Hello everyone,
Due to multiple facts which I won’t bore you with, I’ve decided that I’d like to move to Norway.
I’m an EU citizen and got everything I need to move; I can learn the language without issues and I’ll find a job before leaving my country.

The only issue I have is that from what I heard/read, the cost of living is pretty high. This won’t be a problem once I’ll work there BUT where I live, the average annual salary is 21.000 €, which is about 220.000 NOK.
Having started to work just a couple of years ago, I don’t have much saved up and I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction regarding on how much should I have saved up before moving.

I most likely won’t live in a city, I’d prefer a small/medium town. The location will be south/west around Stavanger and Bergen, the fjord area really fascinates me.
I won’t need much:
– I have no medical expenses
– I 100% will need a car (reliable, as I’ll have to drive many Km every month)
– I’d need a house with at least 1 decent sized office and good thermal insulation (I need to keep the same temperature at least in 1 room in every season)
– I won’t need/care to own a private boat even if I’d like to live near the see.

I’ve seen prices on www.finn.no but I might not see hidden costs etc.. I’m ok in getting into debt to buy a house as I have a good amount of money invested which by the time I’ll move it could pay a good chunk of the mortgage.
I’m not in a hurry to move, il will be at minimum 4/5 years from now; but I’d like to know if there is something I should prepare for or any extra expense I should be careful about.
I’d like to make the process as smooth as possible.
I’d also like to know how to move community wise. I do a lot of volunteer work and I like to contribute with the community. My plan was to establish connections around the place I’ll live even before I move there.

3 comments

  1. Having a car in Norway is expensive. Fuel is expensive, electric power is expensive and all the insurances, EU-rules and all the tolls around are expensive.
    I am disabled, and get around 270.000NOK per year, and I live in a decent
    appartment 20 minutes outside of Bergen, without a car.
    No need for a car in Bergen at least 🙂
    Where are you driving to, by the way? There may be better options

  2. Hi!
    It’s expensive in different ways than you expect, hard to compare to UK or Spain for example, I have the feeling that even though salaries are high, some things seem to be cheap some high (unjustified) . Depends on what you spend your money on, I’d say including rent car etc, anything under 400.000 is a stretch. But this is my own perspective after living here as an expat.
    Also language wise, be aware that to become fluent can take a lot of time and most important a lot of mental energy, it’s a fast paced language with many dialects.
    Good luck!

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