The rough monthly budget (single creator, living well)

  • Rent: the largest cost. Roughly €1,800 to €2,600 for a one-bedroom apartment in the city, less outside the ring road and more on a canal. Homes are scarce, so plan for a long search as well as the cost.
  • Health insurance: the mandatory basic policy costs around €150 a month, with the yearly deductible on top.
  • Groceries and daily life: roughly €450 to €650.
  • Transport: cheap. With a bike, an OV card (public transport card) and roughly €100, you cover most months. In Amsterdam, a car is optional.
  • Studio or workspace: desk space from roughly €250 a month. Small studios cost considerably more. Both are fully deductible as a business cost.
  • Everything else: phone, subscriptions, sport, eating out at Amsterdam prices: €500 to €900 depending on habits.

In total, roughly €3,500 to €5,000 a month for a comfortable single life, before savings and investments.

Your salary for this budget

Your DGA salary should cover about this budget, and little more. DGA means director-shareholder, the Dutch term for an owner-director. Every euro of salary above what you need is taxed at a higher rate than profit in the company. A lower customary salary is allowed if comparable work pays less, or for up to three years while a new BV is still unable to pay the full salary. You can also borrow up to €500,000 from your own BV (besloten vennootschap, a Dutch private limited company). The lower salary is what saves tax. At €36,000 in place of €58,000, you keep about €7,100 a year more. After a later dividend, about €2,800 of that remains. The loan gives you access to money, but your tax stays the same. Calculate it with your own figures. You invest the surplus in the holding. See how to pay yourself from your BV.

Where Amsterdam is cheap

Amsterdam is good value for transport, safety, healthcare quality and time. The city is compact, and almost everything is within cycling distance. You save hours every week compared with a large, spread-out city. For a creator, that time has real value.

Compared with other cities

Amsterdam is more expensive than Lisbon and Berlin, and similar to Paris. For the same housing quality, it is cheaper than London and central Dubai. See the full comparisons with Lisbon and Dubai.