We moved here in Sweden 2 years ago and rented an apartment for the first 6 months then bought our own house in the countryside about 40-45minutes from central Stockholm. We were so lucky to get our 4bedrooms villa quite cheap compared to the UK. It takes less than 30 minutes to commute to work and school which is perfect for us. We always lived in the city before so it was a big change but we really enjoy living close to nature, seeing deers walking across our garden is amazing 🥰
That sounds amazing! For us it's already a change as well to live a little outside the city. And we love it 🥰 Now we just need our own house as well 🤞🏻
it is not expensive to live in sweden, but it is expensive to visit unless you come from a even more "expensive" country. your total cost of living in any nation is at large based on your disposable income. some specific items can be more or less expensive due to local taxes and regulations.
Yes, food is expensive and the only chance you have to save money on it is to learn what food items cost in all the different grocery stores in your area, because even stores within the same chain have different prices. And it is really hard work to keep tabs on where to go to buy stuff. Transportation, well, buying a buss pass for a month is cheap compared to for example driving your car to work and pay for a parking spot, but if you have a lower income it is definitely not cheap and the 900-1000 kr a month takes a big chunk of your budget.
Some food items that may seem a bit scary to non-native Swedes are really cheap. For example, blodpudding. Generations of Swedish parents have served it to their kids because of its budget friendliness. Just slice it in slightly less than centimeter-thick slices, fry it for a few minutes until it loses that slightly reddish hue and becomes plain black. Serve with lingonsylt and you have a meal. Also, pea soup, typically with pork bits in it. Just heat it and serve with a tiny blob of mustard in the bowl. Yummy! An extremely Swedish classic is pea soup on Thursdays, with pancakes for dessert. The army used to serve that every Thursday, and you can still find restaurants that serve it every Thursday. Also, public transportation is actually one of the things that are usually less expensive in Stockholm and the other big cities than in the smaller cities, and the difference isn't always small.
You can quite easily own a house for less than 28.000sek a month, however as a newcomer getting a loan can be a bit tricky though not impossible. You do however need to put in between 10-15% of the price of the house from your own money, as in no loan on those. There people get creative however and there is quite a few ways to get around that. But 28.000 in rent is alot, even for being sweden IMO
28000 for what? Whats the size? Its really a crazy rent 😂 But the Stockholm region is crazy expensive. We built a villa of 375m2, but this is paid for with no loans. So the monthly costs are only the electric, about 400-1000kr. Water and the other costs from the municipality, is about 1000-1500kr/month. All this only 400m from the sea & beaches, all the way down in the south of Sweden. It also much more easy to find cheaper places to rent here, and closer to Europe 😉👍
That's such a good price! I have heard of these prices in Sweden as well. Maybe one day when we're not bound to living in a city we can buy a house up North 🥰
The high prices isn’t really high, the taxes are high. I get what you mean tho. I often hear that all tax funded stuff are called free, and then go to say the cost of living are high.
28000 kr with all expenses like garbage removal etc or just rent?, that sounds insane, i live outside Uppsala here you can rent a whole house around 7-8000 kr per month.
Well 7-8000 will not even give you a one room apartment in Stockholms better neighbourhoods. I live in a two room apartment in the 7th or 8th biggest city in Sweden and I pay 9000kr per month. A house would totally cost 25000+ to rent in this area but very few people do. People who can afford to pay 25k+ in rent will buy.
@@LivingSwedish what I can see through the window in the background is the water just outside, i think with boats passing by. So that plot definitely costs extra. Lake/water views cost in Sweden, can not be compared with eg Uppsala.
@@ahlsn7346 Well, if 28000 is what you have to pay for renting a house in the vicinity of Stockholm, you might as well rent a house in Södertälje and hire a driver to take you to work in Stockholm everyday and still be able save money every month. I am definitely in the wrong business. I should buy a couple of houses near the capital and rent them out on a monthly basis!!!
