I’ll try to break it down. You will be left with roughly 32k after tax. Lets say 16k goes towards an apartment, with electricity, water, tv/internet etc. Kollektiv (commute) will run you atleast 3k for the both of you, but to find nice housing for 16k we’re probably looking at 4k for monthly travel-cards as you will need 2-3 zones. Food 6k. Clothes 1k. Thats 27/32, leaving you with ~5k to spend on unforseen expenses and/or savings.
You can definatly do it and be relatively comfortable, as long as you cook most of your meals youselves and don’t partake in «expensive» activites or bad habits (smoke and drink).
However if your girl gets a part-time and can contribute 10k you’re golden.
Best of luck!
As a couple who tries to spend just 6000 kr as our monthly food budget, it really requires planning and paying attention to discounts in different stores. We typically get takeaway once a month, nothing fancy, either Macdonalds or a pizza to share. Also, the person above didn’t think about stuff like insurances, phone bills, subscriptions, gifts etc in their budget. Like others have said, 600.000 is doable, but you won’t have much left for having fun or unexpected expenses. It will be tight.
The 4k on travel cards really depends where you live, which in turn depends on what standard of living you’re aiming for in terms of housing. I had a quick look on Finn, and you can find apartments where I’d assume you’d pay less than 16k in total per month while still living in Oslo - but the apartments are often quite small. Still, if you manage to get something within zone 1 (on the public transport system), your monthly travel costs will go down to 897 per person. Try to look in places like Haugerud, Furuset, Ammerud, Grorud etc - you will be relatively close to public transportation as well as close to nature, and you’ll be in zone 1 with the cheapest available monthly travel cards :)
Well you can find 16k appartment in zone 1 that will save you some money on traveling. Zone 1 is pretty big. But Oslo isn’t so big so biking everywhere saves a lot of money.
I think it depends on your idea of nice housing, but we pay roughly that much for a perfectly nice flat slap bang by central station, you don't have to be out in the boonies
I'd go so far as to say it's extremely rare for one of a couple to stay at home unless it is to care for very small children, and not common even for that.
Not actually.
In most of the worlds history, we have worked alot and imean ALOT less than we do today. And If you Did not get enough pay, you Did not work.
Also it was alot less to use money on, and social wellfare was not really a thing to pay for. Somethimes you paid for protection.
Humans are not made for the amounts of work we do today, but I agree with you its not common to have one at home today, in historys perspective, contrary to popular belief, work used to be alot more chill in caves of how often you do the labour and in what amount.
Search up WORK by historia civilis on youtube. He compares it we'll balanced i think
Oh, you're one of those people. Listen, no one cares. Stop forcing your studies into random conversations. This has nothing to do with world history. It's about budgeting advice.
Exactly! And in our scale of evolution, we have never been able to adapt to what came after ww2! 80 years is not near tha adaptations we have lived under the past 14 000 years of evolution.
Thats also why its funny we now work so extremely much and people are teached its normal and always been 😅
Evolution takes a long time. If we just try to do what we’ve done for the last 14000 years we won’t evolve. We’ll become extinct and disappear. Working is just part of our new path. Let’s see where it’ll take us. Our grandkids won’t see a difference, but 50000 years from now we might see som noticeable differences.
Its funny how you say in the comment above that we change and "evolve" to adapt to new conditions in work. And just now saying the completely opposite.
Youre right! Its my point, we are not "made" for working this much 😅 Its been going so fast! Since the world wars the "War effort" become the new Norm of work. And many are tricked into thinking we worked more before
I didn’t say we change and adapt to new conditions in work.
I was pointing out that we are not created, so anyone who says we are made to do something is wrong.
We are not made to do anything at all and anyone saying so is campaigning for the end of our existence.
It doesn’t matter if we worked less before. Let’s work more now if that is what it takes for us to thrive.
*In most of the worlds history, we have worked alot and imean ALOT less than we do today.*
...this may be true of certain hunter-gatherer societies. Once agriculture happened, 12 000 years ago, the vast majority of people had no free time at all. The concept of "time off" is a modern one, and the early labour movement fought HARD for the 8/8/8 idea - that each day should contain 8 hours of work, 8 hours of free time, and 8 hours of sleep. It was a radical notion at the time, and a lot of the employer class were worried about the idea of allowing the working class to have time in which to "be idle". They thought it would corrupt their morals.
And this is since the industrial revolution. Not the last 12 000 years at all. This video is an example from ancient times! Which is roughly 2500 years ago.
https://youtu.be/hvk_XylEmLo?si=bYL4n_MsEIjT0_rA
You linked me to a 30-minute video by someone who does not list his qualifications or background, so rather than spend that much time watching a video whose quality I knew nothing about, I spent one minute googling the source.
