Average Cost of living

[Rip]

Just for comparation, TOAS offered me a room with shower/WC and shared kitchen in the very central Tampere. 28 sq/m for 540e (includes all costs).

Care to give the address, because the price seems high for apartment where you would need to share a kitchen. I wonder if you got all the info right?

[Pursuivant]

Yikes, 540 in a shared apartment?
I can understand if it is one of those "family studios"

[Pursuivant]

By possible you say no needed, so you heat your houses with electricity then?

House as in separate house is different from apartment blocks, they are like... Kibbutzim. The company owns the house, you own only shares that allow you to occupy a space. So for example if you have a bad door, its not your door, its the company door. You pay as owner a "maintenance fee" to the company for all the ... Kibbutzim stuff, also grounds keeping, trash, stuff like like common laundry room etc. You don't see this if you rent. Water fees are extra.

So yes, they heat also by gas, in a big power station making electricity, the hot water is piped underground to houses where its transferred then to heat the house. Back in the day every house had their own boiler with oil or coal - hence the chimneys. Don't see smoke coming out of them.

[jahasjahas]

Well I don't need -- a cable TV.

If you have any TV at all, there's the TV fee.

I browsed through TOAS's website, but really couldn't figure out what apartment they were offering you at that price. Could you give us a link?

[grmmph]

Well, it's in the very central Tampere, just off the Rail station.
I guess it's expensive because it's only for forigners, and specially for exchange student. Which makes it less attractive.

http://www.toas.fi/en/housing/city

[Rip]

It does not sounds cheap. It is very central location. Kutittaa's electricity bill maybe rather low. The internet connection is presumably pretty good. Was usage of laundry room and sauna included? Typically they cost extra.

TOAS will not decide to kick you out just because it has a grandchild that needs the apartment.

If you're not in Finland yet what are your practical chances of getting an apartment from elsewhere?

TOAS does not sound like a great bargain, but it might still be OK and best what you can get.



.

[Kutittaa]

We have a sauna and a pretty large balcony here, our apartment is smaller than the other one but cosier and we sacrificed some 'space' for the sauna and the balcony that we didn't have in the last apartment.
We use the sauna maybe 3 times a week. Never for very long, about 30 minutes or so. Sometimes we turn it off and just let the repeated throwing of water cool it down when we feel like it's almost time to leave.
We always turn off the lights we don't need and rarely leave any on to 'set the mood'. We use candles lots, but that just adds costs there (that don't show up in those bills, but are present).
Wife has a car but no license yet and it's at the parents place. So we aren't paying for a parking space.
We also barely use the TV but that is about to change, wife just ordered a Sonera cablecard TV package for 6 months because she wants to watch nature docos. Public and Private bill will be expensive but she wants to pay.
There is no washing machine downstairs, we have our own it's an awesome washing machine. Clothes come out practically dry. There is a drying room downstairs but no one uses it.
We have a dishwasher and it's quite fast and doesn't use much water for that matter. We soak everything a little that we know is going to be hard to wash in it so it doesn't require a second round.
When we leave for a long time we turn the fridge and freezer off also, at the breakers so nothing is turned on at all. Except the fire alarm. That way we can't be using any electricity.

I think we're pretty conservative to be honest. But we have other bills to pay off that are mild luxury items etc. For the things that my wife and I buy we like to buy expensive things. Both of us would rather a few expensive, well maintained, well built items rather than a lot of cheaper, lower quality stuff. I think we do pretty well.

[Pursuivant]

Both of us would rather a few expensive, well maintained, well built items rather than a lot of cheaper, lower quality stuff.

x10

[htc]

Hi guys,

I am planning to move to Jyvaskyla this autumn for studies and I did some research on cost of living, city itself, people and etc. But one thing I found very hard to get decent info on are grocery costs and availability. I also read that some of you guys shop at amazon UK and get stuff shipped to Finland. It sounds great. We usually shop at wholesale markets like Costco and buy basic products in large quantities: 5 liters of cooking oil, a bag of flour, rice, sugar, box of potato. This way we save a lot. But I am little worried if such thing is possible in Finland. If not, what is the best/cheapest way?
Also, I am curious about prices of below products/services. Can anyone please help me with this? I know it is kind a long list. But it is really important for estimating my monthly expenses.
1. Milk (1 liter)
2. Egg (12 or 30 pcs)
3. Butter (500 g)
4. Beef (1 kg)
5. Fish (say mackerel or any freshwater fish)
6. Loaf of bread (500-600 g)
7. Tomato (1 kg)
8. Potato (1 kg)
9. Onion (1 kg)
10. Apple
11. Orange
12. Flour (all purpose)
13. Sunflower oil (1 liter)

-Simple hair cut.
-Dry cleaning (say long coat)

One last thing, can you please tell me in which areas apartment rents are cheapest?

