How to Berlin on a Budget

Transcript

Intro

Manuel:
[0:08] Money.

Jae:
[0:09] Money, money, money, money, money.

Manuel:
[0:11] Berlin is still, I would say, one of the most affordable big cities in ... not the world, but in Europe.

Jae:
[0:20] Thank you. Can we talk about that for a quick second? Everyone is always complaining about how Berlin's cost of living is going up, and I understand it. But if you compare it to all the other big cities in Europe, if you compare it to Paris, London, you still can get by really well.

Manuel:
[0:40] Right. And, for example, housing is getting more expensive [Yeah] and that's a problem. And Vienna, for example, in Austria has more affordable good housing. That's great, but then the groceries are so expensive. [Yes, yes.] And you can get pretty good deals on groceries .

Jae:
[1:02] Yeah, you can save a lot of money and live pretty well here.

Manuel:
[1:07] And today we thought we would share our favorite money-saving tips and tricks. Hacking ... Berlin money hacking ... Is that a thing? Is that ...? [Berlin money hacking!] There's a podcast I listen to, of course, it's called All the Hacks, and it's all about how to save money and how to be frugal in a good way. It's very American. It talks a lot about airline points and stuff and I skipped those episodes, but ... .

Jae:
[1:35] Always use your credit card, because you get points on your credit card.

Manuel:
[1:38] I know. That stuff's stupid, especially from a European perspective because it doesn't really work like that in Germany. But I do like ... like I'm not one of those coupon-saving people who put in three hours of work to save $5 or €10, but I do like to be money-savvy, money-smart. I do ... Like when I buy something that's expensive, for example, I do look at one of those price search engines to see is it currently cheap or expensive and has it been cheaper? You know what I mean? Those types of things. And I think we have - at least I have - a lot of tips on how to do those types of things in Berlin, so you can have a good time even if you're short on money or you just want to be frugal or money savvy or whatever.

Jae:
[2:26] Yeah, this is actually a very valuable topic Because I think a lot of people who are moving to Berlin aren't guaranteed high paying jobs, or they're still struggling to make ends meet in some way. So the idea of being able to cut costs and still live a great life is, I think, a very doable thing and a very valuable piece of information to know.

Discount Supermarkets & Fruit Shops

Manuel:
[2:47] So let's get going. I have a very basic, simple tip to start with. But maybe if you're new here or you're just planning to move here, it's not so obvious to you. Which is that there's different kinds of supermarkets. And the more expensive ones are like the Rewe and Edekas out there. Those are a little bit more fancy. And then there's the discount supermarkets. And those are Aldi and Lidl and Penny, which is - and I feel like we talked about this when we started this podcast - Penny's like just there, Penny's a bit weird, but Lidl is great actually, like they ... It's okay, they have ...

Jae:
[3:28] Lidl is always ... If I don't want to go to Edeka or Rewe, I will always go to Lidl first, and then maybe Aldi.

Manuel:
[3:35] Right. And then I will add to this, that there's a lot of places where you can get fresh fruit and vegetable vegetables in Berlin, that is good and much cheaper than any supermarket, and it's just these little ... like often they're Turkish - but not always, kind of - run. And they're often just on a street corner and they're often open very long, and yeah, check those out. Like your mileage may vary. I have a really good one close to where I live and it's huge, they have a ton of stuff and it's really good quality, and it's so much cheaper. Like I buy a huge bag of stuff for like €20 and I swear it would cost me €50 at the supermarket.

Jae:
[4:25] I agree. The Turkish supermarkets are really, really, really great. There's one like right by my gym in John Reed and it is really good, especially when you want to go for groceries, like produce, and even a good example is just a bag of rice, you can get it much cheaper there.

Markets

Jae:
[4:44] And something that's even cheaper than the Turkish supermarkets are the flea markets.

Manuel:
[4:50] Ooh, flea markets! Is that your first hack?

Jae:
[4:53] That is my first hack. Well, since I'm going off of yours, Maybachufer is the one that I typically go on because that's where I live. And, I mean, I have an Edeka, Aldi and a Lidl right by me, but the amount of food that I can get, the amount - emphasis on the amount - of food that I can get for €5 going to the little market is so much more worth it than going to like a Lidl or an Edeka. [Yeah.] Like ...

Manuel:
[5:23] So you're not talking about a flea market, you're talking about like a Wochenmarkt, like a weekly ...

Jae:
[5:26] Yes.

Manuel:
[5:28] And they all ... it's like kind of mixed, right? At Maybachufer they also have like clothes and stuff.

Jae:
[5:32] They have clothes and stuff like that, yeah.

Manuel:
[5:33] Yeah.

Jae:
[5:33] But they're like twice a week, I think on Tuesdays and Fridays. And you can get ... like they have all the people yelling, having these deals, so you can get watermelons, [Yeah.] mangoes, and stuff. My only thing is that you have to eat the food quite quick, because the food can spoil quickly. But it is much, much, much, much, much cheaper. Like you can get 10 lemons for €2, and I know because that's what I got.

Manuel:
[6:00] Yeah, and my fruit and vegetable corner thing has two avocados for €2.

Jae:
[6:05] Yes.

Manuel:
[6:06] And they're good. Good avocados.

Jae:
[6:07] Yes. [That's amazing.] Yeah, you can get really good deals there. You just have to pay with cash, but if you always have cash on you, I think that is like the number one hack that you can actually do, is don't go to a Rewe or Edeka, but try going to a discount store, Turkish supermarket, or one of the outdoor markets as well.