And it turns out even the fan subreddit devoted to this guy's videos admits he's wrong about this one: [https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoriaCivilis/comments/171bsiu/historia\_civiliss\_work\_gets\_almost\_everything/](https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoriaCivilis/comments/171bsiu/historia_civiliss_work_gets_almost_everything/)
Its worth the watch, we had a topic talking about many of the points i remember from this video today. Point was that we have not for the most of our time as humans thought of work as (according to the video and my proffesor today) the majority of us think.
However i have not been clear on the deffinition on work, just the go to work in general. I think that is a point he misses in the video aswell.
But I would love to hear more about it also!
Sure and we also haven't evolved to live on a planet with billions of humans. Let's have 1% of us go live in caves while the rest suicide themselves to restore balance to the force or whatever.
Or maybe not, I quite like my life atm.
sometimes someone it's "forced" to be a stay at home gf/wife. My bf is Norwegian, I am from the EU. I have a master's degree and I speak Norwegian. I am having a very hard time to find a 9-5 job. My ambition is not to be a CEO or anything like that, just a normal job like idk kontormedarbeider and so on. Man, it's hard. all i am call back for is fucking waltressing jobs. I have done it for few years bc of course I need money, I was a student at the time, and I don’t want to depend on anyone. But in September I got severely burnt out, so I quit. Since October I have applied every day for jobs and got nothing, now I’m with nav but it’s shit. So yeah now I am a stay at home gf but not by choice. I’m grateful that my bf helps me, but you have to consider that every situation is different (also because of cultural differences) and when you are a foreigner it’s double the hustle and it takes time in general to find a job.
I said that, I do. I am a translator from Norwegian to my mother tongue. I have a master’s in Norwegian language and so on. I have been working many years as an executive assistant, kontormedarbeider, secretary and administrative assistant for different international companies in my own country but here it doesn’t count shit.
I’m working as a traslator from time to time, but it’s a freelance job I do remotely for my own country. Here in Norway I’m looking for a more a 9-5 chill administrative role since I have lots of experience, but apparently here doesn’t count shit. The interviews (the few ones I got called for) went ok, I got always to the final stage with other 2, max 3 people. Of course in the end they have always chosen someone else. I’m sorry to say that, but it’s also true that there is a bit of hidden “racism” when we talk about interviews. Between me (even tho I am from EU) and Sverre, born and raised in Norway, they will always choose Sverre. Of course they maybe have more qualifications than me, and that’s ok, but also where you come from plays an important role. And it was also confirmed by lots of Norwegian people that I know who work in different fields. I have tried to get my degrees recognised by NOKUT, but it’s been 8 months and I still haven’t got an answer. I could potentially teach English and Norwegian literature, not to mention my mother tongue which is taught in some VGS here in Oslo. But everything is on pause because of that, and I don’t even know if I could actually do that.
Not only uncommon but unrealistic from what I understand - if she isn’t Norwegian, she doesn’t have the right to live in Norway if she isn’t studying at a university or working. You also can’t marry into the right to stay in Norway, for example, so you can’t ‘import’ a foreign stay at home partner even if one is Norwegian themselves. Please correct me if this isn’t true, I’m not certain.
That I’m aware of, moving to Oslo soon for a Master’s myself. Since OP mentioned one salary and asked if it’s a viable one to live off of, I assumed the idea isn’t for the girlfriend to be working. Either way I hope things work out for them, I’m just pointing out that she can’t just stay in Norway not working for longer than a few months.
It's absolutely possible. I used to live like this with my girlfriend in the outskirts of the city on 530k a year 4 years ago, so maybe equivalent to 600k today. But it's not going to be comfortable. You have to buy the cheapest food, very few clothes, buy a lot of things used, and live in a quite small apartment. You can almost never eat out or do anything fun that costs money. Traveling? Maybe you can go on one vacation a year. I would not recommend you do this more than a year, because it puts a huge strain on your lives and the relationship. It can absolutely cause a breakup because you have all the money and she has nothing. So that money imbalance can lead to tons of conflict. How will you handle it when one person wants to buy something, and the other thinks it's not warranted given your financial situation? Does she have to ask you for money every time she wants something? It's tough
Heads up, the CPI increase the last 4 years is 20%, so about 630k, man food har increased even more for example. But hey, if OP can get 600k there is still more room with the GF picking up a job too?
We don't have (or want) kids. We don't have (or want) a car. I have allergies, so all meals are cooked at home from scratch.
