I agree, I used to enjoy reading the papers.. I never had a membership but usually I had a job where they had the daily papers or my in-laws had them.. It was enjoyable to read during the breaks rather than being glued to the phone like many of us are nowadays.

The health insurance is sadly not just the private one but also the social security which is mandatory when you're self employed, soon I will work in my boyfriend's company and now I don't pay this but then he will have to start paying it for me. His social security was just 60 euros the first year, it's already above 300 now, later mine is added which probably has discount the first period, but still. It's all on top of the 200 euros private insurance we also have.

I never paid this much but in these days, after so many bad experiences in public health in several countries, I'm very grateful that we can afford the private one, even though my daughter never goes to a doctor so it's wasted money. I'm pretty sure that when I decide to stop it, I will regret it because something happens.

Paying for peace of mind, knowing that you don't have to sit in a waiting room for 6 hours to see the first doctor is nice too. We've all done it, years and years in a row, lol.

The only upside of the social security is that it's not just having access to public healthcare but also means you pay for pension for later.. Although I wonder if these last decades for us will even mean something in those years. My plan is to make sure we got this sorted ourselves at some point. But, step by step, lol.