Thank you for your patience and help.

[Sunil-123]

Internet as a basic human right, it doesn't mean free for everybody. Education, medical care etc. are all basic human rights in Finland but nothing is free.
But
In Finland it also means that if you are not able to afford them for some reason, it's the duty of the state to provide them to you. So nowadays a person while applying for social money can add internet as a basic cost.

[Pursuivant]

these are "about" prices in euros

1. Milk (1 liter) 0.90
2. Egg (12 or 30 pcs) 15 eggs 2.50
3. Butter (500 g) real butter... 2.80
4. Beef (1 kg) ...yeah... around 25.-
5. Fish (say mackerel or any freshwater fish)... well... salmon can be the cheapest if you dont go herring... a whole fish ungutted head and all? hard to say 10-12 per kg???
6. Loaf of bread (500-600 g) define "bread" or french cake... sliced toast 1 -1.50
7. Tomato (1 kg) ...depends... 2.50
8. Potato (1 kg) ...depends... 0.50
9. Onion (1 kg) ...depends... 0.90
10. Apple just the one? 2 - 3 /kg
11. Orange 1.80 - 2 /kg
12. Flour (all purpose) 1.- for 2kg
13. Sunflower oil (1 liter) 2.65

-Simple hair cut. ...by yourself, free, buying a beanie costs... 20 -25-30 depends if you are a woman then 300
-Dry cleaning (say long coat) more than the cost of the coat probably 50 -100

One last thing, can you please tell me in which areas apartment rents are cheapest?

where the foreigners, students, and winos live

[Sunil-123]

Simple hair cut. ...by yourself, free, -Dry cleaning (say long coat) more than the cost of the coat

[Flossy1978]

I've seen gas stoves in Helsinki City apartments. Old ones. And even in Itä-Helsinki in City Housing. A coworker has a gas stove. But the housing isn't heated by gas.

I have another coworker who lives in a rich area of Helsinki and her heating isn't included in the rent. She also has a wood stove in her apartment. It's an old apartment. Her heating bill is expensive. Well, she moved now, so it's irrelevant. But seperate heating does sometimes happen in some buildings.

In the previous flat I lived in Klaukkala, the water was 20€ per person per month. It was a total rip off because just over the road I had been paying only 12€ a month per person. So I let my son take 20 minute showers after finding out it was that much when I started renting. You wouldn't know I come from Australia with my use of water here in Finland.

Now I am again in a different flat in Klaukkala and the water is a part of the rent. I don't even know how much it is a month. There is no seperate amount for it on my rental agreement.

I was paying just under 20€ a month for electricity. I lived in a 58 neliö apartment without sauna or anything special. It was a horrible crappy old flat without any modernisation and was over 40 years old without a sauna. Only the bathroom had been renovated once. Now I live in a much smaller place, but much more modern and it has it's own sauna. So I think the electricity would be cheaper, but I go to sauna once or twice a week, so it might end up being the same as the old place.

You are moving to a cheaper place than the Helsinki area. That's an awful lot to pay for rent, what you quoted. I pay that much and I live just outside of the metropoliton area of Helsinki, Vantaa and Espoo.

[Rip]

So nowadays a person while applying for social money can add internet as a basic cost.

In which town? Certainly spirit of the law, and the way it is applied for example in Helsinki is that internet costs are something that you are supposed to cover with the basic social support (toimeentulotuki) allowance. You will not get anything extra for them on top of it.

[Sunil-123]

Where did I write you'll get on top of it? I am just telling that it's a cost on which they can't object that it's something extra. What happens if you have some disorder and you need to eat a lot or you need to eat something specific which is quite expensive? Or any other situation where it's not possible to manage within the given limit? You ask for extra money.

So if you are not able to manage your expenses and are applying for additional support, they can't ask you to remove internet from your expenses. They can't even suggest.