Is Sweden expensive? Yes! But it depends... Income tax: If you have a monthly income of 40 000 SEK (that is about 10 000 more than the average income in Sweden) you pay slightly more than 23% in income taxe if you live in Stockholm. Your employer will pay slighly more than 31% in "arbetsgivaravgift" ("payroll tax", "Arbeitgeberbeitrag" - it is not easy to translate exactly) on top of that. So the total cost for the employer would be 52 568 SEK, of which you will get 30 686 SEK and 21 882 will go to various taxes! (If there is a "Kollektivavtal" /"collective agreement", "Tarifvertrag"/ in place where you are working the employer will also pay up to 10% to pension funds and added extra social insurences. This applies to around 90% of all swedish employees) Then there are other taxes like "Moms" ("VAT, MwSt") but I think the above will be enough for this first lecture on swedish taxes!
@@LivingSwedish A pleasure! It will be intersting to se your video on "Starting a company in Sweden", I think it is a really good decision you made to start a "real" company, there are many advantages in doing this. I suppose your accountant has told about a few tricks.... but thera are many more!
I live in a smaller village outside a larger town, my rent is 6000 kr for 2 bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom and weird large hallway. and I 6 minute by train to the town center. In my rent I have heating, sewage, water , garbage. I only pay electricity and internet. Health care is the same , doesnt matter if you are rich or poor, you pay the same , how ever social welfare will pay your medical bills and medicine if you are social welfare and we have a limit on this and it free when you hit the limit. You are bit wrong about the kindergarten, it based on how much you earn , so we had first 15 hours free and later on we paid 450 kr per month due to our low income. You have high income if you are in the highest bracket of kindergarten, which is 1000 kr is.
A MEAL? No... If you consider that a meal - then you can by a wiener with bread ("Wienerwurst mit brot") for just 5 crowns at IKEA. Buy two and you will not be hungry! But I don´t consider that a meal...
I hear mixed things. Some say it's not expensive and some say it's expensive. I don't have a car yet but I will in the future and then I can talk more about it. As far as I know many Swedes own a car. Many also own an electric car here.
Buying and owning a car in Sweden would cost just about the same as in for example the US. The difference is the cost of fuel, which is much, much higher, which is why electric cars are becoming more and more common.
@@michaelgberg4858 Not even close. Take into account that a typical US car is a pick-up truck. Here in Sweden I pay $1500 a year, just to keep such a truck on the road.
@@rhkavli The most popular cars in the US are cars like Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Depending on which state you live in, the average monthly cost for a car like that is around 550 USD (750 USD in Michigan). The average monthly cost for cars like that in Sweden is around 6500 SEK, which is higher than in the US and the difference is due to fuel cost. The fact that a pick-up truck costs more to own in Sweden, welll it is in the name, really.
The comparison is not fair. I spoke to a British mom of 3 she chose not to work because childcare would eat up all of her salary,would Sweden be expensive comparing to her,no! What economical force would a Swedish median income have after all expences paid compared to other nations median income is Sweden expensive in that case,no it is not. And nobody Swedish in their right mind would rent a home for € 3.500 or what the amount you said was, for that amount of money you can own your own home in the posh areas. My sister live in the subs of London she bought an ordinary house there wich we would call "radhus" she paid 7 million SEK for that,that is defenetly more expensive then Sweden. But if you are of high income and listen to others of high income yea i guess Sweden is expensive.
Thanks for sharing your opinion! My biggest message of the video was "it depends". I also highlighted the situation of being fairly new in the country. Great if you have all the money and knowledge to buy a property straight away before moving to Sweden but if not you have to rent first. As I mentioned in the video, buying a property is cheaper. I also mentioned that London is more expensive. So all your points have a clear "it depends" in this video 😉
Even if you find a fool who agrees to an arranged marriage, you will be sent back, Sweden does not give you the right to stay due to marriage. Nor do children automatically receive Swedish citizenship.
Hello, thanks for your very interesting videos. I have a question related to the procedure to move to Sweeden. Tell me if I am wrong but I understand that if I have a Communitarian Nationality (I am Spanish) and some savings then I can stay the first 3 months without any problem and if I keep myself working or searching for a job, is that enough to get the Personnumber after the first year living there, is that correct? I would appreciate so much your clarification or your experience.
