Maybe moving to Oslo, questions.

Hi Iain!

Welcome to Expat.com

Armand

Hi Beard,

44 000 NOK monthly salary is good - and 1000 pound for 1 bedroom flat is also fine (about 7000 NOK a month).

Your income tax rate will be individual , perhaps 30% ? You can call them up to speak with them at the Tax office , in Norway they are called "Skatteetaten".

Many things at supermarkets are decent prized, allthough some items are expensive ( diary products and meat) and some are fairly expensive, e.g bread, potatoes.

A litre of milk costs around 2 euro

I don't think it's an issue when it comes to most vegetables, rice etc so if you cook at home then money is not a problem even if a couple of the food items are overpriced.

Naturally you will learn that some places are cheaper to buy things than others , e.g IKEA if presumingly a place you would want to buy furniture unless you can get a furnished apartment or buy them 2nd hand.

Beard: I would also like to add that you will find take-aways expensive due to the fact the ingredients are more expensive and the wages are high, so in Norway ordering a pizza is not a "cheap option".

A large family pizza in Norway costs 40 euro but you could get the same for 20 euro in Denmark. A burger with fries costs around 15 or 16 euro, and this would also cost significantly less in Denmark or Sweden.

But then again you  have cheap flights to and from Norway , cheap international calling options from Norway thanks to the local immigrants who call home, and you have some good discount fares with NSB (Norwegian rail) such as "Mini pris" which effectively means that if you book online well in advance you could travel for as little as 25 euro (199 kroner) from any station to any station in Norway , e.g Oslo to Bergen or Oslo all the way up to northern norway.

Hello,

I think the tax on a salary like that would Normally be around 36%, but I think you can claim a special 'foreigner' deduction for the first two years you work. This would mean you would pay less tax.

There is a really good post somewhere on this board outlining a price list for all the sorts of things you might want to but. If you can find that, I guess it will help you.

Good luck,

David

Yea that is true , I remember many people have outline these things in the Norway thread on several occassions, so maybe just search for " price" or "cost of living" or perhaps only "cost" to find those threads.

dmcart13 wrote:

Hello,

I think the tax on a salary like that would Normally be around 36%, but I think you can claim a special 'foreigner' deduction for the first two years you work. This would mean you would pay less tax.

There is a really good post somewhere on this board outlining a price list for all the sorts of things you might want to but. If you can find that, I guess it will help you.

Good luck,

David

Hello,

I'm considering moving to from London to Oslo and want to assess whether the rpoposed salary would be enough. I would earn 900,000 NOK a year to support a family of 5 (a baby + 2 young kids, me and my wife.

I would be keen to have your view on wether 900k NOK is not enough, just enough or way emough!

Cheers

Alex

Hello,

It's hard to say, but I would definitely say that it's not 'way enough'. I think it would be a struggle. I live in a 2 bedroom apartment, with a household income of around 900,000. I wouldn't say that the two of us are rich. I don't know where I would get money to have 3 children. I also guess that I would need to rent/buy a house. That would be expensive in the Oslo area. So at least I would say that you wouldn't be rich, but if it's something you want to do, then it might be possible with some careful planning and budgeting.

David

Thanks David,
that gives me a good idea

Alex

I get some what similar to what you are offered in pay.  I think you will be using the same tax table that I use - Table 7300.  my monthly tax rate is approximately 32% to 36%.  I did ask for foreigner reduced tax rate but they still deduct approximately the amount I posted above.

The rates varies in that range because it is dependent on the tax table 7300.

I find that to live a bit comfortably and save a little in Oslo means you need to do your groceries shopping (meat!) in Sweden which is a 1.5 to 2 hrs drive away.

Yes that is fine - you can rent a 2 or 3 room apartment in Oslo - just go to www.finn.no and click "Eiendom" which means property and then choose Oslo and "Alle Områder" meaning all areas and you see all the available private property there.

If it is 900 K after tax then that is fine, but if it is before then still you can adjust.

Education is free in Norway, and if your wife works there then you obviously have to pay for kindergarden for the youngest, or if she chooses to stay at home then she can take care of him/her and you can always eat food at home etc.

There are good telephone card / sim card options for you to call back home , such as Lebara.

You will obviously not be able to eat out much like you might be use to in London as it is much more expensive in Oslo.

Oslo has a much smaller city centre than London, and it is less multicultural and with many less attractions - but if you can get use to that then you will like Oslo because it has a lot else to offer in return.

Oslo is safer, the public transportation is better, you have snow every winter and can visit many scenery places such as Bergen in summer. You also have people from all over the world - from Pakistan, from Vietnam, from Sweden, Spain, Africa etc so you will not feel alone allthough it is only perhaps 20% of the population of Oslo so you can buy international food and other items.

The houses are really nice in Norway - usually made from wood and painted in yellow, white etc.

AlexLp wrote:

Hello,

I'm considering moving to from London to Oslo and want to assess whether the rpoposed salary would be enough. I would earn 900,000 NOK a year to support a family of 5 (a baby + 2 young kids, me and my wife.

I would be keen to have your view on wether 900k NOK is not enough, just enough or way emough!

Cheers

Alex

Hello!

900.000 before tax is more than enough to take care of your family and have a nice place to stay. This is just above middle clas but it all depends of how much sigarettes and wine you drink.

I would say just enough for you but a norwegian could probably save a bit too!

From my own experiences: I earn about 400 NOK / year before tax.  I support myself and my GF in a one-bed apartment (about 10mins walk from the city center).

We live pretty comfortably... I came here straight from Uni so am starting at the bottom of the career ladder yet I find I have more money than I can spend on normal things.  It keeps coming in so I have to keep spending it!

Earning 400 NOK I pay 36% Tax (paid 36% when I earnt 360 NOK too).  Food is probably the sole biggest outgoing after rent.  I can regularly spend upwards of 3-400 NOK on a daily trip to the shop simply for some mince/sauce and milk + usual other things.  I rarely, if ever, spend less than 200 on even the most basic trip to the shop. 

If you have the availability of car (which given the family I'm guessing you would have) you can save an extravagant amount of money by driving to the Swedish border (roughly a 2hr, very easy, drive) and buying in bulk (especially your meats/cheese etc).


Needless to say, 400 nok is more than enough for me supporting two people in the city (renting at 11.5k nok / month), I get roughly 22k nok / month in wages.  Kids+car+bigger house and different area (depending on schools/commuting etc) could have a much bigger impact on the finances though.

Be warned by the way, eating out in Norway will cost a lot, regardless of where you go, a typical meal for two in a popular restaurant (Egon) will at minimum cost you around 400 nok.  It's something you have to get used to.


One last thing, regarding the lower tax for the first two years as a foreigner, I believe that you get that tax paid back to you sometime in June/July, you don't simply pay less tax / month.  GF's mum works high up in the tax admin so she helps me with that stuff.