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I'm making this blog because I'm tired of discussing living expenses in threads unrelated. (Mostly reddit)
Why do people always seem to think that whenever I tell how much I pay in rent, living costs and mortgage, that I'm bragging because Norway "is so rich"? I understand that some of you think I'm a rich norwegian without any financial troubles at all. And some realize that this is simply not the case.
So in this blog I'll try to clarify how our financial situation is, from a house owners point of view.
Locations. The difference in location of-course matters. But right now, renting a place is hell. Most people in Norway actually can't afford a "decent" place with 2 incomes. For the sake of making this blog readable. I'm going to start with Location's not as Central to the main cities. Then work my way closer.
Renting a place location nr 1Svelvik / Vestfold - About 24 KM away from a "Major city"![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/kVN4h.jpg) This was the cheapest place I could find for rent in Svelvik, Looks decent no? Well, it's a 45 m² size apartment for rent for about 1 052US$ a month. And 3 months deposit.
Renting a place location nr 2Drammen / Buskerud - About 2 KM away from a "Major city"![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/vVcTc.jpg)
I tried finding something similar to the previous standards but where unable to find it. This is a 34 m² size apartment costing about 1 578US$ monthly with a 4 736US$ deposit. Inside + Show Spoiler +
Buying a house / apartment / condo
Svelvik / Vestfold - About 24 KM away from a "Major city"
This "house" costs about 350852US$ and was built 1920. And getting a loan these days aren't easy. You have to save up 25% of the total cost yourself as a "deductible" for even being setup for a meeting. Inside+ Show Spoiler +
Buying a house / apartment / condo
Drammen / Buskerud - About 1 KM away from a "Major city"
This baby costs 594694US$ with an extra of 438US$ a month (extra to mortgage) in "overheads". Inside+ Show Spoiler +
And I realize that this isn't the biggest sampling or even a 80% accurate assessment. But It's what you get if your looking to start your own life with or without a partner.
Also, to get a mortgage in Norway you need to have a checklist of your current status just to meet with a broker.
- You must be able to handle your loan AND 10% more than the actual loan to be considered, with a permanent job / Soon to be permanent job.
- You must have 25% of the total cost of the house in deductible.
- You can't have any current debt of total 5% of the house except if it's a legal mortgage on car / boat etc.
That's all I remember for now, but I'm sure there's more criterias.
And for a student looking to move out of his parents house.
This is nearly impossible except if you come from a wealthy family, you split up costs and live in a small condo with friends or you have alot of savings. (which is sooo easy when your a student..)
Also did you know that 35% of all people over 16 in norway is "Trygdet" (Which basically is you're too unhealthy/lazy to get a job so you get paid by working peoples taxes to do nothing)
Hope you liked this little blog about how it is alot of places in Norway.
Also. Sorry if I sound so negative about my own country, but it's hard not to when you start digging in statistics. : p
 
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Isn't it that expensive cuz u pay a lot less taxes than for example Sweden? And you make alot mroe money from work.
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On September 28 2012 19:21 TOCHMY wrote:
Isn't it that expensive cuz u pay a lot less taxes than for example Sweden? And you make alot mroe money from work.
We pay exactly the same taxes as Sweden, Only month we don't is December. And yearly we might make more, but considering food is more than twice as expensive as in Sweden. The salary doesn't scale up correctly as opposed to the Swedes. Sidenote: A pizza in Norway costs about 250 kr. Which is 290 Sek. or 45$.
Hopefully the current real estate bubble soon burst, as it's extremely high atm
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On September 28 2012 19:21 TOCHMY wrote:
Isn't it that expensive cuz u pay a lot less taxes than for example Sweden? And you make alot mroe money from work.
And Denmark!
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Norway so expensive, people close to border come to shop in Sweden. And shits expensive here yo.
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On September 28 2012 19:25 NeWeNiyaLord wrote:Show nested quote +On September 28 2012 19:21 TOCHMY wrote:
Isn't it that expensive cuz u pay a lot less taxes than for example Sweden? And you make alot mroe money from work. We pay exactly the same taxes as Sweden, Only month we don't is December. And yearly we might make more, but considering food is more than twice as expensive as in Sweden. The salary doesn't scale up correctly as opposed to the Swedes. Sidenote: A pizza in Norway costs about 250 kr. Which is 290 Sek. or 45$. Hopefully the current real estate bubble soon burst, as it's extremely high atm
250kr is the cost of a pizza if you go to an expensive restaurant, so bad example. If you want frozen pizza you can get it for 25-40kr(approx 5$). If you want a fresh made hot pizza you can order it for 150kr and up(justeat.no)(26$). Personally I prefer kebab which you can get for 50kr which will make you really stuffed.
