Cost of living in Hungary

sent by pepez in Apr 2007

Budapest:

Rental flat: 40 sq.meter studio plus heating, water and electricity 80 000HUF

Cable Internet and tv: 8000 HUF

Monthly pass for public transportation: 7350 HUF

Education is mostly free - I don't know about foreigners.

Public health care: 300 HUF per visit. I don't know much about quality - I haven't had serious problems.

Private dentist: Check up and clean up - 12 000 HUF

Food is cheap if it is produced here or nearby and if it is right season.

Computers are more expensive than in Finland, Germany or Switzerland.

Plus: If you work under hungarian taxation you will face quite hard taxes.
Short example of income tax levels in Hungary

The common fees for the building need to be added to the rent above, plus finding an apartment for 80,000 Huf is more difficult now than ever. If you have a water meter, you have to add in another bill.

Cable Internet is cheaper if you can sign a 2 year contract, but if not, it is more than quoted above if you want decent Internet speed. It also depends on where you live and which companies service that area, though UPC is almost everywhere now.

Education is free for Hungarians only. Others have to pay tuition.

Transportation monthly pass is now 8,250 Huf. It includes all forms of transport within the Budapest city limits.

Public health care was 300 Huf per visit, but that was withdrawn after public protest. However, you have to have Hungarian health insurance to see a public doctor. There are private clinics which are quite pricey. American Clinic is one example. Bring your credit card, you will need it.

Hungary is known for its dentistry and people come from all over Europe for cheap and excellent quality dentistry. My dentist is excellent and only charges 5,000 Huf for a cleaning.

Produce is cheap if grown here, however, the selection is very limited. All other foods have increased 11% annually.

For excellent no brand computers, look for the Qwerty store. I have a laptop and desktop from them and both are excellent.

Taxes are horrendous.

Let's compare the:

*(accommodation prices: It depends on what you are happy with. Some friends share flats with a bunch of ppl for 20 - 30,000 a month. I pay 95,000 which I share with a roomate. Many foreigners pay more because they can afford it and want big spacious modern flats.

> public transportation fares (tube, bus etc ...)In Debrecen, the second largest city, the monthly tram pass (all that is really necessary) is 1450 ft, but tram and bus is about 3000ft.

> food prices(per month, how much does it cost you?): I spend about 20,000ft a month myself. Fresh food and local produce really help take that price down, and it can be less with the less foreign spices and mixes you need. Tesco is not have more branded items, so you can get previously very expensive things for much  cheaper.

> health prices (for those who need medical insurance): It is about 20,000ft for medical insurance, but I am a student and I get mine through the university. Many other foreigners use their home insurance, especially since the EU is covered entirely by their home country.

> eduction prices (if you need to pay): Tuition for a semester is 8000 USD, but loans are obtainable from your home country government if you are American or Scandanavian. Otherwise it is usually out of pocket. For any permanent resident or citizen of Hungary, it is free.

> energy prices (oil, electricity)
> common bills (Internet, television, telephone, mobile phone): Bills in general for me are about 20,000ft a month, all inclusive, except for mobiles.Internet and telephone vary extremely depending on the service and level of service you choose. For gas, many of the older communist buildings have central heating, where you cannot control your bills, as the usage for the whole building is split between the tenants. Also some building here have very high ceilings, which are hard to heat with radiator heating. So you need to pick and choose. Older buildings have cheaper rent, but higher bills. And it is always cheaper to live with someone.

Mobile are extremely expensive, both in the phone themselves and credit on them. The only way a foreigner can get a contract phone is if they basically sublet a Hungarian's contract. Most only have pre-paid SIMs which add up!

> prices of a good menu in a traditional restaurant: It all depends on the restaurant. I have had dinner/lunch for 450ft,and up to 5000ft. Foreign foods, like Japanese, or Indian is obviously more expensive, because its in high demand and hard to get the spices/ingredients, and so on. But you can have a decent meal at a restaurant for about 2000ft or less.

> prices of a beer or a coffee in a regular pub: Beer is cheap, coffee is cheap, Cocktails are not, but cheaper than western Europe and the US.

Thanks in advance for your participation!

As an addendum to my last note, it was just announced that the cost of electricity and gas will probably rise 8-10% next year. Hungary already has the highest electricity rates in Europe.