Späti Beer

Manuel:
[6:30] My next one is, instead of having - and I learned this from a friend - instead of going to a bar for beer, have a Spatzbiergang, which is plain words, Spatziergang, and you add the word, beer! So you buy your beer at a Späti, and then you have a walk with your bottle of beer, which is... [That was my second to last one!] Yeah, and because that's perfectly legal in Germany, you can walk around the streets with your beer. And some of the more fancy Spätis, or the bigger Spätis, even put out benches and sometimes even tables outside in the summer, so you can have a seat. And the Späti beer is more expensive than buying beer at the supermarket, but it's cheaper than at a bar.

Jae:
[7:20] Yeah, and especially if they have tables or you're out by a park or by like the streets where you can just drink and chill, it's like the perfect deal. And yeah, I mean, it's cold, it's fresh, and most times it's €1.50 to €2 for a bottle.

Falafel

Manuel:
[7:38] Speaking of €1.50 to €2, do you know about the €1 falafel?

Jae:
[7:44] The €1 falafel?

Manuel:
[7:46] Well, it doesn't exist anymore. It used to exist. You know the intersection of Hermannstraße and Boddinstraße? [Yes.] Or is it ...? No, Flughafenstraße. Flughafenstraße, Hermannstraße. [Yes, yes.] It's the subway station Bodinstraße in Neukölln. There's a falafel shop at the corner that when I used to live at that corner in 2012, had €1 falafel, small, yes, but you would have two or three and that would fill you. I think they've raised the price, it's now like €1.50 or €2 but it's still one of the cheapest and best falafel in Berlin. And I'm not even bringing this up. I mean, I can link this specific place in the show notes but ... I mean, I wouldn't go there from Wedding just to have that specific falafel, but I'm just saying: know your local cheap and good falafel place [Yeah.] which, there's so many in Berlin, and that's a really good meal that will fill you up, and it's vegan and it's good.

Jae:
[8:46] Is it ... like if you go out of Bollingerstraße from the steps, is it to the right?

Manuel:
[8:51] It depends on where you leave, but yeah, it's kind of it's that big intersection the Flughafenstraße which leads to Tempelhofer Feld and Hermannstraße, and then like almost right on that intersection is this kind of yellow, Imbiss-y thing that sells falafel.

Jae:
[9:08] I think I know exactly which one you're talking about, and it's still pretty cheap.

Manuel:
[9:11] It's still very cheap.

Jae:
[9:12] Because I went to one exactly ... if we're talking about the same one, I went to one right around the area and I was very surprised. I think it was like €2 or something.

Manuel:
[9:19] Yeah.

Jae:
[9:20] So it was still very very low.

Manuel:
[9:21] It's a good place to go to after Tempelhofer Feld.

Jae:
[9:24] Yes, it is. If we're talking about falafel places, other falafel places is like Sahara.

Manuel:
[9:30] Oh, Sahara is so good.

Jae:
[9:32] Yeah.

Manuel:
[9:32] There's several. There's one in Neukölln. There's one in Wedding. There might be more.

Jae:
[9:35] Yeah.

Manuel:
[9:35] And they have just the best peanut sauce.

Jae:
[9:38] Yes. Any of the places that serve the peanut sauce have really cheap falafels. I mean, of course, the prices are going up, and it's shocking to actually like visually see the prices go up. Like I never ... You know, I'm still new, so I'm always hearing, "Oh, the price is going up." But I went into the store and I was like, "Oh shit, the price went up!"

Manuel:
[10:01] I know. But try to get a falafel for even €2 or €3 in Paris, like ...

Jae:
[10:05] Yeah, you're never ... [It's not going to happen.] Exactly. And also the falafel ... when I'm thinking about the falafel, I'm like, "Oh, this won't fill me up." Those falafels fill you up! [Yeah.] They are quite filling. So you really do get your money's worth.

Food Sharing

Manuel:
[10:19] I have one more food-related thing, which is food sharing. There are different places that you can go to where you can pick up a bag of essentially the groceries ... the fresh groceries that supermarkets are going to throw out, like salad and tomatoes and stuff. There's also an app called Too Good To Go where bakeries and restaurants and supermarkets will say, "Hey, for this last hour of the day, or this last half hour of the day, everything's like super cheap. And you can come during that hour and tell them, "I'm here for the discount," and you get like a giant bag of like ... My neighbor ... I never do this because my neighbor does it. And she will do it, and then she'll text in our little neighborhood ... neighbor ... neighborship ... What's it called? Like our Neighbor WhatsApp Group. She'll be like, "I went to the food sharing. Please come by and pick up some salad because I have so much." That's essentially free food.

Jae:
[11:16] Too Good To Go.

Manuel:
[11:17] Yeah, that's a good app. But there's also just places that you can go to, so ...

Jae:
[11:23] I will look that one up.

Nebenan.de

Manuel:
[11:26] And maybe I can do this as the next one, which is, if you don't know where to find these places, there is a social network called nebenan.de, which I never really got into because it's a little weird. It's like a social network for your Kiez, or your ... it's even like a smaller, like your immediate neighborhood. Not not just your building or your street, it's like essentially, I would say ...

Jae:
[11:58] Like Reuterkiez has one.

