6 Things Americans Might Not Expect When Moving to The Netherlands (and celebrating 5k subscribers!) 

I'm an American expat living in Amsterdam for almost 10 years now and I've been enjoying your videos remembering many of the same surprises when I first moved here. I can tell you, the surprises keep coming (most of them good). I'm glad you're enjoying life in the Netherlands. It's a wonderful place to live, and I, for one, plan to stay permanently - i.e. will be going for Dutch citizenship in 2021. :-)

I also like the waterschappen tax, where you pay for clean water to come to your house and for the sea and rivers to stay where they are

Had to look up stationery. One learns every day!

Taxes are high, yes, but what you call taxes in part is insurance: health care, social security, old age transfer payments and between you and your employer an amount may be transferred into a pension fund that adds to your social security transfer allowance when you retire.

If you stay in the Netherlands for less than 4 months and want to arrange matters with the Dutch government, you must register as a non-resident. If you want to stay longer than 4 months, register with the municipality where you are going to live within 5 days of arrival. You will then automatically receive a BSN. So you can obtain a BSN in a matter of a day/days.

5k, Gefeliciflapstaart

Holiday pay is one thing, but I also get something called a 13th month. This isn't a requirement and you don't see it too often, but I get two months pay for the month of December. Merry Christmas!

Having stay several times in the Nederland I've been flowing your videos with interest and curiosity Even do I am not American I find your posts informative reflecting the day to day situation encounter while moving to the Nederland with it real life experience format Good work

Writing an essay to rent a house is definitely not standard when renting a house. Before you just said it I had never heard of anyone needing to do that.

Way to go on 5K Eva! May you have many more episodes !

Eva your amazing , thanks for the vids

Gratz on the 5k subs! For paying with a creditcard; most stores support Visa pay, which is free of use - as long as you have the visa creditcard- and that does support wireless payment as well as the terminal.

Congratulations with the 5k subscribers dear Eva. Although I don't always leave a comment it's always fun to watch your vids. Hugs for you and your girlfriend and stay safe you both ;-)

If your mindset is to live cheaper in a Capital city, you're gonna be disappointed, in almost every country, living in the Capital is usually the most expensive.

Omg afvalstoffenheffing, you're not alone there! I forget these taxes every year without fail and the amount is always SO high 😲😲 Congrats btw, 5k, woo! 🥳🥳

About salary: what confuses a lot of foreigners is the amount of tax they owe on salary. The difference between 'bruto' (before tax) and 'netto' (after tax), you negotiate the bruto salary: but thats not what you take home.

Congratulations on 5K!

Congrats on the 5k. A suggestion for as surprise, our day care and after school programs for children. Also the government subsidies (toeslagen) and healthcare system could be a surprise. Keep going, love these vids👍

At the self check-out you can use your iPhone with applepay :) We did that the whole two weeks we were in Amsterdam.

1) Congratulations on the 5000 subscriptions mark. I now got two ads before watching your vlog. ;-) 2) On taxes: yes, they may be substantially higher than in the USA, and there might be more of them. On the other hand, the system may be simpler: I seem to remember that VAT is a Dutch invention to ease imposing sales taxes at all and to ease assessing the amount due by member-state governments to the EU. On the other hand, we have an attitude to taxes that matches the American/British approach of making amounts-due understandable. That approach may have a legal side: garbage collection taxes may be considered "retributions": amounts intended to cover the real costs of the services involved, in contrast to taxes that are fed into the general pile (out of which general things are paid, like maybe flowers in the streets, or salaries of town hall staff). By contrast to the USA (if I remember well) consumer prices across the EU are to be shown inclusive of VAT, so your supermarket receipt may show all amounts including VAT, but with some code for the VAT rate applied and the amount of VAT paid shown as a total near the grand total. Shops (including webshops) aimed at business users may show the prices excluding VAT (but clearly stating so), or those webshops may have a toggle (managed in a cookie).

Great channel!

Hi Eva ... Gratz on 5k subs ^_^ Still waiting on your "Cheese Special" !!

