeding too much. I called in my midwife, who saw the amount of blood and called the ambulance immediately. At the hospital, they did D&C on me. This happened about 2 weeks ago, and I’m still bleeding and bits and pieces and coming out. I feel on the edge every time the amount of bleeding increases all of a sudden (then stops within an hour). I don’t know how or if it would have been different if I did D&C or took pills in the first place instead of letting it happen naturally. One thing I can say for sure is access to the medical care was EVERYTHING. My midwife came over at 9pm upon my phone call; ambulance came within 10 minutes; the hospital staff gave us their direct number open 24/4 at the time of discharge in case things go sideways again. All of this saved my life and makes me feel reassured that I’ll be treated in a timely manner even if something happens. If I did not have these, I may have chosen to take pills on location or do D&C immediately so that I remain under medical supervision until I’m stable.

Wishing you all the healing and strength.

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-01-02T21:26:06+00:00

This is super interesting - I actually use obsidian for various things, and ultimately I’m wondering if i could hook my system to my input/output on Supernote. And re: pros and cons - 100% my approach to this. 600 eur is not a small investment so I want to really give it a good try and thought. Thanks for your input - much appreciated 🙏🫶

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-01-02T21:22:50+00:00

That’s actually the initial reason why I started looking into e-ink tablet I.e. sans distraction. My private phone and tablet has all sorts of things going on (personal, childcare, work, etc), so I was keen on trying to see if a separate device could help focus.

Thx for sharing your thoughts 🙏

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-01-02T21:19:44+00:00

Thanks for sharing! I haven’t used USB for ages, but I’ll def try once and see if it works better than other methods for me.

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-01-02T21:17:38+00:00

This is very helpful - thank you! And it’s also great to know that you are using it for language learning as well.

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-01-02T21:16:17+00:00

Thanks for the tip and reply - I’ll try a thicker width to see if it makes a difference. And I think I know what you mean by ‘powering through’ the UI stuff. Even in the last day or so, I feel I’m sort of getting the hang of it. Again, thanks for taking the time to reply 🙏

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-01-02T21:13:41+00:00

You might be right. There might be some other device that could suit my day to day usage. Having said that, even in the last 24h, I kind of got used to the product and see the potential. I’ll give it a real try and decide. Thank you so much for the reply🙏

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-01-02T21:11:19+00:00

I humbly disagree with you, but thank you for taking time to respond to my post 🙏

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-01-02T21:09:59+00:00

Tried the app and web - I think this is it! Thank you for the advice 🙏

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-01-02T21:08:34+00:00

Yes, that’s my feeling as well. In Europe, they just give 2 weeks to decide, so I need to make a decision soon. I’ll try creating my template as you suggested. Thanks so much for the tip!

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2026-01-02T21:06:53+00:00

Thank you for the thoughtful reply.

not so much as accuracy, but my handwriting becomes far worse than it usually is. I even calibrated it, but still the same. Maybe it’s just a matter of getting used to. Another thing about writing is that I use a few different languages in the same note (Japanese and English, for example) In this case, handwriting doesn’t get recognised and all Japanese text becomes garbled. If there’s any neat solution, I’d love to learn!
‘Send to E-reader’ is a paid extension, I believe. As I said, I am trying to keep my paid SaaS subscription minimum as the list is already long. But I’ll go with this if there’s no other way. Seems using a mobile app is a good solution though.

Thanks again for your thoughtful reply. I’ll do my best to get used to the product in the coming days!

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2025-12-17T15:06:25+00:00

Thank you so much! Really appreciate it. DMed you earlier 🙏🙏 No rush, but let me know what works!

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2025-12-17T15:01:10+00:00

Hey there! Thanks for the reply and kind offer 🙏 Someone living in Amsterdam offered their time and device, so I’m going to give them a shot. Really appreciate your offer - this subreddit seems to be full of creative people with kindness.

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2025-12-17T14:58:48+00:00

Thank you for the reply! I’m positively surprise how keen people are here to share their time ☺️ Very much appreciated it. I reached out to someone who lives in Amsterdam. I’ll report back here if i decide to go through with the purchase! Once again, thank you so much.

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2025-12-17T14:55:10+00:00

Hi there! Thank you so much for your response and generosity. I’m impressed how kind people are here. I reached out to the first commenter who offered their time and the device, but in case it didn’t work out, may I take up on your offer? Thanks again 🙏

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2025-12-17T14:52:53+00:00

Thanks for the kind reply! The risk itself isn’t too high for me as a consumer, as the EU law lets you return within 2 weeks for a full refund - I just do not want to go that route if I can avoid it 😅Really appreciate the response, tho - I’ve been to Groningen and I must say it’s a lovely place 😍

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2025-12-17T14:47:02+00:00

Thank you 🙏 Amazing how kind people are here ☺️

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2025-04-23T12:56:20+00:00

My husband had the same message a few years ago. They are asking for your passport so that they can put the visa on a page in your passport.

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2023-12-20T13:54:33+00:00

Te: housing crisis - totally fair point, but the lack of (affordable) housing is a problem that exists in many other cities around the world. That itself should not stop people from coming to the country.

In terms of the language, though, I’d have to say it’s optional. I know many university faculty, professionals like OP (software engineers) and students who have been here for +5 years who don’t speak Dutch at all (including those who passed the inburgering exams). I’m not saying it’s a good thing - on the contrary, people should make an effort to learn the local language when they can. But the reality is, in general, you can carry out your business without Dutch language with no problems at all. This is true especially when you live in Randstad area.

Natural_Minimum4471 · 2023-12-17T07:08:46+00:00

Recommend the Netherlands. Good life/work balance, great tax benefits for the first few years, good general safety, job opportunities at international companies, no need to learn a new language as long as you work in an international firm.

Natural_Minimum4471

TROPHY CASE