brussels- cost of living and where to live

[littlealien01]

So its looking increasingly like we might be moving to brussels! Dh has a final face to face interview coming up which if it goes well is likely to include some salary negotiation so were trying to work out what our cost would be and where we might live. Ive been reading all the old threads but think its time for my own :)

So far i have:
Brussels tax 100 euro
Water 30 euro
Energy elec/gas 300 euro
Phone and internet 50 euro
Rent 1200 euro
Food 500 euro
Tv 20 euro
Car tax 225 annually
Car insurance ??? (On a 10 year old honda jazz or similar, dh will prob have company car so a runabout for me)

Does this look broadly accurate? Anything ive missed or thats way off???

Its two of us plus 15 month old dd. (Altho we'll be ttc number 2). Ill be a sahm for a bit but ould hope to work once shes old enough for nursery (altho 2.5 seems v young for school!)

Areas to live, our wishlist is:
Dutch speaking (dh speaks fluent dutch and were already trying to bring dd up bilingual)
Good local dutch nursery school pref not catholic (dh very atheist)
Short commute to diegem (dh office base but prob only there 1 day a week)
Easy access to transport links (road probably) dh travelling across belgium and internationally (we dont have much of a picture of where precisely yet) 4 days a week
Accessible by car/public transport to wezembeek oppem/tervuren for bct type english speaking groups for me
Some sort of public transport link and shops etc (not the middle of nowhere)
Family area likely to have other families and children.
Pref not 100% expat central wed like to meet locals too.
Near a park
3 bed
Some outside space
Parking not a nightmare
Ideally around 1200 euros

Currently were looking at erps kwerps kortenberg nossegem wezembeek oppem tervuren sterrebeek zaventem Sint stevens woluwe woluwe st pierre woluwe st lambert kraainem but this is quite a broad list and any advice on narrowing it down. Or places ive overlooked would be appreciated.

Anything else i should be thinking about?

Brussels tax 100 euro - correct except many of the places you've named are NOT in Brussels, in fact they are mainly not Brussels! They are in Vlaams Brabant and there is another tax, similar amount, different reason, you will have to pay
Water 30 euro - that's what I pay but you might find that is a bit optimistic
Energy elec/gas 300 euro - that is double what I pay
Phone and internet 50 euro -
Rent 1200 euro - depends on your tastes
Food 500 euro
Tv 20 euro
Car tax 225 annually
Car insurance ??? (On a 10 year old honda jazz or similar, dh will prob have company car so a runabout for me) - expect 500 euro minimum.
House insurance - at least 300 euro

You wouldn't need a car if you chose a place near public transport. That would cut a huge amount out of budget

I think objecting to Catholic schools might be a rather narrow approach and you limit yourself substantially.

I'd go for Sint Stevens Woluwe or Diegem or Zaventem or Kraainem to live.

On the 1200 euro housing budget, I'd say you need to live comfortably for 3 people, about 2500 euro a month. Anything more you earn, you can save.

PS We are 3 all the time, 5 half the time. I have just bought an old very cheap car which I do around 500km a month with. Taking out costs for rent and also costs for the children's out of school activities, my monthly budget for the rest is €1100. That's why I think 1200 euro for housing and 1300 euro for rest is pretty realistic.

40% of Brussels is non Belgian, in the areas of Vlaams Brabant outside, it's only a little less.

Everywhere has parks.

Everywhere in that area has good schools.

I see your biggest choice is cheaper housing in places a long way out from work AND English activities by choosing Kortenberg, Erps-Kwerps with the additional costs of an extra car cancelling out completely the cheaper housing V more expensive housing in places nearer to work and English activities, without the need for an additional car. The closer in to Brussels and periphery you live, the more expensive housing becomes, the less need there is for a car.

Thanks cannotseeanend thats really helpful, espcially on the budget front :)

Notice youve highlighted thebplaces in brussels itself as better to live, is that just for public transport links/less need for a second car? From what id read i was concerned about dhs commute and possibly also schools if we lived inside the ring road...do you think this is something to think about or not?

Diegem is not the easiest place to get to by car or public transport, it's sort of a bit stuck in between motorways. But as for where to live, Erps-Kwerps to Diegem would be a horrid horrid commute of a minimum of 20 minutes, why do that to yourself when you can live in Sint Stevens Woluwe or Kraainem or even WSL / WSP and cycle or take bus or car for a few minutes? It would be easier to get to Diegem from inside the ring than outside of it, that is for sure, as Diegem is inside the ring. But the closer to the centre of Brussels, the more expensive it gets.

As you don't have a school age child, schools are not a problem. SSW, Kraainem both have excellent Dutch medium schools where Dutch is the mother tongue of just about the majority of the children for example. And you are not far from the advantages of Brussels for culture and also English stuff. Erps-Kwerps is full of Americans who go to the American military school and housing is attractive to Americans for large yards, detached properties.

Thanks, didnt know that about erps kwerps and different to what id thought on commuting too. Food for thought :)

Use google maps during rush hour over a few work hours and you can see the car commute times.

Kortenberg and Erps-Kwerps is going to mean N2 or E40 which will be painfully slow during rush hour. Compare that to R22 from WSL and Kraainem and SSW, where you're heading mainly the opposite way to the heavy traffic at rush hour than Diegem.

Thanks Ill have a play with google maps. The problem is the only being in diegem once a week. If hes coming from/going outside brussels the rest of the time wouldnt outside the ring start to make sense? (This is where not yet knowing where hes likely to travel to becomes a real pain)

But if you live outside the ring, then YOU'll either have to make the choice of a rather limited social life in the sticks or spend quite a bit of time on the road travelling for your social life. Assuming you are anglophone and a SAHM.

If you choose to live inside the ring, well then you can easily live a very full social life in Dutch, French, English, as a SAHM.

Travelling OUTWARDS from inside the ring is not the problem here, it's travelling inwards. Assuming might make much use of trains and planes too, in which case, another good reason to live inside the ring.

Ok thanks that makes sense :)