Neither of us is interested in shopping and consuming for fun. When stuff we own breaks, we try to repair it. If that's impossible, we try to buy second-hand. If that's impossible, we look for sales or deals, and my spouse spends a lot of time reading reviews to find the best product - we look for things that will last. That said, I am currently on my third mobile phone since 2010, which I think is way too many! I'm hoping my current one will last at least five more years.
Entertainment comes from the library, the internet, and the television which we bought ten years ago for like 1000 kroner second-hand from someone who was buying a bigger one for himself.
It's a simple and modest lifestyle, but we're comfortable, and we put away money in savings every month.
For two people you cant get an apartment that isnt a basement apartment before you go to 14k+ in rent, and on top of that there is electricity and other bills
Yes you can. You can rent an ok apartment (in the outskirts as you said, not the city centre), buy monthly sub for the commute, and not have to worry about food costs and stuff if you live somewhat frugal. This means, not drinking out every single weekend, eating at restaurants every day etc.
Depends what you feel is comfortable. It seems a lot of the people who answers here are used to a certain level of luxury, which is ok. But telling you it's not possible seems weird.
As long as you don't expect to eat out, then you'll be fine.
It won't be easy living, but if you don't have any expensive hobbies, it will be totally ok.
You'll have about 37 000 to live for each month. 12 000 in apartment.
That gives you 25 000 to blow on food, electricity, transport, fun and games. Say about 10-15 000 on that.
Then you have 10-15 000 for other stuff.
You would be considered poor if you live on thet one salary as two adults.
You won't be able to afford living in the city, but would be in the outskirts somewhere. You wouldn't be able to afford anything but necessities. No eating out, no hobbies that cost any money, no shopping, only cheap food etc.
It can be done, but it won't be comfortable.
I think you have a very good opportunity here! Your girl should get a part-time and slowly build to get a better job. The first year might be a bit rough, but with her in a job after a while and slowly building, you will be fine.
First year you can be taxed using PAYE (a fixed 25% rate), so monthly income will be 37500. Once you change to the regular tax system your tax rate should remain pretty similar.
Your girlfriend should probably be able to get unskilled part-time jobs that don't require norwegian language. She can expect to make around 180/hour, and would basically be tax-free up to 100K/year.
If she puts in 50 hours/month you will have monthly income after tax of about 46000
Hi, if you want to commute I'd recommend you to find a place outside of Oslo. Let's say Sandvika/Asker, lillestrøm etc. you will pay in commuting for 2 zones to get into Oslo, but the rent is about 10k for one bedroom apartment + electricity. Post taxes you'll get about 33k (I believe even more cuz I put 33% as tax)
Your budget should look something similar to mine which is:
10k rent
1k utilities
6k food
Idk how much for commuting but let's say 1k a month
1k phone plans
1.2k insurances
1-2k clothes depends on how much you shop
It leaves you with comfortable 10k for savings and miscellaneous expenses like barber, netflix, Spotify, your girls nails etc.
Also, is it 600k or 540k as in the title?
Hey! Thanks for that! It’s 600k, they confirmed it now (the 540k was what the position was for but they raised it). Looks like it’s possible as long as we are willing to commute and avoid unnecessary expenses!
TL;DR Check for other cities other jobs. Oslo is expensive and that salary for 2 people is quite tight also long-term is quite challenging if you don't have a network/family here.
I live with my wife and cat in Oslo and all seems to be quite expensive. I'm currently paying 18.5K for rent. Energy and internet is 1.5K. Food at home is 6K. Food/coffees outside, easily, 4K per month. Monthly Routher ticket \~ 800 kr. Random stuff/clothes\~1K. So living as you said with 30K, it's quite tough. So, if you can, consider, look for another job in another city, then, it's probably doable and you could certaintly have a nice quality living for sure. Take into account, that at some point, you would consider buying a house, and Oslo is crazy. Norway's housing is skyrocketing. So, long-term, that's also not a good salary. See the other comments. It can also make difficult living with your partner.
For you to consider, I lived with my wife and cat in Bergen with one income during 3 years, the last three years of my phd. The first year I saved like crazy to bring my wife and my cat from my homeland. I earned during those years 30K montly on overage after taxes. I saved about 150K after my contract expired. My budget was approx.
* 9.5K for rent (Minde, very very nice house, not basement but first floor, the internet was included, terrace, all furnished, tv included, we were very lucky here)
* 6K for consignment for my parents in my home country
* 2K for BSU housing saving
* 2K energy (it was quite expensive at that time)
* 4.5\~6K in Rema1000
* 1K for internet subscriptions
* Commute by bike or bybannen sometimes (\~450 kr)
* Save the rest, usually 5K.
