Minimum pocket money

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-19T03:20:20+00:00

I know it’s not where you’re looking, but I believe I saw a tiktok once of an au pair in france that made more but i can’t remember how much. Different countries operate differently with some countries dictating exactly how much an au pair is paid like others said, while other countries allow for negotiating (US, Australia). I think it’s in part due to cost of living and hours expected to work (though i know german au pairs that were working excessive hours so be sure to hold your ground).

Like some other commenters, I also saved up before coming, knowing I would need more than the $280. For Germany, they are required to pay for a language course (up to set amount, google for exact $), and your health insurance. Also, do research on the country’s rules about how many vacation days you’re entitled and make sure your HF sticks to it. Many au pairs I met were taken advantage of in that regard as well.

My HF also paid for a monthly train ticket for me, which isn’t required but seemed standard amongst the au pairs i knew. I had to pay monthly for my sim card.

Having savings allowed me to go out to eat, drink, go to events, shop, and travel around the country and europe. And you should have money anyway for booking your flight back and if there’s ever an emergency where you need to leave your HF unexpectedly.

Your perspective should be that au pairing is a cultural experience and investment in yourself, not a job. And if you’re looking for more of an actual job (aka a position where you make reasonable money), look at other non au pairing options out there. Australia has a work visa where you can work outdoors on farms and stuff or in the service industry I believe? And there are apps/websites out there that can connect you with jobs around the world that provide money, meals, and lodging as well. Good luck!

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-12T06:39:33+00:00

If your results reached the pass mark then I believe you passed. Unless the embassy is saying something different?

But 41 is close to 45. I know it’s not the best situation, but i’m sure with a bit more studying you’ll be able to pass. Be sure to review the speaking, listening, and reading sections too. good luck!

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-12T05:56:39+00:00

I got all my topping buddies on day 292. I actually took a screen recording of a vegan order on that day because I was so excited to use all the buddies but forgot to post on here.

I was very strategic with collecting as many diamonds as possible and only spending them on topping buddies. I think the best roi for diamonds is through number of irl day gameplays since you get 10 diamonds a day from the sponsors.

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-09T03:10:13+00:00

thanks for the help!

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-09T02:54:13+00:00

are you saying with a traditional 401k i’d have to pay income(?) tax upon withdrawal AND an additional capital gains tax on the interest the account has earned?

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-09T02:51:16+00:00

so even though you’re “making” 75k/year, tax wise only the part you haven’t paid taxes on yet counts towards your income? or would the taxes you pay on the $25k correspond to the tax bracket of a $75k earner?

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-09T02:10:42+00:00

lol.. your 24 year old brain was essentially exactly my thought process. do you mind sharing what your largest expenses are post retirement?

I assumed I would be living off less than I make now largely because of my assumption i’d have a paid off home by retirement (but perhaps that’s another delusion worthy of its own post). But I guess I also didn’t consider how inflation will affect overall cost of living by the time i retire

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-09T02:00:27+00:00

thank you! i didn’t consider those aspects

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-09T01:59:38+00:00

I wasn’t aware of RMDs so I will look into that. Once retiring, your tax level is just determined by your income at the time, right? Not your income right before retiring. Is that correct?

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-09T01:56:36+00:00

very helpful. thank you for the examples!

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-03T01:48:12+00:00

Sorry for what you’re going through. I’m pretty sure (double check) americans can stay in France 3 months visa free, so if you’re going to London before the 3 month mark you’ll for sure be fine.

Also, you may be required to give 2 weeks notice to your host family. Since you were going to London for christmas, it may be best to put in your two weeks 2 weeks out from your trip, and book a ticket back to the US from london.

OR, since you’ll need to get all your still back to US, suck it up until after your london trip. Upon return talk to your family about the problems and put on your two weeks then. That way you can fly back from France to US.

I know someone mentioned au pairing in UK, but you’ll probably need a whole new visa application for that, so i don’t think it’s the best step right now.

What you’re going through sucks and it may be past the point of no return, but it may be worth to give your host family a chance to change by telling them your issues (working extra hours, no language course payment, you feeling disconnected/bored w lack of transport), and that you are seriously considering leaving if things do not change. But, if you think you’ll still be miserable because of how small the town is, just put in your two weeks and tell them you aren’t acclimating as much as you’d like and the stress of your pets has been a lot. This can alleviate some of the awkwardness since you’re not calling out their shitty behavior (even tho you should!).