Public transport passes are going up 7% in January. They are not separated by types of transportation. One pass is applicable for everything. They are planning on doing away with the night bus tickets, which were experimental, but individual tickets are going up too. Daily passes will be valid for a full 24 hours unlike now where they are only valid on the day of purchase.

> accommodation prices - we are in Somogy county, 50km from Kaposvar and 25 from Barcs (Croatian border). We have rented a small holiday home for a year (since 5 years) and we pay about 2300 Euro per year in rent. We could have probably gotten it cheaper or rent a house that has only wood heating instead of Gas.
As for Gas, water & electricity prices, I would have to add up the last bills.
We just came back in May after a year in Kuwait, so I'm a bit lost right now for that.
Compared to other European countries it is still fairly cheap, but the increase in the last two years is over 15% if I'm not wrong (plus tax increase).

> public transportation fares - no idea, but I can try to find out

> food prices- will add this end of the month

> health prices - no idea

> eduction prices - no idea

> energy prices - will try to add that later (like mentioned above)

> common bills - Internet: even in our remote area the mobile Internet connection got better in the last half year and you have a decent reception which costs usually 5000Ft per month but often has special offers of 2500 like the last 3 months and is from T-Mobile. I also have a prepaid card with them which is fairly cheap, depending on where you call.

> prices of a good menu in a traditional restaurant - depends on where you buy it (like Budapest or my neighborhood In a rural area you can get away with approx. 3500-4500 FT for two people and more than enough food

> prices of a beer or a coffee in a regular pub - beer for approx 200 Ft (local half liter brew in a bottle) and about the same price for the local strong coffee. About half the price for the favorite Wine/water mix they drink here.

(I'll try to update this in the next few weeks)

Energy prices V Expensive and rising:

2003: Gas (monthly) 9000 ft
2008: Gas (monthly) 33500 ft

2003 Electricity (monthly) 4000 ft
2008 Electricity (monthly) 24500 ft

Thanks, Andrew!
That saves me the time going through our files & fits what my memory says.

I think that on the whole food prices are about on a par with those of the UK.  I could tell you that we pay about 70,000 Huf per month on food shopping (2 adults and 2 small kids)- about the equivalent of what we spent in the UK.  Fruit and vegetables are cheaper in the local market- it is really nice to shop there.
I can't comment on most of the other things as we do not cover those.

I'd have to say for any foreign foods, prices are pretty expensive, more so than the US for sure. But for fresh foods, like cheese, and fresh produce, it can be very cheap indeed. I love going to my local produce stand. I can get so much for very little money.

I have just had my personal possessions insured by Allianz- it was 11500 Huf (about £37) for the year- really cheap compared to the UK.  I would recommend them as the website is in English as well as Hungarian and the helpline had English speakers.  My local agent has even put me in touch with a Hungarian teacher.

Read it on your blog yesterday.
If I really stay here the whole next year, I'll get in touch with you!

We've certainly seen the cost of living rise rapidly since I first visited Hungary 5 years ago. Back then we reckoned we could live here for about £50 a week, now we spend £150+ and don't live a lavish lifestyle. This year we'll grow our own veg and make more wine.
Some things that aren't mentioned above:
I work in a kindergarten and English lessons are 500huf per child, per lesson. My wife works for an English language school and the cost of 4 lessons has just gone up to over 7,000huf per child based on a minimum of 4 children per class.
We have wood burning stoves and expect to pay around 70,000huf per year on wood depending on the length of winter.
Insurance is cheap. My 125cc motorbike costs around 9,000 huf per year to insure.

rent a flat in budapest: 50 000 HUF (1 room, basic), 100 000 HUF < (modern, designer)
cheaper in smaller cities
flat overhead: 30-50 000 HUF
healtcare: free if you pay the taxes, but on very low level, recommended to visit private doctors, 1 visit ~ 7-10 000 HUF
cable internet: 5-10 000 HUF
food:
mcdonalds menu: 1120 HUF
small restaurant: menu 800-1000 HUF
better restaurants: 2000 HUF/course
1 kg bread: 150 HUF
1 kg cheese: 1000 HUF
glass of wine: 1000 HUF (good quality: 3000-5000 HUF <)
coffee: 300 (basic) - 1000 HUF (good restaurant)
transportation:
public transportation (budapest): 9000 HUF/month
single ticket: 290 HUF (for one trip without change)
benzine: 270 HUF/l
taxi: 300 HUF + 240HUF/km (but always check the price, dont trust the drivers!)
books: average: 2500-5000 HUF
cellphones: ~30-50 HUF/minute inside the country
education:
language course: 1 month intensive: 50 000 HUF,
1 hour lesson: 3000 HUF
i hope i could help:)
come here its a beautiful country:)

could one live on $550.00 us dollars comfortable in miskolc??I know the dollar is weak at this time but i would like someone from hungary  opinion thank you

It depends on what you are doing there and who is with you. I think it is not enough. As a single person, to just survive and have a vaguely reasonable life you need at least USD 1000 a month nett.

