Living on 3000 euro/mo?

[interleukin]

3) transport costs are tax-deductible...

But there is a certain minimum you can not deduct. So e.g. if you live in Helsinki, and have a bus pass for Helsinki, it will not cost you enough to be deductible.

[chickensexer]

Yes, transport costs are deductible to some degree but how much difference does that amount really make?

Subsidized housing would help though.

Ok, just remembered couple of more items with numbers to through in.

A movie ticket - 10eur. Movie rent - 3eur for 1 day.
Taxi - from Helsinki city center to the airport about 30-35eur (half hour ride, about 15miles)...
Booz - I don't know.
Internet - average 18eur/month for 2M.

Ah! You said you will use public transport, right? Ok, that would mean up to 20min wait outdoors (if tram or bus). In local climat you would have to dress properly for that. I'm not saying prepare yoruself for Arctic expedition but do dress adequtely. And bring those cloths with you from the states - stuff here, once again, would be much more expensive. Especially considering much more "trade flexibility" in America with all those sales, discounts, coupons and whatnots. Especilly in this crisis.

And yes, climate... No, I'm not gonna say how terribly cold it is here cuz for the most part it's not. But "chilly and/or bonechilling for the most of the time" it is. And kinda dark/gloomy, too. Imagine October starting in October, after that - November, the darkest, gloomiest and most depressive part of the year. And it lasts until February. Then in February winter STARTS. And lasts until May. (Although towards the end of that time it is a pretty lousy winter, but still. And it wsn't always like that but with all that climate change that's what we have now). And the truth is that even in the period from May through september the weather is NOT for wearing short sleeves comfortbly for the most of the time.

The choice is yours.

[Upphew]

Booz - I don't know.

http://www.alko.fi/products
And as law forbids advertising of hard booze Alko cannot even tell prizes for us...
http://www.isokaato.com/hinnasto/

[jas_rho]

. Imagine October starting in October, ...

Kind of hard to imagine October starting in October, but I will try

[Upphew]

. Imagine October starting in October, ...

Kind of hard to imagine October starting in October, but I will try

Its really hard to imagine October, when shops push Christmas decorations and songs to your face... I like Christmas, but only at December please.
Thank god there is now Halloween...

[stiff]

Well at least the PS3 will work, it's got an inbuilt power adaptor so you just need a Euro kettle/power lead.

[Bubba Elvis XIV]

By the way, 3000/month before tax is statistically average for a male in Finland. So basicaly whatever life you'll have here with that money would be pretty indicative of "average Finnish life" along the way.

Yeah - Was in the news the other day about...3,130 or so...

Does that seem right to you fellas?

[sinikala]

By the way, 3000/month before tax is statistically average for a male in Finland. So basicaly whatever life you'll have here with that money would be pretty indicative of "average Finnish life" along the way.

Yeah - Was in the news the other day about...3,130 or so...

Does that seem right to you fellas?

Yep. As I wrote earlier in this thread...

3000 euros sounds like you are a well-paid postdoc or junior group leader. I can't tell you if you will find this to be high enough to suit your needs, but this would be considered a higher salary than eg. most postdocs could hope for.

I started as a post-doc on 16,000 FIM / month (€2700) ... 9 years ago. Reasonably well paid Ph.D. students are on €2500+ nowadays. Even diploma workers are on over €2k.

[ndbowman]

oh Man, you guys are so informative; this is awesome! I'm trying to negot. a bit higher salary now actually, perhaps with a rent control situation or a rent subsidy. if they can do this, then this would be good.

Not a student position; a position as a research associate in a laboratory - Ph.D. in hand. So unfortunately I won't get any of the perks of being 'a kid'. But we'll see if they can't sweeten the deal a bit? It's a great opportunity, but given the economy I'm not sure I can swing the move just now. Also, I got an offer to stay in the states and build a completely new laboratory (crazy, given the economy here).

But the Finnish lab is far more prestigious...

[malongo]

you can make it here no problem. helsinki rents are not as bad as those in big american cities (nyc, boston, dc, chicago are the ones i know) but will still take a lot of your income, and food--both eating out at restaurants and groceries--is generally a lot more expensive. movies & concerts are about the same prices as in major american cities, and alcohol is either a little more expensive or way more expensive depending on how cheap your beer is in MI. my two cents = you'll be comfortable here but don't expect to save any money.

since the general mood of posters here is usually pretty pessimistic (or realistic, whatever), i would take it as a very good sign that most responses have been positive. some advice that i'm sure we can all agree to give is that you try and spend at least 1 summer here during your stay. it may make the difference between it being a wonderful or not-so-wonderful experience. being from michigan, i'm sure you know what that means.