Saving costs

How can I save costs?

Saving rental costs:

• The cheapest way to live in Austria is in a shared apartment. Independent people (men and women, mostly students) share a kitchen, living room, bathroom, but they have their own private bedroom. This is a fantastic opportunity to make friends and practise German. It is best to find a shared apartment (in German: “Wohngemeinschaft” or “WG”) on the internet:
  • www.bazar.at
  • www.wg-gesucht.de
  • Use Google to find a shared apartment (WG) in your town
  • You should join the many groups on Facebook that show currently available rooms in shared apartment.
• The further away the apartment is from the city centre or an U-Bahn station, the cheaper the rent will be.
• Compare the rental costs between the city districts, for example in Vienna.
• Old buildings (built before 1945) are cheaper. How much an apartment in an old building is allowed to cost you, you can calculate here.
• The bigger the apartment, the cheaper it is per square meter. Take for example a 50m² apartment that costs €600 per month and compare to it a 120m² apartment for €1200 per month. The smaller one costs €12 per 1m² and the bigger one €8.30 per 1m². Think about moving into a bigger apartment with friends or another family to save money in the beginning. In Austria, it is normal to change apartments on a regular basis.
• Yes, your first apartment in Austria is probably going to be too expensive and not very nice. Don’t worry about it. Concentrate on your job and improving your German skills. Make sure that you earn money, save some of it and then you can go look for a better apartment.

Cheap shopping:

• You can buy cheap furniture at Carla Second-Hand Shops (information in German) everywhere in Austria.
• Go to a “Kost-Nix-Laden” or “Umsonstladen”. You can get things that you might need for free there – find out here (information in German) how this works and where these shops can be found in Austria.
• “Sozialmärkte” (social shops) offer products at reduced prices. You can find a Sozialmarkt near you:
  • List of all Sozialmärkte in Vienna (information in German)
  • Looking for a Sozialmarkt in Linz on Google.
  • Looking for a Sozialmarkt in Tyrol on Google.
  • Looking for a Sozialmarkt in my town, for example Kuchl, on Google.

• You can find a lot of swap meets in Austria where you can swap goods, services and skills. Have a look at these examples:
  • Share & Care Facebook-group in Vienna
  • Tauschkreise (swap circles; information in German) in Salzburg

• Do you want to plant your own vegetables? Then participate in one of the many community gardens in Austria! You might also find friends there. Find out how this works and where the gardens are located on this website.

Some things you can get for free:

• There are a lot of trees in Austria where you are allowed to pick fruits for free. Type in your address on the website and have a look which trees are available near you.