Your first week in the Netherlands

Order matters, because half of these need the one before it. Here's the sequence.

1. Register at the gemeente, get your BSN. Book before you land. Everything below needs it. Guide.
2. Open a Dutch bank account. You need an IBAN for rent, your job, and everything Tikkie. bunq opens in minutes on your phone with a BSN. ABN AMRO and ING want an appointment.
3. Get a Dutch SIM. Prepaid or sim-only, €10 to €20 a month. Compare sim-only.
4. DigiD. Your government login. Apply at digid.nl with your BSN, activation code comes by post in a few days.
5. Health insurance. EU students with a valid EHIC card don't need Dutch insurance unless they work. Non-EU students need private student insurance (your uni will point you to Aon or Insure to Study). The moment you take a part-time job, you must switch to Dutch basic insurance (compare here) and you can claim zorgtoeslag.
6. Liability insurance (AVP). €3 to €5 a month. Covers you if you break something in the house or hit someone with your bike. Landlords increasingly ask for it. Get one.
7. A bike. Maastricht is a bike city. Swapfiets is a monthly subscription with repairs included, or buy second hand on Marktplaats (bring a Dutch friend, check the frame number isn't stolen).
8. Internet, if your room doesn't include it. Compare, or just use mobile data for the first month.
9. Register at your university and pick up your student card. Also register at the university's housing office, they sometimes have last-minute rooms.
10. Furniture. If the room is unfurnished: Marktplaats for cheap second hand, bol.com delivers next day, IKEA Heerlen is 30 minutes by bus. Casa can arrange a starter pack delivered to your door.
11. Photograph your room on day one. It's your deposit. Guide.

Some links above are partner links. They cost you nothing and they're how Casa stays free.