BerlinCheap.com

Recommended Bank for Expats

Georg Jähnig — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

Revolut comes with a free plan, including:

A free Visa debit card (you only pay €6 one-time for delivery)
Free ATM withdrawals up to €200 or 5 withdrawals per month (no fees from Revolut)
Free and unlimited SEPA transfers^[1], also available as instant transfers^[2]
Compare Revolut’s other plans

All the plans:

Work with Google Pay^[3] and Apple Pay^[4]
Hold and send money in 29 currencies
Rated 4.1 on Trustpilot^[5]
Sign up and verify your account via video call

I have used Revolut myself since 2018 as a spending account and have never had any problems. Their support can be contacted by chat and typically replies within a few hours.

Virtual Cards

What I really like is the option to create virtual cards^[6]:

These are Visa debit cards with a credit card number, expiration date, and CVC code, but no physical card; they exist only in the app
I use them for online payments where I don’t fully trust the merchant
After making a payment, I can freeze these cards to ensure no unwanted transactions occur

Disadvantages

You get a Lithuanian IBAN instead of a German one. However, this has become less of an issue, as even the German tax office (Finanzamt) can work with it.
You get no girocard, which is another payment system in Germany besides Visa/Mastercard. A few merchants only accept girocard.

Get €70 with My Referral

If you use the link below, you can get €70:

Sign up with this link.^[7]
Verify your identity online with a video call from the app.
Add money to your account via debit card or bank transfer.
Order a physical card. You can instantly add it to Google or Apple Pay.
Make 3 purchases of at least €5 each with the card.

Complete all steps by August 20!

Go to Revolut^[7:1]

Revolut: Bank transfers ↩︎
Revolut: What is SEPA instant ↩︎
Revolut: Setting up Google Pay ↩︎
Revolut: Setting up Apple Pay ↩︎
Trustpilot: Revolut ↩︎
Revolut: What is a virtual card ↩︎
This is an affiliate link. If you click on it and then buy something or sign up for a service, I may earn some money. This does not change the price for you. ↩︎ ↩︎

Deutschland Ticket with Credit Card & Instant Validity

Georg Jähnig — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Deutschland Ticket

After the success of the 9-Euro-Ticket in 2022, the German government has introduced a permanent low-fare monthly pass called the Deutschland Ticket (Germany Pass).

Validity

The Deutschland Ticket is valid for the following means of transport at all times across all of Germany (including Berlin):

Local buses, local night buses
Trams (Straßenbahn, Stadtbahn)
U-Bahn
S-Bahn
Regionalbahn (RB)
Regional-Express (RE)

It is not valid for long-distance transport, including:

InterCity (IC)
EuroCity (EC)
InterCityExpress (ICE)
Flixtrain, Flixbus, or other long-distance buses

The ticket is valid for exactly 1 calendar month, e.g., from 1 May to 31 May. (So you cannot buy it for a period from 15 May to 14 June.)

Where to Buy

You can purchase the ticket at any local public transport company in Germany where the ticket is valid. For expats and tourists, I recommend the Mo.Pla app; see details below.

Is It Worth It for Tourists?

If you’re staying in Berlin or Germany for at least a week, the ticket may already pay off. A 7-day ticket for Berlin ABC (covering Berlin, its suburbs, and Potsdam) already costs €46.

While the Deutschland Ticket costs slightly more, it allows you to use all local public transport without worrying about going too far out of the city. You can even take day trips to Dresden or Leipzig using regional trains (which takes about 3 hours one way, with 1 change).

Additionally, in the Mo.Pla app, you can use a non-German phone number and pay by debit or credit card, so no EUR bank account is needed.

Be sure however to cancel your ticket early enough, as it is a subscription and will renew itself.

Buy the Ticket at Mo.Pla

The Deutschland Ticket from Mo.Pla:

Has an English interface (+ 6 more languages)
Allows you to subscribe with no deadline (so even on 31 May, it would still be valid for May)
Allows you to subscribe and then pause your subscription, so you can essentially buy it only for one month
Allows you to pay by debit or credit card (so no EUR bank account is required)

Mo.pla comes with Android or Apple app. They might be not accessible from your country, but then you can simply use their website / web app.

To buy the ticket, you first need to create a profile with your email, password, name, address, and phone number.

Then start the booking. You can buy the ticket starting from today – but it will only be valid to the end of the current month.

Having bought the ticket, you will receive a digital ticket as a QR (AZTEC) code inside the app, so be sure to carry your charged smartphone while traveling, along with your ID or passport.

Additionally, you will receive an email with the ticket's QR code. I always print it out and carry it with me as a backup in case I lose my phone. Technically, a ticket on paper is not valid since 2024, but I think having it on paper is still better than nothing.

If you lose your phone, you can still access the ticket on another device by logging in with your email address and password.

Go to Deutschland Ticket at Mo.Pla

Free Calls to 64 Countries

Georg Jähnig — Wed, 20 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Satellite is a new brand of Sipgate & Simquadrat, a German (mobile) phone provider. While Simquadrat gives you an actual SIM card (physical or eSIM), Satellite offers no SIM card, only an app. This app will work as long as you have an Internet connection, whether via WiFi or 4G/5G.

Setup

Downloading the Satellite app is free. It’s available for Android and iOS, and has an English interface.

For registration, you only need to provide your postal address in Germany. It must be an address with your name (and no "c/o Someone Else").