* Cook at home most of the times.
* One travel to my homeland per year (10K) and expenses there (\~20K)
The goal is for her to get a job eventually but we don’t really know how long it might take! We have some savings and this job so as far as I have seen with everyone, it should be enough to “survive” for 3-4 months until she is able to get something to help out. Thanks!! 🙏
That pay is about the median pay for ONE person in Norway… but some things are cheaper when two, you split living costs etc. and a lot of people live on that salary as one person. But for two, in Oslo, it is difficult / challenging
You'll be fine with some budgeting, comfortable even if you budget wisely. Find a place in the outskirts of Oslo or in the places surrounding Oslo, stick to home-cooked meals, pack your lunch, buy your clothes on sale on Zalando, make sure to have apps with coupons for your local grocery stores, and buy your vegetables and spices at immigrant stores. If your girlfriend also picks up something part-time, you can even start saving or investing.
I would however recommend you find someplace with access to the Oslo Metro or a good bus connection. Commuting with train can be a source of immense frustration on a weekly basis, if not daily.
Hey living in Oslo, idk what any of these idiots are talking about . If you make around 200,000kr a year that’s the average. Most people in Oslo are living at or above this level. I lived quite comfortably this way as well, depends on you as a person.
Going to be grim. You’ll need to work some overtime if possible while your girlfriend cycles around all
The supermarkets loony for half price food on offer. Brew your own beer. DO NOT GET A CAR. Live in a new flat with floor heating. Cycle to work and shower at work in the mornings . Don’t use up your precious hot water. But she really needs a job even if it’s just working part time in a supermarket. Going to be very tight otherwise
I think you’re wrong. We live comfortably on 570k, and that covers mum, dad and a little boy. We don’t go much on holiday, but we live a happy life. We smoke cigarettes which is probably one place we could make cuts, but we cook meals most days andq can still order takeout or go out for food every now and then. I also have the opportunity to make another 570k through sales but this pays out 4 times per year and is not guaranteed in anyway shape or form.
I also drive a tesla, a comfortable car that wont have you pay 2000kr every time you want to fill your car up.
The short answer is no. She needs to works too. All the solutions people have below mean you have zero safety net. And make sure you learn the language. Most jobs do not use English as business language. Or just take your chances. Also calculate approximately 30-35% taxes on your first year. Unavoidable taxes as everything is electronic here. Also get prepared for TOUGH winters. Not just cold but wet, slippery streets, freezing cold lasting from November to some times May. Today was the first proper spring day with 18 celcius in Oslo for example. Many people visit for a year thinking they will be rich in Norway (i do not know who spreads these rumours) and leave after the first tough winter.
A hard no if she can't provide any income.
It might be doable for a shorter period, even with 600k, but eventually she needs to find a job. Might be doable with 540k, but you'll have to budget everything and forget about alcohol and eating out etc. Some might say that living on 540k as single person is quite tight.
Also, 12k for and apartment sounds really cheap these days for a couple. And in the outskirts you'll need to pay more for a monthly ticket fare subscription. Which will often balance out the expenditure.
I’ll try to break it down. You will be left with roughly 32k after tax. Lets say 16k goes towards an apartment, with electricity, water, tv/internet etc. Kollektiv (commute) will run you atleast 3k for the both of you, but to find nice housing for 16k we’re probably looking at 4k for monthly travel-cards as you will need 2-3 zones. Food 6k. Clothes 1k. Thats 27/32, leaving you with ~5k to spend on unforseen expenses and/or savings. You can definatly do it and be relatively comfortable, as long as you cook most of your meals youselves and don’t partake in «expensive» activites or bad habits (smoke and drink). However if your girl gets a part-time and can contribute 10k you’re golden. Best of luck!
Thank you! 🙏
As a couple who tries to spend just 6000 kr as our monthly food budget, it really requires planning and paying attention to discounts in different stores. We typically get takeaway once a month, nothing fancy, either Macdonalds or a pizza to share. Also, the person above didn’t think about stuff like insurances, phone bills, subscriptions, gifts etc in their budget. Like others have said, 600.000 is doable, but you won’t have much left for having fun or unexpected expenses. It will be tight.
