I am thinking of applying for a job with my current company, I am based in the UK and the job opportunity is in Finland.
I would like to find out how much accomadtion is living or renting.
My wife and I would like to start a family in the near future so I would like to know what the education system is like.
Can anyone provide me with good websites or books that will supply me with a good guide to what I would need to live in Finland.
I understand that I might need a few more jumpers also...lol
Thanks
Wayne
Help please on Moving to Finland
Wayne old chap,
There is no website finer than this one for moving to Finland. It has everything you could need. Simply trawl through the archives and you will find the answers to questions that you hadn't even thought of.
What part of Finland? You know in summer you can put off the jumpers - you will need only repellant for the sääski
A good site for apartments is here:
http://www.dime.net/dime/c/vuokra-asunn ... /0/1/.dime
I found the URL at this site but this will take you straight to the apartment rental page. If you are moving with your company then I am sure they can give you better help with getting a place to live than a website written in Finnish.
More importantly, get off the internet and apply for the job - even if you have a horrible time here (and I'm sure you won't), it's an opportunity that you shouldn't pass up! Good luck!
becca
There is no website finer than this one for moving to Finland. It has everything you could need. Simply trawl through the archives and you will find the answers to questions that you hadn't even thought of.
What part of Finland? You know in summer you can put off the jumpers - you will need only repellant for the sääski
A good site for apartments is here:
http://www.dime.net/dime/c/vuokra-asunn ... /0/1/.dime
I found the URL at this site but this will take you straight to the apartment rental page. If you are moving with your company then I am sure they can give you better help with getting a place to live than a website written in Finnish.
More importantly, get off the internet and apply for the job - even if you have a horrible time here (and I'm sure you won't), it's an opportunity that you shouldn't pass up! Good luck!
becca
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scoobymcdoo
- Posts: 675
- Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2004 9:46 pm
hiya
we have just moved here from the UK (8 weeks ago) and find Finland so much cheaper than the UK even though we are down to one reduced salary.
Depending on where you are from in the UK, you'll find rental prices much cheaper, we are currently renting in Espoo.
The language is a bit of a problem but most people speak English, we have started finnish lessons so that we can not use the magic euro pointer finger!
We are about to have a baby and the health system is far superior here than in the UK.
I'd recommend moving here as we are really enjoying our time...I love the snow...the novelty still hasn't worn off!
HTH
Hannah
we have just moved here from the UK (8 weeks ago) and find Finland so much cheaper than the UK even though we are down to one reduced salary.
Depending on where you are from in the UK, you'll find rental prices much cheaper, we are currently renting in Espoo.
The language is a bit of a problem but most people speak English, we have started finnish lessons so that we can not use the magic euro pointer finger!
We are about to have a baby and the health system is far superior here than in the UK.
I'd recommend moving here as we are really enjoying our time...I love the snow...the novelty still hasn't worn off!
HTH
Hannah
Re: Help please on Moving to Finland
You will find lots of help here with quick answers to any questions that come up...waynenwendysworld wrote: Can anyone provide me with good websites or books that will supply me with a good guide to what I would need to live in Finland.
Another source of information is here where many of the answers to FAQs have been collected.
http://www...com/sauna/viewforum.php?f=20
You will find on this BB..there is an active community of Brits who have moved here ready to make you welcome.
In a brief summary.
The standards of health care, education and general living are streets ahead of the UK.
The language is problem at first..but there is pleanty of help.
The weather..
.lets just say Summers are wonderfull but not long enough..Re the education system here's a good starter from the BBC: Finland tops global school table
There's some links to more articles examining Finlands education system in greater detail.
There's some links to more articles examining Finlands education system in greater detail.
½½
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waynenwendysworld
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Wed Feb 09, 2005 6:52 pm
Moving and stuff to Finland
My guess is my Finnish wouldnt be much worse than my english as I speak Yorkshire most of the time although I now live near Manchester now, but travel to Yorkshire every day to work.