Satellite will then send a letter to this address containing a verification code.

A few days later, after the letter arrives, log in to the app, enter your verification code, and start calling the world.

Where can I call?

Currently, you can call 64 countries, including the entire EU (Germany included) and places far away like Australia, Pakistan, the USA, Vietnam, and Mexico. See the full list here.

Phone number

You get a German mobile phone number for free. People can call you and will only pay the price for a call to Germany, even when you are abroad. Satellite only needs an Internet connection, no matter where you are.

However, since the number is tied to your app, you cannot receive SMS messages. So it won’t work for verification purposes like online banking if they only verify via SMS (and not voice calls).

Mailbox

A free mailbox for missed calls, even with automatic text transcription (in German). You can both listen to what they said or quickly read it.

Where’s the catch?

Honestly, I can’t see any. I have been using Satellite myself for a few months now and have had no problems. Great call quality and quick connections. I guess they make their money with the premium service (unlimited calls for €5/month).

Interested? Then here you go. The website is only in German, but the app also speaks English.

Go to Satellite

Cheapest E-books, Audio books, Video streaming

Georg Jähnig — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Yes, libraries. Those houses with books inside which you can borrow and then need to bring them back in time. Lots of walking and carrying. But nowadays, this is much easier – since also Berlin’s libraries have a big online offer. And they cooperate with other platforms, so your membership is valid in many places.

Online Offer

Screenshots of online libraries

Overdrive: E-books & audio books, fiction + non-fiction, recently published, not only in German but also in English, French, Italian, Russian, Arabic.
Onleihe: E-books, e-papers & magazines
Pressreader: International newspapers & magazines (e.g. Guardian, Washington Post, Forbes, Vogue, Le Figaro, El País, Wyborcza, Izvestia)
Statista: Verifiable and relevant statistics on markets, politics, and social issues from 18,000 sources
LinkedIn Learning: Online courses on IT, business, and creative topics
Lecturio: Online courses on career, finance, lifestyle, medicine, software
LinguaTV: Online language courses in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and German as a foreign language
Duden: Full access. The “German Oxford dictionary” – what Germans check when in doubt about their language
Ava: Artsy films and documentaries, some with English subs
Filmfriend.de: Movies, series, documentaries

And of course, there are still the classic libraries with paper books, not only in German. And not only books, but also DVDs and board games! Take a look into their collection, the whole website is also available in English.

Pricing

The regular fee is €10 for a whole year, students pay €5, and if you are unemployed, it is free.

Become a member

There are around 80 libraries in Berlin, and one pass works for them all.

Find a library on Google map.
Go in person to one of them (check their opening times, they are also on Google)
Bring your ID or passport, and if it does not contain your address: your Meldebestätigung (=receipt of your Anmeldung)
If you want a discount: proof for being a student or unemployed
Fill out a form on the spot
Pay the yearly fee
Get your new library ID

Go to Berlin's libraries

9 Sources of Free Advice

Georg Jähnig — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 00:00:00 +0000

1. Welcome Center Berlin

The city of Berlin itself offers a free personal counseling service called Willkommenszentrum around these questions:

What legal requirements do I need to fulfill?
How do I find work, training?
What do I need to consider while looking for an apartment?
How do I find a school for my child?
How does day-to-day life in Berlin work?

It is located in Potsdamer Straße 65, not far from Potsdamer Platz. You do not need an appointment, just come by during their opening hours.

The people giving the advice speak many languages:

German
English
French
Italian
Croatian
Polish
Russian
Turkish
Vietnamese

For even more languages, interpreters are available:

Arabic
Farsi
Dari
Pashto
Urdu
Punjabi
Hindi
Amharic
Tigrinya
Kurmanji

Read more on their website: Go to Welcome Center Berlin

2. Healthcare Counselling at Berliner Stadtmission

For people in trouble without (proper) health insurance, the Berlin City Mission (Berliner Stadtmission) is offering advice, even in many languages:

German
English
Russian
Turkish
Bulgarian
Italian
Romanian
Swedish
French

The service is free. You should make an appointment or come by during their service hours.

Go to Counselling for people without health insurance

If you are not in immediate trouble but looking for a good expat health insurance, check out Popsure.

3. Facebook Group Free Advice Berlin

It’s the sibling of Free Your Stuff Berlin, just for getting info and advice. With currently more than 13,000 members, you can quickly get answers on any issue, at all daytimes. It’s also the place where I got many recommendations for The Cheap Pizza Map of Berlin.

Free Advice Berlin

4. Free Renter’s Counselling

This one really helped a lot in the past: If you have problems with your landlord, are unsure what you can do against the rent increase etc., seek free advice here. Keep in mind that they speak German, so bring a German speaker if necessary.

Counselling at Kiezladen Zusammenhalt: Tuesdays between 18:00 and 19:00, no appointment needed, just come by (early)
Mieterservice at Asum: Make an appointment before by phone.

There is also a good, paid offer by Berliner Mietergemeinschaft. It’s a renter’s association, offering a membership for currently 69 EUR per year and granting access to more than 20 advice consulting offices in whole Berlin, opened at different times and days all over the week. It includes a legal costs insurance for renting-related issues – in case you need to take your landlord to court (or they are taking you).

