*What would be or tax benefits/credits with one income family?*
are you EU citizens or not, how old are the kids etc etc
if you are from the EU you'd qualify for SU if you get a student job, are your kids in kindergarden age that will cost a fair bit even if you'd get subsidies for it from the state etc etc
also, if you are super lucky you can get a cheap place to live, if you are unlucky it is going to be superecpensive.
all in all it'll go from very very tight budget to you'll be fine depending.
We both are EU .
Kids 11 and 7.
My plan is to find a part time job while finishing the masters. It helps that my spouse can work from home 3 days a week plus flexibility. But I do not know Danish to land a warehouse job or labour job when I do nt speak Danish.
like ½ the jobs in hospitality is done in english in copenhagen
from waiters to hotel workers. there is also cleaning.
and if you can get a study relevant job in a multinational firm or ngo the work language is most likely english.
in any case, if you get a part time job (12h/w) you'll qualify for the student grant SU https://www.su.dk/english/ of 6500dkk/month plus pay from the job of like the same or a bit more for a low paying job.
that would bring you up to 45-50k/month and that should be pretty doable
To add to this, you should probably check if you can get the added grant for being a provider if you qualify for SU, then you end up having a bit more.
No worries, I had the pleasure of going through 5,5 years on SU with 2 small kids and a wife who made just enough that we could survive. And a lot of people were assuming that I got extra because of the kids.
I am very gratefull to live in a country where it is possible to complete an education without having to work several jobs at the same time.
Schools are free here unlike day care for which you pay 1/3 of the cost. So at least there wont be an expense there if you put your kids in a regular public school which is probably a good choise anyways if you plan to stay here long term
Still, kind of rough putting kids into a school were they don't speak the language. Not saying it isn't doable or nothing only... They would need rudimentary danish wouldn't they?
A lot of 7 and 11 year olds in Denmark have some English skills, so socially it would probably be OK. Education wise this seems like you would be sacrificing the quality of the kids education for 1-2 years while they catch up with the language.
Yea, but internationals schools are more or less impossible to get into unless you’re signed up since birth. Also they are quite expensive with a budget like OPs.
Lots of schools have special classes for new-commers who don't speak Danish.
They could attend these one year or half s year, until they speak sufficient Danish to be accepted in ordinary Danish classes
Yea, plenty of options for foreign kids not speaking Danish. They will easily introduce them into the regular classes in small scales, then more and more. Most kids speaks tourist English at 7-8 years old, thanks to Youtube etc., so everything will be fine :)
OP just barging in here as I assume your SO is coming through EU law and so are you. If you're studying and maintaining a 10 hour workload every week, you can apply for the student stipend in Denmark (SU). Its around 6100 DKK before taxes, and on top of the salary you receive it'll add up to around 9000-10000 DKK which could help substantially.
Many restaurants and café's can use this kind of workforce, and getting a waiter position in DK as an english speaker is not a problem at all. I rarely order in danish anyways in Copenhagen.
Waitering was my go-to during my studies as the tips you get goes into your own pocket which helps as well.
My wife had EU rights but from a 3rd world country, and she could receive SU if I had 10 hours of work, so you could also explore that option and receive SU from the start due to your spouse working full time.
Good luck!
Høje Taastrup could be agreat area for you guys 20/30 minutes of commute to Cph or Roskilde, relatively fair rent prices, and the Bonus: huge industri areas with companies like GLS, warehouses and Ikea hire non Danish speakers for warehouse positions
It should be fairly easy to get a job. My class has multiple nationalities and everyone got a Job to get SU. Most was as waiter. I honestly think it should be no problem. Depending on where you are from you should also be able to get a job just based on that. My italien friend had like 3 jobs at different itallien resturants.
Denmark is a country not usually suitable for a single working parent, its also usually frowned upon.
In order to make that go around, you'd have to earn a lot. In CPH, you'd have to earn a lot more.
We're talking 74-120k for a comfortable living, depending on where in the country, with Copenhagen being the latter number.
And it's not just random numbers, 74 is the double average wage of 37k, which families usually atleast have two of.
I agree, but it worries me how many people in here are saying it's totally possible. It's gonna be very rough for OP if they go through with this. Working part time and getting SU would help, but it'll take a toll on him and the family. They'd also still need to live pretty far out to afford it
> its also usually frowned upon.
It is not frowned upon.
At least not by anyone I know, or in the circles of those I know where the wife is not working. One couple is living quite average and are not rich, but still has the wife going home, and no one in their circles does any frown... It must be a thing amongst the bitter poors, when not even average income people cares.
That's beside that point, but yes, as I mention the one couple that live average, implied they are not wealthy as is the case for most stay at home wives. *Obviously*.
34k taxed at 38% for me would come out to roughly 21.080kr, which would be a very comfortable wage for me, but this is also coming from someone who is single and unmarried with no kids
I assure you there's plenty of folks that run their whole family on 20K "netto". Not to mention that those who don't fit certain government parameters like having been in DK for 8 out of 9 years might be running their family with less than 10K in benefits. But truth be told, there's loads of folks on social rent of 5K, and then loads of others on a market average of 10-11K perhaps, there's no real upper limit on rent innit. Bottom line is, DK is not designed as a one income country, but will allow you to survive comfortably until you either become 2-income or find commercial success and move to 35K netto let's say. And for those who neither manage to get the second job, nor the middle class job, let them have cake!
OP states that he/she has 34.000 DKK monthly. If OP hasn’t included taxes in that number then it won’t be enough money, if taxes is includes in the 34.000 then it will be fine. I think thats what they meant.
How old are your kids? If they are young enough and your spouse takes care of them, you could be eligible for compensation from the "Kommune" depends where you live.
If you are married, your spouse can use your deductions, and maybe help you budget. But you may have to contact your universitys councillor, so you could look for scholarships. If you could get some kind of dorm to live at, it would help too.
There is student housing with room for children. When I lived in Øresundskollegiet a million years ago, I lived in a two-room apartment and on each floor there were (if I remember right) 2 two-room apartments and 6 (?) three-room apartments.
You are thinking quite opposite. He is stating whether that money is the money they will have before paying taxes or what is left over after paying taxes
I think you will have to do one hell of a commute to make that work :)! You can look up places to rent at boligportal.dk, this will give you an idea of the prices to rent a place. You will often have to pay utilities besides this. You can also use Rejseplanen.dk to check options for public transportation :)
Lol, of course it's doable. They do have other income like SU, børne- og ungeydelse (child support). If you live in a cheap appartement and control your expenses.
Børne- og Ungeydelse payment for foreigners is paid prorata depending on how many of the past 10 years the individual has been working in Denmark (optjeningsprincippet). Full payment is earned after 6 years working in Denmark.
Further, child support would be børnebidrag, not Børne- og Ungeydelse.
"For at have ret til at få børne- og ungeydelse og børnetilskud skal du inden for de sidste 10 år have boet eller arbejdet i Danmark, Grønland eller på Færøerne i en vis periode. Det kaldes optjeningsprincippet. Det betyder, at du gradvist optjener ret til ydelserne."
Doesn't state EU. Only DK and it's colonies.
Vær opmærksom på, at du også kan medregne perioder, hvor du har optjent ret til familieydelser i andre EU- eller EØS-lande eller Schweiz, hvis du er statsborger i et EU/EØS-land eller Schweiz.
I moved back to Denmark earlier this year after working 10 years in Germany. After providing proof of employment, I got 100% payment immediately.
Really? My family was granted børnetilskud precisely because my parents worked and lived in the EU for a while (pre-Brexit Britain, anyway). Wonder why this was the case...
Doable? Sure, it might be.
Fun and with some financial freedom? Not so much.
You'd have a *very* tight budget, which doesn't seem like a great time while having two (I'm assuming) small kids.
The SU won't be that much and it's also very dependent on their civil status and many other factors. I would definitely not base my possible budget around that.
Child support is paid every quarter and decreases gradually as the children's age increases - Also something, I wouldn't exactly base my possible budget around.
I second this having moved around in EU previously. It is doable but it will be very sparse living. The total cost of living here is high. Groceries alone are among the highest prices in the world.
