A Week In Hamburg, Germany On A $228,942 Household Income

Occupation: Legal counsel
Industry: Beauty
Age: 33
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Salary: $137,772 (plus a ~$20,000 bonus).
Joint income: $228,942. My husband M. and I both have separate accounts as well as a joint account where we both add money for our fixed costs (which we calculate each month because of my husband’s side hustle). The ratio is around 70:30, with me being the higher income earner.
Assets: Savings: ~$25,028 in a HIA. I was on parental leave for almost two years, but I have now been able to save enough to have an emergency fund of around four months. In Germany, you get paid for your maternity leave with your full salary, starting from around seven weeks before the ETA (haha) and 12 weeks afterwards. After that, you get parental leave money (Elterngeld), which is max. $2,050 a month for nine months (so you get one year paid). After that, you can stay on parental leave (unpaid), which is what I did, but I used my savings for this. Investments: ~$13,650.48.
Debt: $0
Paycheck Amount (Monthly): $7,339.36
Pronouns: She/her

Monthly Expenses

Housing Costs: $3,754.91 for our three-bed apartment (this includes water, electricity and heating).
Public Pension Scheme: $851.89 (you only receive 45% of your last salary here, and it’s capped at something like $2,784. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I am in the process of switching to the law association pension scheme, but it’s taking forever).
Voluntary Public Health Care: $1,069.79 (in Germany, if you earn more than $83,999.53 you are eligible to be solely privately insured, but you can also choose to be voluntarily publicly insured, which is what I have done. Kids are free under the public one and not under the private one. This is a very different scheme compared to the rest of Europe, where everyone is publicly insured and then you can get additional private insurance).
Phone: $ 57.42 (this is quite high but it includes paying off my iPhone 15).
Streaming Services: Mooch Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV and Disney+off my husband and family, hehe.
Household Contents Insurance: $6 (for an insured sum of $90,000).
Occupational Disability Insurance: $317. I chose this insurance primarily because it goes off my gross salary and if I retire and don’t make use of it, I get the money back and only pay 27% tax.
Corporate Pension: $291 — my employer matches this.
Work Gym Membership: $17
Company Nursery: $1,377 (this is for a full day, five days a week — 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. — including food, for both children).
Saving contributions: $250
Children’s Investment Portfolio: $287 (in Germany you receive a child allowance of $287 per child until they are 27).

Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, but honestly, I never really thought about doing anything else. Everyone in my year went on to study so I did, too. I also wanted to study something where I could work internationally and in a broad field. I did my degree abroad, which was paid for by my parents (including housing). I grew up in a very privileged bubble, but my parents always reminded us of that — and that if we wanted the same lifestyle, we would have to work for it.

Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s)/guardian(s) educate you about finances?
No, not at all.

What was your first job and why did you get it?
My first job was an internship at my dad’s lawyer practice when I was 16. It wasn’t paid and I did it for the experience.

Did you worry about money growing up?
When my parents divorced, I remember the tax advisor coming to our home and having negative connotations with it. My mom had a savings account for me and my brother but I remember her asking us if it was okay for her to liquidate it because she needed the money. It was around $7,466 and I must’ve been around 12. My dad, on the other hand, used to often say “I don’t have money” when we wanted something as kids and it kind of made me financially conscious, so I would always save all my money because I was worried. I went to a private school, went on several holidays throughout the year, and had a roof over my head and food on the table, but I still felt more comfortable when I had my own money.

Do you worry about money now?
Kind of. I worry about keeping my lifestyle when I retire or providing my kids with the same things I had growing up. Although I earn very well, we live in a HCOL city and I feel like we can’t afford nice holidays — for example, for a week in Greece, a four-star hotel alone would cost us $5,685 in the summer. These things were way cheaper when I was younger and I feel like in the early 2000s I could have had like a two-week holiday in Maldives with flights for that money.

At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
Probably when I started my first job — however, I lived for free in one of my dad’s apartments so I could save some money to do the bar exam. In my second job I paid for everything myself, although my dad did help me with the deposit of my apartment before starting that job. My financial safety net would probably be my husband, M., and my parents.

Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
I received around $3,700 for an accident I was in in my 20s (I used it for traveling). I also received random bits of money, like $1,705 for my 18th birthday or my dad gave M. and me $7,000 to buy our kitchen. My dad always says my brother and I are his investments and that’s why I consider all my education, housing, etc as inherited income. I will probably get something when my parents pass, but I am hoping they live until they are 100, so I’m not counting on anything.

7 a.m. — My son, T., 3, gets into my bed and we cuddle for a bit. His sister, G., 1, already joined me at 12:30 a.m. after screaming for 30 minutes. I still don’t know why. We are waking up way too late but I am trying to become more zen about these things, especially because I don’t have any early morning meetings.

7:30 a.m. — Get the kids breakfast: brioche with ham and cheese and, most importantly, butter (my kids LOVE butter and eat it like a snack, lol). Brush teeth, hair, and get them dressed, and get myself ready in between (Benefit’s They’re Real Mascara, MAC Soft and Gentle highlighter, The Body Shop brown eyebrow pencil — same make up every day this week, so not going to repeat). T. wants to wear flowery pink leggings like G. but my husband, M., refuses, because those are apparently for girls. M. and I have a discussion about it. Can our daughter not wear pants because those are for boys? M. doesn’t want him to be bullied and doesn’t want him to fight this fight as he is only 3. T. ends up wearing black jeans like me. 

8:50 a.m. — Arrive at day care. Of course the zipper of my jacket breaks. Get inside, take off jackets and shoes, and put house shoes on. G. lets me know she had an accident, so I change her trousers. Then I have a quick chat with the teacher, who lets me know, once again, she does not recommend the kindergarten at our establishment and that we should look for other options.

9:15 a.m. — Finally get to the office and low and behold — someone brought gooey chocolate cake. Score! Time for breakfast. Holy shit, this is like chocolate lava cake and each bite is like heaven.

11:50 a.m. — Continue working on some files, have a meeting, and respond to emails. I get changed and go to my lunch barbell class. I am super unmotivated, but I wasn’t able to work out as much as I would have liked last week, because my kids were sick. My work offers on-site gym classes for only $17 a month. So I don’t feel bad if I don’t always make classes because I’ve definitely made worse purchases for $17.

1 p.m. — Proud of myself that I went to the class — I noticed that my strength has improved! Buy a chicken salad from the vending machine, change clothes in the bathroom, and settle for a desk lunch.

2:30 p.m. — Getting snackish, so I pop down to my car as I forgot my snack (apple rings and a Koro vegan chocolate raspberry protein bar). Of course, I miss my boss’ phone call and call him back when I get back to my desk.

3 p.m. — Text with M. about where I should buy shares as the market has tanked (thank you, Trump). I decide to sell my ETF bond, as it has been sitting at -10% for four years now and I think it will be better to invest it in another option. I contemplate between Estee Lauder and LVMH.

4 p.m. — Work has been slow and, in order to procrastinate, I read today’s Money Diary. I love it when people include what they eat — I always google it when I don’t know how it looks like (lo mai gai — yum!).

4:30 p.m. — Boss finally calls back and we align on a few things. I inform him that it’s a public holiday next Friday, which is different in the European country he is in.

5:10 p.m. — Log off from work and pick up the kids from day care. End up chatting to the teacher again re: kindergarten. I surprise the kids with Paw Patrol oat snacks and they are so happy. It’s the little things.

6 p.m. — Arrive home to M. who had tooth surgery today and who cooked some bone broth. We have it with Backerbsen (childhood memory) and the kids love it. Log into work again because I need to respond to some emails regarding a private equity fund we are setting up at work (I need to work eight hours and also need to take a 45-minute break). Then it’s bedtime routine and surprisingly, G. wants to go to bed with M. in our bedroom rather than me. I fall asleep with T. in his house bed.

7 a.m. — T. was awake for two hours at night, which is very unusual. He was quiet because he couldn’t fall asleep. M. makes avocado and hard boiled eggs for the kids. I head to day care and change G.’s nappy again because it is pretty full and I feel like the day care doesn’t change the kids as much as I like. At work I grab my yoghurt and banana (which I technically brought yesterday) and have a desk breakfast while responding to emails, then I get cracking on a letter of intent.