Taxes are high in comparison maybe, but that is why we have good roads and infrastructure, accessible education en healthcare, social welfare etc. Also your employer pays for part of your retirement plan, social security and holidays. That is why salaries can be lower than in the US where you have to pay or take care of these things all by yourself...

Let me add some things here that all Dutch people do and Americans really have to get used to: If you want stationary, you go to Action. If you want a (fake) plant, you go to Action. If you want kitchen supplies, you go to Action. If you want electronics, you go to action. If you want DIY, you go to Action. Thank you for this video.

happy to follow you and your fox :-)

'Good times. I don't miss them!' xD Glad it's working properly for you now! I had to look up what you meant with stationary. Never heard of that English word before! Stores like Hema, Action and Xenos has a lot of different stuff, so did V&D. I actually tought that the US texes were higher than here. Learned somehting!

About holiday pay: we have a similar system in Norway, but it's not on top of our regular wages. Instead we pay a little too much tax all year, and then get 12% of last year's gross income back in June, with interests. And yes, people here also see it as a delicious bonus

You'd like going to the 'kruidvat'. It's like a mini wallmart from your descriptions ;)

Well it goes up progressively. You pay 20 percent up to a certain dollar amount then 33 percent on the remainder. I’ve been crunching my numbers and to be fair I wouldn’t be paying much more then I already do in California. Plus with all the services and lower cost of living I’d say I’d be coming out ahead

If you manage to get a debet card with the "Maestro"-symbol on it, you should be good. That's the type of payment system that's accepted everywhere.

Action is also a "discount" store, like a target, where u can buy lots of things for cheap. Office supplies kitchen stuff, some electronics and lots of other things

An out of the topic question? Are you a great, great, great-grandchild of Monalisa? Every time I see your face is like a portrait of that masterpiece! And thanks for the content too. For the bank account its much easier here than most EU countries especially France where you need an address as well!

Costco equivalent in the NL is the Makro. Department store Bijenkorf. But your are right always start with the HEMA 👍 (everyone gets their underwear there 😂 )

Hi Eva, congratulations on your number of subscribers. You can pay the afvalstoffenheffing in monthly payments, it seems less that way.😉

In the Netherlands wages are more equalized. The lowest salaries are higher and the high salaries are lower. But you must also look for the purchasing power of your income. (What you can buy with your income) Doing that the difference is not so big any more. GDP per capita is $59,928 in the USA, and $54,422 in the Netherlands in purchasing power. About the tax: you only pay 42% over the extra income. In the Netherlands you also pay tax over the income from wealth. That is not the case in the USA.

If you know a little Dutch you can google "gemiddeld salaris " this will give you a good indication of how much to negotiate for salary wise. Note, these salaries will most likely be bruto (gross) and taxes will be deducted from the salary before deposited on your account.

Hey eva Congrats on reaching 5000 subs here is an idea when you reach 10k subs you should do that video in dutch. But for now english is perfectly fine i am ok with that. Other than that a great video 👍 Keep it up.

At action you can get stationary and it's usually cheaper than any where else. Also pens, pencils and organizers for a reasonable price. It's called office essentials and they have from markers (permanent and whiteboard) to calculators.

I am watching this video as a Dutch person who has been living in America for a little over a year now. And what is funny to me is that a lot of these things apply to me too. Getting a bank account in the US is so hard for some people, because you need your ssn. I got so frustrated with not knowing where to go for the stuff I need. I didn't understand what stores to look for and where to buy things.

I hate you how well you explain our goods and wrongs 👍❤

One thing that is very different, most of your healthcare is included in your tax. You pay an insurance premium, but also get a subsidy if you have a low pay. I always take out a realtime cost insurance premium when traveling to the US. Even a double Dutch cost will not be enough.