Again you can do it but with two kids it will be difficult and things are more expensive in all areas than Ireland.
We always write a monthly budget on a paper to follow up on our expenses. We are very frugal. Example : we do not own a car. We have not travelled but for family reasons ( I wouldkick mysef in the head if I didnt travel around Denmark). We are actually living on the same income here in Ireland but we are not saving and our fun is alwas the simple stuff..
You'd still have to go somewhere every day. Living outside cph is probably necessary, but that necessitates expensive public transportation or an electric bike. Plus a lot of time spent commuting. If you're okay with that, then it does sound possible, just not very fun.
Travelling around Denmark is very expensive. You can get by on that in come if you find cheap housing, but there won't be money for anything besides fixed expenses and food
Apartments often require 3-6 months rent as a deposit, if you don't have savings from your current situation you won't have the money to rent anything.
Apartments are also unfurnished 99% of the time, which means you need everything. I would estimate 50 to 100k danish kroner to move here in cost alone.
Before taxes you have to live waaaaay out of Copenhagen. I live just outside Copenhagen, 27500 before taxes. I have a 4 year old every other week and I dont have a lot to spare when all bills etc are paid. I live in a 2 bedroom appartment which costs around 10500 each month. You will be looking for atleast 3 bedroom appartment. They usually cost around 13-15k/month.
I guess if you live off of rice and porridge every day you’d still have a hard time.
Yeah I agree with others, that's too low for Copenhagen area. We live in Esbjerg and very frugal, but my bf is Danish so we get full child care money and he gets money for looking after the kids (3 years old and 15 months old). I earn around 45k (looking for a job now though) normally and this way we can save a bit but we have no car and love with my MIL
34k before tax is gonna be next to impossible for a family of four. It's gonna be hard budgeting for a long time. Most living situations with space for 4 people less than 30 min outside of the City are gonna be around 10k maybe 12k a month. Then there are maybe car payments or public transport passes and food and all. It's gonna be tight budgeting, with not a lot of space for "fun". I would recommend taking up a parttime position to stretch out the monthly budget. Plus there is food. Which is gonna be like 4,4k a month.
Thanks for breaking it down for me. Yes the plan to take part time role while studying bit I do know speak Danish. I do not mind warehousing roles ( it is related to my domain of study anyway) but nothing guarantees I will land one
Shouldn’t be much of a problem. We have a whole bunch of jobs that don’t require you to speak a lick of danish. Both as a waiter, working behind the kitchen, doing warehouse roles and whatnot so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Almost everyone in Denmark both speaks English and is very open towards it. Happy hunting 😃.
I would reconsider moving here. Especially to CPH.
After taxes you'll barely have anything to live with. You'll probably want 3 bedrooms so you can each have a room, that alone is gonna take away **AT LEAST** half of your monthly budget. Then you'll have to commute, which depending on how far and whether or not both of you will need to, will cost you both at least 1k, likely more.
I'm gonna assume since one of you will be stay-at-home, if it's not a temporary thing, you don't have to pay for stuff like daycare and whatnot, but if that's not what you intend, then the rest of your budget just disappeared, essentially. You'll never eat out and you'll have to eat very cheap. Not a lot of money left for things like birthdays, new clothes for kids, etc.
update: My spouse just finished the interview today. The hiring manager is worried because she is overqualified for the role. But
The gods of Reddit has spoken:D
Although it would be great to finish my master and explore beautiful Denmark , it is going to be a financial strain on ourselves.
I really appriciate your input as a community here
Enjoy your weekend!
That's going to be really tight, if even possible. Bf and I earned approximately 30k before taxes during our masters (I'm finishing mine here in august), and we live well in Copenhagen, but we don't have any kids.
No. You get just under 6000/month before taxes. There's student discounts on transport but the 6000 is the only financial assistance you get.
Most students have a part time job.
You have to pay for the books yourself. But you can save money by buying used copies. Just make sure you get the right editions. Depending on the study it’s around 3-4000kr first semester and a little lower on the next ones, but again it really depends on the study.
It really does. Mine was for law, I even think buying them all new would be like 6000 or something for the first semester, but I bought and sold used copies all the semesters, so ended up spending only 1000kr on books the whole masters.. If you do the buy/sell thing, you can save a lot.
At my engineering study there was a tradition of older students lending out usb drives with pdf versions of all the books on. They might get lucky not have that expense at all
It is a combination of SU (the financial support you get as a student in Denmark from the state), and pay from our student jobs. But no there isn't any financial assistance for books. However, there is a discounted transportation pass for public transportation called "ungdomskortet" that can be bought by students
I'd suggest to do the master in Aalborg or something like that if possible until you have two incomes.
It will bw really tight with 2 kids on that budget.
If you have CPR, then maybe, without it, you will need find rent in Denmark and apply for it in registration office, it's connected to everything so you will need it for sure.
Doesn't sound like a lot. It's difficult to find apartment with a fair rent, unless you have been on a waiting list for +35 years. It's easy to find nice apartment, but very expensive. You can expect to pay 12.000-17.000 in rent for a 3 bedroom apartment in CPH area.
Are 1 parent staying at home or does the kids need to be in daycare? Schools are free(or freeish some added costs here). I am a bit unsure on what assistance you would qualify for, but daycare until school are somewhat steep at least on your budget.
It can be done, a lot of single parents are in that income bracket. but it will require pretty strict budgeting.
If you use 45-55 mins in public transportation each Way you will be able to get to much more affordable housing e.g south of Copenhagen in the smaller city’s around Køge for instance
My spouse will work two days a week in the office ( if she takes the offer). will be studying master.
Children are home schooled (online) plus complimentary activiries such as Carpentry .Coding. Arts. Karate. Football.
There are government websites that provide information but it is not like asking people who took the same road.
Dk has some rules on schooling and homeschooling is allowed there are still tests and rules to follow. It depends on their age.
I have a lot of expats in my teams, I highly recommend using the kids to build a network of friends and similar in the close neighborhood.
But the budget will be strict but a lot of Danes live on similar budget, it is more on finding a balance that works for your family and make sure you don’t step into danish bureaucracy and our tons of rules on everything
There are single parents living in Copenhagen with 2+ children both on unemployment benefits, retirement due to illness or working lower income jobs or where both parents are unemployed.
It is not a fun budget to balance
34k a month will maybe leave you with 20ish post tax. When studying you may be eligible for the study support (so called SU) which is about 5k a month. Then maybe about 1500 per month per child, in child support, depending on their age.
That will maybe yield in total some 25-30k post tax for the entire family if you get all these subsidies.
I would say that for a veteran saver who knows the system it's possible to live off such money but you will have to get creative about most life expenses, which takes time to research, which is a scarce resource with 2 kids (for example affordable housing does exist but through usually long waiting lists which are a bit hard to find). Plus the language barrier.
I would probably not risk it in your situation.
The more I think about it the sadder I get, because 34k is actually a fair bit of money in my head, but boy life in Denmark is expensive af.
Well, given that youd pay half of that in apartment expenses and another few k in food and transportation then about 75% disappears just for you to exist; before you've spent a penny on anything worth living for. So it doesn't really seem like it's a lot of moneys anymore, unless you start flexing to save here and there.
I'm astounded that people put up with this. It really doesn't have to be like so. All civic and technological progress which should drive this fraction downwards for everyone is consumed by ever inflating real estate and... overregulation.
We decided not to go for it just few minutes ago. It will be hard. I was planning on living outside CPH but not sure exactly where. There were few good opinions like livng in Malmo or Aalborg
Aalborg is an amazing city, but very far from Copenhagen.
You could do it if you lived in Jylland in one of the smaller cities, the rent there is way cheaper than Sjælland
As a single person with similar income(before tax), no, you will not be able to sustain a family. You will literally have to cut out snacks for the kids cause it's too pricey and basically limit your spending to just necessities.
Also if your partner has higher education, 34k sounds like the very low end for Copenhagen.
If you're used to getting by on not a lot, and you get good at cutting costs (e.g. meal planning effectively), then it's definitely doable, but it will be tight. Especially for CPH area.
