Salary and Lillehammer

Hello,

That't not a bad salary (I'm assuming that's before tax), but I think you might struggle with three people living from it. Housing is pretty expensive, and you can probably forget having a car. Food is also expensive. In fact, everything is much more expensive than the UK. Prices are on average about a third higher, although cigarettes, alcohol, cars and travelling in general are much more expensive. I think housing costs are also higher now, although this wasn't the case a few years ago. I suppose my conclusion would be that you could probably live from that salary if you live frugally, but I think you would struggle to save anything.

Hope that helps,

David

P.S. you can look on www.finn.no to see apartments and houses, to give you an idea of the rental/buying costs.

Thanks David, I guess it would be one salary initially then both of us working after a while. Is a car not an essential if living somewhere other than Oslo? I know we would be a wee bit lost without one  living in Edinburgh, more for  convince and days out I guess.

Jon

I lived for a while in Norway without a car, but it was horrible. Getting to and from shops was very difficult, and not being able to go anywhere was terrible. That was outside of Oslo. I live in Oslo now, and it would be possible to do without the car. I have kept mine though, as it's very convenient. It's a small car, but it was still expensive, and it's a constant stream of bills for various taxes, charges, road tolls, insurance, winter/summer tyre changes and maintenance. So if you want a car, you probably need to budget quite carefully. I think if you want to bring a car from the UK, you are allowed to have it for our first year before you get hit with a massive tax bill. So you could consider brining one over and then taking it back to the UK to sell before you get the tax bill. You should check this is still the case. That's how it was when I first arrived at any rate.

The best thing to do is probably to try to work out how much everything will cost and write down a budget. There are some good posts on this forum giving a fairly detailed list of things which  you might need to buy, and how much you should expect to pay for them. I think it would be possible to get by on one salary, but you would have to be careful. Having two salaries coming in would certainly help. If your partner is looking for a job, speaking Norwegian is probably a must. Perhaps your parter is Norwegian, I don't know. There are some jobs which don't require knowledge of Norwegian, but I don't think there are so many. Again, www.finn.no gives all of the jobs listings in the country.

You should also think about whether you want the Norwegian lifestyle. I think a lot of people have unrealistic expectation about how it is. I would happily move to Edinburgh if I could get a job there. Good jobs with a good salary are one big advantage of living in Norway. Although things are getting so expensive these days that I start to wonder how much of the difference is compensated for by higher wages. I suppose it depends what you want to get out of the move.

David

Live like the ideal Indian - " Plain living high thinking" as the Hare Krishnas say.

Just eat normal vegetarian food, dont drink alcohol etc then you can have a good time in Norway.

Remember Lillehammer is colder than Oslo however it is only a 2 to 2 œ hour train journey from Oslo - it's right north of Oslo.

The buses in Norway are very efficient and always run on time, yes they are expensive but also of a good quality.

It is mostly in the north of Norway where there are problems with public transportation if you consider the fact that the railway network doesn't go higher than Bodø.

Winter Olympics has been held in Lillehammer

Blackjak wrote:

Thanks David, I guess it would be one salary initially then both of us working after a while. Is a car not an essential if living somewhere other than Oslo? I know we would be a wee bit lost without one  living in Edinburgh, more for  convince and days out I guess.

Jon

thanks for all the feedback guys. I feel a car would be an essential for us as we like to get out and about, skiing, snowboarding and visiting family. Is the major cost of a car in Norway the running of it? or the buying? as petrol in Edinburgh is around £1.35 a litre at the moment from doing a quick search petrol in Norway looks to be around £1.57 a litre.

BlackJack: If you miss family back home then don't move to Norway, but don't avoid doing it just for the car ... you will have no issues with public transport in Lillehammer....just get a set of bus passes for all of you....and then go by train to Oslo, Bergen etc

Remember there is something called " Mini Pris" in Norway at NSB, the railway service, which means if u book well in advance you can virtually travel from anywhere to anywhere in Norway for as little as 199 or 299 NOK (around 25 to 40 euro) one way ...even on the Oslo-Bergen line or Oslo - Bodø which takes 18 hours

Cars: Well yes the cost of a car is perhaps the highest in Europe? The same car would cost significantly less in say Germany ...

But yes petrol is also more expensive than in the UK

You would obviously also need winter tyres, insurance etc

But if you rent an apartment, try to save whereever possible then you could always contact your bank after a year or so and ask for a loan ....perhaps buy a small used car?

Buying and running a car is expensive. I bought a new Hyundai i10, which is a tiny car, for £17,000. I spend about £1,400 per year on it, and that's without petrol, which is also more expensive than in the UK.

Even buying a used car is expensive. They tend to hold their value more because new ones are so expensive. If you buy an old one, you will need to add in the cost of the MOT and possible repairs. This is also very expensive.

I want to import a rickshaw

Silver1984 wrote:

I just remembered you can import a veteran car tax-free

I'm sure there must be a rickshaw tax. If not, they would certainly introduce one if people started importing them. Looking at today's weather though, I can't see the idea taking off

I've accepted the post, we will be moving to Lillehammer in march. "Pack you're lederhosen, we're  going to norway"

Very good Blackjack

Congratulations. It will be an adventure and I'm sure you will enjoy it. Best of luck with the move, and let us know if there is anything you need to know.

David

P.S. I don't think anyone in Norway has lederhosen. Perhaps that's why you are bringing your own.