I live in the suburbs of Budapest with my wife and our two little kids and our (quite nice) apartment costs alone are more than EUR 600 a month.

Nope, not enough, I think.
The exchange rate will kick your butt - it always does for us

Not enough.  An apartment alone would eat up most of this.  Hungary is not the cheap place that many people abroad think. 

I have been discussing this job offer with a company in Debrecen and been trying to get my head around to comparing the income levels & expenses in Hungary with those here in Singapore (as this is where I currently work although I am originally from Finland).

It seems that rents are quite low in Hungary although other expenses can be comparatively higher. For example here in Singapore I pay $3K Singapore dollars rent per month for my 120 sq.m. apartment (condo) with swimming pool (this is about 1500 euros). The cost of water+gas+electricity for this apartment varies betw 280-360 Sing dollars/month (I guess depending on how much we use air cond). On another hand a McDonalds/Burger King/KFC meal here is only about 6-8 Sing dollars (3-4 euros), a haircut is about 10 Sing dollars (5 euros), and a 25 minute taxi trip is about 14 Sing dollars (7 euros).

Anyway...sorry this is not a thread about living costs in Singapore.

What I was curious about was that the company told me that the average salary in Hungary is less than 1000 euro / month.

That would bring it perhaps below Singapore. Yet some things seem to be more expensive in Hungary than in Singapore.

So what I am curious about is, if the salaries are so low, how do people survive? Do they often live together with family?

Another thing is finding a flat in Hungary...would 500 euros/month be sufficient rental cost for a 120 sq.m. flat in a smaller city such as Debrecen? (Note that I would be perfectly fine with a 'regular' non-condo European style flat as long as it is not in a too bad condition).

Another thing is that I was told that it *could happen* that Hungary gets a lower income tax system next year (they emphasized that it was by far not certain)...has anyone heard about this being a possibility?

What I was curious about was that the company told me that the average salary in Hungary is less than 1000 euro / month.

True. Very.

So what I am curious about is, if the salaries are so low, how do people survive?

A question we often ponder about.
Yes, they often live together with the Rest of the family and most of them still have their own gardens and such.

Can't answer the other questions, sorry

I work in other countries all the time. The way I compare the cost of living is to use various web sites to look at living expenses in other countries based upon per diems. Ok, this is not entirely fair but then again, it's hard to find information. The one I use mostly is the US State department Department of Allowances (I'm not an American) so I also go the other way by using the Economist Big Mac index to make sure it's ballpark correct.

Mostly this gives you something of a basis for comparing relative living costs somewhat (but there are some strange distortions so common sense applies). Here are the maximum claimable costs from the US government (in USD):

SINGAPORE US Gov PER DIEMS

HUNGARY US Gov PER DIEMS

As you can see from the links, Singapore is extraordinarily expensive with seasonal variations compared to Hungary.

In Hungary itself, EUR 1000 is about right for an office worker in the private sector. An ordinary government employee office worker might get EUR 800 a month, a top level one, EUR 2000-2500. 

It would help if you could say something about what you are doing generally in Debrecen. Imported expatriate labour in specialisations like telecoms or IT get a lot more money. Everyone here is struggling against high taxes and poor services. Lots of people give up and just leave and go to other countries like Germany, Austria the UK or elsewhere where there are far more opportunities and they are more appreciated.

thank you for the reply, it answered alot of questions for me.

Couple of other things I forgot to say:

We have VAT here at 25% on "luxury" consumer goods which is just about the highest in Europe. Compare that to Luxembourg at 14% or the UK at 15% (at the moment). Imported goods are stupidly expensive or not available - it can be cheaper just to drive to another country and buy it.

