Money Talk: Hannah, 36F, Kreuzberg
If you asked 10 people how to manage your money, you would get at least 10 different answers. Berlin is no different. Some people track every euro, others don’t really care. Some save aggressively, others prioritise experiences. With this new series, we want to offer an insight into how Berliners handle their finances.
Today’s guest is Hannah, a 36-year-old project manager in Kreuzberg who survived a year of unemployment, rebuilt her savings entirely on her own, and is now working toward a more comfortable financial cushion while hoping to eventually drop to 80% hours.
Previously on Money Talks: Anna and Albert.
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Personal snapshot
Age & gender:
36, female.
Relationship status:
In a relationship.
Kids? Pets?
No kids, no pets.
Where do you live and since when?
Kreuzberg, for two years.
Describe your housing situation—own/rent, size, and monthly cost.
Renting together with my partner, 44m2, €1,380 warm.
What did you study or train in?
Psychology.
Income and work
Job title, annual salary and monthly net income:
Project manager, €60k annual (40h contract), no bonus, €3,100 net per month.
Additional monthly income (if any):
None.
How did your salary evolve throughout your career?
Almost straight out of uni, after my MSc, I had a job in another European country where I got paid 19k annually, which was very comfortable at the time because I had low rent and paid very little tax.
I did that for two years and had another 2 years of a sabbatical in South America.
Afterwards, I took a PhD position in Germany, where I earned according to a tariff (TV-L 13 level 1 60%), so that must have been around €29,000/annum. This increased a little bit each year for four years.
After my PhD, I got a job right away paying €55k, and after one year, I got a raise to €60k. I got laid off in May 2024, was unemployed for one whole year and started a job in June 2025 again with the same starting salary of €60k.
Do you negotiate salary? How do you prepare for it?
I wish, but I have no idea how to go about it. My employer isn’t very transparent about the whole process, which doesn’t help. I look forward to the new law that promotes salary transparency. I was unemployed for one year before taking the current job, and I was so desperate to find a job that I lowered my salary expectations by quite a bit because I was afraid that that would deter employers.
Remote, hybrid, or office?
Hybrid, 2-3 days in the office.
What was your best career move? Your worst?
Leaving academia was the best; doing a PhD was the worst.
The PhD gave me a great education in critical thinking and built serious resilience. I wouldn’t have gotten the jobs I did without it. But it set me back in terms of earning potential. When I compare myself to people younger than me, they often earn more. Industry discounts your skills if you have a PhD, and they aren’t appreciated the way they should be.
Daily life and spending
BVG monthly ticket, Deutschlandticket, bike, car, or something else?
Deutschlandticket, Nextbike subscription, no car.
Do you cook regularly? How many times a week do you eat out?
Yes, we cook every day, eating out about 3x/week (some of that are work lunches).
What’s your threshold for an “expensive” restaurant meal (incl. drinks)?
€30 per person.
Which subscriptions do you have? (Netflix, Spotify, gym, etc.)
We share a Netflix, Prime, and Spotify account; an Urban Sports Club (USC) subscription.
Do you have a cleaner?
No.
What’s worth every cent you spend on it?
USC subscription.
What do you spend on that you wish you could quit?
GEZ (Rundfunkbeitrag), flat search-related subscriptions, because we are looking into moving.
Money mindset
How do you manage money: disciplined tracking, intuition, or something in between?
Definitely something in between.
Is there a tool or book, essay or anything similar about money, you would recommend?
I like Madame Moneypenny and her content. She’s a German resource with solid content on personal finance that I found helpful. She covers investing, retirement planning, and other money topics in a straightforward way.
How comfortable do you feel about your financial situation right now?
Medium - I have savings that I needed to dig into while I was unemployed, and while they are a good cushion, I am very far away from being able to afford a downpayment for a property, and I’m definitely afraid of becoming unemployed again. It would also be great to end the month with a positive balance instead of being in the negative every single month. But considering I never inherited anything or got to live rent-free for longer than a few months after uni, I feel quite accomplished in having built up those savings by myself.
The numbers
Checking account balance (accessible today).
€270 in the negative, but tomorrow is payday.
Monthly savings amount.
€550.
Do you invest? (stocks, savings plans, other)
Yes - I have an ETF plan set up for at least 5 years, I save every month, as well as an extra pension plan.
Private or public health insurance?
Public.
How many times per year do you leave Berlin/Germany?
I visit my family in Germany once or twice per year and travel between 1-3 times outside of Germany.
Your current net worth
€18k.
Looking forward
What’s your biggest financial goal right now?
I haven’t defined a goal because, for the past year, it was more about survival during unemployment, but thinking about it now, it would be nice to get to €20-25k savings. Part of that involves finding an affordable flat. It would also be great to be able to work 80% and still be comfortable financially.
If you got a 20% raise tomorrow, what would change?
I would be more comfortable going to cultural events, like ballet, theater, concerts, and going out to nice dinners without feeling guilty or like I can’t really afford it. Book some more holidays too.
What money advice would you give your younger self?
Educate yourself about taxes much earlier on. There’s quite a bit of money I missed out on when I was a student because I was raised to think that doing taxes is awful. In general, talk more openly about money because we benefit from it more than it harms us to speak openly about it.
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