I am new to this forum but I have been reading it for several months and I found very helpful information. I will be shortly moving to Lausanne where my wife obtained a job and I am trying to make a budget for monthly expenses. My family is composed of my wife, two kids (5 and 2 years old) and me. Initially, I will be working from Switzerland for my employer in my home country but I will need someone to help us with our kids during my working hours. Based on the research I made, my preliminary budget would be as follows:
Rent (4 room apt since I need to work from home) CHF2500/3000
Health Insurance CHF 1000
Grosseries and Leissure CHF 1500
Transport (Travelcard for my wife and me) CHF 600
Insurance CHF 150
Creche / Accueil Famillial du Jour (6 to 8 hours) CHF 1000/1500
Cable + Internet + Mobile CHF 350
Any comments/suggestions will be highly appreciated. Also, I would appreciate if anyone can inform if there is a long waiting list for Accueil Famillial du Jour in Lausanne or Epalinges.
You can find a place for 2500.-, or even a bit less if you're lucky.
At 5 your eldest will go to school only a few hours per day, so you should plan a bit more on the day care costs front. And yes, there's a big waiting list. I spent two years on it for my son...
Thank you MeĢlusine. This is very helpfull. I knew that there is a long waiting list for daycare, but I was expecting to be wrong about that. Unfortunately I am not. . Thanks again
Hi, dont forget bilang ( a bit t.v/radio license) and there could be a extra tax for rubbish. . childcare costs mite be subsidised by the commune. Its worth checking ?? Good luck
I have exact situation coming in 5 months from now. I am pleasantly surprised to see that a 4 room ( i guess this is not 4 bedroom but total 4 rooms, or am i wrong) can come for 3000CHF! can someone give more information on this? Which area are we talking about near Lausanne?
Hi - based on my experience, I would slighlty increase the grosseires and leisure up to 1,800 at least. Going out for dinner or just had a family breck fast in the city is very expensive : )!
Thank you all for the very helpfull information. I will adjust my budget based on your recommendations.
Srinivi, my estimation of CHF 3000 for a 4 room apartment (you are correct 4 in total but 3 bedrooms) is the maximum I am calculating for the Lausanne area. I found, however, some apartments in the range of CHF 2000-2500. Maybe someone living in Lausanne can confirm but I expect that the average rent for a 4 rooms apartment should be around CHF 2500.
The problem with apartments directly in Lausanne is that they go very, very quick. If you find an apartment less expensive than most, you'll be competing with 50 other people applying for the same apartment. If you budget 2500+ for a 3 bed apartment, you should be ok. If you want to pay less, be prepared to wait a while to find something you are looking for, and there will probably be concessions to make. (Laundry schedules, size of rooms, elevator, parking spaces available, dishwasher etc).
And be careful when looking at ads. For example, there is a seemingly nice 4 piece apartment available on homegate, less than 2000 francs, but it's only 2 bedrooms because it seems to have a separate dining room counted as a room.
Also, if you're not budgeting for a car, I would try and live in Lausanne, or as close to it. Public transport is very good in the city, but gets harder the further you move away from it.
For childcare, you can start here http://www.lausanne.ch/en/lausanne-o...rents-bip.html I've heard its very slow to actually get a place for your child, and you'll probably have to make inquiries yourself as well at different nursery schools, but at least its a place to start.
What about hygiene stuff, cosmetics, you will need new clothes from time to time, toys for children... in my calculation I usually include even expected gifts to friends
You probably have already heard it, but finding an apartment in Lausanne can be quite difficult (I heard it is harder than Zurich for example, which is already hard enough). So would recommend starting your search asap.
I definitely agree that it would be nice transportation-wise to be in the city. Also shops close quite early, and the further you get away from the city the worse it gets.
But... if you consider living outside, I would recommend Morges, it is very beautiful. There might be even better places, just I've been to Morges a couple of times and think it is great.
In Vaud they count each room, so if the ad says 4 rooms that might mean:
1 bedroom
1 kitchen
1 dining room
1 sitting room
I found this highly confusing at first since where I come from only bedrooms are counted because the rest are assumed to always be a part of the home.
Competition for cheaper apartments is vicious in and around Lausanne, so unless you start hunting early be prepared for frustation. I would pay more just so that it makes the search a bit easier. Insurances can really nail you too but as a foreigner you might be allowed a cheaper insurance.
I am curious whether its possible to live on around 6000-7000 per month in Lausanne for a family of 4 (2 adults and two school age kids 9 and 10). We are not lavishly living type of family. Having said that, we are perfectly fine with living in 3,5 at any family friendly suburban area, own one car and one transportation pass, health insurance with maximal franchise, regular TV/internet/cells plan. I do not mind buying 'supermarket-line" items. However, I do wish to enrol kids into extracurricular activities such as sports or drama classe, Normally we are going out weekly to a cheap places such as fast food chains/Ikea. Once a month we would do some more expensive activity like going to attractions park/zoo/aquapark/etc. The rest of the weekends would be spend on plain air: public pool during summer, parks, playground. I did some research, including this forum, numbeo and local supermarket's sites and I come to a conclusion that described above lifestyle would fit into 5000, which gives us 1000 for clothing/unexpected staff and gifts. I am wondering whether I am too optimistic and missing some expenses that are specific to a swiss living and that would unexpectedly destroy our budget upon arrival. Thank you in advance
Housing: 2-3k, let's say 2.5k. The agencies will not want to rent you a 3.5 ( two bedrooms, living room) for a 2+2. Cheapest housing might mean a dodgy neighborhood in Lausanne.
Health insurance: about 1k.
Food: at least 1.5k (that's chf 12.5 per person per day).
Insurances, electricity, hot water, phone and internet, transportation will add up to at least chf 500 per month.
Now , with the lowest co-peyment health insurance you'll pay 2x350 per year if you go to doctor from time to time. And save up for dental work. With 6k it is going to be really tight.
7k - you should be fine with a really cheap car and no savings. And rather forget eating out, or extra-curricular activities for kids.