I am not sure if this is the right place to post this question. I am going to start working at EPFL as a postdoc in a week. I was wondering how much money do I need to bring for the expenses of the first few weeks before I get a salary from the school, assuming that I use my credit cards to pay for the hotel and food.

It depends on if you are going to have your permanent housing set right away and if it is furnished. When you pay a security deposit and furniture, it will always be more than you expect.

Other costs that you cant put on a credit card:

Insurance- about 200 chf per month
Immigration papers 85 francs

A couple of grand, Grey Goose as I understand it is somewhat expensive.

Security deposit for an apartment is typically 3 times the rent. Also there is the first month rent so you'll need 4 times the rent to start with. The health insurance can wait for a while though (you'll need to take care of it in first 3 months after the date of your arrival).

I have no experience of this but I've understood that you can also take a rental guarantee insurance (for example from SwissCaution) instead of depositing your own money into an escrow account. The premiums are quite high though (about 5.5 percent) but I'm still considering this option..

Not every landlord will take these programs, though. Some need that cash sitting in a bank account to feel powerful and fulfilled.

When we were looking for a place when we moved over, the relocation agent recommended not to use SwissCaution. She said that with the general unavailabilty of (particularly in your case, cheap) housing and the competition for it, that you shouldn't give the landlord any more reasons not to want to let the place to you. Being foreign and having no history here is often good enough reason in the first place