About houses and food being really expensive, i totally agree.
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On September 28 2012 20:13 ruXxar wrote:Show nested quote +On September 28 2012 19:25 NeWeNiyaLord wrote:On September 28 2012 19:21 TOCHMY wrote:
Isn't it that expensive cuz u pay a lot less taxes than for example Sweden? And you make alot mroe money from work. We pay exactly the same taxes as Sweden, Only month we don't is December. And yearly we might make more, but considering food is more than twice as expensive as in Sweden. The salary doesn't scale up correctly as opposed to the Swedes. Sidenote: A pizza in Norway costs about 250 kr. Which is 290 Sek. or 45$. Hopefully the current real estate bubble soon burst, as it's extremely high atm 250kr is the cost of a pizza if you go to an expensive restaurant, so bad example. If you want frozen pizza you can get it for 25-40kr(approx 5$). If you want a fresh made hot pizza you can order it for 150kr and up(justeat.no)(26$). Personally I prefer kebab which you can get for 50kr which will make you really stuffed. About houses and food being really expensive, i totally agree.
Not really an expensive restaurant. A few examples I have is the local fast food joint. Compared to a fastfood joint in Sweden. Since my Gf's swedish we go there pretty often to meet her father. I'll use a different example.
A hot dog in norway is usually 65 with a soda.
In sweden for the exact same Hot dog (brand) and soda brand it costs 30-35 and that's in stockholm. Which is relatively expensive for Sweden.
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Fuck man, you should see UK house prices if you think this is bad. The house my parents live in was bought in 1996 for 40k (GBP) it's now worth 200,000+. Let me assure you, inflation has not risen by that. The world's housing market has been massively inflated by sub-prime mortgages yada yada yada. A first time buyer in the UK won't be buying a house until mid thirties or later at best for my generation(20 years old). The UK is different to the EU in that most people are home-owning obsessed and renting is (relatively) rare compared to Europe.
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On September 28 2012 20:25 DKR wrote:
Fuck man, you should see UK house prices if you think this is bad. The house my parents live in was bought in 1996 for 40k (GBP) it's now worth 200,000+. Let me assure you, inflation has not risen by that. The world's housing market has been massively inflated by sub-prime mortgages yada yada yada. A first time buyer in the UK won't be buying a house until mid thirties or later at best for my generation(20 years old). The UK is different to the EU in that most people are home-owning obsessed and renting is (relatively) rare compared to Europe.
Yeah I understand that. I was merely trying to show that people in Norway isn't as rich etc as people might think when they hear about our monthly expenses. Also, got the same problem here in norway. Most students don't have a place to live so they live with their parents way longer than normal because they simply cannot afford moving out.
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On September 28 2012 20:30 NeWeNiyaLord wrote:Show nested quote +On September 28 2012 20:25 DKR wrote:
Fuck man, you should see UK house prices if you think this is bad. The house my parents live in was bought in 1996 for 40k (GBP) it's now worth 200,000+. Let me assure you, inflation has not risen by that. The world's housing market has been massively inflated by sub-prime mortgages yada yada yada. A first time buyer in the UK won't be buying a house until mid thirties or later at best for my generation(20 years old). The UK is different to the EU in that most people are home-owning obsessed and renting is (relatively) rare compared to Europe. Yeah I understand that. I was merely trying to show that people in Norway isn't as rich etc as people might think when they hear about our monthly expenses. Also, got the same problem here in norway. Most students don't have a place to live so they live with their parents way longer than normal because they simply cannot afford moving out.
Really? Basicly everyone I know that is a student rents something. If you take up study loans, there's just no excuse to not being able to find a place to rent.
I only ever work during the summer, because I'm lazy like that, and I can still afford to live in oslo no problem.