Hi there, Thanks for your question! I found the following answer to your question which I have seen before so rather than trying to explain this with my own words I'm going to copy and paste the answer below. I hope this helps (will also add the link to the website for your reference). However, it's worth calling up Skatteverket as well to double-check that this information below is correct. "In theory as an EU/EEA citizen you automatically have the right of residence in Sweden. However it turns out this is not exactly the case. What you do have is the right to live in Sweden for three-six months while you look for work. If you want to stay longer you will need to fulfill one of the following requirements. Moreover, if you want to register with Skatteverket and obtain a personnummer you will need to meet one of these requirements for at least one year: Have employment where you earn at least 13,000 SEK each month before taxes (if you are single) and comprehensive health insurance Be a student at an approved institution with comprehensive health insurance Be looking for work with realistic prospects, have enough money to support yourself each month (at least 7,300 SEK), and have comprehensive health insurance Note that to fulfill the health insurance requirement an EU health insurance card is acceptable." openbordersimmigration.com/getting-a-personal-number-personnummer-in-sweden/#eu_or_eea_member_citizen_from_a_country_in_europe
@@LivingSwedish Thanks for your time to answer, you are very nice! Have a beautiful day and hope all go well there... for the moment I am studying Swedish in Duolingo and saving with the hope to visit maybe this year.
Let me explain.. becuse there is so many myths. Sweden is expencive, especialy in our bigger citys.. especial in those areas there the uper elit lives. And to our high taxes, its "marginaltaxes", its almoste teoretical, the more you earn the more taxes you pay, fair enough? But then there is a lot of tax reductions/deductions.. or even loopholes that the richest can use.' Moste swedes own there homes, then one need a loan, and pay intrest on that, tax reduction for intrest. Then one need to travel to once jobb or selfown company, tax reduction on that. If one own ones own home, one often need to use skilled workers, like plumers, electrians, carpenters, or even gardeners.. tax reductions for those sevices! Now I only want to touch the loopholes for very rich people, selfemployees, and owners of a company; Take at least a low salary frome your company, then paying 32% salary tax, and of top of this your company pays the same (Arbetsgivaravgifter) to our healt care/wealt care and pension system! And then take the rest as "aktieutdelning", 25% tax on that and no "arbetsgivaravgifter" It means that one need to save or put some monye in private pension funds.
What do you think? 🇸🇪
Watch next ► ua-cam.com/video/InOevXz3S5g/v-deo.html
We moved here in Sweden 2 years ago and rented an apartment for the first 6 months then bought our own house in the countryside about 40-45minutes from central Stockholm. We were so lucky to get our 4bedrooms villa quite cheap compared to the UK. It takes less than 30 minutes to commute to work and school which is perfect for us. We always lived in the city before so it was a big change but we really enjoy living close to nature, seeing deers walking across our garden is amazing 🥰
That sounds amazing! For us it's already a change as well to live a little outside the city. And we love it 🥰 Now we just need our own house as well 🤞🏻
@@LivingSwedish good luck finding your dream house ☺️ it’s definitely much cheaper to have a mortgage than paying rent.
I would love to hear more about starting/owning a business in Sweden
Coming soon! Thanks for your interest! 😊
it is not expensive to live in sweden, but it is expensive to visit unless you come from a even more "expensive" country. your total cost of living in any nation is at large based on your disposable income. some specific items can be more or less expensive due to local taxes and regulations.
I would agree with that 😊 Thanks for sharing!
Yes, food is expensive and the only chance you have to save money on it is to learn what food items cost in all the different grocery stores in your area, because even stores within the same chain have different prices. And it is really hard work to keep tabs on where to go to buy stuff. Transportation, well, buying a buss pass for a month is cheap compared to for example driving your car to work and pay for a parking spot, but if you have a lower income it is definitely not cheap and the 900-1000 kr a month takes a big chunk of your budget.
Yes, fair enough! It really all depends how much you earn as well. Absolutely!
Lunchbuffés in Sweden are really great and affordable
That's actually a good idea! Thanks for the tip!
