Where oh where does Time go? Has it been already a week since my last post? Another weekend has passed and it's already Monday. The weather has been a little loopy lately with cold showers one day to bright blue sun filled skies. But not all that much happened last week except i'm still waiting for my payment for my project.
One lesson i did learn was to make sure everything is written out in fine print in the contract. I must not forget to include the copyright laws and if i'm unsure, always bump up the overall initial cost because we all know one can always negotiate.
Oh well.
No use beating myself up over it now. At least i'm getting something.
I also received my German Health Insurance forms. I am currently with AXA PPP Healthcare and pay quite a bit for International Private insurance because i'm not working with an employer who would originally cover my health insurance. And since the start of the year, Germany has made some changes to their Health Cover requirements, which probably means i will need to change to a German insurance anyway.
Obviously having Private insurance has more benefits over Public but we'll see. There's all these terms and conditions and like everything, each has its' Pros and Cons. I have to admit, there's a lot of information out there and it's all rather confusing. Germans looOoove their paperwork!
Seriously, all this reading is giving me a headache.
I know it's compulsory for anyone residing in Germany to have health insurance. And because i'm not married - yet, i can't simply be covered under J's health insurance. Even for those visitors without insurance they risk paying a shit load more for hospital bills/medical care should something go wrong and wishing they weren't such cheap arses to begin with.
Like they say, it's always better to be safe than sorry.
But as you know i recently registered my own graphic design company. Woohoo, i am my own boss and i promise i won't make Designers cry or feel worthless!
J found out that since i'm self-employed i may be able to apply at the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK) which could get me public health insurance restricted to only independent Artists & Designers (e.g. visual artists, journalists, writers, photographers, directors, designers etc.).
There's a specific list of items i need to include in the application and one of them requires a bank statement confirming the income - proof that i'm actually an artist and not some random person hoping to leach off the government. But just to let you know, one must earn a minimum of 4,800 Euros per annum (independently) to even think of applying and the applicant must include copies of ones' work amongst other things.
So until the client pays me, i can't do all that much but wait.
.
.
.
And then wait some more since i've heard they've tightened the rules.
Some say, it may take about 6-8 months for ones' application to even go through! And if all goes well, then i think the government pays 50% and i pay the other half of the bills plus there's a number of other advantages worth noting. But here's a whole bunch of information that J needs to help translate for me since all of it is in German. So all i can do is keep my fingers crossed that i'm eligible and that the application process time won't take too long.
*sigh*
...
I'm in the middle of writing the next post of when J and i went to the Nacht der Museen in Düsseldorf on Saturday. A night when 37 museums and galleries open their doors for one night between 7pm til 2am. One ticket entitles you to visit as many galleries as you wish for only 12 Euros! Pretty good deal, i say.
But i am in desperate need to continue with the housework and laundry now, so you'll just have to wait a bit.
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