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You should pick something that is much more inflated such as food, rather than housing to prove your point. In Hong Kong, an apartment on the outskirts in the New Territories is around 1.5 times the price you listed in Norway, and the average per capita income is around 1/3 that of Norway, so it's essentially 4-5 times as expensive. Traveling to work takes about an hour each way at a cost of $1.5-2 USD. An apartment near the actual downtown area where most people work is around 4-5 times as much, if not more, so only the really wealthy expats and top executives live there. Of course, the food costs are around 1/5 as much as in Norway, but when you consider that people would have to spend essentially 100% or more of their income on housing, you can see why people tend to live with their parents until 30+.
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On September 28 2012 21:02 kaztah wrote:Show nested quote +On September 28 2012 20:30 NeWeNiyaLord wrote:On September 28 2012 20:25 DKR wrote:
Fuck man, you should see UK house prices if you think this is bad. The house my parents live in was bought in 1996 for 40k (GBP) it's now worth 200,000+. Let me assure you, inflation has not risen by that. The world's housing market has been massively inflated by sub-prime mortgages yada yada yada. A first time buyer in the UK won't be buying a house until mid thirties or later at best for my generation(20 years old). The UK is different to the EU in that most people are home-owning obsessed and renting is (relatively) rare compared to Europe. Yeah I understand that. I was merely trying to show that people in Norway isn't as rich etc as people might think when they hear about our monthly expenses. Also, got the same problem here in norway. Most students don't have a place to live so they live with their parents way longer than normal because they simply cannot afford moving out. Really? Basicly everyone I know that is a student rents something. If you take up study loans, there's just no excuse to not being able to find a place to rent. I only ever work during the summer, because I'm lazy like that, and I can still afford to live in oslo no problem.
How? alone? somehow I doubt that. I should elaborate : Source since this was the cheapest I could find in all of Oslo and here you live with three other dudes
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On September 28 2012 21:03 Musou wrote:
You should pick something that is much more inflated such as food, rather than housing to prove your point. In Hong Kong, an apartment on the outskirts in the New Territories is around 1.5 times the price you listed in Norway, and the average per capita income is around 1/3 that of Norway, so it's essentially 4-5 times as expensive. Traveling to work takes about an hour each way at a cost of $1.5-2 USD. An apartment near the actual downtown area where most people work is around 4-5 times as much, if not more, so only the really wealthy expats and top executives live there. Of course, the food costs are around 1/5 as much as in Norway, but when you consider that people would have to spend essentially 100% or more of their income on housing, you can see why people tend to live with their parents until 30+.
Yeah might have been a bad way of putting this. But for people at my age in Norway, this is one of the main concerns
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On September 28 2012 21:05 NeWeNiyaLord wrote:Show nested quote +On September 28 2012 21:02 kaztah wrote:On September 28 2012 20:30 NeWeNiyaLord wrote:On September 28 2012 20:25 DKR wrote:
Fuck man, you should see UK house prices if you think this is bad. The house my parents live in was bought in 1996 for 40k (GBP) it's now worth 200,000+. Let me assure you, inflation has not risen by that. The world's housing market has been massively inflated by sub-prime mortgages yada yada yada. A first time buyer in the UK won't be buying a house until mid thirties or later at best for my generation(20 years old). The UK is different to the EU in that most people are home-owning obsessed and renting is (relatively) rare compared to Europe. Yeah I understand that. I was merely trying to show that people in Norway isn't as rich etc as people might think when they hear about our monthly expenses. Also, got the same problem here in norway. Most students don't have a place to live so they live with their parents way longer than normal because they simply cannot afford moving out. Really? Basicly everyone I know that is a student rents something. If you take up study loans, there's just no excuse to not being able to find a place to rent. I only ever work during the summer, because I'm lazy like that, and I can still afford to live in oslo no problem. How? alone? somehow I doubt that. I should elaborate : Source since this was the cheapest I could find in all of Oslo and here you live with three other dudes
I live by myself at anker studentboliger. 18 km2 for 4700 pr month. I used to live in trondheim for 3700 pr month. It's really not that bad as you make it sound, unless you actually want to live awsome and not as a student ><
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its all relative to the cost of living
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On September 28 2012 21:14 kaztah wrote:Show nested quote +On September 28 2012 21:05 NeWeNiyaLord wrote:On September 28 2012 21:02 kaztah wrote:On September 28 2012 20:30 NeWeNiyaLord wrote:On September 28 2012 20:25 DKR wrote:
Fuck man, you should see UK house prices if you think this is bad. The house my parents live in was bought in 1996 for 40k (GBP) it's now worth 200,000+. Let me assure you, inflation has not risen by that. The world's housing market has been massively inflated by sub-prime mortgages yada yada yada. A first time buyer in the UK won't be buying a house until mid thirties or later at best for my generation(20 years old). The UK is different to the EU in that most people are home-owning obsessed and renting is (relatively) rare compared to Europe. Yeah I understand that. I was merely trying to show that people in Norway isn't as rich etc as people might think when they hear about our monthly expenses. Also, got the same problem here in norway. Most students don't have a place to live so they live with their parents way longer than normal because they simply cannot afford moving out. Really? Basicly everyone I know that is a student rents something. If you take up study loans, there's just no excuse to not being able to find a place to rent. I only ever work during the summer, because I'm lazy like that, and I can still afford to live in oslo no problem. How? alone? somehow I doubt that. I should elaborate : Source since this was the cheapest I could find in all of Oslo and here you live with three other dudes I live by myself at anker studentboliger. 18 km2 for 4700 pr month. I used to live in trondheim for 3700 pr month. It's really not that bad as you make it sound, unless you actually want to live awsome and not as a student ><
Is that student apartments that you're talking about? Because my 25m² furnished student apartment cost 3800 Swedish kronor per month (Including internet, electricity, heat and insurance)
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In Sydney we've seen ~500% property price rises in some areas in the last 15 years. If you want a house in a good area you need a million AUD.
AUD = almost identical to USD atm.
Personally i don't see the point! I'm pretty happy renting my craphole  I guess as I get into my 30's I'll start wishing I had a house, ah well..
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Putting it into context, a Norwegian full time student is GUARANTEED a loan of about $17,500 per year. Most Norwegian schools do not take tuition, so it is nearly free to go to school. If the school takes tuition, you will usually also get a loan to cover this entirely. Upon completing the required workload for a year, about $1,300 of your loan is removed from the books. On top of that you get paid an amount that should cover 3 return trips to your parents. If you also work in the summer, it should be possible to survive comfortably until you have a degree, but maybe not in a large apartment... unless your parents have money for it...
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On September 28 2012 21:49 WindWolf wrote:Show nested quote +On September 28 2012 21:14 kaztah wrote:On September 28 2012 21:05 NeWeNiyaLord wrote:On September 28 2012 21:02 kaztah wrote:On September 28 2012 20:30 NeWeNiyaLord wrote:On September 28 2012 20:25 DKR wrote:
Fuck man, you should see UK house prices if you think this is bad. The house my parents live in was bought in 1996 for 40k (GBP) it's now worth 200,000+. Let me assure you, inflation has not risen by that. The world's housing market has been massively inflated by sub-prime mortgages yada yada yada. A first time buyer in the UK won't be buying a house until mid thirties or later at best for my generation(20 years old). The UK is different to the EU in that most people are home-owning obsessed and renting is (relatively) rare compared to Europe. Yeah I understand that. I was merely trying to show that people in Norway isn't as rich etc as people might think when they hear about our monthly expenses. Also, got the same problem here in norway. Most students don't have a place to live so they live with their parents way longer than normal because they simply cannot afford moving out. Really? Basicly everyone I know that is a student rents something. If you take up study loans, there's just no excuse to not being able to find a place to rent. I only ever work during the summer, because I'm lazy like that, and I can still afford to live in oslo no problem. How? alone? somehow I doubt that. I should elaborate : Source since this was the cheapest I could find in all of Oslo and here you live with three other dudes I live by myself at anker studentboliger. 18 km2 for 4700 pr month. I used to live in trondheim for 3700 pr month. It's really not that bad as you make it sound, unless you actually want to live awsome and not as a student >< Is that student apartments that you're talking about? Because my 25m² furnished student apartment cost 3800 Swedish kronor per month (Including internet, electricity, heat and insurance)
Sounds exactly like mine, except I pay 900 nkr more for 7 km2 less ><
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That 2nd and 4th entries are pimp places. that fourth is awesome. love non square rooms. thsoe kitchens are cool too
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On September 28 2012 22:29 stenole wrote:
Putting it into context, a Norwegian full time student is GUARANTEED a loan of about $17,500 per year. Most Norwegian schools do not take tuition, so it is nearly free to go to school. If the school takes tuition, you will usually also get a loan to cover this entirely. Upon completing the required workload for a year, about $1,300 of your loan is removed from the books. On top of that you get paid an amount that should cover 3 return trips to your parents. If you also work in the summer, it should be possible to survive comfortably until you have a degree, but maybe not in a large apartment... unless your parents have money for it...