Car registration taxes are also just obscenely high (we might even say criminally high). Many people are driving foreign registered cars. You see some ridiculous number places on cars here which I suspect are mostly "false" registrations intended to avoid the registration taxes. Today I saw a Mercedes with a plate from the Cook Islands (where???). In the past I've seen unusual ones like Nigeria, Paraguay and Vanuatu (!!!). Quebec, Ontario, Florida and other North American plates are pretty common here. There are also a lot of British and Slovakian cars. UK cars are expat Hungarians I expect. Slovak ones are just here on cheap registrations from Hungarian areas across the border!!

Thanks for your replies.

The US government per diem allowance lists are a neat idea.

Based on those it indeed seems that Hungary is considerably less expensive than Singapore.

Although looking at the earlier posting by "st" it does not really seem a lot cheaper, except perhaps in rents(?) For example the cost of eating at a restaurants seems more expensive than here in Singapore.

mcdonalds menu: 1120 HUF
Singapore: ~3-4 Euro

small restaurant: menu 800-1000 HUF
Singapore hawker centres: 2-4 euro/course

better restaurants: 2000 HUF/course
Singapore restaurants such as Swansons restaurant chain: 5-8 euro/course

public transportation (budapest): 9000 HUF/month
Singapore: 25 euros/month would be more than enough for taking you to the office and back home if you live at the opposite end of the line from the office

bread here costs between 60-80 euro cents per loaf but it is not quite a 1 kg loaf (more like a 750g one)

eggs here cost between 1 and 2.50 euros for a dozen depending on whether one wants some special type of eggs or the plain regular ones.

milk here costs between 1 - 1.30 euros depending on whether it is the regular type or lactose free.

(above prices use the exchange rate of 1 Euro = 2 SGD)

So now I am wondering about where the US government gets their basis for calculating those per diem costs...I mean, why they give so much higher rate for Singapore than for Hungary.

By the way personal income tax is very low here in Singapore. If you earn, lets say, 50K euros per year the income tax is only about 6%. But it does not provide any health care, for example. So one still needs to get a health insurance, although in some cases the persons employer provides that.

Car registration costs and the cost of cars themselves, on another hand, are ridiculously high also here in Singapore. Luckily this island is tiny so I do not need one:P

It would help if you could say something about what you are doing generally in Debrecen.

I am in IT, specialized in HP Openview software.

So now I am wondering about where the US government gets their basis for calculating those per diem costs...I mean, why they give so much higher rate for Singapore than for Hungary.

It wouldn't surprise me if that list is 10 years old.
There are not many Americans left in Hungary that still get a per diem for their work.

Per diems would be paid to visiting government personnel - for example delegations.  These are the maximum amounts claimable. Lower amounts would also be accepted. The bizarre thing is that one is encouraged to claim up to this amount - e.g. stay in the best hotels etc. However, sensibly there's a "buy American" policy so if there are choices between a cheaper but OK French hotel, they will choose the more expensive US owned one. Same with airlines, fly American. To get around this, people use code shares with American flight numbers.

The date the per diem is compiled is shown on the right hand side of the table entry. The US undertakes surveys in each location to establish the per diem. It's not entirely as simple as it seems. For example, a posting to Afghanistan gives you danger pay. The UN also has tables for cost of living but if you compare them with other organisations they are all approximately the same.

jjoensuu wrote:

I am in IT, specialized in HP Openview software.

You have easily transferable skills. I would not recommend coming to Hungary and being employed on the basis of being a Hungarian employee on a Hungarian salary. You would be far better off staying in Singapore or going to another country with a better run economy. Hungary has huge national debt which means that taxes will remain high for a long time or/and services will drop to a bare level. Hungary is known for its poor economic management despite its ability to attract inward investment. There's a general sentiment that Hungarians can never succeed at home but almost always do abroad. The only comfortable way to be here is as an expatriate package.

For jobs, places like Germany or the UK are the obvious European choices. They are much larger and better organised economies than Hungary and the opportunities and industry there are much wider.

yes I have also a tentative position in Netherlands, which I think would probably be a better choice than Hungary.

cheers

I've lived in the Netherlands several times. It's a better bet for sure.

The company in Hungary provided me this link for living costs in Hungary:
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/co … ry=Hungary

The same site seems to have information for Singapore as well:
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/co … rrency=EUR

And the site can also show the cities side by side:
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/co … =Singapore

On another hand, although the Singapore rates seem correct (expect for the price of beer on the market, which is considerably cheaper than that indicated), the site seems to rely on volunteers to keep the data updated. In the long run that could be an issue...