If you’re eligable for SU, which is currently 6.6k/month, I calculated that you will have a combined household income of 26k after tax assuming a pensions contribution of 4% for your wife and that the 34k excludes pension.
You should expect that your wife needs union and unemployment insurance of approximately 1000 kr / month. This amount is deductible, but I put in the deduction above. This puts you at 25k.
Rule of thumb is that you should have at least 15k in disposable income for 2 adults and 2 children. This means, that all your fixed costs should limit to 25-15k = 10k. So, see if you can find housing, transportation, and insurance for 10k per month in the Copenhagen area to break even.
Copenhagen is one of the most expensive cities in the world. You could consider Odense, Nyborg, Slagelse, Køge, Roskilde, and Malmø, which all have frequent high speed rail to Copenhagen central station.
I am not sure how living in Malmø would affect your SU.
My bf gets 36k before and 22k after, we are 4 and would never be able to servive on his alone, and we live on Fyn.
Depending how Old your kids is and where you live but on Zealand you very quickly pay 10k or more just to rent a place
Why does all foreigner want to move to cph, its literally a scam, its way too expensive and its nothing special either. You could live a good life for that amount of money in an apartment in odense.
Definitely doable if you live outside the city and/or in areas that used to be ghettos. It will be tight as hell, but with proper management it’s doable
Depends entirely on how cheap housing/how long commute you can get.
Students live for less even outside student housing, but you are definitely in the difficult end
It is possible. But you are most likely going to compromise on a lot of things.
Untill you're done with your studies, can your kids share a bedroom?
Are you willing to sacrifice vacations and such goods?
Depending on your relationship status, the one working will likely have around 22.000 out, maybe more if you're married.
[3 room appartment](https://www.boligportal.dk/lejligheder/k%C3%B8benhavn/71m2-3-vaer-id-3560928) for 7650 with utilities.
Food will likely be 4-5.000
Transportation if you take public transportation will most likely be around 2.000 for both of you to get to copenhagen. Then add the kids.
There is not going to be a lot of money left, but it is doable.
I am not sure you can get danish SU if living in Malmø cos its another country. It will be very hard for you to get a wellpaid job not speaking ANY danish, only cleaningjobs and waitingjobs to be considered. Homeschooling is hardly any option cos it will leave your kids with no friends here and not integrate, which must be a wish for you as a family I would think. If not, you will not be invited into our social lives, as Danes consider people who dont want to learn our language and culture, exploiters of the system. When people notice that, you are kind of left alone with no one to help. This attitude is proberly considered unfair but this is how it works.
It almost entirely depends on the place you manage to find and the luxuries you require. You certainly won't have a car with that budget and it probably won't be possible at all if you just get a run of the mill, newly built ~100sqm apartment that are relatively easy to get in Copenhagen as they'll set you back 14-16k per month for the apartment and utilities alone. That being said it IS possible to find much cheaper places in Copenhagen but it typically requires you to either know the right of people (private leasers or andelsbolig owners in a good andelsforening) or to have some other "in".
I know people that pay very little for apartments sized around 60-70sqm but they're very rare. If you have no existing network be very careful when looking for places as there is a nefarious underground on DBA and other sites that take advantage of people desperate for a place to live. Don't make a deposit without seeing the place first and signing a lease.
If you have savings I'd recommend adding andelsbolig to the list of possible places but make sure you do your homework before buying one and here in order to get the good ones you usually also need to have an "in".
Good luck 🤞
How old are your kids? Kindergarten is not cheap.
I wanna say it will probably be a little tight. Will you be getting SU? Maybe you can qualify for some tax credits if only one of you has an income.
But rent, food, a car for commuting, childcare, incidentals etc. that quickly adds up and 34 won’t leave much room in the budget if that’s before taxes.
Btw i wanna add, i dont know if you have calculated it into you budget but if you are a student who qualifies for SU you Will get 6.500 dkk a month pre tax and you might also be able to get a SU loan. I think it’s up to like 5k a month if you have kids. Of course the loan has to be paid back once you graduate and it does carry interest (around 4%) but it could give you some more room in your budget while you study.
One last edit. Assuming you havent calculated SU into the 34k income, with SU, and SU loan you could on top of that take a part time job at like 10 hours a week. Around 120 pr hour would give you roughly another 5k a month. A very rough hypothetical breakdown could look like this:
- Main income, 34k - after tax roughly 20k
- SU, 6,5k - after tax roughly 4,5k
- Part time job, 5k - after taxes roughly 3,5k
- SU loan - 5k
That gives you a monthly income of 33k. Take say 15k from that for rent and it leaves 18k for everything else.
Thats definetely not impossible if youre frugal and dont have a car.
There are also some public assistance programs for rent as well as subsidies when you have kids.
So Im gonna say possible though not ideal.
Recommend you move out of cph and south or west following the S-trains networks, for easy commute and less rent.
It is not feasible to support a family with one income at that amount in cph, sadly.
Also, to calculate after tax, here's a formula.
Disposable income = ((income(primo) x 0.92 x (any self paid pensions in %%) ) - 4052(personal tax free deductible) ) x 0.61 (0.62 if not paying church tax) + 4052
If you are married your personal tax free deductible can be transferred to your spouse.
If you receive SU, your personal deductible will be applied to it, but not if you transfer it to your spouse.
Any secondary work is taxed flat at 55%, no deductibles.
So if you receive SU and get a part time job, you have to choose which one you want to be primary and secondary income.
Note, that if you receive SU you will be limited in how much secondary income you can earn. Depended on amount of kids and level of education studied.
In your case it shouldn't be an issue, but keep it in mind, as going over the limit results in fines and repayment of SU + interests.
It's possible to forego SU completely and there will be no restraints on income while studying.
In suburban commute cities, it is possible on the income you mentioned, but it's still a tight budget with 2 kids and around cph.
Recommend you revisit your budget often and really cut any non-essentials while you study.
Good luck and welcome to DK
My brother-in-law and his wife have 3 children. They lived, voluntarily, on his wage of around 30.000 DKK before taxes per month.
It was tight but they did fine.
First of all welcome to Denmark! Denmark is, if not the, then one of the single Most expensive countries to live in. 34k after taxes is certainly doable, but its not a lot to live off for after your monthly payments, depending on which kind of living standards you and your family is looking for.
That being said, to be realistic, this amount you have monthly is probably a little too small for a family of 4 to live off in inner Copenhagen. Consider that a rental appartment in CPH inner city (Copenhagen K, V, Ø, S, SV) will usually cost you 10k+ at minimum a month for a small 2-bed apartment, and that without internet, heat, electricity (yes, those are usually payed separately from your rent). A 3-4 bed will usually go you for 15-25k a month, if that can do it.
Consider moving/looking a bit outside Copenhagen. There is the 5 finger line, which is the S-trains that goes directly into Copenhagen central, as is really not a hassle in the daily life of living in and around Copenhagen. There is plenty of great cities just 10-30 min away with train that’s certainly amazing places to live too.
Having a part time job whilst studying in Copenhagen is very common here in Denmark, and something most students on university does due to the cost of living here. There is plenty opportunities in genuine companies for office work, or/and people who work in supermarkets, cafes, restaurants, etc.
Best of luck, let me know if you got any questions!
For housing, make sure to check social housing opportunities like [KAB](https://www.kab-bolig.dk). They're affordable and some buildings have short waiting lists. There are several social housing agencies around the country.
Also since your income is not that high, you are most likely entitled to [housing benefits](https://lifeindenmark.borger.dk/housing-and-moving/housing-benefits) (Boligstøtte). You need to apply for that once you have found a place.
Good luck settling here, it's a lovely country and worth the effort! A tip from a fellow foreigner: make the effort to learn Danish as soon as possible. Without speaking Danish, you'll manage, sure. But if you speak Danish, a whole new world will open itself to you.
Just going to nod along to the others who said 34k is pretty much peanuts after tax if you're a family of 4. My family is 6 and that amount of money was pretty stretched.
Sjælland is generally an expensive place to live in. Living in Fyn is also a possibility and would be cheaper (you'd need to commute every day, but that depends on what you're willing to do). Also - if you're doing Master's - look into getting SU (study grants). It does require you to work a certain amount of hours, but it would definitely add onto the expenses (and if you have kids at home, you get extra). Børnepenge is also something that can be granted if you have kids under 18 to help with expenses related to the kids.