Some food items that may seem a bit scary to non-native Swedes are really cheap. For example, blodpudding. Generations of Swedish parents have served it to their kids because of its budget friendliness. Just slice it in slightly less than centimeter-thick slices, fry it for a few minutes until it loses that slightly reddish hue and becomes plain black. Serve with lingonsylt and you have a meal. Also, pea soup, typically with pork bits in it. Just heat it and serve with a tiny blob of mustard in the bowl. Yummy! An extremely Swedish classic is pea soup on Thursdays, with pancakes for dessert. The army used to serve that every Thursday, and you can still find restaurants that serve it every Thursday.
Also, public transportation is actually one of the things that are usually less expensive in Stockholm and the other big cities than in the smaller cities, and the difference isn't always small.
Thanks for the tips! 👌🏻
I use strawberry jam for blodpudding instead, making them more like panncakes.
@@PennyAfNorberg that also sounds delicious.
We live in a 1 bedroom apartment (brf, 60 m^2) about 30 min from stockholm c, it costs ( fee, net, heat, parking and interest) about 5500 KSek/ month.
Thanks for sharing! It is definitely possible to find well-priced rental properties 😊
You can quite easily own a house for less than 28.000sek a month, however as a newcomer getting a loan can be a bit tricky though not impossible. You do however need to put in between 10-15% of the price of the house from your own money, as in no loan on those. There people get creative however and there is quite a few ways to get around that. But 28.000 in rent is alot, even for being sweden IMO
Thanks so much for the info! 🙏🏻 Yes, it's very expensive and the goal is to reduce this massively 😊
28000 for what? Whats the size?
Its really a crazy rent 😂
But the Stockholm region is crazy expensive.
We built a villa of 375m2, but this is paid for with no loans. So the monthly costs are only the electric, about 400-1000kr. Water and the other costs from the municipality, is about 1000-1500kr/month.
All this only 400m from the sea & beaches, all the way down in the south of Sweden. It also much more easy to find cheaper places to rent here, and closer to Europe 😉👍
I'm following a couple here who bought a farm in north Sweden for 290.000 SKR.
That's such a good price! I have heard of these prices in Sweden as well. Maybe one day when we're not bound to living in a city we can buy a house up North 🥰
The high prices isn’t really high, the taxes are high.
I get what you mean tho.
I often hear that all tax funded stuff are called free, and then go to say the cost of living are high.
Yes, taxes play a big role!
28000 kr with all expenses like garbage removal etc or just rent?, that sounds insane, i live outside Uppsala here you can rent a whole house around 7-8000 kr per month.
Yes, everything is included. I forgot to mention that 🤦🏻♀️ But yeah, still expensive...
Yes, seriously, if you are paying 28000 a month you are paying four times too much.
Well 7-8000 will not even give you a one room apartment in Stockholms better neighbourhoods. I live in a two room apartment in the 7th or 8th biggest city in Sweden and I pay 9000kr per month. A house would totally cost 25000+ to rent in this area but very few people do. People who can afford to pay 25k+ in rent will buy.
@@LivingSwedish
what I can see through the window in the background is the water just outside, i think with boats passing by. So that plot definitely costs extra. Lake/water views cost in Sweden, can not be compared with eg Uppsala.
@@ahlsn7346 Well, if 28000 is what you have to pay for renting a house in the vicinity of Stockholm, you might as well rent a house in Södertälje and hire a driver to take you to work in Stockholm everyday and still be able save money every month. I am definitely in the wrong business. I should buy a couple of houses near the capital and rent them out on a monthly basis!!!
Is Sweden expensive? Yes! But it depends...
Income tax:
If you have a monthly income of 40 000 SEK (that is about 10 000 more than the average income in Sweden) you pay slightly more than 23% in income taxe if you live in Stockholm.
Your employer will pay slighly more than 31% in "arbetsgivaravgift" ("payroll tax", "Arbeitgeberbeitrag" - it is not easy to translate exactly) on top of that. So the total cost for the employer would be 52 568 SEK, of which you will get 30 686 SEK and 21 882 will go to various taxes!