I am trying to work out the costs involved and trying to find out the salary for the postion before I apply, have a few days left before the deadline is up.
I was surprised to find a details about working in Finland on the Job seekers web page in the UK.
Raisio is the place I would be based in Finland if I got the job, nothing is certain at the moment.
I am in the postion of possible redundancy at the end of May 2005 if I do not find another job inside the company or elsewhere.
Finland looks a great place, so far everyone seems friendly enough thats got in touch.
At least being in the european union makes the moving a little easier, as for renting, I think I would like to buy a small place if at all possible, I should be able to let the property if I move back to the UK.
Important things to know:-
Price of drinks:-
Price of Petrol:-
Price of Rent of House:-
Right or left hand drive:-
(if you see my driving it doesnt really matter anyway...lol)
Public transport
I dont know what it is but I always feel a tad embarrassed when I go abroad as many of them speak very good english and I am always lucky if I can manage much more than hello and thankyou.
Anyway nite from me and hope to frequent here to find some more info over the next few days.
Thanks
Wayne
I am trying to work out the costs involved and trying to find out the salary for the postion before I apply, have a few days left before the deadline is up.
I was surprised to find a details about working in Finland on the Job seekers web page in the UK.
Raisio is the place I would be based in Finland if I got the job, nothing is certain at the moment.
I am in the postion of possible redundancy at the end of May 2005 if I do not find another job inside the company or elsewhere.
Finland looks a great place, so far everyone seems friendly enough thats got in touch.
At least being in the european union makes the moving a little easier, as for renting, I think I would like to buy a small place if at all possible, I should be able to let the property if I move back to the UK.
Important things to know:-
Price of drinks:-
Price of Petrol:-
Price of Rent of House:-
Right or left hand drive:-
(if you see my driving it doesnt really matter anyway...lol)
Public transport
I dont know what it is but I always feel a tad embarrassed when I go abroad as many of them speak very good english and I am always lucky if I can manage much more than hello and thankyou.
Anyway nite from me and hope to frequent here to find some more info over the next few days.
Thanks
Wayne
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scoobymcdoo
- Posts: 675
- Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2004 9:46 pm
Hiya
Petrol is slightly cheaper than UK (not much in it though).
Public transport is excellent where we are, it is cheap and reliable (if you are comparing to the UK)
Salary wise, we swapped pounds for Euros and went to one salary (me not working). We are surviving really easily.
Drinks in bars are nothing more than you'd pay in London.
Alcohol in shops is comparable...good selections of wine at our Alko (state run offies)
We have a company car which we pay tax on (likie UK). Cant help you with regard to importing cars/buying cars, do a search on this site and there is loads of info.
Cars are LHD- took a few drives to realise that I couldn't change gear by winding down the window! Speed limits are much slower than UK- motorways are 80 or 100km/h
Weather is not a problem...you acclimatise really quickly. I love the snow and the cold...minus 5 does not feel cold any more.
We've rented out our house in the UK and rent here. We have found rent much cheaper here with none of the hidden extras like huge council tax, water, gas, electricity etc.
Mobile phone rental is much cheaper as are calls, I used to pay £18 per month just to have a phone, here I pay 3 euros a month!
Its a good country...apply for the job and enjoy the experience!
HTH- these are just my opinions that I have formed in the last 9 weeks, others may disagree with me!
Hannah
Petrol is slightly cheaper than UK (not much in it though).
Public transport is excellent where we are, it is cheap and reliable (if you are comparing to the UK)
Salary wise, we swapped pounds for Euros and went to one salary (me not working). We are surviving really easily.
Drinks in bars are nothing more than you'd pay in London.
Alcohol in shops is comparable...good selections of wine at our Alko (state run offies)
We have a company car which we pay tax on (likie UK). Cant help you with regard to importing cars/buying cars, do a search on this site and there is loads of info.