Especially if you are an EU citizen, have lived here already for some time and also worked in a regular job, you might be eligible for social welfare if you are unemployed now, for instance for Arbeitslosengeld 2. But also for other legal problems, you can get free advice at several places. Most of it will be in German, so again, bring a German speaker if necessary.

Find legal advice at these places:

Bürgeramt Neukölln: General legal advice for family law, labour law, medical law, consumer law and social law
Bürgeramt Köpenick: Legal advice, free for people with low income
For students: Asta TU Berlin: Advice on health insurance, studying with a child, housing benefit (Wohngeld), child support, student loans

… and more on these overviews:

6. Free City Service Hotline

About this one, I already wrote a while ago: The city of Berlin operates a phone support hotline where you can ask about all administrational stuff. And they also speak English. Read more in the extra article.

7. Repair Cafés

“Toss it? No way!” is the motto of the more than 10 Repair Cafés in Berlin. These are places where you can bring your broken laptop, bikes, or even clothes and fix them together with experts. And the idea is not to just leave the broken thing there and let it get fixed – but to learn yourself how you can fix things.

At the café, besides the volunteering experts, you’ll find tools and materials to help you make any repairs you need. There is only one condition: It must be able to carry the things to repair into the cafés. So no fridges or cars.

Apparently, 50 to 80% of the brought things get repaired, so it’s definitely worth a try. And the cafés are always looking for volunteers, so if you want to bring some Germans into your social circle, here you go.

Homepage repaircafe.org
Map of Repair Cafés in Berlin

8. Forums: Toytown Germany and Reddit

Toytown Germany is an English-speaking portal related to Germany, with subgroups about Berlin. In the forum, you can ask various questions or get advice by searching through old posts.

Same works for Reddit, the world-known, user-driven news portal. Its Berlin “subreddit” is a place to share news and ask for advice.

Toytown Germany
Reddit Berlin

9. German Language on Stackexchange

Programmers among you most certainly know Stackoverflow, a very convenient Q&A (Questions & Answers) system. They have branched off several other platforms on different topics, and one of them is German Language Stackexchange.

Ask there your questions on correct word usage, pronunciation, or curious ones like why German sounds so harsh. Questions can be tagged and upvoted, so can answers – and you can quickly find what you need.

German Language Stackexchange

Recommended Car Sharing

Georg Jähnig — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

Living in Berlin nearly all my life, I’ve never owned a car, already because Berlin’s public transport system is fairly cheap and functional. And with the rise of all those sharing companies for scooters, electric scooters and now also cars, there is even less reason to get your own vehicle.

Most interesting offer: Getaround

Getaround lets you rent from private people. So instead of offering their own cars, they let car owners create a profile of their car and put it on their app as an offer.

This is why they mostly operate with day rates – and also, why they have very cheap ones, compared to all the others.

In the link, there’s a voucher giving you 15€ for your first ride:

Go to Getaround^[1]

This is an affiliate link. If you click on it and then buy something or sign up for a service, I may earn some money. This does not change the price for you. ↩︎

8 Free Museums To Visit

Georg Jähnig — Tue, 09 Oct 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Urban Nation

One of the youngest museums in Berlin (barely one year old), the Urban Nation is a museum for street and modern art. You can see work by well-known artists like Banksy, Shepard Fairey, and Invader: thought-provoking paintings, graffiti, and even a garden with sculptures – all for free! And definitely check out the bathroom. 😉

Located near Nollendorfplatz and Winterfeldplatz (in the western center of the city), you can combine the visit with a stroll or dinner afterwards in the area full of nice restaurants.

Tripadvisor profile

3 Free Museums about the Cold War

Interested in the history of Berlin during the Cold War, when it was divided by the Berlin Wall? Here are three museums you can visit – all for free.

The Allied Museum

The Allied Museum, located on the site of the former US administration of West-Berlin, consists of two buildings: a permanent and a temporary exhibition.

You can also see an airplane from the famous Berlin Air Bridge, a wagon from the former Duty Train (shuttle between West-Berlin and West-Germany), and a part of the Berlin Wall, including a watchtower.

Tripadvisor profile

German-Russian Museum

The “other side” of the history can be explored at the German-Russian Museum in Berlin-Karlshorst. It’s in the original buildings where the unconditional surrender was signed on May 8, 1945.

You’ll see information about the history of World War II, everyday items from that time, and photos, maps, Soviet uniforms. Outside, there is a collection of a Russian tank, artillery, and other military vehicles.

Tripadvisor profile

Berlin Wall Memorial

Finally, the Berlin Wall Memorial offers a vivid understanding of how the Berlin Wall looked. You can see a 1-to-1 model of the Berlin inner city border fortification:

The first smaller concrete wall, facing East-Berlin
The “death-strip” (Todesstreifen) in between
A watchtower
The outer concrete wall, facing West-Berlin – the one often painted with graffiti that you usually see in photographs

Across the street, there is also a building providing information to read and watch in films – all free to visit.

Tripadvisor profile

Bonus: East Side Gallery

Not actually a museum but still a very famous place among tourists: The East Side Gallery is an original part of the Berlin Wall that was painted only after 1990 – because it was facing East Berlin, and the East German authorities did not allow it to be painted.

In 1990, famous artists painted well-known pictures on these blank walls, and around 20 years later, some of them came again to renew them.

Tripadvisor profile

An East German Flat

Travel back to the 1980s and see an original-furnished and equipped apartment of East Berlin. Located in the East Berlin district of Hellersdorf, you enter a typical Plattenbau apartment from those times, including furniture, kitchen utensils, TV set, etc.