Manuel:
[11:59] Yeah. It's like basically they ask for your address and then it's like anything that's within like a 10-minute walking distance maybe from you, you're like in a cohort with them or in a group with them. And I know that, for example, in the US a lot of that is done through Facebook, and maybe even in Germany too, but their system is kind of smart because they just like literally put you in your immediate vicinity. And then there's often people giving things away and asking for help - "Who can lend me a drill?" whatever it may be - and there's people that are really into it. I'm not into it, but I sometimes log on. I will log on if I needed help, or if I wanted to ask, like, "Hey, does anyone know where the nearest food sharing place is?" That's a good place to ask that question.

Jae:
[12:49] Okay, I didn't know about that either. [Yeah, nebenan.de ...]

Kleinanzeigen & "Zu Verschenken"-Boxes

Manuel:
[12:51] And while we're at the topic of these types of groups, there's Kleinanzeigen, which I think everybody knows about. It used to be called eBay Kleinanzeigen, now it's just Kleinanzeigen because it's not actually owned by eBay anymore. And it's essentially the German version of Craigslist, and it's free to put up ads there.

Jae:
[13:13] It's pretty legit as well. Craigslist was always sketchy.

Manuel:
[13:17] Yeah. [This is very ...] Kleinanzeigen is good at tamping down the scams. [Yeah.] They have a pretty good system and you can obviously sell things there, but there's also so much stuff you can just get for free. Like Berlin really has a culture of people giving stuff away through either Kleinanzeigen or just putting stuff on the street.

Jae:
[13:36] On the side of the street, yes. Which I've actually found, like in my little area, I found things. They weren't perfect condition but they were good enough. I found a chair. I found two dressers. And like I said, they're like wobbly and there's like a knob off of it. And I said I'll fix it, but I haven't fixed it. But like temporarily, it's actually been pretty good and pretty useful. I think I won't keep it forever because it's literally ratchet. But it's like people throw out decent enough stuff. Especially if you're moving here and stuff and you don't have a lot, you can always find something on the side of the street. And they have those little like kiosk things like the book nooks as well.

Manuel:
[14:18] Oh, yeah. There's like these official looking little tiny libraries where it's like an old phone booth or something, and it has books that you can just take. You can put other books in there. I think it's very Berlin-specific that people put out a box with stuff they don't want anymore. I've done it. And they just put "Zu Verschenken" on the box and then all that stuff's free. And often it's good quality. I feel like there's an agreement, a silent agreement that you don't put like trash in there, like it's often like books and ... I have a friend who has an eagle eye for these boxes, like she will see them before we turn the corner, I swear, like somehow she like ... she can smell these boxes. And there's like good stuff. Like she has a child, and there's like good stuff for children in there often, like children's books, children's clothes, like these boxes, like ... Develop an eye for the "Zu Verschenken" boxes and you'll have so much free stuff.

Jae:
[15:15] Yes. It takes a while to not walk past it and think of it as trash, but if you do stop you look at it, some of it is really good condition. I also got a whiteboard off the side of a street once, with the markers and the eraser on it too!

Manuel:
[15:30] Amazing.

Jae:
[15:31] And generally, if you are unsure, most times if it's on the side of a street, it is for taking ... and it's not locked, it's for taking.

Manuel:
[15:38] Yeah, usually people say, "Zu Verschenken," but you can kind of tell. If it's in a box, it's free.

Jae:
[15:46] This one said, "Free," and then it had like "Freed the World," or whatnot, on it as well, too.

Manuel:
[15:51] Yeah.

Jae:
[15:51] I was like, "Oh, that's really nice."

Manuel:
[15:53] And if you're doing this yourself, be considerate. Like don't put it out on a rainy day. Like put it on a sunny day [Yeah.] so people see it. And like I also ... I will put out the box, but then I'll come back a few hours later to check. And if like some stuff, nobody wants it, then I'll pick it up. Don't leave trash on the street, obviously.

Jae:
[16:10] Okay, that's good. I was going to ask you, would you think of it as litter as well?

Manuel:
[16:15] Yeah, I would say there's a way to do it where you're not leaving litter, in case ... But I mean, whenever I've done it, like stuff's gone like that in 30 minutes. There's always people who want that stuff, unless it's like literally trash, but obviously ...

Jae:
[16:29] Sometimes, like I said, it can be very, very, very good.

Manuel:
[16:32] Yeah.

Thrift Stores

Jae:
[16:33] I have one. Speaking of finding things on the side of the street, I recommend shopping at secondhand stores.

Manuel:
[16:41] Ooh! Do you have any recommendations?

Jae:
[16:42] Humana is like a classic one, and that's pretty much ... They have a lot of them all around the city. And the reason why I choose Humana is because there are other secondhand stores but they're quite expensive, their store shopping has gotten actually up in this price. But Humana typically always is fairly cheap, or they always have even a cheaper discount section there. Like every time I go to Humana, I can get a piece of clothing, an article of clothing, for like €1 or €2 or whatnot. I end up paying like €50 because I end up getting a lot of stuff. But you could always end up getting it really cheap. I even struck gold at this other thrift store. They have this like special twice a year, where they get all of ... some of the clothes that didn't really sell, and they make everything €1, €3, or €5. And I did that and ended up paying, I think, €100 but I got like 30 pieces of clothing. And like it was like Carhartt, you know, that one brand? I got like three pants of those and a shirt from them. That's like at least €120 if I bought that at a store. So the thrift store shopping in Berlin is really, really, really good and I definitely recommend it. Like I would not see reasons - unless it's like the ones you're looking for something specific - I would not really see a reason to first go to a like H&M or something like that, when you can go to like a Humana.

Manuel:
[18:15] Super picky too like the stuff there is usually in really good condition.

