Price differences between Germany and Austria

[Franzl]

Fuel costs slightly over €1,70/Liter here. (~$8.50/gallon)

Car insurance is relatively cheap, as Tender says. I'm 22 years old and already only pay €500 a year for liability and Teilkasko.

Cell phones, again as Tender says, are indeed expensive. 49€ a month is my base rate.

Food is very cheap. I'm unaware of any Western country with cheaper grocery prices. The U.S. is quite a bit higher.

Beer is cheap! Where a 6-pack of cheap Bud in the U.S. costs..oh...$6 and the good stuff (Sam Adams and better) costs $7-8+, you get big boxes of 20 half-liter bottles here for €10-15.

[Franzl]

That said, neither Germans/Austrians nor Americans should be complaining about cost of living. I've seen the prices in Scandinavia and I've read about them in Australia...

[Franzl]

Berlin is really cheap since it's so poor.

Curious - what's rent on a cheap basic-but-livable studio apartment in Berlin?  That is, located not in a totally abysmal area.

I do remember from my last trips to Germany and Austria that both were much cheaper than Switzerland and seemed slightly cheaper than France, but more or less comparable with the USA.  It hard to remember and of course I was a tourist and unlikely to ghet a very accurate picture.

Berlin is probably between 7-8€ per sq. meter . So about $0.90 per sq. foot per month.

Munich, in comparison, is about double that. 14€/sq. meter, or around $1.70 per sq. foot.

[Franzl]

Berlin is probably between 7-8€ per sq. meter . So about $0.90 per sq. foot per month.

Munich, in comparison, is about double that. 14€/sq. meter, or around $1.70 per sq. foot.

I have no idea what that means.  How much for a typical poor single person's abode?

Depends what you consider adequate for one person? 1-2 rooms in a typical appartment building a little further outside of the city center of Berlin? Calculate at least 300-400€ in Berlin. ($390-$520)

[Franzl]

Well the price I indicated is a good deal of money in Berlin.

But again, prices in the south, especially Munich, get much higher. Albeit certainly not at Swiss levels.

[Franzl]

How about water and electricity utility rates?

Like in terms of price per unit used (per kWh, per gallon liter?) and the average monthly bill.

Average water price in Germany: €1.73 per 1000 liters ($2.26).

Average electricity price in Germany: €0.257 per kwh, so 34 cents US per kwh.