11 a.m. — I take a break and order our groceries online. Getting them delivered to our house has been life changing. We buy 95% organic and the butter we like now costs $4.60… We bought quite a lot last week so this week's shop is quite small. I want to make healthy ice cream with the kids on the weekend, so I order baby dates, baby fruit purees, (De Cecco forever <3) Pinsa, hummus, lentil waffles, seaweed snack, sauerkraut, pasta, salami, cream, yoghurt, halloumi, cream cheese with herbs, gouda, cottage cheese, mozzarella, parmesan, curd cheese, chocolate eggs, cucumber, Ben & Jerry’s and frozen broccoli. $114.19

12 p.m. — Had a couple of meetings and am now topping up my card for some lunch at the canteen with my colleague. I eat Schupfnudeln (potato noodle) with vegetables and black currant soda, which costs around $ 6.83. $56.83

1:30 p.m. — Ask M. to buy Play-Doh for a friend of the kids whose birthday we are celebrating on Sunday. He has Amazon Prime. I don’t. $14.76

3 p.m. — Bleugh, I need to do some boring things and I procrastinate by eating snacks (apple rings and protein balls). I even make myself a coffee (I’m actually not a coffee drinker, but after last night, zzzzzz) with soy milk (we have soy milk in the office!!).

5 p.m. — Pick up the kids from day care and we get home and have soup again. I buy one Airbus share. Then it's time for children’s bedtime routine. It's actually M.’s turn but he is not feeling well from his tooth surgery, so I do it. $147.78

9 p.m. — Watch the last episode of The White Lotus. This season has been so boring but I have to say, the ending was good. I honestly don’t know why I continued watching — and don’t even get me started on the theme song.

7 a.m. — Home office day! That means M. takes the kids to day care but I end up doing the most things (changing diapers and clothes, combing hair, brushing teeth). At least M. serves them breakfast and prepares their water bottles (*eye roll* doing the easy bits). After the kids and M. are out the door, I clean up the breakfast table and pick up some things up before the cleaner comes. I don’t want her to waste time picking up things like Duplo. Wednesdays are my fave because she comes, haha.

9:20 a.m. — Wow, work has been unusually quiet. I work on a guideline on loan agreements for my team. Our grocery shop gets delivered and I put everything away.

12 p.m. — Step outside to bring back a Zara package and realise that it’s a different delivery provider than I thought it was. Uuugh. Schlepp everything back. Pick up cash on the way back and realise I need to go to the supermarket and purchase something so I can get the right change for the cleaner. Great. Go to the supermarket and buy blueberries, Turkish goat cheese, chewing gum, and rubber gloves, all while holding this stupid package. $15.45

12:45 p.m. — Finally get home and pay the cleaner. She comes for four hours every week. Make avocado toast with Everything But The Bagel mix. I also have cinnamon toast crunch (called Cini Mini in Europe) with blueberries, which makes me really happy because M. put them in our grocery shop without me realizing. Kismet. $68.22

4 p.m. — Have a meeting about a project in America. The American counsel is really not that great and this is the second time he misadvises us. Ugh. TBD how this project works out. After I am done with work, I make a conscious decision to just sit down and chill because I don’t get that a lot as a mom of two. I start watching Mad Men.

6 p.m. — The kids come home and it's bath time. Get them dressed and we have sausages with sauerkraut and ketchup for dinner. The kids are obsessed with passionfruit, so we also have some of those. I am trying to eat five fruits and/or veggies a day because apparently eating more than 30 fruits/veggies a week is really good for your gut health.

8 p.m. — I tell my kids I am meeting a friend and they are sad but accepting. Me pretending to leave the house is the only way M. can put them to bed by himself. I hide in the office for a bit before coming out to pick up and clean things before going to bed and watching the first episode of Parenthood. I decided to start watching it after hearing Lauren Graham on Call Her Daddy (a podcast I found out about on Money Diaries). Fun fact: Lauren Graham was on the table next to me at a restaurant at my master’s graduation dinner and it was just the icing on the cake.