Hi Eva, H&M Home and Zarahome also have pretty nice home and kitchen stuff.

in the Netherlands you must declare the balances on January 1 in all your bank accounts, Dutch and American, and where ever else you have accounts. You must also declare the money in all your investment accounts. the tax rate is much less than 1% . Medical insurance is much, much less here. When my husband and I arrived here in 2017, what made finding an apartment so difficult is that it is taken into account what your salary is. Rent and utilities can not be more than say, 25 to 30% of your salary. We are living comfortably here on Social Security, that wouldn't have been easy in the USA. We had money from selling our house in the USA, which could not be taken into account when determining if we could afford rent. It all turned out for the best in the end because we ended up buying a house 2 1/2 months after arriving. We found that our property taxes, per square meter, are much less here than they were in the US, (Boston, MA) (One of the more expensive parts of the USA to live in). Water is cheaper here, Home insurance is less. We had to pay for trash removal in the US also. Not having to have a car with all the costs of insurance, maintenance, gas and wear and tear has been a big savings. Sure you can be car-free in the US but its a challenge. Even then you would have to rent a car from time to time. Our bikes and the great train system takes us anywhere we want to go. We have not gotten Dutch driver's licenses yet. I'm not going to bother, maybe my husband will so we could rent a car if we wanted to do so.

It totally depends on where you rent your house in the Netherlands on how much you need to pay and how long you have to wait. If you want to have a home without a long waitinglist and can afford it then you can rent on the private market. I am renting an appartment in a small city in Drenthe. It is social rent so it's not on the private market. It is a 90 m2 appartment with a 10 m2 balcony with a nice view for 595 euros and that is including the service costs (cleaning and repairing the stairway/elevator and electricity costs for the stairway/elevator and also the central heating of my own appartment) If you don't want to have an expensive rent then find a home in a small town. If I wanted to live in Utrecht or Amsterdam I would have had only a tiny room, maybe a bedroom, for this amount of rent.

The Cineville-pas isn't accepted at all cinema's in The Netherlands. Only at 44 of them (there are 283 cinema's registered at the Dutch Cinema Society - so, roughly 1 out of 7 cinema's accept the Cineville-card). If you want a pass or coupon to get to (almost) every cinema in The Netherlands you need to use the "Bioscoopbon". If you want kitchen stuff, don't go to a kitchen store. A Kitchen store sells kitchens (the hardware like stoves, sinks, counters, cabinets etc). A "Kookwinkel" (Cook store) sells kitchen stuff. But they are for almost anything not the budget option. You can also check out HEMA (you already mentioned) but also Blokker, Marskramer, Xenos, Action and a lot of stores as Budgetland, Euroshopper etc.. Or Zeeman or Wibra for the kitchen textiles. And congratulations with 5000 subscribers!

Hi! Fun channel! An important thing to add as a huge difference is there are no sick days at work. Here in the Netherlands you can call in sick and in general you’re covered for 100% for the first year and 70% for the second year of absenteeism under the so called Gatekeeper Law (this may differ somewhat but is stated in your work agreement (the so called CAO), minimum is always 70%). Your employer is obligated to take care of you (via company doctor), keep paying you 100% or 70% and can’t terminate your contract while you’re sick until the end of two years. Even if your sickness prolongs two years you’re still entitled to 70% (or 75%) depending on the basis of your sickness and possibility to work which is than paid by the government. Even our neighbouring countries in Europe don’t have a such a system. So this is typical Dutch health & benefits and also a portion on where our taxes go to. Enjoy your stay in the Netherlands!

Holiday pay IS a part of your salary, which is deducted from your gross monthly salary (8%) which is part of your taxable (gross) salary. When negotiating a salary (if even possible), you'd have to calculate that in. It is something to make sure that people don't spend all their monthly pay, thereby not being able to go on holyday. Part-time and temporary jobs sometimes pay the deducted holyday pay at the end of each month, so be aware!

Very good...

Hi Ava .. nice videos ! Thanks 🙏 Btw in the US you need social security nr too .. maybe not a bank account but credit cards definitely

We have stores like the American drugstores. They are called Kruidvat, also a drugstore but you can buy a lot of other stuff too.

I love Betsies kookwinkel in Utrecht, I got my first chef's knife there; that said, I think most people get kitchen equipment at Blokker, Hema, or Action.