Jae:
[18:19] Yeah.

Manuel:
[18:19] Won't sell stuff that's not in great condition.[ Exactly, exactly.] Yeah, that's a good tip.

Newsletters

Manuel:
[18:26] Okay, what else? I have some newsletter recommendations. One is Mit Vergnügen. Have you heard of that one?

Jae:
[18:37] No.

Manuel:
[18:38] So that one I just recently learned about myself. They have a newsletter and an Instagram, and they always tell you about free shit you can do every month. They're like: Hey, this month this thing is going on in Berlin and it's free. And yeah, you can just follow them or subscribe to their newsletter, and then they'll tell you there's this festival, there's this thing. That's good.

Jae:
[18:59] The Berliner also does that as well, doesn't it?

Manuel:
[19:02] The Berliner, it's called?

Jae:
[19:03] Yes, it was the Exberliner, but I think they had to change the name because ... I think it was supposed to stand for, I think, Expat Berliner, but when you think of it, it sounds like ex-Berliner, like you left Berlin!

Manuel:
[19:13] Like someone who moved away!

Jae:
[19:15] So now it's called the Berliner. But I always check the Berliner also for like free activities and stuff too.

Manuel:
[19:22] And do you know about WOLOHO?

Jae:
[19:25] WOHOLO?

Manuel:
[19:26] W-O-L-O-H-O.

Jae:
[19:29] Yes, that's that other newsletter where you can ..

Manuel:
[19:32] It's three newsletters. It stands for WOrk, LOve, HOme, and it's actually three separate newsletters that you can also subscribe to separately. The WOrk letter is job postings. The HOme letter is apartment postings. You can both search or offer. And the LOve letter is partially people looking for a partner but it also has things like, "Hey I am a therapist in training and I need subjects to practice on. If you would like some free therapy, hit me up and you can have a free session with me." Or, "I am a whatever in training or I would like to organize a workshop and it's free." Like these types of things. So you can actually get a lot of free kind of experiences or things through this newsletter. [That's just super cool. I didn't know about that one.]

Museum Sunday & Free Museums

Jae:
[20:26] Something else that I think is good to know - which I think we've talked about in a few of our last ones {episodes} - when it comes to like activities and stuff, is: check out the free museums, especially the first Sunday of every month. Museum Island has a lot of free opportunities, and there are also a lot of just free museums in general in the city as well.

Manuel:
[20:49] Yeah.

Jae:
[20:50] One of my favorite ones is the Urban ... Museum? It's about urban art and stuff. It's in Schöneberg, off of Nollendorfplatz.

Manuel:
[21:02] Urban Nation.

Jae:
[21:03] Urban Nation, yes, off of Nollendorfplatz. And it's free. You can walk in, like there's nothing else you need to do. And it's just super cool to see all of thiskind of street art and stuff all in this one place. If you ever see 1UP around the city, they also are based there as well. But, yeah, the free museum is something I definitely ... I mean, we talked about that in our last episode, but it's something that I want to take advantage of more and more and more.

Flea Markets

Jae:
[21:29] And also with free museums, another free activity are the flea markets, like Mauerpark.

Manuel:
[21:36] Yeah.

Jae:
[21:36] Sundays, you go there, you don't have to buy anything. You can honestly ... There's a Späti right across the street. You can go get a drink from there, a Club Mate, and just walk around the flea market.

Manuel:
[21:48] And there's so many street artists, so many singers. There's so much going on. There's Mauerpark Karaoke if it's good weather, which I read that it might end for some reason. But there's good stuff happening on Mauerpark on Sunday it's super touristy.

Jae:
[22:01] Yeah.

Manuel:
[22:02] Obviously there's a ton of people, but rightly so like it is nice.

Jae:
[22:06] It is the thing I always recommend tourists to go to [For sure.]

Parks

Jae:
[22:09] And if you don't want to go there, I mean, all of the parks on the weekends are also really good activities to do. Like going ... Like that's something that I do often and I encourage people to do more is: go to the parks, have a picnic, go to ... like if you are at Tempelhofer Feld, there is an Edeka right there, get some like grapes, something like that, get something from a Späti, get your blanket, lay on the ground, lay on the grass.

Manuel:
[22:34] Exactly.

Jae:
[22:34] And yeah, just enjoy your time. I mean, like that really is much better sometimes than going to a restaurant or a bar or something.

Manuel:
[22:41] I had the exact same thing written down. This is also something that is not unique to Berlin, but not every big city has this many green spaces and parks that you can just go to and you're allowed to drink wine and beer.

Jae:
[22:54] Yeah.

Manuel:
[22:54] So you can literally meet your friends for dinner at a park, bring a blanket, it'll be cheaper and probably more fun.

Jae:
[23:01] Yes. And other people ... like it's a thing to do, right? Like everyone does it, especially when the weather is great.

Lakes

Jae:
[23:07] Another free activity, speaking of that, is going to the lake. I mean, of course you have to pay for transportation, but other than that, I mean, like lakes don't cost anything, right? So you can plan a whole day to go to let's say Teufelssee, and yeah, just enjoy your time there with your friends. Bring a picnic, bring your drinks or whatnot. That's something that I ... we do constantly during the summertime.

Manuel:
[23:34] We did a whole episode about the lakes.

Jae:
[23:36] We did. We did. [We'll link that up.] Yes.

Comedy Shows

Manuel:
[23:39] Did you know that most comedy shows are actually donation-based?

Jae:
[23:44] Really?

