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Shopping Do's and Don'ts

What to Buy and What to Not!

When you are about to start your journey studying abroad , you have to buy a lot of stuff before coming to Germany. So we start preparing list with the help of some people and also with the help of already experienced persons we have a huge list and we buy all kinds of stuff only to get disappointed after coming here in Germany.



Well usually people buy lots of dresses,utensils , and other stuff which are not usually that costly abroad and also wastes your precious limited baggage which you could have used for some other useful purposes. So, here is a list of things which you should not buy and few things which you should not miss while studying in germany.

Clothes(what clothes you should usually buy)-

Well the biggest mistake I committed was to bring a lot of clothes specially t-shirts and hoodies, sweatshirts to germany. What a waste of money and space. I think it is fine if you bring 2-3 tshirts and 2 hoodies in here. Rest you can easily get for 10-15 euros in shops like H&M,C&A,Espirit etc which offer good quality clothes. I brought a lot from India and after coming here realized that it was a waste of money and space and nothing else. And by good quality I mean really good quality and I am very selective when it comes to brands and clothes so you can count on me.

But there are few things which you should definitely buy in India specially branded products. For example you can get an Allen Solley,Levi, or Lee jeans in India rather than here since here these brands are too costly . Also you can’t find the stores of these brands here so easily like in India. And most importantly for 2000 Indian Rupees you can get these in India but the equivalent 25 Euros will not fetch you a good quality jeans in here. So get jeans from India. Also get around 20 pairs of socks and underwears. I know it sounds a bit crazy but those who work out a lot and take bath daily should bring these much since here for washing clothes forces you have to spend 2 euros so better think a bit about it. Also buy winter jacket,gloves after coming here. Here you can get a good one for around 50 euros.
Cosmetics and Washing-


I think it is enough to bring oil from india and each one of the following- brush,soap,winter cream. Shampoo you can get it here for almost the same cost and also detergents and washing powders and other washing solutions you can get here cheaply. So don’t spend money on them and carry them in your baggage.

Electronics-



This is the part where you have to make sure you get whatever you need from India. Items like Laptops, Camera, Tablet PC are too costly here in Germany and it’s better to get them from India. The difference is anywhere around 3000 to 8000 for mobiles and laptops. Here Saturn and mediamarkt are quite famous but the items are too costly here so just buy them before coming here.

Utensils-

Buy two pans, cooker if you use it (I find cooker to be of not much use since u can almost make anything in microwave including rice) and another vessel like Katori, tea flask(if you drink a lot) and stuff. But don’t get anything else. Since, you get most of the items from material office in here from university free of charge. And most of the other items you can get in the 1 euro shop.

Stationary-

Well i brought a lot of items like 10-15 pencils, 20-30 pens, scale, eraser etc etc. Here  stationary items are too costly. But i rarely use most of the things i brought. Here a pen is the most powerful tool used everywhere. No pencil, no scale, no writing pads, no compass and stuff. Just buy 10-15 pens, one good file and bring one calculator as well. For you info the pencil is not allowed in most of the exams!!

Shoes-

Buy one good sport shoe from India. Here it is too costly. Specially the branded ones. Get one pair of sport shoe, one sneaker (and not a scandal since its awkward and Germans actually find it very odd here), one flip-flops or maybe two, one black shoe. You can get winter boots after coming here.

Spices-

 These must constitute about 20-25% of your baggage since these are too costly here in Germany. But worry not. You can get spices in websites like get-grocery.com and if you order more than 49 Euros you get free shipping as well. You can get lots of Indian food items like Atta, Rice (basmathi), spices, sweets, snacks (includes haldiram’s snacks) etc. Also I will add here tea powder since the tea available here is not at all good. SO better bring it from India. But those who drink coffee you can enjoy awesome coffee here . With different flavours and tastes I am in love with German coffee.

I think I have covered most of the important things to consider while shopping for studies in Germany. But in case you have any doubt about things which are available here or not and you wanna bring it or you wanna know its cost in germany you can post it in here. Maybe I ll follow up this post and add those items as well.





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