10 p.m. — Bed time! I haven’t mentioned my bedtime routine yet: I cleanse with Ziaja Manuka Gel, sometimes I double cleanse with Reviderm AHA Cleansing Foam, and then I either slather my face with The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid or Reviderm Skin Fluid Gel. I top that off with Weleda Skin Food Light. I decide to buy the 3Bears x Bluey collab porridge oat snacks — Instagram has been pestering me with them for a couple of months and now I have caved. $32.89

7:30 a.m. — Okay, wow, I swear we don’t usually get up so late, but I have stopped using an alarm (unless it's important) and just wait for my kids to wake me up because it's usually between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. Today, G. is the first to wake up, which is unusual as well. I take her with me and let T. sleep because he has a stuffy nose. I comb G.’s hair, change her diaper, and get her dressed.

8:10 a.m. — My kids have two lentil waffles with butter, one apple, and one pear for breakfast. We leave for daycare and listen to The Gruffalo audiobook. We arrive at day care and G. forgot her Paw Patrol watch (It’s not really a watch, it’s a picture of Skye and it glows red and green), so I go back to the car and fetch it for her. Get in at work and start responding to emails. I have a Greek yoghurt with blackberries, a pear and a tiny piece of brioche for breakfast.

12 p.m. — Go for an early lunch with my colleagues to a pizza place. Their pizzas are ginormous. I choose parmigiana and a blackcurrant soda. After that, I get back to my desk and eat gummy bears that I got for free from the pizza place and get cracking on some admin work. $25.26

3 p.m. — Working on my guidelines and fielding calls re: the signing of a project I am currently managing. Make myself a matcha latte with soy milk because wow, that pizza was filling and I am TIRED. My secret matcha latte trick is to use a milk frother and just pour in the matcha powder directly in there. So creamy! Also kick myself that I did not buy the Estee Lauder shares, as now Trump has frozen his tariffs for 90 days.

3:30 p.m. — I decide to pick up the kids early, but they want to continue playing with their friends so it takes me a solid 30 minutes to get them out of there. I lure them out with the promise of a cocoa-covered snack. Mother of the year award, ladies and gentleman. Go to our playground and let them swing a bit before I bathe them and they make pizza with my husband.

10 p.m. — Wow, bedtime took forever. I try to savour the moments but sometimes almost two hours of bedtime is just too long.

7 a.m. — Friyay and another home office day. I get the kids ready and we realise the eggs M. ordered in our grocery shop for the week weren’t delivered so they have yoghurt with spirulina, cocoa, and passionfruit. After the kids and M. are out the door, I clean up and start laundry before my meetings this morning.

10:45 a.m. — Meetings done; I head to the post office to pick up a package that was apparently delivered last week. Thank the lord — it was meant to be returned today the woman at the post office managed to fish it out. It's a special toothpaste for kids with molar incisor hypomineralisation. Yet another fun fact: MIH has increased among children because of microplastics. I get an ice cream from my favourite Italian ice cream shop (Team Vanilla) and head back home. On the way I stop by the drug store because the Play-Doh hasn’t arrived so I need to buy some more. $10.23

2 p.m. — Field some calls and make lunch bowls for me and M. We’re having hot-smoked salmon mixed with yoghurt, sriracha, and green onion, rice — we don’t have sushi so we use risotto (I know, blasphemous) — avocado, and a Chinese cucumber salad. The hot-smoked salmon doesn’t really fit but I eat it anyway. After lunch I start having meetings again.

5:05 p.m. — Kids are back home and are proud because they went to the supermarket with their dad. They show me everything they got. They have dinner (aka the meal I made for lunch), then play with their Duplo train. Then M. and I have dinner, which M. made: shell pasta with tomato sauce, carrots, and salsiccia.

8:30 p.m. — After helping M. get the kids get ready for bed, Mami “goes to Pilates” (i.e. watches some more Parenthood). G. comes out of her room and almost finds me but I hide behind the door and she goes back to bed.

7 a.m. — My kids and I wake up and make waffles with apple sauce. M. enjoys a lie in because his tooth still hurts.