Cars are LHD- took a few drives to realise that I couldn't change gear by winding down the window! Speed limits are much slower than UK- motorways are 80 or 100km/h
Weather is not a problem...you acclimatise really quickly. I love the snow and the cold...minus 5 does not feel cold any more.
We've rented out our house in the UK and rent here. We have found rent much cheaper here with none of the hidden extras like huge council tax, water, gas, electricity etc.
Mobile phone rental is much cheaper as are calls, I used to pay £18 per month just to have a phone, here I pay 3 euros a month!
Its a good country...apply for the job and enjoy the experience!
HTH- these are just my opinions that I have formed in the last 9 weeks, others may disagree with me!
Hannah
We lived in France and Hungary before we moved here and I am convinced we are MUCH worse off in Finland. Food and drink are way over French prices (I just came back from 5 days in Paris and was absolutely stunned at the price differences). Rents are OK here but the average house is teeny-weeny - it ain't easy to find spacious, reasonably priced homes (because there aren't many). House prices outside greater Helsinki are reasonable but it seems the propoerty market has peaked - so might not be the best time to buy.
As a teacher (with foreign qualifications) pay here sucks, so I now consider work as a hobby and dabble in it only when I have nothing better to do . Husband has a great job but his net income fell through the floor after he came off his ex-pat contract and went "local". Many ex-pats living here temporarily feel they are well-off because they are benefitting from special ex-pat deals with reduced tax rates and higher than average salaries. They also have rent subsidies and leased cars. But.... if you come over on a real "local" deal employed with the same pay and conditions as any other Finn my guess is you will feel worse off than in the UK.
As a teacher (with foreign qualifications) pay here sucks, so I now consider work as a hobby and dabble in it only when I have nothing better to do
. Husband has a great job but his net income fell through the floor after he came off his ex-pat contract and went "local". Many ex-pats living here temporarily feel they are well-off because they are benefitting from special ex-pat deals with reduced tax rates and higher than average salaries. They also have rent subsidies and leased cars. But.... if you come over on a real "local" deal employed with the same pay and conditions as any other Finn my guess is you will feel worse off than in the UK.We lived in France and Hungary before we moved here and I am convinced we are MUCH worse off in Finland. Food and drink are way over French prices (I just came back from 5 days in Paris and was absolutely stunned at the price differences). Rents are OK here but the average house is teeny-weeny - it ain't easy to find spacious, reasonably priced homes (because there aren't many). House prices outside greater Helsinki are reasonable but it seems the propoerty market has peaked - so might not be the best time to buy.
As a teacher (with foreign qualifications) pay here sucks, so I now consider work as a hobby and dabble in it only when I have nothing better to do . Husband has a great job but his net income fell through the floor after he came off his ex-pat contract and went "local". Many ex-pats living here temporarily feel they are well-off because they are benefitting from special ex-pat deals with reduced tax rates and higher than average salaries. They also have rent subsidies and leased cars. But.... if you come over on a real "local" deal employed with the same pay and conditions as any other Finn my guess is you will feel worse off than in the UK.
As a teacher (with foreign qualifications) pay here sucks, so I now consider work as a hobby and dabble in it only when I have nothing better to do
. Husband has a great job but his net income fell through the floor after he came off his ex-pat contract and went "local". Many ex-pats living here temporarily feel they are well-off because they are benefitting from special ex-pat deals with reduced tax rates and higher than average salaries. They also have rent subsidies and leased cars. But.... if you come over on a real "local" deal employed with the same pay and conditions as any other Finn my guess is you will feel worse off than in the UK.-
Hank W.
- The Motorhead
- Posts: 29973
- Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2002 10:00 pm
- Location: Mushroom Mountain
- Contact:
Well, in Raisio you can get a mansion on the prices you get a cupboard in Helsinki... then whoever would want to live there...