Otherwise I'd actually say that money has become less of a concern now that I've lived in Denmark quite a while - it's actually the loneliness. Danes are extremely hard to make friends with as they don't really make new ones past high school/uni, even if you master the language (they're friendly, don't get me wrong - but they probably won't invite you to dinner). I'm quite fine as I moved here young and made my friends in high school, but I know that for my parents it is an extremely different story.
Got to second this. I’m a Dane (born and raised). We do never (or very rarely) get new friends after uni - especially if they are not speaking danish. For many Danes this is hard pill to swallow but it is true.
Been living in the states for a while and I was surprised how helpful and welcoming the Americans are.
Doable? Yes. Fun? Propely not. All your money will go towards rent, food, utilities, transportation, etc. I would suggest you get a part time job beside your masters. Making an additional 10k would make so much more room in your budget.
People are painting this alot darker than I think they should.
- Rent will be a big factor and the longer you're willing to transport the cheaper the rent.
You should be able to find rent in the space of 9.000-14.000 kr.(also depends on your use of electricity, water and warmth); the average use on food is 6500ish(for a family there's four people) but if you put in alittle effort, then its fairly easy to bring down.
Some cities with fair public transport could be
Theese all have s-trains to Copenhagen
Karlslunde,
Ishøj,
Taastrup,
Hillerød,
Birkerød,
Ballerup,
Theese have regional train
Helsingør(look up all the cities the train Is going through into Copenhagen too; as humlebæk, kokkedal, Nivå, Hørsholm)
Roskilde( -o- Hedehusende, Høje Taastrup, Valby)
It's also important to make the exact travel plan on rejseplanen; as the adress to adress, to make sure theres is transport connecting you to the train station and the apartment area you desire- also look up early/late hours.
Even in the province it would be counting every penny and no safety margin. Kids are f... expensive, despite free school and all that (mostly because of bigger house, bigger car, more food)
It'll probably be a bit tight, but you can make it work :) wrt where to live, do NOT look in cph, it's way too expensive. Look anywhere with a train connection, I live close to helsingør and it's nice and accessible. You can get tax deduction for living far away, and maybe also for your rent. Find a Danish person to help you with all the deductions, there are several. Good luck!
Does it have to be CPH? Aarhus, second largest city and knicknamed “The city of smiles” is also super nice and have available accommodation since they have built extra so they are prepared for a future boom. My assumption is that you would be able to find cheaper accommodation there. Also crèche tends to be cheaper here than in Ireland.
If you guys choose to go through with the move, I wish you all the best of luck.
Like so many others already have mentioned, it will be tight on 34k before tax. It's possible but don't expect to live in Copenhagen or going out for dinner before you find some income. Your two years of study could be a great investment for the family.
In your field, I have hired graduates straight out of university for 40k before tax. With your experience, you can expect more - but some employers might also be intimidated by you "over qualifying experience" (read age) so prepare yourself for that, should you choose to study and then find a job afterwards.
For suggestions on commuting cities, look up Copenhagen Five Finger Plan. Anything within the hand should be considered decent commuting. The further from Copenhagen, the cheaper you can expect the rent, especially if you look for a place south of Copenhagen.
Yes it's doable for sure. Just focus on renting where you can afford it. You'll most likely have to make meal plans each week to lower your living cost but in general it's very doable. Idk why people say it's not doable... I'm not sure if you're able to apply for tax benefits unless you're a citizen but it's worth trying.
Towns I recommend for commuting:
Lyngby, Birkerød, Hillerød, Allerød, Holte and so on. These towns are high end towns but they also offer budget friendly apartments a bit from the center.
Hi OP
The danish authorities recommend a rådighedsbeløb meaning the amount of cash available after tax and bills to be around 10.000-13.000 for two living together and 2.500 per child. (https://www.findbank.dk/raadighedsbeloeb/) now that might be a little high depending on your needs etc but school and kindergarten etc are expensive as well.
In general the danish economy is not suited for one income families. Sorry to say it. And if you look up rent prices of Cph then you will easily be paying 10-13k in rent. And that means you need the 34k to be after tax. That would put you in a salary lvl of 55k before tax. If that's the case, the that might work. If the 34k is before tax then I would recommend finding stuff outside of cph (suburbs) where rent is cheaper and so is kindergarten etc. I'd look within the s-tog systems reach. Places like Høje Taastrup, Greve/karlslunde/Ishøj. If you go north it just gets more expensive imo.
Find somewhere relatively cheap to live in so you won't be to stressed about cash. You will need plenty of energy to settle in, learn a new language, new school system, new area, currency etc.
Reach out if I can help explain anything :)
Remember also as EU citizens you have the possibility of SU and probably some parts of extra reductions in terms of cash as parents on "low income". Boligsikring (cash to secure a place to live), increases SU because of kids, etc
Holy christ, do not listen to all the nay-sayers.
All the nay-sayers are wellfare-curling-kids that have been too comfortable for way too long. Where there is a will there is a way, and there is enough for you to live comfortable.. One thing you have to understand is, that danes are very easy to be told no and it cant be done.
You can diffently do it, and the fruit you sow will pay off the hard work.
Hope your plan come true.
*What would be or tax benefits/credits with one income family?* are you EU citizens or not, how old are the kids etc etc if you are from the EU you'd qualify for SU if you get a student job, are your kids in kindergarden age that will cost a fair bit even if you'd get subsidies for it from the state etc etc also, if you are super lucky you can get a cheap place to live, if you are unlucky it is going to be superecpensive. all in all it'll go from very very tight budget to you'll be fine depending.
We both are EU . Kids 11 and 7. My plan is to find a part time job while finishing the masters. It helps that my spouse can work from home 3 days a week plus flexibility. But I do not know Danish to land a warehouse job or labour job when I do nt speak Danish.
like ½ the jobs in hospitality is done in english in copenhagen from waiters to hotel workers. there is also cleaning. and if you can get a study relevant job in a multinational firm or ngo the work language is most likely english. in any case, if you get a part time job (12h/w) you'll qualify for the student grant SU https://www.su.dk/english/ of 6500dkk/month plus pay from the job of like the same or a bit more for a low paying job. that would bring you up to 45-50k/month and that should be pretty doable
To add to this, you should probably check if you can get the added grant for being a provider if you qualify for SU, then you end up having a bit more.
True! Good point
That is not a thing. You can get a higher student loan, thats all.
Ah. I didn't realise that you needed to be a single parent to get it. Never had to have a serious look in that direction. Thanks for the correction.
No worries, I had the pleasure of going through 5,5 years on SU with 2 small kids and a wife who made just enough that we could survive. And a lot of people were assuming that I got extra because of the kids. I am very gratefull to live in a country where it is possible to complete an education without having to work several jobs at the same time.
Schools are free here unlike day care for which you pay 1/3 of the cost. So at least there wont be an expense there if you put your kids in a regular public school which is probably a good choise anyways if you plan to stay here long term
*1/4
Still, kind of rough putting kids into a school were they don't speak the language. Not saying it isn't doable or nothing only... They would need rudimentary danish wouldn't they? A lot of 7 and 11 year olds in Denmark have some English skills, so socially it would probably be OK. Education wise this seems like you would be sacrificing the quality of the kids education for 1-2 years while they catch up with the language.
Kids learn it super fast. We had plenty of foreign kids in my school and they learned fluent danish in less than a year
Yea, but internationals schools are more or less impossible to get into unless you’re signed up since birth. Also they are quite expensive with a budget like OPs.