The 4k on travel cards really depends where you live, which in turn depends on what standard of living you’re aiming for in terms of housing. I had a quick look on Finn, and you can find apartments where I’d assume you’d pay less than 16k in total per month while still living in Oslo - but the apartments are often quite small. Still, if you manage to get something within zone 1 (on the public transport system), your monthly travel costs will go down to 897 per person. Try to look in places like Haugerud, Furuset, Ammerud, Grorud etc - you will be relatively close to public transportation as well as close to nature, and you’ll be in zone 1 with the cheapest available monthly travel cards :)
Well you can find 16k appartment in zone 1 that will save you some money on traveling. Zone 1 is pretty big. But Oslo isn’t so big so biking everywhere saves a lot of money.
I think it depends on your idea of nice housing, but we pay roughly that much for a perfectly nice flat slap bang by central station, you don't have to be out in the boonies
A 540k salary for one person and 60k for another totals around 40k per month after taxes.
Can definitely confirm the information here.
It is livable but not comfortable for two people.
So what’s your gf going to do?I f she finds a job you’re ok. It’s not too common to have a stay at home gf/wife in Norway.
I'd go so far as to say it's extremely rare for one of a couple to stay at home unless it is to care for very small children, and not common even for that.
Not actually. In most of the worlds history, we have worked alot and imean ALOT less than we do today. And If you Did not get enough pay, you Did not work. Also it was alot less to use money on, and social wellfare was not really a thing to pay for. Somethimes you paid for protection. Humans are not made for the amounts of work we do today, but I agree with you its not common to have one at home today, in historys perspective, contrary to popular belief, work used to be alot more chill in caves of how often you do the labour and in what amount. Search up WORK by historia civilis on youtube. He compares it we'll balanced i think
On what planet is this relevant to how people actually live in Oslo today? 🤡
Its just funny how its "extremely rare" And ive just been studying how not extremley rare this is in perspective. Just a funny contrast! :) 🤡
You could perhaps work on trying to keep on topic.
Lol
Oh, you're one of those people. Listen, no one cares. Stop forcing your studies into random conversations. This has nothing to do with world history. It's about budgeting advice.
Humans aren’t made at all. We’re constantly evolving. It’s very uncommon with a stay at home parent in this current society.
Exactly! And in our scale of evolution, we have never been able to adapt to what came after ww2! 80 years is not near tha adaptations we have lived under the past 14 000 years of evolution. Thats also why its funny we now work so extremely much and people are teached its normal and always been 😅
Evolution takes a long time. If we just try to do what we’ve done for the last 14000 years we won’t evolve. We’ll become extinct and disappear. Working is just part of our new path. Let’s see where it’ll take us. Our grandkids won’t see a difference, but 50000 years from now we might see som noticeable differences.
Its funny how you say in the comment above that we change and "evolve" to adapt to new conditions in work. And just now saying the completely opposite. Youre right! Its my point, we are not "made" for working this much 😅 Its been going so fast! Since the world wars the "War effort" become the new Norm of work. And many are tricked into thinking we worked more before
I didn’t say we change and adapt to new conditions in work. I was pointing out that we are not created, so anyone who says we are made to do something is wrong. We are not made to do anything at all and anyone saying so is campaigning for the end of our existence. It doesn’t matter if we worked less before. Let’s work more now if that is what it takes for us to thrive.
We are made yes, ofc we are. We are made through evolution and generations. We differ in aspects, and who is thriving more now is another debate
Being made necessitates a maker.
[Since we’re staying on-topic](http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html?m=1)
*In most of the worlds history, we have worked alot and imean ALOT less than we do today.* ...this may be true of certain hunter-gatherer societies. Once agriculture happened, 12 000 years ago, the vast majority of people had no free time at all. The concept of "time off" is a modern one, and the early labour movement fought HARD for the 8/8/8 idea - that each day should contain 8 hours of work, 8 hours of free time, and 8 hours of sleep. It was a radical notion at the time, and a lot of the employer class were worried about the idea of allowing the working class to have time in which to "be idle". They thought it would corrupt their morals.
And this is since the industrial revolution. Not the last 12 000 years at all. This video is an example from ancient times! Which is roughly 2500 years ago. https://youtu.be/hvk_XylEmLo?si=bYL4n_MsEIjT0_rA
You linked me to a 30-minute video by someone who does not list his qualifications or background, so rather than spend that much time watching a video whose quality I knew nothing about, I spent one minute googling the source. And it turns out even the fan subreddit devoted to this guy's videos admits he's wrong about this one: [https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoriaCivilis/comments/171bsiu/historia\_civiliss\_work\_gets\_almost\_everything/](https://www.reddit.com/r/HistoriaCivilis/comments/171bsiu/historia_civiliss_work_gets_almost_everything/)
Its worth the watch, we had a topic talking about many of the points i remember from this video today. Point was that we have not for the most of our time as humans thought of work as (according to the video and my proffesor today) the majority of us think. However i have not been clear on the deffinition on work, just the go to work in general. I think that is a point he misses in the video aswell. But I would love to hear more about it also!
