Danish Taxes, How I Loathe Thee

Apparently last month Denmark became the country with the highest taxes. Nice.

Read about it here:
Denmark surpassed Sweden for the worlds highest tax burden

We get the "privilege" to pay this lovely amount as well since Michael is paid in DKK and not USD. There is a tax break for some foreigners, but not one we could benefit from. At the time of moving here, to take advantage of this we had to be making about 250,000-300,00 + dollars a year. After three years, we would be required to pay ALL of the back tax or leave the country.

Sure, there are lots of benefits for paying this ridiculous amount for things such as:

-Free Heath Care (But we are paying extra for a private insurance policy)
-Unemployment Benefits (I'm not receiving this, and if Michael were to quit or get fired from TI, our residence permits become immediately VOID and we have to leave the country)
-Free University (Neither of us are students, nor do we have kids who are potentially going to to a Danish University)
-Stipend for Children (We don't have kids)
- One Year Maternity Leave (Still no kids)
- 3ish Months Paternity Leave (I can't remember the exact amount, but it doesn't matter because again, we don't have kids)
-Retirement (We won't be retiring to Denmark)

I'll miss a lot of things when it is time for us to leave Denmark, but I am confidant, the taxes, will not be one of them.

We Live Where?

The 3rd most expensive city...IN THE WORLD!!

Thats right, thats where we live. We don't REALLY live inside Copenhagen, but the town we live is one of the more expensive areas to live in and we still basically live in greater Copenhagen.
I always know that Copenhagen comes out pretty high on the list every year, last year it was 6th, but this year jumped up to 3rd right behind Oslo and Paris. While it doesn't surprise me, because I know it is expensive, I was surprised to see in coming in front of London, which came in 4th. With this information, I know Michael and I can live anywhere in the world (besides Oslo and Paris) and the cost of living won't feel as inflated as it would prior to us living here. New York didn't even show up till number 28!!!

My summery so far, Copenhagen is dark, cold, expensive and they take all your money from you in taxes, yet somehow, we still love it and are happy here. Along with the majority of the country... as Denmark this past year was ranked as the worlds happiest country!!

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/10/happiest_countries/index_01.htm?chan=rss_topSlideShows_ssi_5


Michael has been back a whole week now. He is recovered and doing well. I got my haircut this morning, and while it was by far the most expensive haircut I have ever had (again things are $$$ here)...I must say, it is by far the BEST haircut I have ever gotten!! They even gave me a cup of coffee to drink while it was being cut! So that alone was worth the extra money ;) Actually I think most places you get your haircut at here, they give you coffee/tea/cappuccino or whatever. I think thats cool. Other then all that, nothing terribly exciting going on. Just livin' life and enjoy it... :)