> Next-biggest concern is that I hated all the
> die/der/das grammar stuff in German when I
> had to learn in high school
LOL... yeah, that's one of the reasons many colleges in the US don't count Dutch as meeting the foreign language requirement for a BA. I barely survived one of year of German and, when traveling, had the experience that the natives would decide that just because my accent was minimal that I must be able to understand them -- even after asking them to speak much slower because my German was poor!
DutchGirl's journal
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George the original one
- Posts: 5406
- Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:28 am
- Location: Wettest corner of Orygun
Today I got this month's salary. I've paid off my credit card and made the final charitable donations for this year, and the situation is now as follows:
11k euros in savings, 5k in investments, thus totaling 16k. I was hoping to get total assets to 17k this year, but there was the miscalculation with the salary in October/November and so I am quite happy with an increase in my savings of 3k since I started tracking my progress here.
My boyfriend still hasn't heard anything from the job in Germany, which I start to find a bit worrying. He was so confident that they would, at least, invite him over for a good talk! He still is confident about it, but also hopes that they contact him this week.
I found some job openings there as "Clinical Research Assistent", which could be something for me. As I understand it, a CRA manages research projects where certain treatments and/or medications are compared to each other during clinical trials. The CRA manages the daily business of including/excluding patients, keeping record of side-effects, results, keeping in contact with all the doctors/nurses etc who treat the patients. A CRA can be paid by a university or, more often I think, by a pharmaceutical company. I am not completely sure, but this could be something that I could learn to do and could enjoy. I am organized (at least: at work), I understand epidemiology and statistics well enough (and could learn more). I am not very extravert and don't like socializing a lot, that could be a problem. I also hate it when things aren't organized well or when there are errors in the data. I've struggled with an incomplete database with errors in it before, wasn't nice. So, maybe this will be an option if we do move to Germany.
11k euros in savings, 5k in investments, thus totaling 16k. I was hoping to get total assets to 17k this year, but there was the miscalculation with the salary in October/November and so I am quite happy with an increase in my savings of 3k since I started tracking my progress here.
My boyfriend still hasn't heard anything from the job in Germany, which I start to find a bit worrying. He was so confident that they would, at least, invite him over for a good talk! He still is confident about it, but also hopes that they contact him this week.
I found some job openings there as "Clinical Research Assistent", which could be something for me. As I understand it, a CRA manages research projects where certain treatments and/or medications are compared to each other during clinical trials. The CRA manages the daily business of including/excluding patients, keeping record of side-effects, results, keeping in contact with all the doctors/nurses etc who treat the patients. A CRA can be paid by a university or, more often I think, by a pharmaceutical company. I am not completely sure, but this could be something that I could learn to do and could enjoy. I am organized (at least: at work), I understand epidemiology and statistics well enough (and could learn more). I am not very extravert and don't like socializing a lot, that could be a problem. I also hate it when things aren't organized well or when there are errors in the data. I've struggled with an incomplete database with errors in it before, wasn't nice. So, maybe this will be an option if we do move to Germany.
Congrats on the total savings! I think I mentioned this before, but I'm going to repeat it. Tell your bf not to get discouraged if this first job he applied for doesn't come through. If this is the first time he has applied for a position for an expat job it may make it a little harder to get that first job. Companies like to see some experience as an expat and not just in the job itself. People have different abilities of adapting to new places and for some it just doesn't work out and they leave, costing the company recruiting expenses. My advice would be to keep your fingers crossed for this job, but be actively looking for others as well. Persevere....
Yup. So the e-mail he received informed him they were pleased to invite him for a job interview. There's going to be a technical test first - I can only imagine it will be like the good old times when you had to do an exam in high school, showing your skills; and then there's a five-person committee of people with lots of scientific titles that would like to talk to him. It'll be at the end of February, so still a lot of time to go. A lot of time to prepare, and a lot of time to get nervous. He really really likes this job (as far as he can tell from the description) and he really wants it. Should make for some cosy nights of him behind his computer and me being neglected 
. We're planning to go there for the job interview, and stay for a few days, see what the city feels like, too. Perhaps we'll already look into the rented-houses-market, and perhaps I'll organize a meeting with a job agency for myself, although I won't make any promises at that time. After finishing my PhD, it turns out I could actually get a job that pays about double of what I was paid as a PhD student. If I sell my soul to the industry, anyway. I could actually get a 60-75% savings rate then, which would speed up the route to FI very mucho.