By the way here is another question about Hungary: are there big differences in NON-rent living costs between locations such as Budapest and cities near the eastern border (such as in Debrecen)?

thanks

jjoensuu wrote:

By the way here is another question about Hungary: are there big differences in NON-rent living costs between locations such as Budapest and cities near the eastern border (such as in Debrecen)?

Nice web site on living cost comparisons.

It's marginally cheaper to live further East or anywhere in the countryside further West too. Your largest costs are food and energy whose prices are national, then the price differences are negligible. Service industry costs (hairdresser,plumber etc) will be cheaper but those are not core living costs. Not enough differences to worry about.

Thank you for that, fluffy2560.

fluffy2560 wrote:

jjoensuu wrote:

By the way here is another question about Hungary: are there big differences in NON-rent living costs between locations such as Budapest and cities near the eastern border (such as in Debrecen)?

Nice web site on living cost comparisons.

It's marginally cheaper to live further East or anywhere in the countryside further West too. Your largest costs are food and energy whose prices are national, then the price differences are negligible. Service industry costs (hairdresser,plumber etc) will be cheaper but those are not core living costs. Not enough differences to worry about.

Hi!

I'm local, and I'd argue with Fluffy2560: There is a significant gap in prices and living expenses between the capital city Budapest, and anywhere else in Hungary. I would say life is at least twice as expensive in Budapest than in any of the towns (no other real cities in the country). Part of that is of course the lack of supply, you won't be spending much on movies in a town without a cinema :-)

Someone mentioned Debrecen, somebody else Miskolc, both of those are far enough from Budapest to make a difference both in the price, and the quality of life. (I guess most people here would prefer the city, I live in a village though and like it, albeit it's close enough to Budapest to commute)

Even further out in the rural areas, you can often buy a farmhouse or cottage for a few millions of HUF, definitely below 10.000USD. You probably don't want to though, because you can't recoup your investment.


And one more thing to the main cost of living thread: If you need an internet connection only for basic stuff like checking the mail and some websites, a mobile broadband plan or prepaid card can be cheaper and more convenient than a fixed DSL or cable connection. Also, if you live in a densely populated area in the city, you can most often just use other people's open WiFi access points for free.


Gabor

Hi All,

I have read all the posts here and I still have some doubts. My boyfriend and I are thinking about moving to Budapest and we have been reading different oppinions about the cost of living. I have realised that the taxes are high.

Questions, can somebody help?

1. I have noticed that by average one person spends 80 eur - 20,000 HUF per month in the supermarket . Is this true?

2. How much, in average, earns a finance employee non-manager, 5 years experience? Gross and Net

3. What is the minimum amount that is considered as a good salary (net)? Meaning not having to make a lot of sacrifices, not looking at prices all time, going out for dinner once a week, having lunch always in restaurants during the week (1 hour lunch during work, for example), etc.... Please consider that the rent is, for example, 300 EUR - 75,000 HUF. How much should be the salary to face these expenses?

Thank you very much.

Hi,

Costs vary widely by lifestyle.

Minimum wage is somewhere around 70kHUF, I think taxes don't start to kick in there just yet, but they are strongly progressive from there on. Quite a lot of people make only that, some even less for part time or unofficial jobs. Even more people get paid minimum wage officially, and then some extra illegally, so official statistics are completely meaningless.
Couples can raise families on that, with some welfare-like aid, but they have to inherit a place to live, otherwise they could never afford to buy, and struggle with rent.

So, your questions:

1, Depends, I know a lot of families spending 1-200 kHUF a month in the large discount stores, but then buying nothing but milk and bread in the local shops.
The price (and quality) range for goods is wide, there is a super-low-quality, not-as-expensive price range, but it's probably not healthy to live off that. Then there is the store-brand range, which is mixed quality, but not fashionable. Then you can get these very same things under local brand names for more money, you have to pay for the advertisement. Then there's the quality range considered "normal" in western Europe, not many people buy that, and it costs at least double here. And from then on, the sky is the limit.