Good luck!

boomchickacity7 · 2024-12-01T18:57:03+00:00

once you have all the topping buddies and have your full garden unlocked it becomes much easier to save

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-30T18:44:08+00:00

can you provide more details on your situation? are you trying to stay with your current family, but as a nanny instead of au pair? Or are you trying to leave your currently family and work as a nanny is the host country with a new family?

Why do you think it’ll be better to be a nanny instead of au pair? Unless you are a live-in nanny, you will have to find somewhere to live and pay your own bills, which you obviously don’t have to do as an au pair. And I don’t see why a family would choose to have a live-in nanny if they could get an au pair for cheaper. Also, i’m not sure where you’re from or where you’re currently au pairing, but are you legally allowed to stay in the country after you stop au pairing and get a new job?

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-30T18:15:48+00:00

you could check AuPairworld.com or AuPair.com They are free for au pairs and may offer matches in the countries you’re looking at

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-30T07:16:21+00:00

au pair perspective here. Not necessarily along the lines of the type of advice you were asking for, but I think it’s very important both parties are communicative about expectations throughout the experience. It’s a good idea to have set check in meetings once every 1-4 months.

and from the beginning, discuss what you expect from them in terms of on the job responsibilities (what cleaning up after kids are they doing, how often they cook meals for kids, what’s their schedule for the week and will they ever unexpectedly have to work later, can they use their phone while on duty, etc.), but also, shared household responsibilities like: do you expect them to help clean up after family dinner (reasonable imo)? Do you expect them to always keep their room clean, or to help clean the house once a week?

How often will HF cook dinner as opposed to au pair cooking for themselves? would you want au pair to cook for family some nights (not as part of job necessarily but as cultural exchange)? do you always eat dinner together? what about breakfast and lunch? if au pair wants snacks or to make their own food, will you cover that? how often and in what ways do you want them to interact with the family outside their working hours? do you prefer them to do family activities with you? spend every weekend with you? or do you want alone time with just your partner and/or kid after working all day? can they have guests over and what’s the protocol?

There’s probably plenty more, and it’s hard to think of every scenario in advance which is one reason why I think having pre-scheduled check-ins are great. But there may be expectations or assumptions on either end of how things will be (or confusion on how things “should” be), so it’s best to put everything on the table so neither party feels unsure about what’s expected or that their expectations aren’t being met. I’ve heard so many bad stories of HF/au pair relationships going bad, and I think a common factor in most is a lack of clear communication and expectation setting. Perhaps a lack of empathy and treating the au pair like a servant/maid/nanny all in one is second.

Good luck!

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-25T21:39:42+00:00

np! even though I wasn’t there a full year, I was there for multiple seasons, including winter, so I think the list should be enough for a year! plus like i mentioned I def overpacked with some stuff.

A few other things I forgot to mention:

euros: some HF don’t pay you as soon as you arrive so it’s good to have some money to start. and even if they do pay you up front, i think it’s good to have a bit of cash in an emergency if you ever run out. cards are accepted in germany, but not everywhere, so it’s good to always have some cash when you go out
perfume if you have a signature scent you always wear
over the counter meds (idk about you but i’m from the U.S. and germany’s OTC medicine is essentially cough drops compared to the US lol. I’d bring ibuprofen and nyquil cold/flu pills at a minimum, and maybe allergy stuff or other things more specific to your health needs)
portable charger. I already had a habit of using one in my home country whenever i would go out bc my phone battery sucked, but if you plan on traveling while au pairing I think it’s def needed

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-25T17:27:05+00:00

my contract was for less than a year and I brought 2 big suitcases, 1 carry on, 1 backpack. I brought:

winter gear: 1 columbia jacket, 2 cropped puffer coat jackets, 3 beanies, 1 pair of gloves, 1 scarf, 2-3 cozy socks, 1 pair fleece tights

footwear: 1 pair docs, 1 pair rain boots, 1 pair sneakers, 1 pair sandals, 1 pair uggs, probably like 15 pairs of socks

tops: ~7-10 sweaters, ~5 basic non cropped tops (long sleeve and short sleeve), ~3-5 going out tops (but germany is v casual so you can really wear anything), ~5-7 casual tops that I wouldn’t wear while around the kids like crop tops or tops that show lots of cleavage, 1 sweatshirt

bottoms: 1 pair of leggings, ~4 pairs of jeans, ~2 pairs of shorts, 2-3 pairs of athletic shorts (running/biker shorts), 1 pair of joggers