The visit is usually guided, so you can ask all your questions about the items you see.

Opening times are really short: Only Sundays between 2 and 4 pm.

Tripadvisor profile

Museum in der Kulturbrauerei: How East Germans Lived

The Museum in der Kulturbrauerei in Prenzlauer Berg shows the daily life of East Germans with many original items like clothing, cars, camping items, prints, and flags. It also covers a long time span, from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Tripadvisor profile

Historic Gas Lamps

Not actually a museum in the sense of a building: Positioned right at the S-Bahn station Tiergarten, Gaslaternen Freilichtmuseum displays a collection of old gas lamps – not only from Berlin but from all across Europe. They are even illuminated every day at dusk.

Tripadvisor profile

Local Museums: The History of Your District

Berlin, as it exists today, only came into being in 1920. Before that, many of the current districts were independent cities with their own histories. If you’re curious about the area you're living in, definitely check out your district’s museums. You can see old photographs and maps, and many original items, like an original historic classroom at Mitte Museum.

Map

Open a map of free museums

Even More

The city of Berlin lists all of their free museums on their website. So just follow there if you need more inspiration. And besides these listed, you get free entry to all Berlin museums run by the city if you’re receiving social welfare like ALG II, Sozialhilfe, Grundsicherung.

Cheap German Internet & Phone Providers Compared

Georg Jähnig — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 00:00:00 +0000

So I assume things went well for you, you’ve found a cheap apartment in Berlin’s crazy rental market, you’ve got also an electricity provider – and now you need the get the next step on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: Internet!

Luckily, this is pretty easy, at least within city limits of Berlin (and other big German cities). And to get the best deal I recommend this comparison tool by Check24* that is regularly updated.

Check24 is one of the biggest German comparison services: They compare not only Internet providers but also electricity and gas contracts for your home. And not only do they compare the various providers on the market – they often also have exclusive deals. So it can be cheaper to order a contract via Check24 than on the contract provider’s own website.

So, let’s finally start with comparing!

And below the table, I give you also some general hints and best practices for making a contract with a German internet provider.

(And if you just want a quick tl;dr: Take Vodafone. I’ve used them for years, they are pretty cheap and their customer service never disappointed me, even called me back on my mobile number after I had an issue.)

Open the Check24 Internet comparison^[1]

How to use the Check24 comparison and order form?

You can change the parameters in the form above and let the results recalculate.

To understand everything better, I’ve also made a video for the whole article. So either you can read about every step, from finding the best plan to ordering it, or just watch how it works.

What is my Area code?

The table is asking you for your (phone) area code. That’s the code that all landline numbers start with in your city. If you don’t know what that code is, simply check on this website by entering your city name or zip code. For Berlin, it is 030, which is the preset.

What Internet connection types are there?

The table offers contracts of 3 connection types:

DSL (phone line)
Cable (TV line)
LTE (mobile)

The types are not so easy to see in the table.

DSL is the most often one: It uses your phone line. If the contract name in the table does not contain cable or mobile, it’s a DSL connection.

Cable comes via your cable TV line. Those offers contain the word “cable”. (And don’t get confused: Even if the offer contains TV service, it can come via DSL. 😉)

LTE/mobile plans contain “mobile” and are quite new on the market: They can be pretty useful if you’re moving a lot. But you need to make sure that you have good mobile reception at your place.

Which bandwidth should I select?

16 MBit/s sounds low but is probably fine if you want to surf the web and watch Youtube clips. I’ve had it for 2 years and could not complain, only the upload of my Youtube vids was too slow. So I’ve changed to 50 MBit/s with 10 MBit/s upload and that’s good now.

Note also that DSL is often limited anyway: In many areas, more than 50 MBit isn’t possible.

What’s the ideal contract term? Really 24 months? What if I move out before?

One big issue is often: “For how long should I commit to a provider? Really for 2 years? Maybe I’m moving out before.” So some people prefer a short-term contract, even if it means paying more.

If you have doubts about signing a 2-year contract, here’s what you should know:

In case you move to another place during that time, you are allowed by law to transfer your contract to your new place. And if the provider cannot offer its service at your new place (or if they can offer only a slower connection) then you have the right to cancel the contract before (German: Sonderkündigungsrecht).

This is why I’m fine with my 2-year term.

And in fact, most cheap offers are only available with a long-term contract.

Beware: (Wifi) Router often costs extra

If the offer doesn’t contain something like Router inclusive, then you either must:

rent a router from your provider (some 2 EUR/month extra)
bring your own (compatible) router

What is a Cashback?

Many of the cheap offers come with a Cashback: This means that Check24 will pay you back some money after you’ve successfully ordered the contract. For that, you need to send your first monthly bill of your internet provider per mail to dsl-bonus@check24.de. After checking that bill, they will transfer the Cashback money to your bank account.

After clicking continue

When you’ve found your favourite offer and want to order it, you should click on continue. You will then be redirected to the actual Check24 website.

Summarized contact details

On the first page, you will see the whole contract details summarized again: A table will list all the costs, separated by einmalig (one-time) and monatlich (monthly).

You will notice that the monthly costs are often higher than just seen in the table before. That’s because Check24 also factors in all the bonuses that you get:

Basically, Check24 will list all the costs that will add up during the contract term (e.g. 24 months),
then subtract all the bonuses and cashbacks,
and that sum will be divided by 24 months. This will be your effective monthly rate (Effektivpreis).