(If there is a "Kollektivavtal" /"collective agreement", "Tarifvertrag"/ in place where you are working the employer will also pay up to 10% to pension funds and added extra social insurences. This applies to around 90% of all swedish employees)
Then there are other taxes like "Moms" ("VAT, MwSt") but I think the above will be enough for this first lecture on swedish taxes!
Thanks for clarifying! 😊
@@LivingSwedish A pleasure!
It will be intersting to se your video on "Starting a company in Sweden", I think it is a really good decision you made to start a "real" company, there are many advantages in doing this. I suppose your accountant has told about a few tricks.... but thera are many more!
@@tompao7832 If you have any tricks when running a company in Sweden, please share them with me. I don't want to miss out on any hahaha
The VAT is 25% so thats also the second highest rate in the european countries
@@LivingSwedish actually...thats how its done in Sweden. Just because the taxing are killing the small businesses.
I live in a smaller village outside a larger town, my rent is 6000 kr for 2 bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom and weird large hallway. and I 6 minute by train to the town center. In my rent I have heating, sewage, water , garbage. I only pay electricity and internet. Health care is the same , doesnt matter if you are rich or poor, you pay the same , how ever social welfare will pay your medical bills and medicine if you are social welfare and we have a limit on this and it free when you hit the limit. You are bit wrong about the kindergarten, it based on how much you earn , so we had first 15 hours free and later on we paid 450 kr per month due to our low income. You have high income if you are in the highest bracket of kindergarten, which is 1000 kr is.
Thanks for sharing! And for clarifying about the kindergarten. Have a great day! ❤️
@@LivingSwedish It could also be that you have not correctly informed them about your monthly salary and then you get to pay the highest level.
In Lidl you can buy a meal for 17 SKR
Lidl is quite cheap indeed!
A MEAL? No...
If you consider that a meal - then you can by a wiener with bread ("Wienerwurst mit brot") for just 5 crowns at IKEA. Buy two and you will not be hungry! But I don´t consider that a meal...
@@tompao7832 Stop trolling.
I am curious, do most people in Sweden own an automobile? How expensive is it to maintain and drive? The price of gasoline?
I hear mixed things. Some say it's not expensive and some say it's expensive. I don't have a car yet but I will in the future and then I can talk more about it. As far as I know many Swedes own a car. Many also own an electric car here.
Buying and owning a car in Sweden would cost just about the same as in for example the US. The difference is the cost of fuel, which is much, much higher, which is why electric cars are becoming more and more common.
@@michaelgberg4858 Not even close. Take into account that a typical US car is a pick-up truck. Here in Sweden I pay $1500 a year, just to keep such a truck on the road.
In october we had 5.060,218 cars cruising around in Sweden. 🤔
@@rhkavli The most popular cars in the US are cars like Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. Depending on which state you live in, the average monthly cost for a car like that is around 550 USD (750 USD in Michigan). The average monthly cost for cars like that in Sweden is around 6500 SEK, which is higher than in the US and the difference is due to fuel cost. The fact that a pick-up truck costs more to own in Sweden, welll it is in the name, really.
Do IKEA stores still accept cash?
Good question! I haven't been to IKEA since I arrived here 😬 Will check when I'm visiting 😉
The comparison is not fair. I spoke to a British mom of 3 she chose not to work because childcare would eat up all of her salary,would Sweden be expensive comparing to her,no! What economical force would a Swedish median income have after all expences paid compared to other nations median income is Sweden expensive in that case,no it is not.
And nobody Swedish in their right mind would rent a home for € 3.500 or what the amount you said was, for that amount of money you can own your own home in the posh areas.
My sister live in the subs of London she bought an ordinary house there wich we would call "radhus" she paid 7 million SEK for that,that is defenetly more expensive then Sweden.
But if you are of high income and listen to others of high income yea i guess Sweden is expensive.
Thanks for sharing your opinion! My biggest message of the video was "it depends". I also highlighted the situation of being fairly new in the country. Great if you have all the money and knowledge to buy a property straight away before moving to Sweden but if not you have to rent first. As I mentioned in the video, buying a property is cheaper. I also mentioned that London is more expensive. So all your points have a clear "it depends" in this video 😉
Hi,i want to move to Sweden and married what is the best possible way to come there ..