Manuel:
[23:44] So you can see a whole two-hour comedy show, and then just give whatever you're able to give. So that's an affordable [It is an affordable ...] form of entertainment.

Jae:
[23:55] Yes, I like that one. There's also jazz, also that ... I've been to one jazz place before and they also were a donation one. A lot of the performances actually don't ... some of them cost but sometimes there's like a €5 or €10 cover, but also some of them don't cost that much either.

Manuel:
[24:14] I have two transportation-related ones.

Jae:
[24:18] I have some too. And I have a surprise one that I don't think you've heard.

Cycling

Manuel:
[24:22] You have a surprise one? Okay, the first one is obvious, which is: you should cycle. Like cycling is much better than public transport. You will get to know the city better. We did a whole episode about it. But in the long run ... of course, you have to get the bike, but it'll also be more expensive - I mean, cheaper - than taking the BVG. But then also, if you are officially unemployed, you should apply for the Berlin S ticket {Berlin-Ticket S}. Do you know about that? [Hm-hm.] So this is something that you can get if you're unemployed. But you don't get it automatically, like the job center doesn't tell you, "Hey, you're unemployed, so here's your S ticket," you have to like actively apply for it. And they don't necessarily tell you about it, but if you're unemployed you can apply for it. And then with this S ticket, you get a bunch of discounts. You get discounts at most movie theaters, you get a free library pass, most of the museums are discounted, and you get a BVG ticket for Berlin for €9 per month.

Jae:
[25:25] Oh, wow!

Manuel:
[25:26] So that's much cheaper than the regular monthly ticket, which is around … [€49.] Ah, that's the Deutschland ticket, and the BVG, the Berlin-only one, is even more expensive, but it has some benefits that the Deutschland ticket doesn't have. But yeah, €9 is much, much better obviously, and yeah, if you're unemployed, apply for the S ticket. [That's actually a really good one. ]

Public Transport & Rental Scooters

Jae:
[25:48] But I would say, going back to public transport, using public transport is still cheaper than owning a car [Of course.] or taking an Uber. So I would always encourage to use public transport. If you don't, or if you don't use public transport, you can use like the bikes or the scooters that you can rent as well too. That also ... like if I don't want to use public transport, but I also don't want to pay €20 for an Uber, honestly, the bikes and the scooters are quite cheap if you think about it and you actually use it. It's not that expensive if that is your ... like if those are your options.

Manuel:
[26:25] I mean, it differs, like it depends, right? Like a lot of the scooters are pricey. Like if you use them for 10-15 minutes, it'll be like €3, €4, €5, like I'm sometimes surprised how expensive they are. But some of them are actually cheap. For example, nextbike, that's my go-to, they're good quality bikes, they're not e-bikes or anything, and they are €1 per half hour. And that's fair.

Jae:
[26:50] That's fair.

Manuel:
[26:51] It just really sucks if you finish your ride after like 30 minutes and 11 seconds because then it just went over to the €2, but that's super cheap and you're cycling.

Jae:
[27:01] Yes, but €5 is still cheaper than €15 if you ...

Manuel:
[27:05] Compare it to the car [Yeah.] or compare it to BVG. Yeah.

Bliq

Jae:
[27:09] And I don't think you've heard about this app, but this is new in the city, it's called Bliq. [Ihaven't. What's that?] B l i q. It is a new app that compares - and this is not a sponsored app, not sponsored - but it compares all of the transportation services such as Uber, Bolt, FREENOW, and it presents to you the cheapest option. And if they have enough drivers, it also presents you the Bliq option, which is even cheaper. [Ohh! That's smart!] Yes.

Manuel:
[27:48] There've been a few of these services, and I feel like they all eventually stopped working, but this is the first one that I see where they have their own service. So that's probably how they're trying to break into the market.

Jae:
[28:01] Yes. And it's a smart way of breaking into the market, is by doing it that way. But like the Bliq offers often don't work, because I don't think they have enough drivers in the city ... Well, actually, now I can order one to Alexanderplatz for €4.41.

Manuel:
[28:19] Or you could walk! It's like 20 minutes.

Jae:
[28:20] Or I could walk. But if you want to Bliq, you can do it for €4 compared to a Bolt, which is honestly just €8 as well, or Uber, it's just €10 or €12. So those are options to save on.

Manuel:
[28:34] Yeah, it's like a hierarchy, right? Because, also, it's cheaper to drive yourself using a Bolt, especially, or Miles, than using an Uber or Bolt where someone drives you. [Yeah.] It's obviously also riskier, like If you get into an accident, you have to pay and stuff like that. You should be very confident about driving in Berlin. But I prefer it. I drive places, not often, but I'll do it once or twice a month, rather than getting an Uber or taxi.

Insurance

Jae:
[29:06] People with license, you're lucky. But speaking of car accidents and stuff like that, another thing to help you save money, I'm curious to know if this is on your list, is to get insurance?

Manuel:
[29:21] It's not on my list, but I am overinsured. I have [I know!] every insurance under the sun, so yeah, you're probably right. I mean, you're probably wrong in my case: I'm paying so much for insurance and nothing ever happens to me!

Jae:
[29:35] Yes, but it can come in handy. Especially the personal liability insurance.

Manuel:
[29:40] No, that you have to have.

Jae:
[29:41] Yeah. That's like the biggest recommendation. Like 85% of Germans have that insurance, and they really recommend it. Because that means that if you end up ... like let's say you crash into somebody or you damage something, your insurance will pay for it rather than you having to pay them out of pocket yourself. [Right.] So it can save you money in the long run if accidents happen. There's also household insurance, there is legal insurance, there's dentist insurance ...

