‘Shop in Sweden’: Your tips on the best ways to save money in Norway
It is no secret that Norway is an expensive country to live in. The Nordic country, known for its notoriously high alcohol prices, is the third most expensive country in the world to call home, according to Business Insider.
In addition, it is also the third most expensive place to live in Western Europe, with the cost of living higher than 95% of other countries around the world.
With that said, it does not mean that it is impossible to save money, find a discount or make a bargain to save a beautiful penny. In fact, Lokalen’s readers have offered their advice, best tips and life hacks to make life in Norway a little cheaper.
When asked by The Local what their most expensive outing was, the overwhelming majority of readers said that food was their main expense.
“For a corresponding sum of money to what I spend in Norway, I can fill a food cart in the UK, while I can only fill a small basket on wheels in Norway,” replied one reader.
Food was generally combined with transportation and rent as readers’ most significant expenses.
Thankfully, readers had a number of tips they could offer to help you shave off a few bucks on your food bill.
For those who live in eastern Norway, many on Facebook have said that they should look to shop in Sweden, otherwise called going on a harrytur.
Almost everything you can think of is cheaper in Sweden than in Norway, and stores offer a much larger range of products. However, there are some rules harryhandel trips that you should know if you are not already aware of it, so be sure to check out ours guide.
In the past, readers have told us that they travel to other countries to find other things as well.
“I get my hair dyed and cut in Denmark. Then, for beauty, spa treatments, dental needs, cosmetics and electronics, I go to Denmark or the continent “, a reader told us.
Fortunately, it’s not the only way to save some money on traveling to another county to do the weekly shopping or cut your hair.
Using local greengrocers (fruits and vegetables) and shopping from international food markets can be cheaper than supermarkets, a reader said via our survey.
If you do not have any of them near you, there are still ways to save some money in supermarkets.
Buying in bulk, getting the most out of your sales and looking into the reduced section is all you can do to save money. In addition, there are plenty of loyalty schemes for supermarkets that offer rewards such as cashback on your shopping. Click here to find out more about them.
There were also plenty of tips for online shopping, and while many readers pointed to sites like FINN, Zalando, Outnorth and Mountain Sports as great places to discover a bargain, a savvy reader had their own life hack for when to order with Amazon, though.
“Buy groceries like electronics, books and even batteries and so on on Amazon.de. They have an English website and calculate taxes and tolls. You do not have to pay additional tolls and taxes in Norway when ordering on Amazon.de. Many things are cheaper there despite tolls, taxes and shipping (calculated by and paid to Amazon when ordering). And often things come even faster than they would when ordering in Norway. You just have to be careful about ordering only items that are sold and delivered by Amazon itself and not by a third-party store, ”explained Michael, who lives in Trondheim, in our survey.
Others pointed out that in order to save, it may be necessary to cut back on certain expenses such as eating out often.
“Make food at home. Invite friends so you can eat and drink there. Have an assigned driver for the evening if you go out on the town, as even with public transport, the final bill for four people on a round trip is quite a lot, says Bob, who has lived in Norway for 36 years.
Another reader joked on Facebook about “not eating until you are dizzy and feel like you are fainting”.
We probably would not recommend you to take your cost savings so far.
Did we miss some good tips, do you have something you want to share, or are there any other topics you want to hear readers advise on? You can contact us at [email protected]