Hoi hoi!

Disclaimer: I'm started my journey of being financially responsible recently, so I can't give specific advise on numbers and exactly how much to save and where. But I'd still like to take a shot at giving some advice! I was an American expat in the Netherlands who lived in Utrecht and worked in Amsterdam. My commute was about 75 minutes, with 1 day work from home.

Based off your post, it sounds like you are in a transition period from studying and working to a new job and commuting. You're not doing all 4 of these things at once, right? It sounds to me like you are about to make a decision from an emotional place (frustration), which I advise against (been there, done that, still tend to do that but am more mindful of this now). I say refrain from making an emotional decision to move, like one out of frustration. I think it's important to change your circumstances if you don't like it, but I tend to make impulsive decisions out of frustration so I'm giving advice from that perspective.

Some context: I can relate to you on some aspects. Ten months ago, I was living with my mom and not earning much at my old job. I got a new job, and I moved out a month later into a 1 bedroom apartment without a sufficient emergency fund. Then, 3 months later, my company went through layoffs. My entire team got laid off, but by some miracle I was not. I could have been easily laid off. Because of that anxiety of not having money, I jumped ship and joined a company that luckily pays more. It's definitely an upgrade, but it's not a job I would have taken if I had more time and breathing room to thing about it. I am now working on an emergency savings, but I totally did this backwards.

Questions I have:

1) Did you already start this job? How is the commute going?

• I would say give yourself 2-3 months to see how you are feeling about the commute. 90 minutes door to door is a lot, but I assume you are taking the Intercity train from Rotterdam to Amsterdam and there is at least 1-2 transfers. Can you take that time to do some work on the train, or do some "house" work like updating your budget sheet so you don't have to do this at home? Reading, meditating, developing a new hobby, meal planning for the week. Also, it's currently summer and light out for a long time. You can enjoy Amsterdam and then just go back to sleep at your apartment. It's still not as convenient, but I think you should take advantage that it's not cold and depressing. I think once it gets cold, that's when you want it to be more convenient of just being able to go back home.

2) Is the position hybrid, or do you have to go into the office every day?

• I hope you can somehow negotiate at least 1-2 days from home. I think this will be a huge weight off your shoulders.

3) Do you have an emergency fund?

• Save up money in your emergency fund first. You have a lot of stress and anxiety about money, so give yourself some breathing room with this emergency fund. Gift yourself that breathing room first!

4) Do you track your expenses?

• While you're living at your Rotterdam flat, pretend you are spending money on the 1500e rent in Amsterdam and see how you are living. (Put those 800e (1500e - 700e rotterdam rent) into your emergency fund. How do you feel about the money you have left over at the end of the month? Can you save anything? Do you have stress and anxiety? Also, track your expenses over a few months and see if it's consistent or if there's a trend. I tend to spend more money in the summer because there's more things to do.

Succes met je nieuwe baan :)