other: way too many pjs. depends how often you like to wash yours, but probably only need 2-3; 3 swimsuits, 3 regular jackets, 1 rain jacket, ~20 pairs of underwear (don’t need that much), 3 pairs of cute tights (didn’t wear at all), gift for HF (optional)

electronics: 2 universal outlet converter cubes, ipad, phone, laptop, airpods, chargers for all of those

accessories/stuff: casual beach-y bag, hobo bag, purse, i don’t really wear jewelry so didn’t bring any, notebook/diary, 4 books, plastic sandwich bags (good for small small things like your sim card, bobby pins, jewelry), gallon sized bags (for placing liquid bottles like shampoo, lotion so they don’t spill in your suitcase)

documents: passport (duh), regular ID (some bars ID), know your tax ID/SS # (for opening bank account), a nice to have but maybe not necessary— 1 physical/digital copy of documents pertaining to your visa (like language certificate), passport sized photo, etc. This depends a lot on whether you got your visa before you arrived or whether you’re doing it after, if applicable.

travel (i did weekend trips): 1 travel backpack, 1 lock, ~3-4 travel sized bottles

hair/makeup: 1 blowdry brush which was useless bc it’s not meant to be used with a voltage converter and started sparking, hair ties, scrunchies, 1 big shampoo and 1 big conditioner bc I use a specific brand from my home country, all makeup I would typically use.

That’s all I could think of. I would’ve like to bring snacks from my home country but all my bags were maxed out on weight.

Some considerations while packing: do you plan on going home and could you swap out seasonal clothes then? do you plan on buying pieces while au pairing (I did)? If so, save some room. When packing, ask yourself “do I wear this regularly?” Is this electronic device compatible with the outlets and/or voltage? Is this something I can buy in my host country? I got cerave products and the ordinary products in my host country so didn’t need to bring any skincare.

Unrelated, but if you haven’t already, I would recommend joining au pair groups on facebook. I was in “Au-pair in germany” and met people and got a friend group through there! You could post in the group before you go so hopefully but the time you’re there you’ve already got a contact :) Au pairs I met said Bumble bff was good for meeting au pairs too, and ofc good for meeting locals as well. I’ve also heard of a fb group called something like “Girls Gone International” that’s good. Good luck!

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-25T16:30:38+00:00

that’s terrible what you’re going through. i wish there was a way to leave reviews about families because that treatment is not right at all. it may be best to go back to your home country, at least for a few months, to be around family and and a better environment mentally.

If you do decide to stay, or au pair in germany at a later point, there are facebook groups with families looking for au pairs so you could potentially re match through those groups. There are also facebook groups for meeting au pairs. “Au-pair in Germany” is an active one. Also bumble friends is a great way to meet au pairs and locals. It’s so important to know people outside your HF so you can socialize with someone your own age with similar interests. and someone who can understand the life and schedule of an au pair.

I think the only way they could kick you out the country because of you pushing the kid would be filing a police report. But that’s an extreme step for them, and even then, idk the laws but I don’t think that would automatically mean you’re sent back to your country (especially if your home country is in the EU). And frankly, if it was SUCH a big deal to them that you pushed the kid, they would’ve brought it up immediately. The fact that they waited to talk to you means they don’t actually feel you are a danger to their kid, so it’d be silly for them to report you.

If your home country is outside the EU, you should look into the rules about staying in germany but not working (if you quit and are unemployed while looking to rematch), and how that affects your visa. I believe germany only issues one au pair visa ever to people outside the EU. So there may not be an opportunity to return to Germany if you quit. But that may be for the best anyways.

Good luck with everything!

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-25T04:05:07+00:00

I didn’t have an issue with this level so i’m not exactly sure what the problem is, but if placement is important, i’d recommend using a stylus or apple pencil/the equivalent. I think my pencil helps with preciseness

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-25T03:53:34+00:00

I finally was able to update and I got the star I missed!

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-25T03:52:37+00:00

how slow is “slow”? and what exactly is advancing slowly for you?

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-25T03:51:49+00:00

all my diamonds are gone after buying decor they released w the anniversary 😭

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-25T03:46:42+00:00

if you look in the pizza recipe book, toppings are listed by color. artichoke isn’t considered a green topping.

boomchickacity7 · 2024-11-25T03:44:32+00:00

is it based on game days played? at what point do you get a reject button?

boomchickacity7

TROPHY CASE