In 2011, I've managed to save about 6k euros on my own, on a salary of about 2k per month, so that's a 25% savings rate (plus there's some pre-tax money going to my obligated pension plan, but it is difficult to predict how that'll pan out by the year 2045). Not bad, but compared to other people here it's nothing. . My income from investments should be about 400 euros total next year, ha.
I don't know what 2012 will bring. Presumably, my boyfriend's salary will be enough to cover living costs if we are indeed moving to Munchen and I can't find a job straight away (or don't want to work for a while to work on my PhD thesis). If I get a company job for the second half of 2012, my savings rate could increase to 22-25k euros per year. If I can't get any job, my savings definitely will decrease... If we don't go to Munchen I get to keep my current job and work on my PhD thesis in the meantime - which will mean I will be able to keep up my current savings rate of about 500 euros a month.
Anyway. Perhaps this post is a bit boring, but this is the current situation.
I would love to spend some time abroad. And I think my boyfriend will be happier if he can get this job, which is worth something to me too. One year ago we've both struggled with depression; my cure has been to reduce stress at work (hence a finished PhD thesis, and ultimately financial independence, would be nice), his has been to get more enjoyable work where he's challenged and appreciated more.
. We're planning to go there for the job interview, and stay for a few days, see what the city feels like, too. Perhaps we'll already look into the rented-houses-market, and perhaps I'll organize a meeting with a job agency for myself, although I won't make any promises at that time. After finishing my PhD, it turns out I could actually get a job that pays about double of what I was paid as a PhD student. If I sell my soul to the industry, anyway. I could actually get a 60-75% savings rate then, which would speed up the route to FI very mucho. In 2011, I've managed to save about 6k euros on my own, on a salary of about 2k per month, so that's a 25% savings rate (plus there's some pre-tax money going to my obligated pension plan, but it is difficult to predict how that'll pan out by the year 2045). Not bad, but compared to other people here it's nothing.
. My income from investments should be about 400 euros total next year, ha. I don't know what 2012 will bring. Presumably, my boyfriend's salary will be enough to cover living costs if we are indeed moving to Munchen and I can't find a job straight away (or don't want to work for a while to work on my PhD thesis). If I get a company job for the second half of 2012, my savings rate could increase to 22-25k euros per year. If I can't get any job, my savings definitely will decrease... If we don't go to Munchen I get to keep my current job and work on my PhD thesis in the meantime - which will mean I will be able to keep up my current savings rate of about 500 euros a month.
Anyway. Perhaps this post is a bit boring, but this is the current situation.
I would love to spend some time abroad. And I think my boyfriend will be happier if he can get this job, which is worth something to me too. One year ago we've both struggled with depression; my cure has been to reduce stress at work (hence a finished PhD thesis, and ultimately financial independence, would be nice), his has been to get more enjoyable work where he's challenged and appreciated more.
Celebration!!! After jumping through many, many hoops (sign here, we do not accept pdf files, you have to give us names of potential reviewers, etc) my third manuscript is now off to the journal for review. They may accept it, they may not, but at least it's now on its way...
One small step closer to a completed PhD thesis...
One small step closer to a completed PhD thesis...
Thanks, ExpatERE. It will be some time. Yesterday we visited our families and talked a lot about all these things. I explained to my family that the thesis could be delayed a bit because certain experiments are delayed. They would be crucial for the planned fourth article I'll be writing, and I need four to finish my thesis. However, my Dad urged me to talk to my supervisor again about the possibility of writing another article as the fourth article, so that I can finish my thesis on the current schedule (April/May). My Dad was actually more or less my advocate, where I myself had been a bit disappointed about the delay but had thought: "oh well, so it'll take a few months more, so what". So now I'll reconsider it and perhaps will talk to my supervisor about it.
We also visited my boyfriend's sister and her family. It was very cool to hear my boyfriend talk about his upcoming meeting at the ESO to discuss a possible job there. He's so enthusiastic now, it's great to see. His sister encouraged him, too, even though it would mean she'd see us less often. On the way home we talked some more about it, especially about the practical things like moving, selling the house or finding a renter, et cetera. I'm pretty sure we'll do fine if we get the chance. I'm also pretty sure we'll do fine if he isn't hired.
Moneywise things are going according to plan. I have sold some books and the profits went to my savings account immediately for my PhD thesis expenses. If I do have the ceremony in September or October, I'm ahead of schedule on my savings account. But, of course, since I have no way of knowing what will happen after February, that's a very good thing. I still could fall behind, later.