Many people find a job in the country before they move to Sweden.
Even if you find a fool who agrees to an arranged marriage, you will be sent back, Sweden does not give you the right to stay due to marriage. Nor do children automatically receive Swedish citizenship.
your rent is insane 28000 skr
my house is much cheaper to own and is in same size
but is in south of Sweden in the country side
It is indeed 😬We definitely want to find a better solution. Ideally buying a house next year.
.
Hello, thanks for your very interesting videos. I have a question related to the procedure to move to Sweeden. Tell me if I am wrong but I understand that if I have a Communitarian Nationality (I am Spanish) and some savings then I can stay the first 3 months without any problem and if I keep myself working or searching for a job, is that enough to get the Personnumber after the first year living there, is that correct? I would appreciate so much your clarification or your experience.
Hi there, Thanks for your question! I found the following answer to your question which I have seen before so rather than trying to explain this with my own words I'm going to copy and paste the answer below. I hope this helps (will also add the link to the website for your reference). However, it's worth calling up Skatteverket as well to double-check that this information below is correct.
"In theory as an EU/EEA citizen you automatically have the right of residence in Sweden. However it turns out this is not exactly the case. What you do have is the right to live in Sweden for three-six months while you look for work. If you want to stay longer you will need to fulfill one of the following requirements. Moreover, if you want to register with Skatteverket and obtain a personnummer you will need to meet one of these requirements for at least one year:
Have employment where you earn at least 13,000 SEK each month before taxes (if you are single) and comprehensive health insurance
Be a student at an approved institution with comprehensive health insurance
Be looking for work with realistic prospects, have enough money to support yourself each month (at least 7,300 SEK), and have comprehensive health insurance
Note that to fulfill the health insurance requirement an EU health insurance card is acceptable."
openbordersimmigration.com/getting-a-personal-number-personnummer-in-sweden/#eu_or_eea_member_citizen_from_a_country_in_europe
@@LivingSwedish Thanks for your time to answer, you are very nice! Have a beautiful day and hope all go well there... for the moment I am studying Swedish in Duolingo and saving with the hope to visit maybe this year.
I go to Sweden
Sweden is lovely! 😊
is the rent for one month ore a year
That's the rent for one month. But all bills like electricity and internet are included.
@@LivingSwedish I have a house at 138 squremeters in south Sweden. 2.5 MKr in loans. I pay around 7-8000 kr/month with all included
Thank you, that is more than i will pay, i have a two room apartment for 90000 skr in A year and i think that is a lot, i would like to pay less.
In Sweden we have strong unions. In the states not
That's true! 👌🏻
You are cuc,ked by taxes. Scandinavia is a nightmare
And then there are VAT taxes to= moms and everything you consume
Yes, there's VAT, too. But luckily when you buy things it's already included unlike in Canada so I read.
Let me explain.. becuse there is so many myths.
Sweden is expencive, especialy in our bigger citys.. especial in those areas there the uper elit lives.
And to our high taxes, its "marginaltaxes", its almoste teoretical, the more you earn the more taxes you pay, fair enough?
But then there is a lot of tax reductions/deductions.. or even loopholes that the richest can use.'
Moste swedes own there homes, then one need a loan, and pay intrest on that, tax reduction for intrest.
Then one need to travel to once jobb or selfown company, tax reduction on that.
If one own ones own home, one often need to use skilled workers, like plumers, electrians, carpenters, or even gardeners.. tax reductions for those sevices!
Now I only want to touch the loopholes for very rich people, selfemployees, and owners of a company;
Take at least a low salary frome your company, then paying 32% salary tax, and of top of this your company pays the same (Arbetsgivaravgifter) to our healt care/wealt care and pension system!
And then take the rest as "aktieutdelning", 25% tax on that and no "arbetsgivaravgifter"
It means that one need to save or put some monye in private pension funds.
Thanks for clarifying! 😊