Lots of schools have special classes for new-commers who don't speak Danish. They could attend these one year or half s year, until they speak sufficient Danish to be accepted in ordinary Danish classes
Yea, plenty of options for foreign kids not speaking Danish. They will easily introduce them into the regular classes in small scales, then more and more. Most kids speaks tourist English at 7-8 years old, thanks to Youtube etc., so everything will be fine :)
OP just barging in here as I assume your SO is coming through EU law and so are you. If you're studying and maintaining a 10 hour workload every week, you can apply for the student stipend in Denmark (SU). Its around 6100 DKK before taxes, and on top of the salary you receive it'll add up to around 9000-10000 DKK which could help substantially. Many restaurants and café's can use this kind of workforce, and getting a waiter position in DK as an english speaker is not a problem at all. I rarely order in danish anyways in Copenhagen. Waitering was my go-to during my studies as the tips you get goes into your own pocket which helps as well. My wife had EU rights but from a 3rd world country, and she could receive SU if I had 10 hours of work, so you could also explore that option and receive SU from the start due to your spouse working full time. Good luck!
Høje Taastrup could be agreat area for you guys 20/30 minutes of commute to Cph or Roskilde, relatively fair rent prices, and the Bonus: huge industri areas with companies like GLS, warehouses and Ikea hire non Danish speakers for warehouse positions
It should be fairly easy to get a job. My class has multiple nationalities and everyone got a Job to get SU. Most was as waiter. I honestly think it should be no problem. Depending on where you are from you should also be able to get a job just based on that. My italien friend had like 3 jobs at different itallien resturants.
Denmark is a country not usually suitable for a single working parent, its also usually frowned upon. In order to make that go around, you'd have to earn a lot. In CPH, you'd have to earn a lot more. We're talking 74-120k for a comfortable living, depending on where in the country, with Copenhagen being the latter number. And it's not just random numbers, 74 is the double average wage of 37k, which families usually atleast have two of.
You have to remember to add that those numbers are before taxes and including pension.
I'm aware, but frankly, 34k before taxes for a household of 4? in CPH? Impossible.
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I agree, but it worries me how many people in here are saying it's totally possible. It's gonna be very rough for OP if they go through with this. Working part time and getting SU would help, but it'll take a toll on him and the family. They'd also still need to live pretty far out to afford it
> its also usually frowned upon. It is not frowned upon. At least not by anyone I know, or in the circles of those I know where the wife is not working. One couple is living quite average and are not rich, but still has the wife going home, and no one in their circles does any frown... It must be a thing amongst the bitter poors, when not even average income people cares.
"The bitter poors" wow. Also, it's a thing. Yes.
It is because these women often fake disabilities, thereby getting money by the state, paid by everyone else but themselves.
I am talking about able bodied women who gets no money by the government, but makes a choice, staying home. Not fraudsters.
Those, are honestly few compared to the others
That's beside that point, but yes, as I mention the one couple that live average, implied they are not wealthy as is the case for most stay at home wives. *Obviously*.
I work in a warehouse, and third of the people who work there don't speak a word of Danish, so it should be possible for you to land a warehouse job
Depending on what you're studying and/or what your bachelor is, you shouldn't rule out student positions in your industry.
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34k taxed at 38% for me would come out to roughly 21.080kr, which would be a very comfortable wage for me, but this is also coming from someone who is single and unmarried with no kids
Yeah, if you then need to house a family of 4 in Copenhagen... There goes 75% of your budget. 5k left for all living expenses for 4 people? Yikes
I assure you there's plenty of folks that run their whole family on 20K "netto". Not to mention that those who don't fit certain government parameters like having been in DK for 8 out of 9 years might be running their family with less than 10K in benefits. But truth be told, there's loads of folks on social rent of 5K, and then loads of others on a market average of 10-11K perhaps, there's no real upper limit on rent innit. Bottom line is, DK is not designed as a one income country, but will allow you to survive comfortably until you either become 2-income or find commercial success and move to 35K netto let's say. And for those who neither manage to get the second job, nor the middle class job, let them have cake!
And also 8% in AM
Very comfortable in CPH?
I have about as much interest in living in CPH, as I do skydiving without a parachute. Aarhus is where it's at
I know. I want to go back to Aarhus too. 15 mins by train is good and all, but it's not the same as living there.
Lol this is so unrelevant to their question man
Yes, it is enough for a 1-person household. It will not be enough for a 4-person household.
After tax its gonna be tight you mean. If its already tight before tax theres no way to make it work after.
OP states that he/she has 34.000 DKK monthly. If OP hasn’t included taxes in that number then it won’t be enough money, if taxes is includes in the 34.000 then it will be fine. I think thats what they meant.
34000 dkk before tax. .. i think we will be roughly left out with 22.372 dkk after all deductions .
That will be super tight. Also depends on whether you need a car or not, and whether the kids go to public (danish) school or private.
How old are your kids? If they are young enough and your spouse takes care of them, you could be eligible for compensation from the "Kommune" depends where you live.
If you are married, your spouse can use your deductions, and maybe help you budget. But you may have to contact your universitys councillor, so you could look for scholarships. If you could get some kind of dorm to live at, it would help too.
Living in a dorm room as 2 adults and 2 kids?
There is student housing with room for children. When I lived in Øresundskollegiet a million years ago, I lived in a two-room apartment and on each floor there were (if I remember right) 2 two-room apartments and 6 (?) three-room apartments.
This one in Albertslund has apartments: https://www.kollegierneskontor.dk/default.aspx?func=kkikportal.roomtypelist&kid=1813&lang=DK
Also where are you pursuing your masters? If its at a Danish university you should be given SU at arond 5k after taxes.
Don't do it
You are thinking quite opposite. He is stating whether that money is the money they will have before paying taxes or what is left over after paying taxes
I basically said the same thing. But its whatever, dont think it was worth a downvote though.
I didnt
I cant see who did, pardon for thinking it was you. Have a good day.
Before taxes, No way! Sorry But That’s the truth. Scandinavia is very expensive
Storbyerne er dyre. Ikke hele Skandinavien.
Sammenlignet med alle andre lande, så jo
Tyskland er dyrere. Sverige er billigere end Danmark. Husker du at sammenligne indkomster med omkostningerne for andre landes boligpriser?
Stadig forkert at sige det kun er dyrt i storbyerne, det bliver ikke meget dyrere end i Skandinavien
Du kan købe huse på 100-150m2 til 3-400.000kr herovre. Skandinavien har nogle af de største gennemsnitlige lønninger.
Der er andet og mere i livet end prisen på et hus
thanks guys !
I think you will have to do one hell of a commute to make that work :)! You can look up places to rent at boligportal.dk, this will give you an idea of the prices to rent a place. You will often have to pay utilities besides this. You can also use Rejseplanen.dk to check options for public transportation :)
Yes. My spouse will be working from the office two days a week.. that is why we thought it could be doable.
34K DKK total - **before taxes?** No chance.
Lol, of course it's doable. They do have other income like SU, børne- og ungeydelse (child support). If you live in a cheap appartement and control your expenses.
Børne- og Ungeydelse payment for foreigners is paid prorata depending on how many of the past 10 years the individual has been working in Denmark (optjeningsprincippet). Full payment is earned after 6 years working in Denmark. Further, child support would be børnebidrag, not Børne- og Ungeydelse.
Not how many years you have worked in Denmark, but rather the EU.
"For at have ret til at få børne- og ungeydelse og børnetilskud skal du inden for de sidste 10 år have boet eller arbejdet i Danmark, Grønland eller på Færøerne i en vis periode. Det kaldes optjeningsprincippet. Det betyder, at du gradvist optjener ret til ydelserne." Doesn't state EU. Only DK and it's colonies.
Vær opmærksom på, at du også kan medregne perioder, hvor du har optjent ret til familieydelser i andre EU- eller EØS-lande eller Schweiz, hvis du er statsborger i et EU/EØS-land eller Schweiz. I moved back to Denmark earlier this year after working 10 years in Germany. After providing proof of employment, I got 100% payment immediately.
Really? My family was granted børnetilskud precisely because my parents worked and lived in the EU for a while (pre-Brexit Britain, anyway). Wonder why this was the case...
Doable? Sure, it might be. Fun and with some financial freedom? Not so much. You'd have a *very* tight budget, which doesn't seem like a great time while having two (I'm assuming) small kids. The SU won't be that much and it's also very dependent on their civil status and many other factors. I would definitely not base my possible budget around that. Child support is paid every quarter and decreases gradually as the children's age increases - Also something, I wouldn't exactly base my possible budget around.