Manuel:
[30:06] Yeah, we did a whole episode - which we will link - and I don't want to repeat all that. But the personal liability insurance, I know it's very particular to Germany, but you really ... you're not legally obliged to have it but you really need to have it. It's not about you breaking someone else's phone, because then, you know, you can cover that, but it's about you causing an accident where someone ends up in a wheelchair, that can essentially put you in a position where you're broke for the rest of your life because you end up having to pay millions. And so you need this insurance, and it's only like €60 a year. It's not expensive.

Jae:
[30:40] Yeah, exactly. And for all the expats, the one that I have is Feather Insurance, and they offer you like all the insurances, like every one that Manuel has, they offer it to you. They have at least 10 or 12 or 15 types that you can use. [Sound of glass tipping over.]

Manuel:
[31:01] Oopa! History repeats! No Macbook nearby this time. Should we pause this recording? We'll be right back everybody, hold on one second. [Music.]

Manuel:
[31:27] And we're back!

Jae:
[31:28] Where did we leave off at?

Manuel:
[31:30] You were talking about ... You were very excited. You were using your hands to explain to us that ...

Jae:
[31:42] Was it about Feather Insurance?

Manuel:
[31:43] Everybody should get insurance. [Yes.] And there's other apps like this, too, where essentially the app becomes your insurance broker and they let you compare different types of insurances and then you just buy them through the app.

Jae:
[31:55] Yes, that's how Feather Insurance works. It's like you kind of just make an account and then you can just like add as many as you want. They tell you like you can either ... they even have calculations and stuff where you insert different things about your life, and then they can tell you how much like different offers will cost and stuff. And it's very easy. And it was also recommended to me by the allaboutberlin.com and I really trust that website, so if they recommend it, then I'm like: Hell, yeah! And then you can even call them and talk to them, ask them questions and stuff. And they seem pretty easy and pretty good to go to. And they didn't seem like uber expensive. You can pay less. You also pay more, and you can get protected for more, right? So I think right now I pay maybe €60.

Manuel:
[32:45] Yeah, that's good for liability. I'll add Check24, which is a website where you can compare not only insurances but also electricity, [Yeah.] gas for your apartment, [Phone companies.] internet, phone ... or dsl,or fiber, [Car companies.] rental cars, and they're legit. Like they're making money off of the ... like they get a kickback every time you do a contract, but they're still pretty much independent, so they'll still show you all of the options. And it's a really good way to kind of price shop for these things.

Jae:
[33:19] Now I have a question. Do you end up paying through Check24 or do you end up going to the actual website and doing it?

Manuel:
[33:25] No, you end up paying through the insurance or the company that you end up buying. They are just the broker, essentially.

Jae:
[33:33] Because you can start the process on the Check24.

Manuel:
[33:36] Right. They'll handle getting the contract and stuff for you, and they will also basically email you a reminder when it's time to cancel, like they organize it for you, but you're not buying anything from them. You're always buying it from the actual service. [Nice.] Okay.

Jae:
[33:54] Which ones do you still have?

Urban Sports Club

Manuel:
[33:55] I have two more. One is sports, where there's probably a lot of things you can do for free. The one thing that I'll mention is not for free, and it's actually quite expensive, and I did it for a year, and it was definitely not a deal for me because I barely used it.

Jae:
[34:17] Is it this one?

Manuel:
[34:19] It is that one.

Jae:
[34:20] Yeah.

Manuel:
[34:21] It's the Urban Sports Club. It's an app. It's a service where you pay about €60 a month for the medium membership. There's different ... there's S and M and L memberships.

Jae:
[34:31] But Medium?

Manuel:
[34:31] Medium is a good one. And it's €60 a month. And then you can do a ton of different things. You can go to dance classes, yoga classes, gym, swimming pools.

Jae:
[34:43] Calisthenics.

Manuel:
[34:43] Anything. There's so many sports venues in Berlin. At this point, I think if you're a sports venue you kind of have to participate in the system. I don't know what the dynamics are, if it's good for them or bad, but as a member, you get ... as a Medium membership member, you get one check-in per month. And so if you use the shit out of it, it's a great deal [Yeah.] because you can do something every day. And there's some things on there ... like if you just go to a swimming thing, okay, that's like €4 or €5 if you just pay for it, but there are yoga studios that cost like €28 [For one session.] for one session if you drop in, and it's just included in your Urban Sports Club, and so if you go three times in a month then it's already covered.

Jae:
[35:32] Yes. I definitely like struggle between the line of, "Is it worth it?" or "Is it too expensive?" And I'm debating if I want to go back to Urban Sports and pay to €60, because I know I'll get the money's worth but it is ... like it is €60 a month, right? But if you do think about what you are signing up for, let's say for me, I do dance classes, I like the BEAT81, BEAT ... whatever it's called. And individually, I think an Urban ... like a Flying Steps Academy dance class costs €15 for one class. I think BEAT81 also is like €15 to €20 for one class, right? So if you think about, okay, you have eight opportunities to do this in a month, it's definitely much cheaper. [Right.] But you want to make sure you're going to get your money's worth, [Right.] because if you don't, then you're going to waste your money.

Manuel:
[36:20] And before you sign up ... I will say, I made this mistake, I signed up and I thought to myself: I will use it all the time because I'm paying the €60, and I'll just try all these different classes. But realistically, I'm not going to try stuff that's really far from my place, and there's not much where I live, like my neighborhood ...