It would be great if you do a video about the health insurrance here vs the American health insurrance

A few things i can add to that is that aside from the 8 percent holiday pay on top of your salary, you also get around 25 days of paid holiday every year. So basically you go on 25 days holiday somewhere in the Carribean spending your holiday money and when you get home you'd still get paid as if you're working the whole 25 days you're away. And since Jan 2020, NL also pay transition pay counting from day 1 if you get fired or your contract not renewed. Regardless how long you are with the company. (Clauses applied of course)

I think in The Netherlands we don't want to use our cars. If we can walk or use a bike we would do that. That means that we go relatively close to our home, but that also means that we go to places that are in the towns/cities.. where space is a problem so there is no room for shops so big like Target.

Try Lorjé on De Neude for all your paper and writing supplies. Its' a family owned business which means the money stays in the community, a win-win.

The debit card issue works both ways, BTW. European debit cards won't work in the US either... Credit cards from major players like Visa Or American Express work everywhere. Often for outrageous fees, though. Cash works most places, and debit cards WILL work with ATMs. So, when across the atlantic, be prepared to use cash more often than you'd do at home...

I always grew up with the idea that the US is a great country. But now in RU-vid era I'm watching you and also things like John Olivers Last Week Tonight and I'm more and more confinced that Europe is a way better place to live then the US. Yeah we got our problems too but things like extreme poverty, minority rights and health care are soooo important and better over here. Love ur vids

I get most of what I want at the Albert Heijn here just fine (town, not a big city). Also some plants and stationary... 😅

As mentioned by Jannette Berends, you must compare the purchasing power of your salary rather than the figures. And more specific, the total package of your salary. On top of your monthly salary is the holiday money of 8%, the paid vacation days and paid national and Christian holidays. And, priceless and important, paid sickness days. By law an employer has to pay your sickness days up until two years.

Wait... you are just 5k subs? That makes no sense! I always thought you were a much bigger channel! Quality content, fun to watch, how are you so small (as a channel)?!

"Hi, I would like to open up an account." "What kind of account, sir?" "The one where I get the free gun". (Michael Moore, Bowling for Columbine). Sorry, couldn't help myself. Congratulations on the 5K subscribers. By the way, online payments with credit cards do work.

I would have expected you to also mention sales tax. In the US, the price tags on items in a store always exclude tax, which will be added upon checkout. To a Dutch person shopping in the US, this can lead to an unpleasant surprise when they wish to buy a cute 10 dollar toy for their nephew, and you get told at the checkout that it will be 11 dollars instead. Sales taxes vary from state to state and can even be different between municipalities.This practice of adding tax at the checkout can lead to much confusion and annoyance to Dutch people who are used to the "what you see is what you get"-principle because in the Netherlands, the price you see on an item is the actual price you will end up paying. The sales tax is already included in the advertised price, so if you see a 10 Euro item, you know you will be paying 10 Euros.

Just a note on the hypermarket thing (having small stores for every category of items). This is not a European thing, it's very much a Dutch thing. We have active municipal regulations that prevent stores from becoming like Walmart. This is done to help our city centers stay more lively, with a combination of shops and food establishments. France, for example, lacks this type of regulation, and they have lots of their 'hypermarchés' on the edges of towns that sell practically everything.

For stationary we have bookstores...Dekker vd Veght was a big one in Utrecht iirc... But yes, we don't have Walmarkt in holland, we have couzy cities with an ancient citycentre with loads of atmosphere...much better than only a Walmart...But we also go to the MAkro, which is similar to a Walmart i think.

Also, the salaries might be lower. but our healthcare is a looooooot cheaper than the US, think about that.

First, congratulations on 5k! It is well earned! I love your content. Second, to be fair, I'm Dutch and sometimes I don't even know where I can get certain stuff. Just don't go to Blokker. I swear, every time I go to a Blokker to get a certain item, they don't have it. They never have got what I'm looking for. What is the use of Blokker?!

Being Dutch I live and work in China and my gross salary is less than in The Netherlands, however the part of my salary that I can use for my personal consumption is higher in China taking in consideration that a nice apartment is free and belongs to the job.