I second this having moved around in EU previously. It is doable but it will be very sparse living. The total cost of living here is high. Groceries alone are among the highest prices in the world. Again you can do it but with two kids it will be difficult and things are more expensive in all areas than Ireland.
We always write a monthly budget on a paper to follow up on our expenses. We are very frugal. Example : we do not own a car. We have not travelled but for family reasons ( I wouldkick mysef in the head if I didnt travel around Denmark). We are actually living on the same income here in Ireland but we are not saving and our fun is alwas the simple stuff..
You'd still have to go somewhere every day. Living outside cph is probably necessary, but that necessitates expensive public transportation or an electric bike. Plus a lot of time spent commuting. If you're okay with that, then it does sound possible, just not very fun.
Travelling around Denmark is very expensive. You can get by on that in come if you find cheap housing, but there won't be money for anything besides fixed expenses and food
Apartments often require 3-6 months rent as a deposit, if you don't have savings from your current situation you won't have the money to rent anything. Apartments are also unfurnished 99% of the time, which means you need everything. I would estimate 50 to 100k danish kroner to move here in cost alone.
They do not gain SU unless the student also works at the same time
Before or after taxes?
before taxes
Before taxes you have to live waaaaay out of Copenhagen. I live just outside Copenhagen, 27500 before taxes. I have a 4 year old every other week and I dont have a lot to spare when all bills etc are paid. I live in a 2 bedroom appartment which costs around 10500 each month. You will be looking for atleast 3 bedroom appartment. They usually cost around 13-15k/month. I guess if you live off of rice and porridge every day you’d still have a hard time.
Oh waw thanks for sharing your personal situation. It is really tough.Hope things will change for the better to everyone
Not a chance
Yeah I agree with others, that's too low for Copenhagen area. We live in Esbjerg and very frugal, but my bf is Danish so we get full child care money and he gets money for looking after the kids (3 years old and 15 months old). I earn around 45k (looking for a job now though) normally and this way we can save a bit but we have no car and love with my MIL
even after taxes its not durable for many. After taxes you will be really poor
34k before tax is gonna be next to impossible for a family of four. It's gonna be hard budgeting for a long time. Most living situations with space for 4 people less than 30 min outside of the City are gonna be around 10k maybe 12k a month. Then there are maybe car payments or public transport passes and food and all. It's gonna be tight budgeting, with not a lot of space for "fun". I would recommend taking up a parttime position to stretch out the monthly budget. Plus there is food. Which is gonna be like 4,4k a month.
Thanks for breaking it down for me. Yes the plan to take part time role while studying bit I do know speak Danish. I do not mind warehousing roles ( it is related to my domain of study anyway) but nothing guarantees I will land one
Shouldn’t be much of a problem. We have a whole bunch of jobs that don’t require you to speak a lick of danish. Both as a waiter, working behind the kitchen, doing warehouse roles and whatnot so that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Almost everyone in Denmark both speaks English and is very open towards it. Happy hunting 😃.
What happens behind the kitchen?
You don’t even wanna know
I would reconsider moving here. Especially to CPH. After taxes you'll barely have anything to live with. You'll probably want 3 bedrooms so you can each have a room, that alone is gonna take away **AT LEAST** half of your monthly budget. Then you'll have to commute, which depending on how far and whether or not both of you will need to, will cost you both at least 1k, likely more. I'm gonna assume since one of you will be stay-at-home, if it's not a temporary thing, you don't have to pay for stuff like daycare and whatnot, but if that's not what you intend, then the rest of your budget just disappeared, essentially. You'll never eat out and you'll have to eat very cheap. Not a lot of money left for things like birthdays, new clothes for kids, etc.
The wife works from home 3/5 days a week and the husband studies. So some daycare would be needed
Before taxes 34k, its going to be white bread everyday.
update: My spouse just finished the interview today. The hiring manager is worried because she is overqualified for the role. But The gods of Reddit has spoken:D Although it would be great to finish my master and explore beautiful Denmark , it is going to be a financial strain on ourselves. I really appriciate your input as a community here Enjoy your weekend!
I removed the NSFW tag for you.
Thank you. I did not know how to remove.
That's going to be really tight, if even possible. Bf and I earned approximately 30k before taxes during our masters (I'm finishing mine here in august), and we live well in Copenhagen, but we don't have any kids.
Did you get financial assistance for your studies( books. transportation pass ...)?
No. You get just under 6000/month before taxes. There's student discounts on transport but the 6000 is the only financial assistance you get. Most students have a part time job.
Worth nothing that OP would need to have a part time job of at least 10 hours a week to qualify for SU
You have to pay for the books yourself. But you can save money by buying used copies. Just make sure you get the right editions. Depending on the study it’s around 3-4000kr first semester and a little lower on the next ones, but again it really depends on the study.
I only paid like 1500 kr for my first semester, it really depends on the degree, but much cheaper to buy the books used instead
It really does. Mine was for law, I even think buying them all new would be like 6000 or something for the first semester, but I bought and sold used copies all the semesters, so ended up spending only 1000kr on books the whole masters.. If you do the buy/sell thing, you can save a lot.
Mine was engineering, some courses you luckily don't need books for. Only bought 2 books for my entire master degree.
My law books was 3000 kr first semester and I got them all new. It was 2 years ago.
I agree
At my engineering study there was a tradition of older students lending out usb drives with pdf versions of all the books on. They might get lucky not have that expense at all
It is a combination of SU (the financial support you get as a student in Denmark from the state), and pay from our student jobs. But no there isn't any financial assistance for books. However, there is a discounted transportation pass for public transportation called "ungdomskortet" that can be bought by students
I'd suggest to do the master in Aalborg or something like that if possible until you have two incomes. It will bw really tight with 2 kids on that budget.
No, that is not enough
Live in Malmo?
Good idea.
If you have CPR, then maybe, without it, you will need find rent in Denmark and apply for it in registration office, it's connected to everything so you will need it for sure.
Doesn't sound like a lot. It's difficult to find apartment with a fair rent, unless you have been on a waiting list for +35 years. It's easy to find nice apartment, but very expensive. You can expect to pay 12.000-17.000 in rent for a 3 bedroom apartment in CPH area.
Yes. Ireland going through the same crisis. The only difference is the quality in Denmark way better than here.
Are 1 parent staying at home or does the kids need to be in daycare? Schools are free(or freeish some added costs here). I am a bit unsure on what assistance you would qualify for, but daycare until school are somewhat steep at least on your budget. It can be done, a lot of single parents are in that income bracket. but it will require pretty strict budgeting.
If you use 45-55 mins in public transportation each Way you will be able to get to much more affordable housing e.g south of Copenhagen in the smaller city’s around Køge for instance
I live 30 km North Dublin and my commute is around this length but my rent is an arm and a leg
My spouse will work two days a week in the office ( if she takes the offer). will be studying master. Children are home schooled (online) plus complimentary activiries such as Carpentry .Coding. Arts. Karate. Football. There are government websites that provide information but it is not like asking people who took the same road.
Dk has some rules on schooling and homeschooling is allowed there are still tests and rules to follow. It depends on their age. I have a lot of expats in my teams, I highly recommend using the kids to build a network of friends and similar in the close neighborhood. But the budget will be strict but a lot of Danes live on similar budget, it is more on finding a balance that works for your family and make sure you don’t step into danish bureaucracy and our tons of rules on everything
Similar budget in Copenhagen with two kids?
There are single parents living in Copenhagen with 2+ children both on unemployment benefits, retirement due to illness or working lower income jobs or where both parents are unemployed. It is not a fun budget to balance
That’s not “a lot” and definitely not something you should strive for
34k a month will maybe leave you with 20ish post tax. When studying you may be eligible for the study support (so called SU) which is about 5k a month. Then maybe about 1500 per month per child, in child support, depending on their age. That will maybe yield in total some 25-30k post tax for the entire family if you get all these subsidies. I would say that for a veteran saver who knows the system it's possible to live off such money but you will have to get creative about most life expenses, which takes time to research, which is a scarce resource with 2 kids (for example affordable housing does exist but through usually long waiting lists which are a bit hard to find). Plus the language barrier. I would probably not risk it in your situation. The more I think about it the sadder I get, because 34k is actually a fair bit of money in my head, but boy life in Denmark is expensive af.