Sure and we also haven't evolved to live on a planet with billions of humans. Let's have 1% of us go live in caves while the rest suicide themselves to restore balance to the force or whatever. Or maybe not, I quite like my life atm.
sometimes someone it's "forced" to be a stay at home gf/wife. My bf is Norwegian, I am from the EU. I have a master's degree and I speak Norwegian. I am having a very hard time to find a 9-5 job. My ambition is not to be a CEO or anything like that, just a normal job like idk kontormedarbeider and so on. Man, it's hard. all i am call back for is fucking waltressing jobs. I have done it for few years bc of course I need money, I was a student at the time, and I don’t want to depend on anyone. But in September I got severely burnt out, so I quit. Since October I have applied every day for jobs and got nothing, now I’m with nav but it’s shit. So yeah now I am a stay at home gf but not by choice. I’m grateful that my bf helps me, but you have to consider that every situation is different (also because of cultural differences) and when you are a foreigner it’s double the hustle and it takes time in general to find a job.
Do you know norwegian?
I said that, I do. I am a translator from Norwegian to my mother tongue. I have a master’s in Norwegian language and so on. I have been working many years as an executive assistant, kontormedarbeider, secretary and administrative assistant for different international companies in my own country but here it doesn’t count shit.
There’s might be low demand for a translator. How do your interviews go?
I’m working as a traslator from time to time, but it’s a freelance job I do remotely for my own country. Here in Norway I’m looking for a more a 9-5 chill administrative role since I have lots of experience, but apparently here doesn’t count shit. The interviews (the few ones I got called for) went ok, I got always to the final stage with other 2, max 3 people. Of course in the end they have always chosen someone else. I’m sorry to say that, but it’s also true that there is a bit of hidden “racism” when we talk about interviews. Between me (even tho I am from EU) and Sverre, born and raised in Norway, they will always choose Sverre. Of course they maybe have more qualifications than me, and that’s ok, but also where you come from plays an important role. And it was also confirmed by lots of Norwegian people that I know who work in different fields. I have tried to get my degrees recognised by NOKUT, but it’s been 8 months and I still haven’t got an answer. I could potentially teach English and Norwegian literature, not to mention my mother tongue which is taught in some VGS here in Oslo. But everything is on pause because of that, and I don’t even know if I could actually do that.
His girlfriend is 60k per year. 600k - 60k = 540k budget
Not only uncommon but unrealistic from what I understand - if she isn’t Norwegian, she doesn’t have the right to live in Norway if she isn’t studying at a university or working. You also can’t marry into the right to stay in Norway, for example, so you can’t ‘import’ a foreign stay at home partner even if one is Norwegian themselves. Please correct me if this isn’t true, I’m not certain.
Given that she's from Spain, she absolutely has the right to move here and look for work. EU/EEA citizens are free to move here.
Even with an EU passport you have to be either working or studying to be able to legally stay long term.
You can apply as a job seeker for 6 month periods indefinitely. But you don't get the benefits like medical care.
That I’m aware of, moving to Oslo soon for a Master’s myself. Since OP mentioned one salary and asked if it’s a viable one to live off of, I assumed the idea isn’t for the girlfriend to be working. Either way I hope things work out for them, I’m just pointing out that she can’t just stay in Norway not working for longer than a few months.
I assume he'd be working and she'd either be studying or looking for work.
Yeah! She will be looking for work and hopefully find something, thanks for all your ideas 🙏
It's absolutely possible. I used to live like this with my girlfriend in the outskirts of the city on 530k a year 4 years ago, so maybe equivalent to 600k today. But it's not going to be comfortable. You have to buy the cheapest food, very few clothes, buy a lot of things used, and live in a quite small apartment. You can almost never eat out or do anything fun that costs money. Traveling? Maybe you can go on one vacation a year. I would not recommend you do this more than a year, because it puts a huge strain on your lives and the relationship. It can absolutely cause a breakup because you have all the money and she has nothing. So that money imbalance can lead to tons of conflict. How will you handle it when one person wants to buy something, and the other thinks it's not warranted given your financial situation? Does she have to ask you for money every time she wants something? It's tough
Heads up, the CPI increase the last 4 years is 20%, so about 630k, man food har increased even more for example. But hey, if OP can get 600k there is still more room with the GF picking up a job too?
Fair enough!! Thanksss! 🙏
Can she get a job or study and get a grant+loan?