Jae:
[36:40] Poor Wedding!

Manuel:
[36:43] I know! There's ... my area in Wedding, there's just not that many yoga studios or whatever. And I just didn't want to go to Prenzlauer Berg or Mitte all the time. And so I would say, before you sign up, check the map.

Jae:
[36:57] Yes.

Manuel:
[36:58] Check the map. And if there's a ton of stuff near you that you are interested in doing on a regular basis, then do it, but if there's not that much stuff near you, don't think ... don't lie to yourself. You're not going to cycle for 40 minutes to do a 30-minute class and then cycle 40 minutes back. That's just not going to happen. [Exactly.]

Jae:
[37:15] Yes, like I would recommend planning it out first, 'cause you can see all the offers before you sign up. Like it's not blocked by like a paywall where you have to pay and then see everything. You can see everything before you even sign up, so I would recommend, if you think it's worth it, make your schedule, what do you want to do, and then try it. The benefit of it is that they do really hold you accountable for doing regular classes.

Manuel:
[37:41] Yeah, you have to sign up for the class you want to do, and then if you're no-show, they actually charge you €15, which makes sense because the studio has like limited spots. But that did happen to me that I signed up and then I was really lazy and I didn't want to go, but they were like, "If you miss one more check-in, then we're going to charge you €15, and so then I just went, even though I wasn't in the mood. And that's actually what I wanted. [Yeah.] Like I wanted that push. [Exactly.] So that's good. And I will recommend one venue which is in Mitte, which is a little bit different than most things maybe, which is MyJump, and it's a trampoline place and you can just ... and it's mostly kids there. I would say, don't go on the weekend because there's a lot of kids, but if you go during the week, you can just have a ton of fun on all the trampolines and that's like €15 if you just pay, so it's a good deal.

Jae:
[38:36] That is really good. I like that.

Amazon

Jae:
[38:38] Another thing that's quite cheap and is an available thing to use, but honestly, it does come in handy: Amazon.

Manuel:
[38:47] Oh, my God! Are you going to advocate for buying stuff on Amazon on this podcast? We're not capitalists here!

Jae:
[38:55] Yes, but we are expats, and we do know how hard it is to get some stuff in the city. And the city does not do good with returns. So I do use Amazon sometimes, as a lot of people do, so - I'm pointing at y'all too - and it is really good for a lot of cheap things, because not everything you can get from Rewe, not everything you can get from a Kaufman's, not everything you can get easily, nor cheaply. A lot of times, if you're trying to get like let's say a power bank or something from the store, they're quite expensive. And if you want to save money, Amazon is just a really good, easy way to save money on a lot of products

Manuel:
[39:31] I hate the direction this podcast episode is going! I mean, I use Amazon but I don't want to admit it. I don't recommend it. I feel bad about it. I feel guilty.

Jae:
[39:40] Okay, well, don't feel guilty. You're going to do something, I might as well just do it and own it.

Manuel:
[39:45] All right.

Jae:
[39:46] This is a podcast about accountability and a podcast about helping people.

Manuel:
[39:51] Helping Jeff Bezos.

Jae:
[39:52] Helping people. Helping people.

Manuel:
[39:55] Which, Jeff Bezos is a person! Let's all help him!

Jae:
[39:59] Yes, but like it does come in handy, and it has saved me a lot whenever I am struggling to find something. And there are ... like things are expensive in the vitamin store. A lot of things are expensive that I would not think would be so expensive.

Manuel:
[40:11] That too. Check the internet. I mean this is now not super related to Berlin anymore, but like go to like Geiz ... there's several of these websites but the one that I usually use is called Geizhals - I'll link it - and you can search any product, really, and it'll show you which website it's cheapest on. And it's often Amazon, but sometimes it's also another website. [Really? Oh, I didn't know.] And it's just a really good way to compare prices. [Yes.] And yeah, what's the ... I will say that Amazon has this like no-questions-asked, 30-day return policy, and it's true that you don't get that if you just buy something at Saturn or MediaMarkt, or whatever.

Jae:
[40:46] Yeah. They all look at you like, "You opened it!" [Yeah.] "It's yours!" And I'm like ... my American is like, "You should take it back! But Walmart lets me bring anything back!"

Manuel:
[40:57] Exactly. Like this is Germany. If you've used it ... which is fair, because they're not going to be able to sell it for the same price.

Jae:
[41:05] Yeah, and a lot of these stores don't do discounts and stuff like that off of ...

Manuel:
[41:08] Right, and it's kind of ... I mean, it's kind of the reason why like the Altstätte, like the cities with the shopping streets In Germany, are dying out, because no one can compete with Amazon, you know, [Yes.] so it's sad, but also we shouldn't all support Jeff Bezos.

Jae:
[41:26] Yes we should not, but ... how to save money?

Manuel:
[41:31] All right, all right. I see your point.

Tap Water

Jae:
[41:32] Another way of saving money that I didn't realize until here so you have to pay for tap water, you have to pay for water at restaurants. [Sometimes.] Request tap water! You have to specifically request tap water, and it will come in the smallest glass. [How do you say it in German?] "Tap wasser?" [Leitungswasser.] Leitungswasser.

Manuel:
[41:56] And sometimes they charge you like 50 cents but it's still cheaper than the €3 San Pellegrino.

Jae:
[42:01] Still water that they want to give you. [Yeah.] Do you have any more?