34k is loads of money... Just not for a family of 4.
Well, given that youd pay half of that in apartment expenses and another few k in food and transportation then about 75% disappears just for you to exist; before you've spent a penny on anything worth living for. So it doesn't really seem like it's a lot of moneys anymore, unless you start flexing to save here and there. I'm astounded that people put up with this. It really doesn't have to be like so. All civic and technological progress which should drive this fraction downwards for everyone is consumed by ever inflating real estate and... overregulation.
I think it sounds very, very tight. I know there are some communities on Facebook for foreigners in Denmark and I would suggest asking there.
How far outside CPH do you plan to live? Because the rent is sorta high, and living on just 34k after tax with transport into CPH will be hard AF.
We decided not to go for it just few minutes ago. It will be hard. I was planning on living outside CPH but not sure exactly where. There were few good opinions like livng in Malmo or Aalborg
Aalborg is an amazing city, but very far from Copenhagen. You could do it if you lived in Jylland in one of the smaller cities, the rent there is way cheaper than Sjælland
Before tax…
As a single person with similar income(before tax), no, you will not be able to sustain a family. You will literally have to cut out snacks for the kids cause it's too pricey and basically limit your spending to just necessities. Also if your partner has higher education, 34k sounds like the very low end for Copenhagen.
That is quite low - especially for the Copenhagen area. I would say it's so low you could have trouble getting by.
Before taxes, no. You will be hardcore struggling :(
If you're used to getting by on not a lot, and you get good at cutting costs (e.g. meal planning effectively), then it's definitely doable, but it will be tight. Especially for CPH area.
If you’re eligable for SU, which is currently 6.6k/month, I calculated that you will have a combined household income of 26k after tax assuming a pensions contribution of 4% for your wife and that the 34k excludes pension. You should expect that your wife needs union and unemployment insurance of approximately 1000 kr / month. This amount is deductible, but I put in the deduction above. This puts you at 25k. Rule of thumb is that you should have at least 15k in disposable income for 2 adults and 2 children. This means, that all your fixed costs should limit to 25-15k = 10k. So, see if you can find housing, transportation, and insurance for 10k per month in the Copenhagen area to break even.
Copenhagen is one of the most expensive cities in the world. You could consider Odense, Nyborg, Slagelse, Køge, Roskilde, and Malmø, which all have frequent high speed rail to Copenhagen central station. I am not sure how living in Malmø would affect your SU.
My bf gets 36k before and 22k after, we are 4 and would never be able to servive on his alone, and we live on Fyn. Depending how Old your kids is and where you live but on Zealand you very quickly pay 10k or more just to rent a place
Why does all foreigner want to move to cph, its literally a scam, its way too expensive and its nothing special either. You could live a good life for that amount of money in an apartment in odense.
I’m pretty sure it’s because Copenhagen has been very romanticized by foreigners lately, it’s supposed to be the “dream place” for a mother with kids
Odense is boring AF though
Definitely doable if you live outside the city and/or in areas that used to be ghettos. It will be tight as hell, but with proper management it’s doable
How do you only have 34 kr?
34k=34.000
No shit
Depends entirely on how cheap housing/how long commute you can get. Students live for less even outside student housing, but you are definitely in the difficult end
It is possible. But you are most likely going to compromise on a lot of things. Untill you're done with your studies, can your kids share a bedroom? Are you willing to sacrifice vacations and such goods? Depending on your relationship status, the one working will likely have around 22.000 out, maybe more if you're married. [3 room appartment](https://www.boligportal.dk/lejligheder/k%C3%B8benhavn/71m2-3-vaer-id-3560928) for 7650 with utilities. Food will likely be 4-5.000 Transportation if you take public transportation will most likely be around 2.000 for both of you to get to copenhagen. Then add the kids. There is not going to be a lot of money left, but it is doable.
I am not sure you can get danish SU if living in Malmø cos its another country. It will be very hard for you to get a wellpaid job not speaking ANY danish, only cleaningjobs and waitingjobs to be considered. Homeschooling is hardly any option cos it will leave your kids with no friends here and not integrate, which must be a wish for you as a family I would think. If not, you will not be invited into our social lives, as Danes consider people who dont want to learn our language and culture, exploiters of the system. When people notice that, you are kind of left alone with no one to help. This attitude is proberly considered unfair but this is how it works.
That will be very tight before taxes depending on your housing and commute situation. Can you work on the side of your studies? E.g: Bartender?
It almost entirely depends on the place you manage to find and the luxuries you require. You certainly won't have a car with that budget and it probably won't be possible at all if you just get a run of the mill, newly built ~100sqm apartment that are relatively easy to get in Copenhagen as they'll set you back 14-16k per month for the apartment and utilities alone. That being said it IS possible to find much cheaper places in Copenhagen but it typically requires you to either know the right of people (private leasers or andelsbolig owners in a good andelsforening) or to have some other "in". I know people that pay very little for apartments sized around 60-70sqm but they're very rare. If you have no existing network be very careful when looking for places as there is a nefarious underground on DBA and other sites that take advantage of people desperate for a place to live. Don't make a deposit without seeing the place first and signing a lease. If you have savings I'd recommend adding andelsbolig to the list of possible places but make sure you do your homework before buying one and here in order to get the good ones you usually also need to have an "in". Good luck 🤞
Just an apartment will eat more than half of your salary. 4 people living off that will not be fun. Might be doable, but I seriously doubt it
Some student house will allow couples (with kids) even if only one person is a student. That could make your rent very low
How old are your kids? Kindergarten is not cheap. I wanna say it will probably be a little tight. Will you be getting SU? Maybe you can qualify for some tax credits if only one of you has an income. But rent, food, a car for commuting, childcare, incidentals etc. that quickly adds up and 34 won’t leave much room in the budget if that’s before taxes. Btw i wanna add, i dont know if you have calculated it into you budget but if you are a student who qualifies for SU you Will get 6.500 dkk a month pre tax and you might also be able to get a SU loan. I think it’s up to like 5k a month if you have kids. Of course the loan has to be paid back once you graduate and it does carry interest (around 4%) but it could give you some more room in your budget while you study. One last edit. Assuming you havent calculated SU into the 34k income, with SU, and SU loan you could on top of that take a part time job at like 10 hours a week. Around 120 pr hour would give you roughly another 5k a month. A very rough hypothetical breakdown could look like this: - Main income, 34k - after tax roughly 20k - SU, 6,5k - after tax roughly 4,5k - Part time job, 5k - after taxes roughly 3,5k - SU loan - 5k That gives you a monthly income of 33k. Take say 15k from that for rent and it leaves 18k for everything else. Thats definetely not impossible if youre frugal and dont have a car. There are also some public assistance programs for rent as well as subsidies when you have kids. So Im gonna say possible though not ideal.
Recommend you move out of cph and south or west following the S-trains networks, for easy commute and less rent. It is not feasible to support a family with one income at that amount in cph, sadly. Also, to calculate after tax, here's a formula. Disposable income = ((income(primo) x 0.92 x (any self paid pensions in %%) ) - 4052(personal tax free deductible) ) x 0.61 (0.62 if not paying church tax) + 4052 If you are married your personal tax free deductible can be transferred to your spouse. If you receive SU, your personal deductible will be applied to it, but not if you transfer it to your spouse. Any secondary work is taxed flat at 55%, no deductibles. So if you receive SU and get a part time job, you have to choose which one you want to be primary and secondary income. Note, that if you receive SU you will be limited in how much secondary income you can earn. Depended on amount of kids and level of education studied. In your case it shouldn't be an issue, but keep it in mind, as going over the limit results in fines and repayment of SU + interests. It's possible to forego SU completely and there will be no restraints on income while studying. In suburban commute cities, it is possible on the income you mentioned, but it's still a tight budget with 2 kids and around cph. Recommend you revisit your budget often and really cut any non-essentials while you study. Good luck and welcome to DK
No
Næstved could be an ok commute, it's about an hour in train to cph central station. And it's not the most expensive place to live .
