Shopping Germany, the Netherlands

There are big shops in Breda, Tilburg, Eindhoven, and Maastricht.

Have a go, see how you get on. DE good for beer, not if you don't like cost-cutters. NL good for different ranges. FR best for dairy, cheese, all things French.

Remember you need a sticker for the low emissions zones in most German cities nowadays, like Aachen: http://www.aachen.de/DE/stadt_buerger/umwelt/luft-stadtklima/luftreinhal...

Trier has an excellent main shopping street and doesn't require an Umwelt Zone sticker - but is best avoided on Saturdays when it is full of Luxembourgers shopping.

Large outlet centre in Roermond

Germany: food around 10-15% cheaper than in Belgium. Postal Services up to 50% less expensive. Gasoline around 10-15 c per litre cheaper than Belgium (varies by the day and period). Restaurants: around 1/3 cheaper than in Belgium. On other words: I am going to Aachen about every two weeks.

Restaurants in Belgium are crazy with their prices...everything in Belgium costs more than neighboring countries, actually. I asked a garage how much to change the oil in a small car, in Brussels, he told me 200 euros...I just about choked.

Yeah, Paradox, I also change my tires at Aachen.

And the same for regular maintenance. When I reserve an appointment with D'Ieteren, the system does not take note of my request, and of course never calls back. When you call them, you get an automated system that never leads to anything ...

We do a big shop in Germany (Aachen region) every few months for toiletries (deodorant, hair products, etc), laundry products and kitchen items (non-edible) because the prices are so much better compared to Belgium. We also stock up on beer (Kölsch) each visit. If we plan the day properly, we’ll swing by Maastricht for some lunch ;)