Credit Card

Manuel:
[42:07] I have one more. It's not super specific to Berlin, and we kind oftalked about it in another episode, but: get a free credit card. If you're paying for your credit card you are making a mistake because there's good free credit cards. For example, DKB has one. I know you have the N26. There's also a true credit card that's not a debit card but an actual credit credit card that's completely free if you pay it off completely every month, otherwise you pay a lot of money, which is called GenialCard, Genial Card, and it's from HanseMerkur {Hanseatic Bank}. I will link all three in the show notes. Don't pay for a credit card.

Jae:
[42:46] Don't pay for a credit card. Don't be like me - I pay €144! But my credit card card, N26, it gives you like a lot of like ...

Manuel:
[42:54] I know, you were so happy about all the perks!

Jae:
[42:56] I still use it! I still have it, and I even convinced my boyfriend to get it as well!

Manuel:
[43:01] But you know they have a free option to it?

Jae:
[43:03] Yes.

Manuel:
[43:03] You don't have all the insurance stuff.

Jae:
[43:04] But yes, they do, which ... I recommend N26 especially for expats because it's very easy to to set up, it's quick, and they don't really ask that many questions, and it's all online, too, and it's in English. [Nice.]

Walking

Jae:
[43:17] A few quick things. I know we talked about cycling and stuff, but an even cheaper option than cycling is walking. And you can walk everywhere. Walk! It is really a really nice city to walk.

Manuel:
[43:29] This ... We're really getting into the life hacking [Yeah!] section of this episode. You can walk places? [Yeah!] What?

Jae:
[43:36] I mean, for Americans that is something! That is a very shock ... That's a big, big shock. But if you can walk, don't get your Uber. Walk.

Manuel:
[43:43] But is it safe?!

Jae:
[43:44] It is very safe. One of the safest cities in ... [Uhh ...] in Europe? It's pretty safe.

Manuel:
[43:52] Yeah, it's like less safe than the rest of Germany, but it's...

Jae:
[43:57] It depends on who you are.

Manuel:
[43:59] Frankfurt is more dangerous than Berlin.

Jae:
[44:02] It depends on who you are.

Manuel:
[44:04] I mean, did we do an episode about safety? Maybe we should. [We should.] It is a safe city. You can walk around.

Jae:
[44:10] Yeah. For the most part, I feel safe here. I don't feel safe in any other place in Germany. So this is actually ... Berlin is the safest place that I ... . And I still have issues in Berlin, definitely, but still, for me, it's like the most safest possible option. So, if you can walk, it's easy. And most times, I mean, at night, the public transportation does go, so you have that option as well.

Manuel:
[44:33] No, it stops at some point. It goes 24 hours from Friday to Sunday, but then I think during the week it stops. I mean, there's the night buses, but the subway closes at like 12 or 1 or something.

Jae:
[44:46] The night buses are a hit or miss sometimes.

Manuel:
[44:48] They're good because you get a little tour of the city.

Jae:
[44:51] That's true.

Manuel:
[44:51] You take a big reroute.

Jae:
[44:53] It's very calming.

Libraries

Jae:
[44:56] Last one of how to save money is, if you don't want to pay for co-working, like if you're an expert and you work from home or whatnot and you don't want to work from home, and you don't want to pay for a WeWork or something.

Manuel:
[45:09] Can I guess?

Jae:
[45:10] What? [The library.] The library, exactly. The library or, my friend even told me, hotels.

Manuel:
[45:15] Hotel? The lobby.

Jae:
[45:16] The lobby in an hotel. They don't ask questions. Like you can sit there and like get a drink at the bar and just work there. My friends ... I haven't tried that, but there's like hotels where you can just kind of ... especially the big ones, where they're like not really caring about who is coming in and out, just go into the lobby and just sit there. Also the library. That was my other one.

Manuel:
[45:39] Hotels are also the best place if you need a bathroom break, because we don't have like good public bathrooms at every subway stop like Korea does, or anything like that, but there's hotels everywhere. And the big hotels, you can just walk in [Yes.] and go to the bathroom. But yeah, the library, I agree. And the library is a great money-saving hack in general, because they have ... you can ... if you have the S ticket you get it for free, otherwise it's like €10 a year or €12. It's very cheap to get a library pass.

Jae:
[46:11] And it works for all libraries.

Manuel:
[46:12] And it works for all the libraries in Berlin. It's called the Verbund der Öffentlicher Bibliotheken Berlins {VÖBB}. So they're all together. And yeah, not only do they have books, but they also have DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs, games, board games, PlayStation games. You can get so much stuff at the library. And it's fun. [It is fun.]

Make a Budget

Jae:
[46:36] Last one.

Manuel:
[46:37] All right.

Jae:
[46:38] This is the last money-saving tip I think everyone should at least consider: make a budget.

Manuel:
[46:46] Ooh! The budget nerd!

Jae:
[46:48] Make a budget, even if it's not something detailed or something ... even if you just get like a Google Sheets and just say: Okay, this is my income, it's how much money I have, this is where it's going. Just do like the bare minimum of just somewhat sorting your money. It helps a lot. It helps a lot. Like I use YNAB sometimes. Now I've fallen off on doing it as consistently as probably Manuel does ...

Manuel:
[47:12] I still use it, it's You Need A Budget. It's a budgeting service for nerds [Yes!] like us!

Jae:
[47:17] But even if you just like write it down or something and just say: This is how much money I'm going to put in different areas, it really makes a lot of a difference, especially if you don't have that much money. Because, yeah, saving is something we all roll our eyes on, but it can help you out in the long run.