How to Afford Living in Two Countries

Ever since Martin and I announced that we were moving to the United States for the summer, you’ve all been so kind, supportive, and encouraging.  It wasn’t easy for us to pack up and leave our Berlin apartment just as soon as we finished creating our little space.  We knew that we would have to, though.  Before we even started seriously talking about spending time in Germany, we knew that had to accept the bazar lifestyle we’d have to adopt when we needed to be in the United States.  I feel like we’re bouncing from house to house here.  (Probably because we are, right?)

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It’s hard to have a blog about making a home when to be completely honest, my closest friends can’t even keep track of where Martin and I are living.  Every email begins, “So where are you living these days?”  It’s almost a joke anymore.  I didn’t really think this far in advance when I started Making This Home.  I only thought through our life in Germany.  Now we’re in the Rockies, and I’m giving pause as we start making a third place home this year.  (We’ve lived in the apartment above, here, and now here.)

Naturally, you all started having a lot of questions about what we’re up to.  I think I dodged them and ignored them because some of those questions were on a very personal, confidential level that I wasn’t sure I wanted to discuss.  The biggest of these, of corse, is the discussion of money.  When I think of people who live in both the United States and Europe, it sounds really expensive.  I think of Senators’ wives, rich real estate tycoons, families with old money…. oh wait.  Then I remember that I’m living in both the United States and Europe this year, and I am far from any of those.  Well unless you count back in high school when I used to participate in government club, and everyone had to call me Senator for three whole school days.  The only money involved were those huge packs of fake bills you can buy at the dollar store.  I’ve never been so rich since.

The secret is all in where you live and how you live. If you want to live in Europe and the US and have an elegant, rich life, you can do that without even trying.  If you want to be frugal, you can do that, too.  Most people don’t really think of the second scenario.  Wouldn’t it be better to just buy a home in one place and call it good?  It would certainly make a blog about creating a home a heck of a lot easier.  Living in two places on a small budget takes a lot of work.  I’m taking a deep breath.  I hope you don’t mind a rather long article today.  Maybe I can answer some of the questions you have.  Like I said, to get the opportunity to live in two places this year, Martin and I are having to do some pretty unusual things.  Let’s start with Germany where we kicked off 2009.

Affording Life in Europe

Berlin is a rare spot in Europe.  It’s still emerging from the division of East and West Germany.  As a result, it’s really easy to find an affordable home in a safe, healthy location.  It’s actually cheaper than Prague, which is claimed to be the cheapest European city for tourists to visit in the area.  I think I’d be comfortable telling you that I paid more money to rent a bedroom in a Washington DC home than it would cost to rent an entire flat like ours in most parts of Berlin.

kite-flying-germany

I think it’s interesting that stuff in Germany is much more expensive, but the things we really need – like food – seem so cheap.  I think that the best way I can put this into perspective is to say that fruits and vegetables have the same price tags as they do in the US.  Well except the fruits and vegetables are being sold by the pound in the US and by the kilogram (2.2 pounds) in Germany.  So I’d buy organic apples for 2 bucks and get over twice as many apples in Germany.  I’ve mentioned how going out to eat meant spending less than 10 bucks total for us on many occasions.  You can bet we really miss those 3 buck pizzas now that we’re in the US, miles from any restaurant.

When we moved to Germany, I couldn’t speak the language.  My “work” became learning German and later starting this blog while Martin worked.  With the exception of our remodel which we’d been saving up for, our expenses were shockingly low.  We didn’t get English television or travel around Europe, and we always tried our best to hunt down good deals.  Our pear green dishes, for example, cost around 1.50 each.

I also wrote a post listing more specific ways to save money and afford to live in Europe if you’re looking for more bits.

Affording Life in the United States

We are back in the US this summer.  While we can’t turn to those cheap handmade pizzas any more, we don’t spend much money because there’s not really anywhere to spend it around here!  I’ve touched on the fact that I had never even heard of popular stores like Anthropologie before.  Online shopping is the closest thing we have.

In my mind, I quickly do math when I see something online that I’d love to have.  I ask myself how many hours of work it would take to pay for the item, then I ask myself if it’s worth that kind of time commitment.  This type of thinking has curbed impulse purchases. Martin does the same.  Another really big trick comes from our frequent moving.  Would I want something so badly that I am willing to either live with it only a few months this year while we’re in the US or am I willing to haul it to Germany instead of something else?  (We make it a goal to only take what we can check on the plane.)  It’s a really crappy feeling to think of all the money we’ve spent on stuff that has been sitting in boxes.

Plus we’re living in an incredibly inexpensive place.  I mean, how many people are interested in renting a house made out of tires in the absolute middle of nowhere?

windy-day

The guys at the airport where I’m learning to fly say that there are two types of people in general aviation (small planes):  rich people and people who know how to maintain planes.  You can bet which category we fall into.  My husband fixes planes.  He’s also my flight instructor.  I never would have even thought of learning to fly if I had to pay an instructor $40+/hour.  I’m just not that into it, and we don’t have money to invest in something like that.  Being married to a pilot, I think it is essential that I learn how to fly because if something ever happens, I want to know what to do.  I really want to help more women get excited about flying, and the thought of taking off all by myself makes my heart patter.  A bit of that patter, of course, is total fear, but mostly, I am excited.

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So now you know.  We’re not trust-fund babies, which you probably guessed based on the square footage of our apartment in Germany (480 sq ft).  We’re just two frugal people in our 20s, paying of student loans and working toward the things that matter most to us.  Sometimes, those things might not always make the most of sense – even to our mothers.  If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments, and I’ll do my best to answer.

We’d also love hearing how you make your lifestyle work for you or the things that make you happy about where you are.  Goodness knows, we could all use the love in today’s economy, so please share away.

(Images for Making This Home)