Did you mention the amount of days off you get, with full salary paid during those days? It is 20 or 30 (work) days a year. And in some companies or institutions, like governmental jobs, they accumulate. I know people who retired half a year early with full salary just because they had not been able to take all those days off. Saving such days is not encouraged, by the way. Health and mental balance is more important than having personnel working unhappily as a slave at their jobs. I know this to be very different from the USA where people are reluctant to take even 14 days (10 work days) off, afraid they might find themselves having been made redundant upon returning to their desk. As long as you vote GOP, you will be slaves, promoted as 'free people'. In George Orwell's dystopian novel, 1984, you find the slogan "slavery is freedom". That is how it feels when working for an American company in the USA.

Quick tip : you have 5.000 subscribers, not 5,000 ... 😉 That AND congratulations !

That’s why we are such a happy people - holiday pay is not taken from us (in advance), but given (afterwards) 😘 And we get the holiDAYS as well, over 3 weeks of ‘m.

Stationary. Also sold in most bookstores as are envelops and stamps.

About taxes: the lowest tax rate (income tax) is 33%, of which several social security is paid, as JP down here explains. The 8% holiday pay is part of that 33+% tax rate. One big (positive) difference between the US and most European countries including the Netherlands is that whatever you buy in shops is INCLUDING VAT. For food that's 9% and for non food it's 21%. So a loaf of bread is including this 9% VAT, and a stapler is including the 21% VAT. The price tag on the item ALWAYS states the price including VAT, so one doesn't need to use a calculator to go shopping.

About #3, in other European countries big “all in one” supermarkets are more common, The Netherlands seems to be the exception

The salary differences are also caused by the fact that a lot secondary benefits are factored into Dutch salaries, which in America the salary receiver has to take care of. So while you get less money to take home, your expenditures after you take that money home are also lower. Added benefit: they are taken care of automatically, while for Americans it's sometimes not trivial to keep those in mind or even worse are actively neglected to have more spending money.

Hi Eva, We used to have big department stores in the past. People in their 40's and 50's might remember MIRO (Ahold) and Maxis (C1000). They were hypermarkets, combining food with non-food and really big. However, not succesful and closed down in the 80's (MIRO) and 90's (Maxis). Nowadays, Makro's are left, but not accessible for regular consumers. I guess the shops did not go along with the changing consumer habits (other big warehouses also had to throw in the towel, like V&D) and changing infrastructure in The Netherlands. Congrats with the 5k...

To add to your confusion some people in the Netherlands (like me) not only get holiday pay but also receive a christmas 'bonus' that can vary from a few percent to 8.33 percent, a full 13th month.

Garbage collection is also a surprise for the dutch youth. I had to pay half a month of rent on garbage collection and tax for the local authority.

Hi Eva, nice video, i don't know if you go out much by car, but, i was on the highway the otherday, and noitce an incident happened, and was wondering how this is different in the us handeling road and highway incident, in nl there is often a red X mark above the lane, is that also in the US, is has been 17 years last time i visit the US and never seen it.

On top of the garbage tax u also would be surprised to also pay Sewage Taxes (Rioolheffing), well in my city (The Hague) thats a thing as well, and its almost an equal amount of money.

Hollyday pay isn’t a gift from your employer. Each month your employer deducts 8% salary. In the month of May (mostly) hollyday payment will be paid out, thus 8% year salary.

Betsies is fun. There is another store like that in Utrech btw, close by Betsies

I was similarly shocked to see how hard it was to get a French bank account and an apartment in Paris

Another video I loved watching and had a lot of fun doing so. I noticed in American tv shows all groceries are being carried in a paper bag and often times there's someone from the store helping with the packing. I can imagine could be weird coming here and have to pack your own groceries and in a plastic instead of a paper bag. And also I think all Chinese takout from the US come in these cardboard box/container while here of course we have the plastic ones. And of course I can imagine a lot of great food places we don't have here like Wendy's, Jack in the Box, Dairy Queen, Chipotle, Arby's and no Los Pollos Hermanos American people will miss here. I wish we had more choices here like in the US and not just Burger King and McDonald's.