Optionen (router, extras)

In the next step, you can add options. As already mentioned, a router is often not part of the package. So in case you don’t have your own, you need to rent one from your provider for a monthly fee. Look for a WLAN (=Wifi) router.

Ihr Anschluss / Wünsche (connection / extra wishes)

Here they first want to know:

Art des Gebäudes: What type of building you are living in:
- Einfamilienhaus: single-family house
- Mehrfamilienhaus: apartment building (in Berlin: probably your house)
  - Vorderhaus/Hinterhaus: front / rear building
  - Etage: level
    - Erdgeschoss: ground level
    - 1. Etage: 1st level
    - … (note that in Germany, the ground level is the 0th level, and counting starts only the first level above the ground)
  - Wohnung (links, mitte, rechts): Apartment position (left, middle, right)
Besteht ein laufender Vertrag?: Is there an existing (internet) contract (in your name)? In case you newly moved in, put Nein/No. If you put Ja/Yes, pick the name of your current provider.
Anschlusstermin: Contract start date
- schnellstmöglich: as soon as possible
- Wunschtermin: custom date

Here’s some bad news: Starting a DSL contract can take up to 3 weeks because your provider often first needs to get back to the company owning the phone lines in your house.

Einzelverbindungsnachweis: Itemized bill. This is mostly a privacy thingy: Here you pick whether all the numbers of the phone calls you’ll make via your new contract shall be listed on your invoices fully, shortened or not at all.
- kein: none
- verkürzt: shortened
- vollständig: full

If you pick fully or shortened, you need to acknowledge this by clicking the checkbox that all your flatmates in your apartment will know about this.

Kundendaten (address, payment details)

This starts with Anschlussadresse, so the address of your home that shall get Internet connection:

E-Mail-Adresse: email address
Anrede: salutation
Geburtsdatum: birthdate (in day-month-year format)
Handynummer für Rückfragen: mobile phone number for questions. Note that this must not start with +49! So a number like +49152123… should be typed in as 0152123..
PLZ / Ort: Postal code, city
Straße / Hausnr.: Street and house number. Note that street is actually an autocomplete box: You start typing but then available streets appear below, and you need to pick one of those.
Diese Adresse auch als Lieferanschrift (für Hardware/Zubehör) nutzen: asks whether that address is also the one to send the hardware to. Leave it checked.

Next is Zahlungsdaten (payment details):

Bankdaten (Kontonummer/BLZ, IBAN): Simply pick IBAN.
Abweichender Kontoinhaber?: If the bank account belongs to someone else. Probably No.
IBAN: Enter your IBAN account number. (It can be any European account in EUR. If you don’t have a German bank account yet, find here a free one.)

Your monthly payments will be automatically withdrawn from that bank account per direct debit (Lastschrift). If that sounds dangerous to you, then don’t be worried: It’s very normal in Germany, plus you usually have the right to undo such withdrawals. Read more on Wikipedia about Lastschrift.

My tips

Having lived nearly all my life in Berlin at several places, here are some little tips that I also follow.

Many internet connections never use their full bandwidth, so before you subscribe to your own contract paying maybe 20 EUR per month, you might consider finding a friendly neighbour who is willing to share his or her connection for maybe 10 EUR.

Yes, the disadvantage is that in case the connection is broken and they are on holidays you might be offline for a while – on the other hand you meet your neighbours.

Long-term: Cancel right after signing

A typical “trap” is often that customers sign a 2-year contract, then forget about it and then it gets automatically extended year after year (sometimes even with raising rates!). Often the cancellation periods are easy to miss as some providers require you to cancel even 3 months before the contract ends – and if you miss, you are tied for another year.

To avoid that, and especially if you are a forgetful person, cancel your long-term contract in advance, maybe even immediately after signing.

Don’t worry, now the provider will think about you when the contract is about to end, and make you nice offers to keep you as their customer.

This one actually deserves its own article, but for now: Do not do any (torrent) file sharing! (At least not without a VPN connection.)

In the moment you send out some copyrighted material using your IP onto a file sharing network, the content owners (or their lawyers) can record your IP, go to your Internet provider, receive your address and send you a pesky Abmahnung, claiming some hundreds of Euros from you.

So make sure your Torrent clients are switched off, and also make your visiting friends aware of this before you share your WiFi data with them.

This is an affiliate link. If you click on it and then buy something or sign up for a service, I may earn some money. This does not change the price for you. ↩︎

Cheap & Fair Laptop Insurance

Georg Jähnig — Wed, 22 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Background Story

From the beginning of this year, my texts typed on my laptop looked like this… The E letter on my keyboard was broken, well, not always – but I had to hit it really hard and long. Not really convenient, especially if you want to write “cheap” but what comes out is “chap”.

So while getting by with an external keyboard I checked repair options, and after some detours at regular Mac shops (“oh, sorry, can’t help you, machine too old”) I found the guys at Notebook-Lounge.

They could not only help my 2011 MacBook Pro, replacing its keyboard with a new one (for 200 EUR), but they also told me about an insurance option called Wertgarantie that would have covered this damage.

At first I didn’t want to hear more about it because usually such insurance is overpriced and either covers only rare cases, or you need to pay a high deductible from your own pocket.