We also visited my boyfriend's sister and her family. It was very cool to hear my boyfriend talk about his upcoming meeting at the ESO to discuss a possible job there. He's so enthusiastic now, it's great to see. His sister encouraged him, too, even though it would mean she'd see us less often. On the way home we talked some more about it, especially about the practical things like moving, selling the house or finding a renter, et cetera. I'm pretty sure we'll do fine if we get the chance. I'm also pretty sure we'll do fine if he isn't hired.
Moneywise things are going according to plan. I have sold some books and the profits went to my savings account immediately for my PhD thesis expenses. If I do have the ceremony in September or October, I'm ahead of schedule on my savings account. But, of course, since I have no way of knowing what will happen after February, that's a very good thing. I still could fall behind, later.
Writing on my thesis and staying at my parents' home. Just to be spoiled a bit with their attention and cooking skills. I'm going back home tomorrow. My salary came in on Monday and was about the amount I expected. I put some in savings straight away, but I will have to take something out again next month as I have a few weeks off and make no money now (but if I'm a good girl, some money will stay in the savings account, too). Although I have to work on my thesis, I like the slower pace I now have in the morning. One-and-a-half more weeks and then it's back to work for me.
Back to work today. I liked it. The hours flew by and the colleagues were happy to see me.
I've worked on the thesis, not as much as I could have, but enough, I'd say. Third article is being reviewed, introduction is written. To do: article four and discussion. I had a bit of a melt-down when I thought about how much more I needed to do, but I've gotten over it, I think. Onwards...
I feel that I'd hate to take money from my savings account, which is a good thing, I guess. Hopefully I only need a few hundred. (I am also trying to earn some money on the side, that may help too).
I've worked on the thesis, not as much as I could have, but enough, I'd say. Third article is being reviewed, introduction is written. To do: article four and discussion. I had a bit of a melt-down when I thought about how much more I needed to do, but I've gotten over it, I think. Onwards...
I feel that I'd hate to take money from my savings account, which is a good thing, I guess. Hopefully I only need a few hundred. (I am also trying to earn some money on the side, that may help too).
Hmm. The "trying to earn some money on the side" thing isn't really working anymore. Good that I leave these notes here to myself, I'll have to step it up a bit, again.
Back to work for another week, and again it went well and I liked it. Had my annual "how-am-I-doing"-meeting today with my boss (bet there is a good english word for that, can't remember it now). They are happy with me and would like to offer me some education and extra tasks, but I've told them last week that my boyfriend is going to try for this new job in Germany, so we didn't discuss it too much yet, will do later if the job falls through.
We're going to Munchen by sunday and will stay there for a week, have a bit of a holiday as well. I hope we can keep spending rather low. (The company will pay the car travel expenses and one night in the B&B). We'll see. My boyfriend has taken this week off and has been working his brain off trying to study about programming languages and astronomy (not that he didn't know them already, but, you know...). Unfortunately, now he is ill. Hopefully he'll be all better before sunday! I'm feeding him paracetamol (tylenol). What was weird, was that I met someone at my work yesterday who works for the same company. She was hired in Germany but now works in the Netherlands for a year, that's how it was possible that she was right here. I wanted to hug her and invite her over for dinner to discuss what the company is like, but I had to stay professional. . When I told my boyfriend , he thought it was funny. I really don't believe in signs, but this was a sign .
Back to work for another week, and again it went well and I liked it. Had my annual "how-am-I-doing"-meeting today with my boss (bet there is a good english word for that, can't remember it now). They are happy with me and would like to offer me some education and extra tasks, but I've told them last week that my boyfriend is going to try for this new job in Germany, so we didn't discuss it too much yet, will do later if the job falls through.
We're going to Munchen by sunday and will stay there for a week, have a bit of a holiday as well. I hope we can keep spending rather low. (The company will pay the car travel expenses and one night in the B&B). We'll see. My boyfriend has taken this week off and has been working his brain off trying to study about programming languages and astronomy (not that he didn't know them already, but, you know...). Unfortunately, now he is ill. Hopefully he'll be all better before sunday! I'm feeding him paracetamol (tylenol). What was weird, was that I met someone at my work yesterday who works for the same company. She was hired in Germany but now works in the Netherlands for a year, that's how it was possible that she was right here. I wanted to hug her and invite her over for dinner to discuss what the company is like, but I had to stay professional.
. When I told my boyfriend , he thought it was funny. I really don't believe in signs, but this was a sign .Hope the BF gets better soon. Hope you guys have fun in Munchen. Glad to hear things are still looking up on the job front. Sucks that the hiring process is so long on these gigs. I almost think it is a way of weeding out those who are not so interested and just give up. Still keeping my fingers crossed for you guys
The interview went well, my boyfriend thinks. We'll hear more about it in 1-3 weeks...