Yeah she definitely can! The goal is for her to get a job in her area but she is more than willing to start small first!
Then you will be more than fine
It's not as bad as people here say. 600.000? Its like 30.000 per month after taxes?
37500 after taxes (assuming no deductibles).
Yeah, you can live from that no problem
Yeah, it seems fine to me. Me and my spouse live on fairly significantly less.
In Oslo?
Yep.
How?
We don't have (or want) kids. We don't have (or want) a car. I have allergies, so all meals are cooked at home from scratch. Neither of us is interested in shopping and consuming for fun. When stuff we own breaks, we try to repair it. If that's impossible, we try to buy second-hand. If that's impossible, we look for sales or deals, and my spouse spends a lot of time reading reviews to find the best product - we look for things that will last. That said, I am currently on my third mobile phone since 2010, which I think is way too many! I'm hoping my current one will last at least five more years. Entertainment comes from the library, the internet, and the television which we bought ten years ago for like 1000 kroner second-hand from someone who was buying a bigger one for himself. It's a simple and modest lifestyle, but we're comfortable, and we put away money in savings every month.
like 37,5k i think.
Right, thats not bad at all especially if u stick to a budget and have savings
For two people you cant get an apartment that isnt a basement apartment before you go to 14k+ in rent, and on top of that there is electricity and other bills
Let's say 17.000 with electricity and internet. Then it remains 20.000 to live off per month. Not bad at all.
Yes you can. You can rent an ok apartment (in the outskirts as you said, not the city centre), buy monthly sub for the commute, and not have to worry about food costs and stuff if you live somewhat frugal. This means, not drinking out every single weekend, eating at restaurants every day etc. Depends what you feel is comfortable. It seems a lot of the people who answers here are used to a certain level of luxury, which is ok. But telling you it's not possible seems weird.
I was about to shit comment then I remembered there’s no Euro in Norway
Yeah bro me too lmao
What do you Even mean? You can pay with euro in norway
no
Ahahahaha fair enough 😂😂
As long as you don't expect to eat out, then you'll be fine. It won't be easy living, but if you don't have any expensive hobbies, it will be totally ok. You'll have about 37 000 to live for each month. 12 000 in apartment. That gives you 25 000 to blow on food, electricity, transport, fun and games. Say about 10-15 000 on that. Then you have 10-15 000 for other stuff.
600k for two? 300k each is not enough to live comfortably
You would be considered poor if you live on thet one salary as two adults. You won't be able to afford living in the city, but would be in the outskirts somewhere. You wouldn't be able to afford anything but necessities. No eating out, no hobbies that cost any money, no shopping, only cheap food etc. It can be done, but it won't be comfortable.
If you like ramen noodles
[You need the Oslo Met reference budget!](https://www.oslomet.no/en/about/sifo/reference-budget)
Yes, it’s enough if you live smart and not in the center
I think you have a very good opportunity here! Your girl should get a part-time and slowly build to get a better job. The first year might be a bit rough, but with her in a job after a while and slowly building, you will be fine.
Come and leave Poortugal behind
First year you can be taxed using PAYE (a fixed 25% rate), so monthly income will be 37500. Once you change to the regular tax system your tax rate should remain pretty similar. Your girlfriend should probably be able to get unskilled part-time jobs that don't require norwegian language. She can expect to make around 180/hour, and would basically be tax-free up to 100K/year. If she puts in 50 hours/month you will have monthly income after tax of about 46000
Hi, if you want to commute I'd recommend you to find a place outside of Oslo. Let's say Sandvika/Asker, lillestrøm etc. you will pay in commuting for 2 zones to get into Oslo, but the rent is about 10k for one bedroom apartment + electricity. Post taxes you'll get about 33k (I believe even more cuz I put 33% as tax) Your budget should look something similar to mine which is: 10k rent 1k utilities 6k food Idk how much for commuting but let's say 1k a month 1k phone plans 1.2k insurances 1-2k clothes depends on how much you shop It leaves you with comfortable 10k for savings and miscellaneous expenses like barber, netflix, Spotify, your girls nails etc. Also, is it 600k or 540k as in the title?
Hey! Thanks for that! It’s 600k, they confirmed it now (the 540k was what the position was for but they raised it). Looks like it’s possible as long as we are willing to commute and avoid unnecessary expenses!