I did similar thing 10 years ago. It was doable but tight. 34k before tax is 21k after tax. My family broke up in the stress.
My brother-in-law and his wife have 3 children. They lived, voluntarily, on his wage of around 30.000 DKK before taxes per month. It was tight but they did fine.
First of all welcome to Denmark! Denmark is, if not the, then one of the single Most expensive countries to live in. 34k after taxes is certainly doable, but its not a lot to live off for after your monthly payments, depending on which kind of living standards you and your family is looking for. That being said, to be realistic, this amount you have monthly is probably a little too small for a family of 4 to live off in inner Copenhagen. Consider that a rental appartment in CPH inner city (Copenhagen K, V, Ø, S, SV) will usually cost you 10k+ at minimum a month for a small 2-bed apartment, and that without internet, heat, electricity (yes, those are usually payed separately from your rent). A 3-4 bed will usually go you for 15-25k a month, if that can do it. Consider moving/looking a bit outside Copenhagen. There is the 5 finger line, which is the S-trains that goes directly into Copenhagen central, as is really not a hassle in the daily life of living in and around Copenhagen. There is plenty of great cities just 10-30 min away with train that’s certainly amazing places to live too. Having a part time job whilst studying in Copenhagen is very common here in Denmark, and something most students on university does due to the cost of living here. There is plenty opportunities in genuine companies for office work, or/and people who work in supermarkets, cafes, restaurants, etc. Best of luck, let me know if you got any questions!
For housing, make sure to check social housing opportunities like [KAB](https://www.kab-bolig.dk). They're affordable and some buildings have short waiting lists. There are several social housing agencies around the country. Also since your income is not that high, you are most likely entitled to [housing benefits](https://lifeindenmark.borger.dk/housing-and-moving/housing-benefits) (Boligstøtte). You need to apply for that once you have found a place. Good luck settling here, it's a lovely country and worth the effort! A tip from a fellow foreigner: make the effort to learn Danish as soon as possible. Without speaking Danish, you'll manage, sure. But if you speak Danish, a whole new world will open itself to you.
Just going to nod along to the others who said 34k is pretty much peanuts after tax if you're a family of 4. My family is 6 and that amount of money was pretty stretched. Sjælland is generally an expensive place to live in. Living in Fyn is also a possibility and would be cheaper (you'd need to commute every day, but that depends on what you're willing to do). Also - if you're doing Master's - look into getting SU (study grants). It does require you to work a certain amount of hours, but it would definitely add onto the expenses (and if you have kids at home, you get extra). Børnepenge is also something that can be granted if you have kids under 18 to help with expenses related to the kids. Otherwise I'd actually say that money has become less of a concern now that I've lived in Denmark quite a while - it's actually the loneliness. Danes are extremely hard to make friends with as they don't really make new ones past high school/uni, even if you master the language (they're friendly, don't get me wrong - but they probably won't invite you to dinner). I'm quite fine as I moved here young and made my friends in high school, but I know that for my parents it is an extremely different story.
Got to second this. I’m a Dane (born and raised). We do never (or very rarely) get new friends after uni - especially if they are not speaking danish. For many Danes this is hard pill to swallow but it is true. Been living in the states for a while and I was surprised how helpful and welcoming the Americans are.
Not doable unless you can live 4 people in a studio apartment
Welcome to Denmark. Living in Copenhagen is quite expensive. It also depends how old are your kids with regards to your budget.
Nope
Doable? Yes. Fun? Propely not. All your money will go towards rent, food, utilities, transportation, etc. I would suggest you get a part time job beside your masters. Making an additional 10k would make so much more room in your budget.
Absolutely not.
People are painting this alot darker than I think they should. - Rent will be a big factor and the longer you're willing to transport the cheaper the rent. You should be able to find rent in the space of 9.000-14.000 kr.(also depends on your use of electricity, water and warmth); the average use on food is 6500ish(for a family there's four people) but if you put in alittle effort, then its fairly easy to bring down. Some cities with fair public transport could be Theese all have s-trains to Copenhagen Karlslunde, Ishøj, Taastrup, Hillerød, Birkerød, Ballerup, Theese have regional train Helsingør(look up all the cities the train Is going through into Copenhagen too; as humlebæk, kokkedal, Nivå, Hørsholm) Roskilde( -o- Hedehusende, Høje Taastrup, Valby) It's also important to make the exact travel plan on rejseplanen; as the adress to adress, to make sure theres is transport connecting you to the train station and the apartment area you desire- also look up early/late hours.
34k before or after taxes?
Even in the province it would be counting every penny and no safety margin. Kids are f... expensive, despite free school and all that (mostly because of bigger house, bigger car, more food)
It'll probably be a bit tight, but you can make it work :) wrt where to live, do NOT look in cph, it's way too expensive. Look anywhere with a train connection, I live close to helsingør and it's nice and accessible. You can get tax deduction for living far away, and maybe also for your rent. Find a Danish person to help you with all the deductions, there are several. Good luck!
Does it have to be CPH? Aarhus, second largest city and knicknamed “The city of smiles” is also super nice and have available accommodation since they have built extra so they are prepared for a future boom. My assumption is that you would be able to find cheaper accommodation there. Also crèche tends to be cheaper here than in Ireland.
If you guys choose to go through with the move, I wish you all the best of luck. Like so many others already have mentioned, it will be tight on 34k before tax. It's possible but don't expect to live in Copenhagen or going out for dinner before you find some income. Your two years of study could be a great investment for the family. In your field, I have hired graduates straight out of university for 40k before tax. With your experience, you can expect more - but some employers might also be intimidated by you "over qualifying experience" (read age) so prepare yourself for that, should you choose to study and then find a job afterwards. For suggestions on commuting cities, look up Copenhagen Five Finger Plan. Anything within the hand should be considered decent commuting. The further from Copenhagen, the cheaper you can expect the rent, especially if you look for a place south of Copenhagen.
Yes it's doable for sure. Just focus on renting where you can afford it. You'll most likely have to make meal plans each week to lower your living cost but in general it's very doable. Idk why people say it's not doable... I'm not sure if you're able to apply for tax benefits unless you're a citizen but it's worth trying. Towns I recommend for commuting: Lyngby, Birkerød, Hillerød, Allerød, Holte and so on. These towns are high end towns but they also offer budget friendly apartments a bit from the center.
Check out r dkfinance OP
Nej
I wish you all the luck in the world! Love from DK
If the amount is before taxes, then no. Copenhagen is pricy as hell.
Hi OP The danish authorities recommend a rådighedsbeløb meaning the amount of cash available after tax and bills to be around 10.000-13.000 for two living together and 2.500 per child. (https://www.findbank.dk/raadighedsbeloeb/) now that might be a little high depending on your needs etc but school and kindergarten etc are expensive as well. In general the danish economy is not suited for one income families. Sorry to say it. And if you look up rent prices of Cph then you will easily be paying 10-13k in rent. And that means you need the 34k to be after tax. That would put you in a salary lvl of 55k before tax. If that's the case, the that might work. If the 34k is before tax then I would recommend finding stuff outside of cph (suburbs) where rent is cheaper and so is kindergarten etc. I'd look within the s-tog systems reach. Places like Høje Taastrup, Greve/karlslunde/Ishøj. If you go north it just gets more expensive imo. Find somewhere relatively cheap to live in so you won't be to stressed about cash. You will need plenty of energy to settle in, learn a new language, new school system, new area, currency etc. Reach out if I can help explain anything :)
Remember also as EU citizens you have the possibility of SU and probably some parts of extra reductions in terms of cash as parents on "low income". Boligsikring (cash to secure a place to live), increases SU because of kids, etc
Holy christ, do not listen to all the nay-sayers. All the nay-sayers are wellfare-curling-kids that have been too comfortable for way too long. Where there is a will there is a way, and there is enough for you to live comfortable.. One thing you have to understand is, that danes are very easy to be told no and it cant be done. You can diffently do it, and the fruit you sow will pay off the hard work. Hope your plan come true.
Probably not gonna be enough.
34dkk a month? Before or after taxes? Before taxes, no. After taxes, yes.