2, No idea, finance people are rumoured to make "above average".
There's a headhunter agency called Grafton, they are famous for publicly listing salary ranges with their advertisements (quite rare otherwise.)
http://www.grafton.hu/allasajanlatok.ht … 6&keyword=
But you can look at Profession.hu as well:
http://www.profession.hu/en/advertisements/ms/58

Job categories on these sites are a bit muddled, finance gets mixed in with accounting, controlling, even repossession :-) 

3, 200kHUF after taxes is considered "good" by the average people, 300kHUF is "ohmygod". Of course you can blow all that on a fancy apartment, so it really depends on what you consider a sacrifice...
Your nice dinner is probably around 2-4000 HUF each, daily lunch is 1-1500 I guess. I think your rent in Budapest is going to cost more than 70kHUF.

scarvalho wrote:

I have read all the posts here and I still have some doubts. My boyfriend and I are thinking about moving to Budapest and we have been reading different oppinions about the cost of living. I have realised that the taxes are high.

Yeah, the (especially income) taxes are really high, about 47% of your gross income goes for taxes. So when stating your salary expectations gross, go for approximatly the double of what you need.

scarvalho wrote:

1. I have noticed that by average one person spends 80 eur - 20,000 HUF per month in the supermarket . Is this true?

I can only speak for myslef, I live with my boyfriend too and when I first moved here in 2007 we made about two major shoppings in the supermarket per month of which both was about 20 000 just as you said. In addition we buy bread and dairy products at our local shop weekly. However, since then things have gotten much more expensive and nowadays one trip to the supermarket is closer to 30 000 than to 20 000.

scarvalho wrote:

2. How much, in average, earns a finance employee non-manager, 5 years experience? Gross and Net

I'm not into HR but depending on your skills, the company and the location (in Budapest the salaries are usually higher, this is a guess based on if you would work in Budapest) I would guess around 400 000 gross/ 200 000 net.

scarvalho wrote:

3. What is the minimum amount that is considered as a good salary (net)? Meaning not having to make a lot of sacrifices, not looking at prices all time, going out for dinner once a week, having lunch always in restaurants during the week (1 hour lunch during work, for example), etc.... Please consider that the rent is, for example, 300 EUR - 75,000 HUF. How much should be the salary to face these expenses?

It's always up to you what sort of lifestyle you wish and what you are willing to sacrifice for getting it. Is it worth living in a smaller more uncovinient apartment to be able to afford dinner out once a week for example? You have the great benefit of being two; just like everywhere, living exepensives are alwways lower when you share them with someone.

Don't expect to find any big or high qulity apartment for a rent of 75 000. Bear in mind that there are also the common fee upon that plus the usual costs.

If you have low accomodation costs, don't use a car, don't spend a lot of money on "pleasure" shopping I think you would do fine if both of you earned about what I guess you can get. However, there are families who live on a fourth of that.

As a foreigner working in Hungary for a Hungarian salary you will have to face the fact that you probably can't live the same lifestyle as before. Even though I have a pretty good income here, I still have come to value things differently since I moved here and have had to accept and realise that there are plenty of things in life you can live without.   

Hope I could be to any help.
/S

Hello.  I'm an American football coach.  I am trying to figure out what a fair salary would be in Hungry after all my expenses are paid for?  They will pay my transportation, housing, phone, and are negotiating food and insurance.  Any suggestions?  I've been crunching numbers but its starting to give me a headache.

My hubby earns a local wage here and also receives a wage in the UK.  It is quoted after taxation- which makes things a lot simpler.  Get your employer to do the same (taxes here are much, much higher than in the USA).  Costs here are around the same or higher than in the UK for most things.  Eating out is relatively cheap though (depending on your tastes).  I cannot compare to the USA as I have never been there. 
We have 2 kids so maybe what my hubby lives on would not compare to your wage.  PM me if you want details.
Good luck

Truck wrote:

Hello.  I'm an American football coach.  I am trying to figure out what a fair salary would be in Hungry after all my expenses are paid for?  They will pay my transportation, housing, phone, and are negotiating food and insurance.  Any suggestions?  I've been crunching numbers but its starting to give me a headache.

If all your expenses are paid, why would you need any more money? :-)

This is definitely not a common arrangement around here. Health insurance is state-run, so that's normal. Some people do get a company phone, possibly a company car, but their employer pays taxes equivalent to income tax on personal use.

By the way teachers in Hungary make shamefully little, hardly enough to make ends meet.

Let me guess, you are coming to Szentendre? PM me when you get here :-)

szocske wrote:

By the way teachers in Hungary make shamefully little, hardly enough to make ends meet.

And don't I know it ;O)