5K? Gefeliciteerd! What a lot of people forget about taxes is that it isn't a lumpsum but two distinct things. 1 actual tax - this pays for things like education, defense, infratructure 2 social insurance premiums - this pays for unemployment, sickness, certain hard to commercially insure medecial things (called AWBZ), government pension (AOW). Tax is about 1/3 and the premiums are about 2/3 in the lowest bracket. When you get to the detailed stage of wage negotiation it might be advisable to have the financial people make a sample calculation like the monthly piece of paper you get, called loonstrookje. That gives a good indication what you bring home. this might prevent some nasty things like the amount of money you have to pay because you get a lease car via your employer. nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loonstrook Be aware that beside municipal taxation based on house value (WOZ-waarde) there is also the taxation by the waterschap, waterboard. They are responsible for keeping your feet dry, clear waste water and in the west of the country they also maintain a lot of minor roads.

Dont forget we have healthcare and rentsupport. As wel as a payable healthcare incomesupport for the people who are sick or cant work lost a job or whatever reason. A system what creates a lot less stress in difficult situations

When buying goods in a Store here you don’t pay An additional tax on top. That makes the cost of living more troublesome to compare.

Maybe you can take an acount with an international Dutch bank in the U.S.before coming to the Netherlands, The ABN has banks in the U.S.

Jumbo, Aldi and Lidl are fine with creditcards. Apple pay increasingly can be used at some chains.

Again, I enjoy your video and this one points out some real every day issues that not many people think about or cover in other video, yeah!, the day comes that you some more A4 paper for your printer, why doesn't the gas station sell it? :-) I LOVE Holland, and my team Ajax (even though I am a Rotterdammer). I marvel at the progress that the country has made, how assertive the country is in international business for the small size of the country. I love Dutch people and still much feel that I am one, but your video also serves some stark reminders of why I left Holland. Large numbers of retailers that don't take worldwide accepted credit cards? And retailers that only sell items that fall in the society predetermined niches and not sell what customers want at the moment? I understand, there is a system under which the Dutch operate....but isn't that just a top control, short sightedness on principles for businesses to maximise revenue and growth potential? I think it is. So, let's see, think and combine my thoughts with something you said, and you were not wrong. Holland, the world's 8th largest economy and high standard of living. Holland is now, per capita, richer than the US! But salaries are lower than in The US, and not just a little. How is that? Think about it. And you might as well not even try to make more money because the government is just going to take it any way..........in f-ing GARBAGE tax, makes me so happy! Ever think about it, Holland is the world's 8 largest economy, an economic power house, full of smart and bright and hard working people. Business success permeates off The Netherlands, yet, off the top of my head I can't think of a single Dutch Billionaire. That is morally wrong. period. I like to work hard, really hard, I just like it. Do I have that right? I am a Chef, and I love the business and the work. I love making restaurant guests happy, I like to cook and manage. I like contributing and growing healthy businesses and teaching and training young culinarians. There have been quite a few (too many) occasions where I would go to work at 700AM and work til closing 1100PM and then....oops! so much work for tomorrow, let me stay working through the night until, let's say 700PM the next day, creating the 40 hour work DAY, not 40 hour week. Not pleasant, not what I actively want to plan or do too regularly, but, hey! maybe I'll take an extra day off next week, at the time the business just needed it. I have stayed working throughout the night (an all nighter) to help and guide a culinary apprentice with their, next day, cooking competition contest, credits going towards their culinary education. It's my life and what I choose to do. I also do it to provide my family and children with a comfortable, safe and prosperous life style with niceties. They are my children and my wife and as a father I want to provide for them, it is my purpose in the family unit. So far, am I still allowed to do so? And in being who I am and doing what I do, somewhere, I don't think that it's so wrong if it just happens that my house and car are twice as large and nice than that of some other people. It is just how it sometimes works and sometimes not. I believe in paying taxes for the good of the greater community and I absolutely believe in taking some money (and efforts) to help some people who have ended less fortunate and in need of help. But sometimes I also think, if a guy came knocking on my door and said "give me 100 Euros, or else! you have to because I am going to all houses down the street asking each one for 100 Euros, I am going to put all the money together and than give it to poor people" many would reply "take your own money and give it to whomever you want to, leave me alone, you creep"....Funny that people would reply that way, but that is exactly what they let government do to them, isn't it. I find it suspicious, in fact unrealistic, that so many people are in lock step agreement and agreeable with their government, no government is THAT GOOD. And what about this social welfare in Holland, this prosperous nation and testament on how social programs should be run. Take the biggest social program, Healthcare. People in Holland like and brag about their healthcare....people who have not experienced other nations that is. The Dutch healthcare has some great cost saving clever innovations and some things that they do well, and it is cheap, very cheap compared by comparison to other western nations. And every one is covered, every one has it that is. I don't know if every one wants it, government just tells you: YOU WILL BUY HEALTHCARE INSURANCE , OR ELSE! Going to a Dutch primary doctor is much an experience of examining to make sure you don't have a real serious life threatening ailment and have to go to a specialist (it is modern and they are not going to let you die!) and if you are not dying, a treatment of "get you out of there" "Here, take some aspirin you'll be fine, see me again in 10 days or so". That is a rationing technique. There are some modern medical treatments (advanced and expensive, yes, admittedly) that are widely available in the US, Germany, France and on, that they just don't have in Holland, but you would not know that from Dutch media, it just doesn't exist. A level of rationing that many may not agree with, but hey, suck it up, government is in charge of how your life is run, not you. Things have improved. When I lived last in Holland and you wanted to start a business, let's say a fruit stand, you needed a government issued ""Middelstands Diploma"". It essentially meant that you paid your neighbor, who was better educated and did have the diploma $300/mo. to put your business in his name, so that you are legal. That has gone, there are other improvements. But people always preach the glory, wellness and goodness of Holland, and it is a wonderful country. But it is socialist to a very high degree (government worker checking and making a report on if your garden is pretty enough, come on!), it is intrusive and impeades your freedoms. In the end it is socialist and that is it, and there just is no good spin on socialism, it is evil. Okay, let the angry comments come and then after you write them think, think: I just defended socialism????