Wertgarantie Offer

So I’ll start with the price: 8 EUR per month, no deductible.

For this rate, they promise to cover:

water / moisture damage
fall / crash damages
display / panel / glass-break
battery defects
overvoltage
improper handling
material defects

In case of a total loss, they even promise to pay a compensation which in the case of my 2011 MacBook Pro would be around 150 EUR.

Additionally, this insurance – it’s called Geräte-Komplettschutz – offers to include an Anschlussgerät, meaning any device that you connect to the main device. So in case of my laptop, this is my printer. This printer is now also insured – within the 8 EUR per month for the laptop.

Pretty good offer, isn’t it?

More options

So I subscribed – and decided to share it with you. And this is also not only about laptops: You can also insure other electronics, e.g.:

TV
Camera
Smartphone / Tablet
Washing machine
Fridge
etc.

(However I’m not sure if the values of these devices and rates are worth it – just check it with their calculator.)

Get It In Person

You can get the insurance via the Wertgarantie website – but I recommend going in person to one of their partner shops (like Notebook-Lounge in Prenzlauer Berg). These partner shops seem to know all the little advantages and options and will counsel you to get the best options possible. And then in the case of a damage, you can also bring your laptop directly to the shop for the repair, without filling out any paperwork.

Go to Wertgarantie

Rent a Cargo Bike for Free

Georg Jähnig — Fri, 20 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Overview

As the weather warms up in the city, you have an alternative to your usual method of transporting medium-sized items. Instead of renting a car to move things from A to B, you can now use the free service provided by fLotte Berlin.

Cargo bikes to rent for free, © fLotte Berlin

They offer the rental of freight, box, and cargo bikes – without any fee. No strings attached. All you need to do is:

Register on their website
Check the calendar to see when a bike is available
Book it for free

Currently, they have 9 bikes, located at 7 different locations around the city (health food stores, cafés, bike repair shops).

How to Rent

First, register a free account on their site.
Then check the calendar to see when the next bike is available.
To select a bike, click on its name in the left column. Click on the day you want to rent it (available days are highlighted in green).
Click on Jetzt buchen (book now) at the bottom.

The first time you book, go to the location and pick up the bike. Remember to check the opening hours of the place, as you can only pick up and return the bike during these times. You also need to bring your ID card or passport and something that verifies your address, such as your Meldebescheinigung (which is required for their insurance and will be copied).

Why Is It Free?

The entire project is supported by the ADFC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club – German Cyclist’s Association). Their goal is to promote bicycle riding and contribute to a greener city with cleaner air and fewer cars. Sounds reasonable. 👍

Go to fLotte Berlin

How to Heat Correctly and Stop Mould

Georg Jähnig — Tue, 02 Jan 2018 00:00:00 +0000

Know Your System

First, figure out what kind of heating system is in your apartment. There are two common types: central heating and gas heating.

System 1: Central Heating

If you have central heating, it’s easy to manage. Central heating warms water in one central place, often in the basement, and then sends the hot water through pipes to your apartment. The warmth in your rooms depends on how you set the thermostat on your radiator.

How a Thermostat Works

Most likely, your radiator has a thermostat. It’s important to know how it works to heat your apartment properly.

A thermostat

The numbers from 0 to 5 on the thermostat don’t show the heating power directly. Instead, they represent the desired temperature. Set it to your preferred level (1 to 5) and wait until the room reaches that temperature. The thermostat has a thermometer that stops heating when the room is warm enough and starts again if the temperature drops.

How to Use a Thermostat

Unlike air conditioning, you can’t set the exact temperature; you choose a level from 0 to 5. You might need to adjust it by trial and error.

Heating Up

Setting the thermostat to a higher level doesn’t make the room heat up faster. For example, if you return home to a cold room, setting the thermostat to 5 won’t warm it up quickly. Set it to your preferred level (e.g., level 3) and let it work.

When Leaving

When you’re away for a few hours or a day, don’t turn the thermostat off completely. Set it to level 1 or 2 instead. Keep the room temperature above 17 degrees to avoid cooling down surfaces, which makes it more expensive and time-consuming to heat up again. Cooler air can also cause mould.

Antifreeze Setting

Some thermostats have a star (*) setting called Frostschutz (frost protection). This keeps the radiator off unless the temperature is so low that the water in the pipes could freeze. Avoid opening windows wide for hours on cold days, as the radiator will start heating again after a while.

System 2: Gas Heating

If your apartment uses gas heating, it’s a bit more complex. With gas heating, a gas heater in your apartment warms the water for your radiators and heats your hot water for showering.

Central controller of a gas heating system

Gas heating systems have a central controller, usually in one room of the apartment. You can set temperatures for day and night. The central controller turns on the gas heater if the room temperature is lower than your desired temperature.

Because of this, the thermostat in the room with the central controller should usually be set to maximum. If it’s set to 0 or a low number, the gas heater will keep running without warming up the radiator.

Problem in Shared Apartments

In shared apartments, conflicts can occur. If your flatmate with the central controller prefers 19°C, but you need 22°C, their setting will make the gas heater stop at 19°C. One solution is for your flatmate to set a slightly higher temperature on the central controller and their thermostat to a lower level (like 4 or 3) so your room can heat up more.

Ventilation

Proper ventilation is important for effective heating. Incorrect ventilation can undo all your heating efforts.