Yeah it's definately possible to get a apartment as a student. And I understand that we've gone to mainly Students discussion. but my point was, what if you don't want to study/ get a degree. Even with a fulltime job. (working at a store or something like that) you still would have trouble getting a loan / pay rent.
Especially if your girlfriend is pregnant. Then your almost fucked apartment wise. What if you want to start a family? Just because you didn't study / get a degree. We've (norwegians) have always been able to get a decent house with more than 1-2 bedrooms for a affordable price.
Now that's almost impossible unless you have a degree. And a degree doesn't get you any guaraties that you'll ever get a job doing whatever you got a degree for.
Using my sisters family as an example:
She's 27 now and a couple of years ago just finished her masters degree in literature science. In 2 years the only job she's been able to get is a part time job at a store (not local at all). Just so she could feed her kid. T
he kid's father has a very good job earning above average. And they still didn't get a loan until they saved up 25 % of a pretty small apartment just to have a place to live. And the 25% isn't easy to save to when your on 1 permanent income along with a part time job and a kid.
She's just gotten a good job (starts this wednesday in fact) and it's first now they actually can start to save up the 25% for their house / bigger apartment. When she's 27 and her Boyfriend 30. And the boyfriend has been working with the same pay (pretty good) for almost 10 years just so he could survive until my Sister was finished with her degree + 2 years.
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23 m^2 for 1545.7920 US dollars
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Oslo has been ranked the most expensive city in the world for the last two years or so. Relative to income it might not be so, but here's an example:
I just got back from the store and bought:
12 pints of beer (Aass, higher end within the class of "regular" lagers)
150 grams of cashew nuts
150 grams of pistachios
1 sour cream
1 cucumber
1 bread
which netted in at ~85 USD. By any standard i think thats pretty fucking expensive.
Im now imbibing said beverages (to steal from iNC) in my flat which netted me (as a good buy in a semi-central area) for $223000 for 33 sq. m. (or 355 sq. ft.). And as you can see the architecture would make White-Ra and Strelok feel right at home:
+ Show Spoiler +
Im not bitching, because I know almost every european country (and the rest of the world) is in deep shit and I make do. However, when i do anything besides sit in front of the computer it feels a bit like gettin robbed.
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United States33418 Posts
yah, but norway has the best strawberries in the world
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I had always thought that Norway was like the best country to live in but damn... it sounds like that is only true if you are on the dole...
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On September 29 2012 00:31 U_G_L_Y wrote:
I had always thought that Norway was like the best country to live in but damn... it sounds like that is only true if you are on the dole...
Well not to brag. But Norway is a pretty decent place to live. But so are alot of other places aswell. I don't think Norway is any better or worse than many countries. Except Sweden ofc. People who live there are so lame..
+ Show Spoiler +
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On September 29 2012 00:01 Waxangel wrote:
yah, but norway has the best strawberries in the world
Haha :p Yeah their pretty good.
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On September 28 2012 23:59 Aphasie wrote:Oslo has been ranked the most expensive city in the world for the last two years or so. Relative to income it might not be so, but here's an example: I just got back from the store and bought: 12 pints of beer (Aass, higher end within the class of "regular" lagers) 150 grams of cashew nuts 150 grams of pistachios 1 sour cream 1 cucumber 1 bread which netted in at ~85 USD. By any standard i think thats pretty fucking expensive. Im now imbibing said beverages (to steal from iNC) in my flat which netted me (as a good buy in a semi-central area) for $223000 for 33 sq. m. (or 355 sq. ft.). And as you can see the architecture would make White-Ra and Strelok feel right at home: + Show Spoiler +Im not bitching, because I know almost every european country (and the rest of the world) is in deep shit and I make do. However, when i do anything besides sit in front of the computer it feels a bit like gettin robbed.
On September 29 2012 00:01 Waxangel wrote:
yah, but norway has the best strawberries in the world
yah, I'd be interested in setting up a organ donor for strawberry baskets program (hush hush).
On another note, fuck yeah
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That's odd--I thought it was well-known that Norway, in particular Oslo, was among the most expensive places in the world.
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