10:20 a.m. — I need to run some errands so I take the S-Bahn. We drive everywhere with our car, which I hate. I wish we could live more central but it doesn’t make sense because our commute during the week would be wild. I buy a ticket. I get off and walk to the city center. God, I miss walking — I used to walk 5km a day and now I barely make 2km. $2.28

11 a.m. — I stop by Villa Sophia to exchange two pairs of shorts I bought last week. I see they have an oversized blazer on sale so I get that, too. $63.71

11:20 a.m. — I go to the drugstore and buy wrapping paper, disinfectant spray, chocolate Schleich eggs (which are all the rage in Germany right now), and a wet bag. $25.31

11:45 a.m. — I get some Five Guys — a cheese burger and small fries ($20.47). It’s expensive for fast food but unfortunately, it’s so damn good. I take a bite and I feel bad because I probably should’ve gotten M. some, too. Oops. I walk back to the train station and purchase another ticket. On the way home I finally find a starry sky birth poster I like. I get ones that show the night sky of the kids’ birth time and it also shows the animals you can see. $22.75

12:30 p.m. — I get back home, drop my bags, wash my hands, and bring the kids to bed. They are obsessed with Paddington and the Gruffalo right now. They fall asleep and I doom scroll on my phone and see that there is a Peppa Pig movie coming out (Mommy Pig is pregnant!). I see if there are tickets available in our city. There are! I purchase tickets for me, the kids, and my MIL for the weekend where she is in town. The tickets are super cheap — marketing done right. My son starts crying because I bought Play Doh for his friend and not for him. $22.74

2:30 p.m. — Kids are awake. They have the pasta from last night for lunch and then we are all off to the birthday party, which is taking place in a playground. We arrive and we hand over our gifts (Play-Doh, matching socks, and one of those Schleich eggs). The kids have a great time because it’s basically all their day care friends, and minus their teachers.

8 p.m. — Get home, bathe the kids (who are full of sand), and bedtime is quite quick this time around.

7 a.m. — Kids wake up and they both have a bit of a raised temperature so we decide to cancel our plans of going to a lake for them to scooter and just stay home instead. The kids have hard boiled eggs and toast with butter. M. makes them spirulina babyccinos. They taste gross, can’t believe they are drinking those.

12 p.m. — After picking up around the house, playing with the kids and more snacks, it’s nap time. I nap with them — I was thinking of working out while they nap, but I am in my luteal phase so don’t bother.

3 p.m. — That nap felt good! M. made merguez sausages with a salad for us, so we have that and with the last bits of pasta. I sort out some of the kids’ old clothes. M. and I start talking about what to buy for our guest room/office. We moved in around 18 months ago but there is still no real bed in there. We decide to get a yellow Hemnes bed from IKEA, and two more PAX because unfortunately, we do not have a store room, so our cleaning supplies and vacuum cleaner just lie around. We go to pay and the bed is not deliverable, UGH. We decide to wait until tomorrow and hope that changes.

6 p.m. — I make the same waffles I made yesterday but double the batch because there was only enough for me to have one last time. The kids have theirs with homemade raspberry jam and lemon curd. I also make some salty ones with cream cheese and Everything But The Bagel seasoning.

8 p.m. — M. brings the kids to bed and I pick up around the house and decide to finally watch the third Bridget Jones movie on Amazon Prime. $4.55

9 p.m. — I go check in on M. because he hates falling asleep with the kids, but when I go in, G. is still awake. She sees me and of course wants me to bring her to bed. Fiiiiiiiiiiiine.

9:45 p.m. — G. is a night owl like M. and T. is more of an early bird like me — aka I barely have time for myself when they are home, but that’s okay. I still decide to watch some more of the film, although tomorrow is a work day. Rebel rebel.

“Seeing everything added up it feels like I spent a lot, but I would say this is a pretty average week for us. I now also have it in black and white that Insta commercials really do influence me to buy things (Peppa Pig movie tickets, Bluey oats…), but I did have a think about these before purchasing. I also need to stop being scared to buy when the market dips. I could’ve made some money. Argh.”