Correct: Several quick, intense ventilations with a fully opened window.
Wrong: Constant ventilation with a tilted window.

Correct (left) and wrong ventilation

For intense ventilation, open the window fully for a short time, depending on the outside temperature:

0 degrees and lower: 2-3 minutes
5 degrees: 5 minutes
10 degrees and higher: 8 minutes

Ventilate at least twice a day, ideally in the morning and evening. Set the thermostat to minimum while ventilating to avoid losing heat.

Mould / Mold

Proper heating and ventilation help prevent mould. If mould has already appeared, keep reading.

How Mould is Created

Mould grows from spores in the air landing on moist surfaces like wallpapers. To prevent mould, keep walls and wallpapers dry.

Moisture can come from:

Outside: Broken pipes or holes in the wall.
Inside: Excessive humidity in the room.

If you have a mouldy wall, especially an exterior wall, it’s likely due to humidity from inside.

Prevent Mould

Humidity inside is often caused by people. To prevent humidity from reaching your walls:

Heat to keep a higher temperature, as warm air holds more water.
Ventilate to remove humid air from the room.

This is especially important if your house is not well-insulated. Mould usually appears on exterior walls and corners, so:

Avoid placing large furniture against exterior walls.
Keep furniture at least 10 cm away from walls.

Remove Mould

If mould appears, clean it with a cleaner containing chlorine:

A special mould cleaner, like the one from Mellerud^[1].
Or Danklorix, available at drugstores or larger supermarkets.

To prevent mould from returning, repaint the area with regular wall paint mixed with fungicide^[1:1] (Fungizid).

Legal Issues

If mould is an issue with your landlord, the general legal situation is:

The landlord must provide an apartment without defects that could easily cause mould.
As a tenant, you must ventilate properly.
The landlord must prove that the apartment has no defects and that you did not ventilate correctly before charging you for any damage.

Consider seeking advice from a free renter’s counseling service.

General Tips

Keep the area in front of the radiator clear.
Let the sun heat your room by opening curtains during the day.
Close curtains at night for insulation.
Be cautious with electric radiators; they use more energy than water radiators.
Close doors between rooms to reduce energy use.
Insulate windows and doors with sealing strips.

That’s all for now. Following these tips should keep your apartment warm and healthy. If you have more suggestions, I’d be happy if you leave them in the comments.

And don’t worry: Spring will be back soon! 😉

This is an affiliate link. If you click on it and then buy something or sign up for a service, I may earn some money. This does not change the price for you. ↩︎ ↩︎

How I Got Two More Hours of Daylight for Free

Georg Jähnig — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 00:00:00 +0000

The Setup

I’ve set all my clocks to Moscow time. Moscow’s time zone is UTC+3, which is two hours ahead of Berlin’s zone (in winter): UTC+1. So when it’s 8 am in the morning in Berlin, it is 10 am in Moscow; when it’s midnight in Berlin, it is 2 am in Moscow.

Let the sun longer shine with Moscow time

Advantages

By using Moscow time in Berlin, life becomes much more convenient:

My supermarket around the house is now opened until midnight; another, farther one even until 2 am.
The S-Bahn operates (on weekdays) even until 3 am.
Doctor and dentist appointments can be made until 8 or even 9 pm.
Same with many phone support hotlines.
Bürgeramt appointments are available until 8 pm.
At lunchtime, my favorite restaurant still offers the full lunch menu when I arrive.
If I had a regular 9-to-5 job, I’d probably be amazed that it only starts at 11 am, and I am getting so much more sleep. Thanks, boss!
And of course: The sun sets not before 6 pm. It’s like spring already!

Perhaps switching to Moscow time should be extraordinarily easy if you actually are from Moscow: No mix-ups in Skype call dates, as all your friends and family are still in the same time zone – you just can brag about how much more daylight there is in Berlin!

The only negative thing: At parties on the weekend, people often wonder why I’m already leaving so early. (“But it’s 2 am already!”)

But what’s also nice is that your computer easily adapts: If you set Moscow as its timezone, it will make Facebook show its events with the timezone added (so like 7 pm UTC+1), which is a nice reminder that the world around you has their clocks still ticking differently. Same works for Google Calendar. But even if you forget about it, at worst you will be early for appointments, not late.

Seriously

“Now, seriously, is this a joke?” – you might ask. And I answer: kind of, kind of not.

Here’s the thing: if you’re actually missing daylight in wintertime but then often you sleep in the morning when it’s already light, then you’re apparently acting ineffectively.

And now you could change that going the way that you try to “get up earlier”, “eat earlier”, and “not stay up so late at night”. However, this requires constantly reminding yourself about it and a lot of willpower.

But I’m lazy: I don’t want to adapt all my habits and triggers just because the season changes.

This is like the other, the Moscow time way: I simply keep doing what I do, and leave all my triggers and habits in place.

Looking at my clock at 10 am tells me: Oh, that’s late, I should get up.
Seeing “2 pm” makes me think of lunch.
“7 pm”: I should go home and have dinner.
“Midnight / 1 am”: Really late already, should go to bed.

So all my current triggers keep working as they did; no adjustment, no willpower needed. And I get two hours more of sun for free. Easy, isn’t it?

So when the semi-annual switch is made to and from Daylight Savings Time, I will go the other way around: In March, when DST is switched on, I will switch back from Moscow time to actual Berlin (DST) time. (As in summer, there is plenty of daylight.) But when in October, DST is switched back, I will set my clock forward to DST on steroids, aka Moscow time. Because seriously: Who needs a timezone with a sunset at 4 pm?!

