Food price in Helsinki

[MattyMore]

Hello everyone,
I am moving to Finland for a traineeship and I was wondering if you can help me out with cost of living in Helsinki.
My question is: is it possible to live with 400€ par month only for food ? I mean normal diet, no alchol or strange stuff.

Thank you very much for your help!

[irnbru]

Quite possible especially if you eat bread, rice, pasta, potato (cheap carbs) The supermarket is what makes Finland so expensive to live in. The prices are obscene.

[Beep_Boop]

My question is: is it possible to live with 400€ par month only for food ? I mean normal diet, no alchol or strange stuff

While the cost of living in Helsinki will include things other than food (transportation, entertainment, etc.), 400 is very good to cover the dietary needs of one person.

I'm a very picky person when it comes to food, and here's how it goes for me:
- 25-30 euros once a month for things that last for long (spices, vegetable oil, ketchup, vinegar, etc.)
- 30-35 euros once a week for weekly supplies (salt, olive oil, rice, pasta, eggs, tuna, frozen vegetables, etc.)
- 15-20 euros once every 3 days for short-lived things, depending on what you're planning to cook (milk, fish, chicken, pork, beef, fresh vegetables, fresh juice, etc.)
- Plus, 3-4 times a month surprise purchases (things you really like or wanna try), that's about 5-10 each time.

All in all, my monthly spending on food is between 320-410.

Of course, you need to keep in mind that my lunch is covered by the company, so you might wanna shift the money around a bit (less in some areas, more in others) so you can make extra food to take to work.

[FinnGuyHelsinki]

If you cook your own food, no problems whatsoever, if you insist on having a 10€ lunch each working day, or regularly eat out otherwise, obviously that will make a dent in your budget.

[MattyMore]

Guys,
thank you very much for your help !
Lunch is covered by the company and this is a huge advantage.

I am moving soon and I wanted to have an idea about monthly foodshopping cost for single person; this will help me to decide if to spend few euro more for accomodation near my workplace or to save money and take farther apartment.
Of course, on the other side, farther place means season ticket...
Thank you very much again!

[betelgeuse]

Hello everyone,
I am moving to Finland for a traineeship and I was wondering if you can help me out with cost of living in Helsinki.
My question is: is it possible to live with 400€ par month only for food ? I mean normal diet, no alchol or strange stuff.

Thank you very much for your help!

http://www.helsinginseutu.fi/hki/HS/Sel ... entulotuki

For people on social security it's expected they will be able to get by with 485,50 euros for other than housing expenses. This means many people already do it successfully. As already mentioned it won't be glamorous.

[foca]

My question is: is it possible to live with 400€ par month only for food ? I mean normal diet, no alchol or strange stuff

While the cost of living in Helsinki will include things other than food (transportation, entertainment, etc.), 400 is very good to cover the dietary needs of one person.

I'm a very picky person when it comes to food, and here's how it goes for me:
- 25-30 euros once a month for things that last for long (spices, vegetable oil, ketchup, vinegar, etc.)
- 30-35 euros once a week for weekly supplies (salt, olive oil, rice, pasta, eggs, tuna, frozen vegetables, etc.)
- 15-20 euros once every 3 days for short-lived things, depending on what you're planning to cook (milk, fish, chicken, pork, beef, fresh vegetables, fresh juice, etc.)
- Plus, 3-4 times a month surprise purchases (things you really like or wanna try), that's about 5-10 each time.

All in all, my monthly spending on food is between 320-410.

Of course, you need to keep in mind that my lunch is covered by the company, so you might wanna shift the money around a bit (less in some areas, more in others) so you can make extra food to take to work.

I really admire people who can calculate something like that......bravo ...
I will not even know where to start

[Rick1]

Keep in mind that for most people lunch is not totally covered by Company. One lunch coupon costs you about 6 euro netto, so 20 times 6 is about 120 a month.

[harryc]

I see no problem with 400€ a month --

The posts above contain much good advice -

I would emphasize a few matters:

1. Use your cooking talents - and develop more - it's even fun - and you will be healthier AND save money!

(avoid processed foods - mostly for reasons of health)

2. Probably the most important - follow the OFFERS _ TAROUS/TARJOUKSET - you can save 30-40% on so many items - these offers last for 2-3-4 days and all the stores run them - items are so varied that you can have tasty and diverse meals the whole time - but you do need to use cooking talents that you have or will develop.

3. For beverages - avoid all the sweet stuff (important for health as well) and think of investing in one of those Soda Stream machines. You can make perfect fizzy water at strength you want for about 10 cents a liter. Put in some lemon juice if you like.

4. Do exercise your brain to remember prices. Use Lidl as a base (fruits and vegs have good basic prices) - but be sure to follow S and K weekly and semi-weekly offers - but be VERY careful with items not specially priced - do also pay attention to their private brands - Xtra - Rainbow - Pirkka - K-Menu - but all items not always on target.

5. Lidl has same prices in all shops - but K and S can vary significantly by location (offers are usually 'area' valid) and also among K - big differences between City Markets, Supermarkets and Markets!!

6. Brown bag it for lunch - bring a sandwich or two - or use the micro at work and warm up some home made pasta etc. (no smelly stuff though - avoid bringing in garlic or fish).