He feels like he made a good impression and that there is a big chance that they'll want to hire him.
It is a bit scary, I must admit. We'll have to learn German, I'll have to find a job, we have to figure out how things work here.
Maybe it is also nice that things go so slowly. It gives us / me time to think about it and to get used to the idea.
He feels like he made a good impression and that there is a big chance that they'll want to hire him.
It is a bit scary, I must admit. We'll have to learn German, I'll have to find a job, we have to figure out how things work here.
Maybe it is also nice that things go so slowly. It gives us / me time to think about it and to get used to the idea.
Where I stand financially:
I have 20k euros in savings and investments. Which is up 7k euros from 5 months ago (good!).
I have been working for the last couple of months, so my pension should also have increased "5 months" in value. I'll get the overview of its status by the end of 2011 in March or April. Most of the Dutch retirement funds have been suffering from the bad economy over the last few years, so the return could be less than expected, but there isn't much I can do about it.
The 20k euros are allocated as follows:
Checking account: 500 euros. Hardly any expenses until March 23 (the next paycheck). Money to buy food is already parked at a shared account with the boyfriend.
Savings accounts (at 2.7% interest): 2k euros emergency fund, 2.5 k euros for my thesis.
CDs (at 4% interest): 8k euros. I'd love to keep this money in there for a long long time.
Investments (so far at 2% profit per year): 5k euros. About 3k is in bonds and 2k is in stocks. I'm a bit conservative...
Kiva: 2k euros.
Plans for this year:
I know I'll have three more salaries before we may move to Germany. If so, that means I can save up about 2k euros more before we move. That money should go to the thesis fund. Oh, I keep forgetting that I'll "lose" some of that 20k to the thesis printing and thesis partying .
If we move to Germany, my boyfriend has promised to pay for everything for a while; while I finish my thesis and after that start looking for a job. I think this is reasonable. What do you guys think? (It doesn't feel right, by the way, so I guess I'll have a job there sooner rather than later).
Plans for the long term:
Difficult to plan now, because of the possible move. If we're not moving, I would continue working and thus continue to be able to save up at least 500 euros per month, for now; and more later when I can work full time. If we are moving, my job prospects change, I have to spend some money to work on my German, etc . Still, also in Germany I should be able to get a reasonably good job and earn some money.
I have 20k euros in savings and investments. Which is up 7k euros from 5 months ago (good!).
I have been working for the last couple of months, so my pension should also have increased "5 months" in value. I'll get the overview of its status by the end of 2011 in March or April. Most of the Dutch retirement funds have been suffering from the bad economy over the last few years, so the return could be less than expected, but there isn't much I can do about it.
The 20k euros are allocated as follows:
Checking account: 500 euros. Hardly any expenses until March 23 (the next paycheck). Money to buy food is already parked at a shared account with the boyfriend.
Savings accounts (at 2.7% interest): 2k euros emergency fund, 2.5 k euros for my thesis.
CDs (at 4% interest): 8k euros. I'd love to keep this money in there for a long long time.
Investments (so far at 2% profit per year): 5k euros. About 3k is in bonds and 2k is in stocks. I'm a bit conservative...
Kiva: 2k euros.
Plans for this year:
I know I'll have three more salaries before we may move to Germany. If so, that means I can save up about 2k euros more before we move. That money should go to the thesis fund. Oh, I keep forgetting that I'll "lose" some of that 20k to the thesis printing and thesis partying
. If we move to Germany, my boyfriend has promised to pay for everything for a while; while I finish my thesis and after that start looking for a job. I think this is reasonable. What do you guys think? (It doesn't feel right, by the way, so I guess I'll have a job there sooner rather than later).
Plans for the long term:
Difficult to plan now, because of the possible move. If we're not moving, I would continue working and thus continue to be able to save up at least 500 euros per month, for now; and more later when I can work full time. If we are moving, my job prospects change, I have to spend some money to work on my German, etc . Still, also in Germany I should be able to get a reasonably good job and earn some money.
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LiquidSapphire
- Posts: 510
- Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 6:40 pm
I think it's fair for your boyfriend to pay for everything for a while; you are going to end up changing your entire life to follow his dream so I think it's very fair. If it makes you feel better, maybe create hard limits like, he only covers rent, utilities, and you cover everything else from savings, or something like that. It might be a good idea to put some more limits or at least details on this... like... what is "everything" and what is "for a while"... so neither of you become resentful if it takes you longer than usual to get up on your feet, or "everything" is more expensive than he really thought it would be.