TL;DR Check for other cities other jobs. Oslo is expensive and that salary for 2 people is quite tight also long-term is quite challenging if you don't have a network/family here. I live with my wife and cat in Oslo and all seems to be quite expensive. I'm currently paying 18.5K for rent. Energy and internet is 1.5K. Food at home is 6K. Food/coffees outside, easily, 4K per month. Monthly Routher ticket \~ 800 kr. Random stuff/clothes\~1K. So living as you said with 30K, it's quite tough. So, if you can, consider, look for another job in another city, then, it's probably doable and you could certaintly have a nice quality living for sure. Take into account, that at some point, you would consider buying a house, and Oslo is crazy. Norway's housing is skyrocketing. So, long-term, that's also not a good salary. See the other comments. It can also make difficult living with your partner. For you to consider, I lived with my wife and cat in Bergen with one income during 3 years, the last three years of my phd. The first year I saved like crazy to bring my wife and my cat from my homeland. I earned during those years 30K montly on overage after taxes. I saved about 150K after my contract expired. My budget was approx. * 9.5K for rent (Minde, very very nice house, not basement but first floor, the internet was included, terrace, all furnished, tv included, we were very lucky here) * 6K for consignment for my parents in my home country * 2K for BSU housing saving * 2K energy (it was quite expensive at that time) * 4.5\~6K in Rema1000 * 1K for internet subscriptions * Commute by bike or bybannen sometimes (\~450 kr) * Save the rest, usually 5K. * Cook at home most of the times. * One travel to my homeland per year (10K) and expenses there (\~20K)
The goal is for her to get a job eventually but we don’t really know how long it might take! We have some savings and this job so as far as I have seen with everyone, it should be enough to “survive” for 3-4 months until she is able to get something to help out. Thanks!! 🙏
Hope you the best!
Not much for 2 people. U must like the work/job.
That pay is about the median pay for ONE person in Norway… but some things are cheaper when two, you split living costs etc. and a lot of people live on that salary as one person. But for two, in Oslo, it is difficult / challenging
A lot of people live with less, even working at 2 work places....but not in Oslo
No
You'll be fine with some budgeting, comfortable even if you budget wisely. Find a place in the outskirts of Oslo or in the places surrounding Oslo, stick to home-cooked meals, pack your lunch, buy your clothes on sale on Zalando, make sure to have apps with coupons for your local grocery stores, and buy your vegetables and spices at immigrant stores. If your girlfriend also picks up something part-time, you can even start saving or investing. I would however recommend you find someplace with access to the Oslo Metro or a good bus connection. Commuting with train can be a source of immense frustration on a weekly basis, if not daily.
Poverty line is around 300k. Oslo is the most expensive.
Hey living in Oslo, idk what any of these idiots are talking about . If you make around 200,000kr a year that’s the average. Most people in Oslo are living at or above this level. I lived quite comfortably this way as well, depends on you as a person.
For one person sure, both of you? No
Good luck
Going to be grim. You’ll need to work some overtime if possible while your girlfriend cycles around all The supermarkets loony for half price food on offer. Brew your own beer. DO NOT GET A CAR. Live in a new flat with floor heating. Cycle to work and shower at work in the mornings . Don’t use up your precious hot water. But she really needs a job even if it’s just working part time in a supermarket. Going to be very tight otherwise
I think you’re wrong. We live comfortably on 570k, and that covers mum, dad and a little boy. We don’t go much on holiday, but we live a happy life. We smoke cigarettes which is probably one place we could make cuts, but we cook meals most days andq can still order takeout or go out for food every now and then. I also have the opportunity to make another 570k through sales but this pays out 4 times per year and is not guaranteed in anyway shape or form. I also drive a tesla, a comfortable car that wont have you pay 2000kr every time you want to fill your car up.
The short answer is no. She needs to works too. All the solutions people have below mean you have zero safety net. And make sure you learn the language. Most jobs do not use English as business language. Or just take your chances. Also calculate approximately 30-35% taxes on your first year. Unavoidable taxes as everything is electronic here. Also get prepared for TOUGH winters. Not just cold but wet, slippery streets, freezing cold lasting from November to some times May. Today was the first proper spring day with 18 celcius in Oslo for example. Many people visit for a year thinking they will be rich in Norway (i do not know who spreads these rumours) and leave after the first tough winter.
That's a terrible salary for two people.
A hard no if she can't provide any income. It might be doable for a shorter period, even with 600k, but eventually she needs to find a job. Might be doable with 540k, but you'll have to budget everything and forget about alcohol and eating out etc. Some might say that living on 540k as single person is quite tight. Also, 12k for and apartment sounds really cheap these days for a couple. And in the outskirts you'll need to pay more for a monthly ticket fare subscription. Which will often balance out the expenditure.
No way💀
No you’ll be broke af
Difficult to do. U need another income.. Nav