If you plan on moving, you need to own a car 6 months before you bring it over to avoid taxes, what I've heard LHD's are dirt cheap in the UK, so one of those is an asset (RHD's are weird birds and getting rid of one is more or less impossible.)
Oh, and public transport in Finland is pretty good - if there is a connection they usually run in time.
If you plan on moving, you need to own a car 6 months before you bring it over to avoid taxes, what I've heard LHD's are dirt cheap in the UK, so one of those is an asset (RHD's are weird birds and getting rid of one is more or less impossible.)
Oh, and public transport in Finland is pretty good - if there is a connection they usually run in time.
Last edited by Hank W. on Sun Feb 13, 2005 11:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Cheers, Hank W.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
*swaps LHD and RHD*Hank W. wrote:Well, in Raisio you can get a mansion on the prices you get a cupboard in Helsinki... then whoever would want to live there...
If you plan on moving, you need to own a car 6 months before you bring it over to avoid taxes, what I've heard RHD's are dirt cheap in the UK, so one of those is an asset (LHD's are weird birds and getting rid of one is more or less impossible.)
Oh, and public transport in Finland is pretty good - if there is a connection they usually run in time.
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scoobymcdoo
- Posts: 675
- Joined: Tue Jun 22, 2004 9:46 pm
We are here on a Finnish contract, paying proper taxes and being paid like all the other guys he works with and we are still feeling better off than when we were in the UK. We pay proper rent and tax on the company car. The other half is employed as a Finn with no special ex-pat benefits.
As I said before we swapped pounds for Euros and I stopped working and we are now wondering what to spend our money on!
Hannah
As I said before we swapped pounds for Euros and I stopped working and we are now wondering what to spend our money on!
Hannah
waynenwendysworld is moving from the UK, not France or Hungary. France is definitely cheaper than the UK. Why do you think the south of England spends so much time doing booze cruises over to France? And as for Hungary. I worked there for a bit once and its helluva lot cheaper than most places I've been in Europe. So try comparing eggs with eggs.penelope wrote:We lived in France and Hungary before we moved here and I am convinced we are MUCH worse off in Finland.
Scoobymcdoo I agree. I too moved from the UK recently (taking a pay cut and being employed on the same basis as my Finnish colleagues) and I'm easily better off than I was at home.scoobymcdoo wrote:We are here on a Finnish contract, paying proper taxes and being paid like all the other guys he works with and we are still feeling better off than when we were in the UK. We pay proper rent and tax on the company car. The other half is employed as a Finn with no special ex-pat benefits.
As I said before we swapped pounds for Euros and I stopped working and we are now wondering what to spend our money on!
Hannah
So, in your opinion, UK and Finland are "eggs and eggs"
As scoobymcdoo says... here they are renting property whereas in the UK they had their own house (so they have no maintenance costs etc etc) - in the UK they had their own car(s) -???- and here they have a company lease car. A new car is definitely more expensive here than the UK as are all repairs, maybe insurance is less. Also she is 9 months pregnant so presumably not racing around town much spending money. Wait till she has to start paying for disposal nappies. So much for eggs and eggs. IMO the average person/family can increase its financial net worth much quicker in the UK than up here - wait for 5 -10 years and see if they still feel better off here than in England..... Ever hired a plumber in Finland? Ever bought shrubs for your garden? What are your heating bills like in the UK?
As scoobymcdoo says... here they are renting property whereas in the UK they had their own house (so they have no maintenance costs etc etc) - in the UK they had their own car(s) -???- and here they have a company lease car. A new car is definitely more expensive here than the UK as are all repairs, maybe insurance is less. Also she is 9 months pregnant so presumably not racing around town much spending money. Wait till she has to start paying for disposal nappies. So much for eggs and eggs. IMO the average person/family can increase its financial net worth much quicker in the UK than up here - wait for 5 -10 years and see if they still feel better off here than in England..... Ever hired a plumber in Finland? Ever bought shrubs for your garden? What are your heating bills like in the UK?