Reply to Re: I may be moving countries
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I must say I live in the east of the country, not near Amsterdam (although for American standards, I live very close to Amsterdam). Here's what I know from around the country:
1. Generally, 10 - 20 euros is what you'll see in most restaurants. Then 20 - 30 euros is getting expensive. This is just for the main course. Desserts are below 10 euros. Fast-food can still add up to 10+ euros for a meal and the whole package. Of course, in Amsterdam you may end up paying for the location of the restaurant significantly. Restaurants have their menus outside with prices as well so you can decide before entering the restaurant.
Eating out is generally done in the Netherlands with others for enjoyment, not as a replacement of cooking your own meals (like in major world cities where you can get a decent meal for a decent price). You can live on restaurant meals here of course but that's not the custom.
2. In Amsterdam there's plenty of public transport to get around, many people commute to and in Amsterdam after all. In the rest of country many people commute by car and public transport as well. Public transport is preferable as there are often traffic jams (as in daily, often, most of the time when commuting). But that depends on where you work - i.e., if it's easy to get to a company or not.
3. I don't know, I don't have a car yet.
4. I just checked and gasoline is 1.6 - 2.00 euros and diesel is 1.3 euros. This is per liter, not gallon. The taxes make the prices so high.
5. We have a sewage system, thankfully
There are various companies that you can choose for your water, gas and electricity. I'm not aware of regional constraints in Amsterdam (i.e. that you have to pick a particular company) but you'd need to look into it. Our country is small so these companies don't limit themselves to a particular city or anything. Even Amsterdam doesn't have a million people lol Garbage collection is done by whatever company works in that region.
6. We have ADSL which is fast enough for online gaming, browsing the web and so on. UPC ( http://www.upc.nl/internet/ ) has packages with monthly prices of 25, 35 or 50 euros in addition to the monthly prices of 17.05 euros for TV and radio. KPN ( http://www.kpn.com/prive/internet.htm ) also has something in those ranges: 25, 35, 45. They often try to sell you a package for TV, radio, and internet combined so you'll be their customer "forever", so to speak because many people won't bother with the hassle of switching companies. But you can choose services from multiple companies if you want (subject to regional constraints, not all companies operate everywhere to my knowledge).
Phone subscriptions are often 20 - 30 euros per month, possibly in addition to the costs of the phone.
7. Healthcare is provided by various private entities and having healthcare is mandatory in the Netherlands. Some examples are FBTO, Achmea and Interpolis. Not sure how it works for expats.
1. Generally, 10 - 20 euros is what you'll see in most restaurants. Then 20 - 30 euros is getting expensive. This is just for the main course. Desserts are below 10 euros. Fast-food can still add up to 10+ euros for a meal and the whole package. Of course, in Amsterdam you may end up paying for the location of the restaurant significantly. Restaurants have their menus outside with prices as well so you can decide before entering the restaurant.
Eating out is generally done in the Netherlands with others for enjoyment, not as a replacement of cooking your own meals (like in major world cities where you can get a decent meal for a decent price). You can live on restaurant meals here of course but that's not the custom.
2. In Amsterdam there's plenty of public transport to get around, many people commute to and in Amsterdam after all. In the rest of country many people commute by car and public transport as well. Public transport is preferable as there are often traffic jams (as in daily, often, most of the time when commuting). But that depends on where you work - i.e., if it's easy to get to a company or not.
3. I don't know, I don't have a car yet.
4. I just checked and gasoline is 1.6 - 2.00 euros and diesel is 1.3 euros. This is per liter, not gallon. The taxes make the prices so high.
5. We have a sewage system, thankfully
There are various companies that you can choose for your water, gas and electricity. I'm not aware of regional constraints in Amsterdam (i.e. that you have to pick a particular company) but you'd need to look into it. Our country is small so these companies don't limit themselves to a particular city or anything. Even Amsterdam doesn't have a million people lol Garbage collection is done by whatever company works in that region.6. We have ADSL which is fast enough for online gaming, browsing the web and so on. UPC ( http://www.upc.nl/internet/ ) has packages with monthly prices of 25, 35 or 50 euros in addition to the monthly prices of 17.05 euros for TV and radio. KPN ( http://www.kpn.com/prive/internet.htm ) also has something in those ranges: 25, 35, 45. They often try to sell you a package for TV, radio, and internet combined so you'll be their customer "forever", so to speak because many people won't bother with the hassle of switching companies. But you can choose services from multiple companies if you want (subject to regional constraints, not all companies operate everywhere to my knowledge).
Phone subscriptions are often 20 - 30 euros per month, possibly in addition to the costs of the phone.
7. Healthcare is provided by various private entities and having healthcare is mandatory in the Netherlands. Some examples are FBTO, Achmea and Interpolis. Not sure how it works for expats.
