Cost of living

First, the military compensates us for a lot of the price differentials and that is amazing. We receive a cost-of-living allowance monthly that covers some of the big differences in living here, we have a ration card for gas, and I have easy access to An American commissary where the food prices are what I would consider “normal”.

Even so, the price differentials here are sometimes hard to wrap your mind around. Some things are amazingly priced – fresh loaves of bread for €1.29, fresh baguettes for €1, amazing cheeses for a fraction of what they would be in the US, good/decent wine for €5-6, 6 packs of beer for €4-5. There isn’t really tipping here so the cost of the food generally includes the tip, meaning take away at pizza restaurants (I’m guessing most restaurants) is cheaper than eating there (I guess that’s normal for us though – no tip). But the pizzas are only €8 and we can easily get by with two. Ikea – when comparing items I’ve purchased here to items online in the US (have to go to the US site so I can read 😂), they are anywhere from 1/2 to 1/4 of the price from the US. I’ve been able to fill all the missing areas of the house for decently cheap, especially since I don’t have a Target here!

When the prices are good, they’re good! But when they’re high…it almost seems astronomical.

I’ll start wth McDonald’s 😂 , since it keeps appearing in my posts and it seems I’m obsessed. We’ve honestly only been three or four times here (a few in other countries as we drive because it’s easy and “known” for the kids). While it’s nice to feel more at home once in a while, its kind of shocking in price. For just the kids lunch last week, I think it was €28, so like $34! I hadn’t really been paying that much attention, which is why I would stop on road trips. But last week I noticed the price! I’d much rather get a loaf of bread for €1.29 or an €8 fresh, amazing pizza.

Gas is, I’d guess, on average €1.40/LITER. Four liters in a gallon, so roughly €5.60/gallon (about $6.20/gallon USD). We are able to purchase a ration card that allows us, I believe, 400 L per month at a 21% discounted rate (it avoids their tax), but it can only be used at one gas station brand and only in Belgium. We’re thankful for every bit of the discount since I drive a tank.

Then there are the bills. Our electric and water bills are some arbitrary and totally random amount. They send you a bill for say €100 for the quarter, then “reconcile” at the end of the year. The military has people who estimate how much you’ll spend based on your family size and can call and have them “adjust” the bill to reflect what they think it will be, but you don’t know until the reconciling point. We’ve heard horror stories of €3000 bills. 😳 Hopefully we’re paying enough.

Our car insurance in Belgium (at least to insure an American driver with American insurance through an American company -USAA) is $4200/year! Belgium has one of the highest rates. I’m not sure if Belgians also pay an astronmical insurance rate or if it just us, but I do know they get taxed yearly on the size of their engine, thus the incentive for the tiny cars here (which get “totaled” in pretty much any accident, which *may* have to do with the cost of insurance). Needless to say, there aren’t many Expeditions cruising the streets with me.

We also have a tax on how many TVs we own. Yep, a TV tax not sure how much yet, but we have to take it in.  Were told this will be another item that America “shields” us from and the base will call and exempt us.  We’ll find out soon.

Random info/”stats” about Belgium

It is 1/3 of the size of South Carolina (see map below), and is a mere dot when compared to the US, size wise.

 

It became its own country in 1830.

Next, when perusing the internet for the size of Belgium last week, I came across random “facts” (below) and took a screenshot. Not sure of it’s legitimate, but it seems right. The population is not racially diverse but is roughly 50% native Belgian and the other 50% is mostly other European nationalities (French, Dutch, Italians and Polish), with a small percentage Moroccan.

There are two main languages here – Dutch (northern Belgium region called Flanders), and French (southern region called Wallonia). We live in the French area. It can be difficult to travel to the Dutch area, because you’ve just figured out what you need to know in french and then everything is completely different and sometimes impossible to read in Dutch (street signs). Also, the different languages even have different names for cities! So don’t go looking for Mons if you’re in the Flanders region, because they call it (and train destinations will be labeled as) “Bergen”. And Lille will be “Rijsel”.

How does the government function with multiple languages? Does everyone speak multiple languages? I do know that a lot of people speak multiple languages here, most likely out of necessity, since every country in the EU has their own language. But does everyone? Does the northern half communicate with the southern half?

It’s amazing to me that some of the cashiers at the grocery store on the NATO base speak 4 languages! Maybe we missed the bus on that in the US, but maybe it’s just not a necessary skill for us? I mean, it’s always helpful to know other languages, but I would imagine the vast percentage of Americans don’t encounter the need to be bilingual (or trilingual or  quat—whatever the word is) on a daily basis.

Around the house quirks

I’ve mentioned a time or 20 that there is no A/C here. And we only have 3 screens for our 22 windows/doors (the doors serve as windows in our dining/living area and pop open to ventilate). And there are flies. Boo.

Our refrigerator is the size of a hotel/apartment with only a pocket freezer. (We were able to borrow an American one in addition to this from the army! Yay!)

Our oven has settings that even after looking up the meaning still don’t make enough sense for us to not burn our food.

We have 10 outlets in our kitchen that is maybe 8×14 (walk through galley style). Three outlets in the only closet we have (we have the American fridge in there), then 1, maybe two in each room. And each is a single outlet (not like our American ones with two). We have probably purchased 12 multi-plug surge adapters and 5 super long extension cords.

And how could I forget the sink that has separate handles 8 inches a part for hot/cold water??? Burn your right hand, have a cold left hand.

 

Thanks for the support!

Thank you to all my friends and family that tell me they enjoy reading about our new life, and how we’re learning to navigate it. I’m enjoying it all, really, and truly hope none of these sound like complaints, as I am very grateful for the experience of it all. I just wanted to point out the differences (first world problems, I know!).