Holiday pay is definitely something I miss from The Netherlands, another thing that I miss here in the UK which is common in the Netherlands, and I don't know if Americans are familiar with, is the 'Kerstpakket'

Congrats on the 5k! I've had multiple interviews for the apartment I live in now to see if I would be a fit for the neighbourhood. From my experience using your Dutch debit card in the US (or at least NYC) is just as bad as the other way around. For some reason I needed to use my credit card to open the door to a building where they had an ATM but I would be able to use my debit card at the atm.

Many european debit cards can be use on those self checkout too. O and you need your SSN from the states as well because the usa demands from us to know what their citizens do with their money else where, when opening a bankaccount (I use to be that bank person).

Whenever I wonder where I get a certain item, I go to the Action... Hasn't failed me yet..

There is social housing. These rent out to people with low to moderate income and these require insight into your income when you apply. Waiting lists to to get a house assigned to you can take years. You can refuse a house but three strikes and you are at the bottom of the list. If you plan to leave your parents house... plan ahead. Some young people even apply 3 years before actually wanting to move just to get enough points to qualify when the time is right.

In the US it is also almost impossible to open a bank account without a Social Security number which I experienced as a Dutch immigrant into the US!

Congrats on the 5k How are days off from work arranged in the US? In the Netherlands we have approx 25 paid days a year to go on holiday or just to take some time off. These paid days are besides the ‘standard’ holidays like christmas. Just curious if it works the same in the US

Fiancé wants me to move with him to his parents but there’s so many steps to do it ! Thinking of flying back &forth but covid restrictions are still in effect right?

Hi eva.... I have a total different question for you. At this time, during a pandemic, you are far from home, parents, family and friends. How do you deal with it, and how do you feel? Thanks... Bas

Hollliday money is an extra above your standard salary. However, everyone gets it. Sometimes though, it is payed out monthly, so it looks like it is part of your salary. ABesides that, when you want to buy a house and need a morgage, your holliday money is also considered as part of your salary. And ofcourse...you pay income taxes for it...

I think the difference between VAT and US-style Sales Tax may be be surprising for anyone moving between the US and Europe. They're superficially similar, but the economics seem to be very different -- though I'm not an economist.