Flowermountains

Guide to Norway part 1: Prices

Welcome to part 1 of my extensive, comprehensive and inexpensive Guide to Norway! Living in Norway is of course an art in itself, and therefore I thought it would be nice to share some of my experiences with the World (that’s you, dear reader!). In this first part I will deal with one of the most well-known fact about Norway: it is expensive. As a consequence, Oslo is one of the 10 most expensive cities in the world, out-pricing places like Rome, Paris and New York (in 2005, according to Wikipedia). So, how bad is it? It depends very much on what you’re buying. Things like clothes for example are only slightly more expensive than in the Netherlands, the same goes for CDs and DVDs. Public transport is also quite OK, as a student you can travel around the city one month for just over €50,- (including all sorts of transport, even ferries). However, the fun starts when you want to buy food, and when it comes to alcohol you better be drunk already before asking for the bill. So, let’s put some things together. Prices are in Euros, just for convenience.

First some general food stuff:

• Milk, 1L: €1,50
• One bread: €2~3
• Cheese, 1Kg: €11,-
• Minced meat (gehakt), 350g: €4,-
• Chicken, 250g: €6,-

Fortunately you can still make a tasty spaghetti for not too much, if you use tuna instead of minced meat. Perfect, since that is one of my favorite meals..! In general, fish is a lot cheaper than meat (vegetarians, unite!). Furthermore, some brands are less expensive, such as First Price. Some supermarkets even have Euroshopper! Buying those can save a lot of money. Now, let’s go to the drinks department:

• Beer, in the supermarket, 0.5L can: €2,-
• Normal bottle of wine, in the liquor store: €12,-
• Pint of beer in a student pub: €4,50
• Pint of beer in the city center: €7,-
• Glass of wine in a normal bar: €6,-

So, if you like your money, don’t drink too much when gong out, and stay clear of wine! And -never- think of buying something like a bottle of Hoegaarden, because you’ll regret it! Seriously.

That brings us to the end of this first introduction to Norway. Some possible future topics: language, culture, going out, places to visit, places not to visit, and weather. Not necessarily in that order. To be continued!