Save 50% on cigarettes in Poland

Georg Jähnig — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Ticket

We will go by train to Frankfurt/Oder and then by bus to Słubice, Poland. This trip is free if we already have the Deutschland Ticket – which I strongly recommend having anyway

Trip

The following connection works every hour – even on weekends! (Some minutes may vary though, better check the online timetable before your trip.)

Getting There


RE 1 to Frankfurt/Oder, get on at any stop
Berlin Zoologischer Garten	18:15
Berlin Hauptbahnhof	18:21
Berlin Friedrichstraße	18:25
Berlin Alexanderplatz	18:28
Berlin Ostbahnhof	18:33
Frankfurt/Oder	19:26
Bus 983 to Słubice, Poland
Frankfurt/Oder Bahnhof	19:40
Słubice, Collegium Polonicum (first stop after the bridge)	19:48

Bus 983 to Słubice, Poland

Returning to Berlin


Bus 983 to Frankfurt/Oder Bahnhof (station)
Słubice, Plac Frankfurcki (different stop than the one we arrived!)	20:09
Frankfurt/Oder Bahnhof	20:18
RE 1 to Brandenburg
Frankfurt/Oder	20:33
Berlin Ostbahnhof	20:26
Berlin Alexanderplatz	21:32
Berlin Friedrichstraße	21:35
Berlin Hauptbahnhof	21:39
Berlin Zoologischer Garten	21:45

Cigarette Stores

Right after the border, you will find a massive number of shops selling cigarettes. Choose any you like; the shops differ less by prices but more by variety.

Map of Słubice

The bus stop where you arrive
Some bigger cigarette stores (opened 24h)
The bus stop where you depart

At the shops, you can also pay in Euro (the Polish currency is still złoty). The shops calculate their prices daily based on the exchange rate and show them on LED panels outside, like gas stations show fuel prices.

Cigarettes shop

How Much Can I Bring?

By law, one person is allowed to carry 800 cigarettes when passing an inner EU border. That is 4 cartons of cigarettes (each carton having 10 packages).

Carry Your ID / Passport

Although Poland is part of the Schengen Area where no regular border control occurs anymore, some sporadic checks still happen – so better carry your identity card or passport to avoid any hassle.

Order on Ebay – or Visit Dong Xuan Market

Georg Jähnig — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Intro

We all know how Ebay and Amazon have revolutionized the global market, especially for technology and gadgets. What used to be delivered in several steps from Asia to Europe via various salespeople, each adding their margin, can now be ordered directly from Asia via famous websites.

Electronic Gadgets

The only remaining hurdles are usually long delivery times, not being able to see the product in person before purchase, and the hassle of returns.

At Berlin’s Dong Xuan Center, you’ll find a vast array of products that you might only see online on Ebay, but here you can experience them live. It may not be everything, but it’s certainly close.

Hall number 8, 200 meters long

Shop Types

Dong Xuan Center consists of 8 large halls, each almost 200 meters long, with hallways stretching from one end to the other and various shops lined up on both sides. These shops offer:

Electronics
Clothes
Cosmetics
Nail Studios
Hair Stylists
Household/Kitchen Items
Bicycle Accessories (locks, lights)
Groceries, especially Asian

Nail Studio in Dong Xuan

For example, on my last visit, I bought a wallet, bicycle lights, and a selfie stick/tripod set – all for the same price as one would pay at a Hong Kong-based Ebay reseller.

Household items / bicycle accessories / gift shop

Opening Hours & Directions

Dong Xuan Center is open daily from 10:00 to 20:00 but closed on Tuesdays.

It is located in Lichtenberg, right in front of the tram stop Herzbergstr./Industriegebiet, served by:

Line M8, connecting with Alexanderplatz and the Ringbahn at Landsberger Allee
Line 21, connecting with Friedrichshain / Frankfurter Tor

BerlinCheap.com

Recommended Bank for Expats

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Cheapest E-books, Audio books, Video streaming

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1. Welcome Center Berlin

2. Healthcare Counselling at Berliner Stadtmission

3. Facebook Group Free Advice Berlin

4. Free Renter’s Counselling

5. Social and Legal Advice

6. Free City Service Hotline

7. Repair Cafés

8. Forums: Toytown Germany and Reddit

9. German Language on Stackexchange

Recommended Car Sharing

Overview

Most interesting offer: Getaround

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Urban Nation

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The Allied Museum

German-Russian Museum

Berlin Wall Memorial

Bonus: East Side Gallery

An East German Flat

Museum in der Kulturbrauerei: How East Germans Lived

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Local Museums: The History of Your District

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Cheap German Internet & Phone Providers Compared

How to use the Check24 comparison and order form?

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What Internet connection types are there?

Which bandwidth should I select?

What’s the ideal contract term? Really 24 months? What if I move out before?

Beware: (Wifi) Router often costs extra

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Cheap & Fair Laptop Insurance

Background Story

Wertgarantie Offer

More options

Get It In Person

Rent a Cargo Bike for Free

Overview

How to Rent

Why Is It Free?

How to Heat Correctly and Stop Mould

Know Your System

System 1: Central Heating

How a Thermostat Works

How to Use a Thermostat

Heating Up