Spending Recap: February 6-12, 2012
Monday 6th
$45.18 (€34,19) groceries
Tuesday 7th
No Spend Day!
Wednesday 8th
+ $55.96 freelance income
$18.27 (€13,80) Mulan Wok restaurant (yep, we ate Asian food)
$13.24 (€10) laundry
Thursday 9th
+ $400 freelance income
$17.85 (€13,48) groceries
Friday 10th
No Spend Day!
Saturday 11th - Tübingen
+ $400 freelance income
$19.86 (€15) Stuttgart Library
$32.45 (€24,50) roundtrip train ticket (2x)
$66.22 (€50) BahnCard 25 (2x)
$18.08 (€13,65) office supplies
Sunday 12th
$3.44 (€2,60) transit
$121.82 flight (roundtrip to Amsterdam, Netherlands in May)
WEEKLY EXPENSES: - $356.41
WEEKLY INCOME: + $855.96
TOTAL: + $499.55
This was a better weekend in terms of spending, but we did learn a few important lessons. For example, if you ask for regular tap water in any restaurant in Germany, you will get laughed at, and then you will be charged €1,80 for the tiniest glass of water ever (200 ml). Also, the cheapest laundromat in town cost over $13 for 2 loads of laundry (and only 1 load used the dryer). Sadness.
Saturday was spent in a beautiful college town called Tübingen, which is about 60 minutes away by train. We also went to the library to get library cards – only to find out that it costs €15 for a membership. Still, that comes with access to their wifi, so it’s worth it.
We decided to check out a nude mineral pool spa on Sunday to escape the -15°C weather. Nic paid for our admission, which was about €15 each. It was … an interesting 4 hours. :) I’ve never been to a nude spa before, and found it uncomfortable at first. But we eventually got used to it, although I think we were both a lot more modest in covering up than a lot of the other people there! :) There are 4 mineral springs that feed into the pools (the non-nude area), with water temperatures ranging up to 36°C – and an indoor/outdoor pool – brrr! The nude area contained 6 different saunas (with temperatures ranging from 40°C to 95°C – so nice), a steam room, hot tub, cold water tub, and lounging area. It was a lot of fun, but for the price of admission, I’m not sure we’d go back to this particular one again. Maybe.
Anyway, I’ll leave you with two photos I took while in Tübingen:
7 Responses to “Spending Recap: February 6-12, 2012”
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Great job on keeping your #’s in the green this week!
Renee´s latest post —> Lending Friends & Family Money
The nude spa sounds interesting! I don’t know if I could do that haha
It’s kinda unusual to ask for tap water at a restaurant (they should still give it to you though), but when you are at a bar, it is really not unusual at all. The ‘leitungsvasser’ /LIE-toongz-vah-ser/ is free here in Konstanz.
Bekah Palmer´s latest post —> Review: Foreign Service Institute’s Language Courses
I found that they will give you free tap water, but first you need to order a drink. Whenever I ordered tap water in Europe, they would say that they don’t allow that, but then they would bring tap water to everyone else in the restaurant. We ended up ordering diet coke or something else at first, and then they would give us water for the rest of the meal. In some countries, ordering a beer or wine was cheaper than ordering water!
I guess all the cute heritage buildings and government-supported culture costs a lot in terms of economic efficiency. Fun to visit, not to live in. People can hate America all they’ve want, but the US has got customer service, generous portions, and low prices nailed down pat.
Joe´s latest post —> Adventures with TurboTax
Tap water in restaurants depends on what country you’re in… Here in France it’s illegal to refuse to serve tap water.
Be stubborn! Let them laugh!
Insist on tap water if you want it. They are obliged to provide it, just reluctant because they make more money selling drinks (Have you also noticed how cheap beer is compared to soft drinks?)
Also read your post in the Star..
Service is always included in your restaurant/bar price. Standard tip it to round to the nearest Euro and add 1 or 2 Euros on top of that. A restaurant server is considered a skilled trade and they all have to complete apprenticeships to be hired. They are not paid as unskilled labour as they are here.
Germans are highly fond of cash. Credit card use has always been more difficult than North America. If the store says it takes credit cards, it must accept them. Small stores in particular will balk (and possibly complain to you) if you try to use the card. They are trying to avoid paying the credit card merchant fee and will try to influence you to pay cash instead. Again, be stubborn.