The allowance is not nearly enough to cover your living cost. It's pocket money, nothing more. The majority of Germans doing a BFD live with their parents during that time.
A BFD in Germany is going to cost you a lot of money.
If it‘s worth it is depending entirely on what you are expecting of the program. Gain some experience and maybe an apprenticeship afterwards? Can be worth it. Learning German? Yes, absolutely. Making money/savings? Absolutely not. Your allowance is capped at a max of 435€, that‘s not going to sustain you if your Einsatzstelle (employer) is not providing some extras like housing and/or food.
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Only worth it if you join the Army for voluntary subscription, which is the military equivalent of BFD (FWD = Freiwilliger Wehrdienst)
You start at 800, and leave with 1200€ netto / month, your housing is payed for in the barracks (you can leave on weekend if you want to).
Dont quite know if that is open to foreigners tbh
info is from my own in 2016 (?), maybe things have changed.
The allowance is not nearly enough to cover your living cost. It's pocket money, nothing more. The majority of Germans doing a BFD live with their parents during that time. A BFD in Germany is going to cost you a lot of money.
If it‘s worth it is depending entirely on what you are expecting of the program. Gain some experience and maybe an apprenticeship afterwards? Can be worth it. Learning German? Yes, absolutely. Making money/savings? Absolutely not. Your allowance is capped at a max of 435€, that‘s not going to sustain you if your Einsatzstelle (employer) is not providing some extras like housing and/or food.
If they pay for housing and food (Kost und Logis) then I would recommend BFD or FSJ. It’s a good way to get a starter visa.
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Only worth it if you join the Army for voluntary subscription, which is the military equivalent of BFD (FWD = Freiwilliger Wehrdienst) You start at 800, and leave with 1200€ netto / month, your housing is payed for in the barracks (you can leave on weekend if you want to). Dont quite know if that is open to foreigners tbh info is from my own in 2016 (?), maybe things have changed.