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Posted by: Bano 1.Sep.2009, 11:10 AM

Hi!!! I am moving to Stockholm in the last week of October with my husband and a kid who is 13 months old!!! My husband already has a job and i will have to pick up one when im there ... i have spoken to a lot of people who have lived in Sweden and have come back now ... they all have one thing to say and that is you cannot survive on one persons income in sweden ... is that the case?? How much is the cost of living a desent life in sweden ... taking all the living expenses into account such as - accomodation, grocery, day care, transportation, electricity, water, telephone, taxes etc ... Can someone please give an insight???

Posted by: Sofia_stockholm 1.Sep.2009, 11:58 AM

Nonsense! It is definitely possible to live off one salary - plenty of people do it, including my husband and I. Admittedly you won't live a "high life", but you definitely get by.

Average costs depends on where you live, what form of accommodation you have, what your expected life style is etc. I can give you examples of our monthly budget, though.

Rent 5600:- (two bedroom flat, unusually low for a garden flat in this location)
Electricity 700-800:- (this is unusually high for a flat of this size)
Broadband/phone/TV 800-1000:- (we have a package deal where we get all services)
Various insurances 410:- (both of us, home insurance is covered my my union fees)

Our monthly food bill is between 2500-4000:- a month depending on how much we buy and if we go shopping in the local supermarket or go out to the large retail park.

Posted by: skane refugee 1.Sep.2009, 01:00 PM

Also depends how big the 'one-person' income is of course! ;o)

Is hubby moving over to become CEO of H&M?!? ;o)

Posted by: Bano 1.Sep.2009, 01:22 PM

Thanks a lot both of you ... lol!!! He is not a CEO of H & M ...coz then i wouldn't be worried about these things ... But Sofia thanx for sharing your household expenses as that really gives me a good idea ...

Another thing i really want to know is a good place to live in ... i have read up most of the blogs that are suburbs vs city centre etc ... but thanks to ... too much information i am now thoroughly confused ... as my husband would be working in the heart of Stokholm and his work will make him travel a lot out of Sweden thus for intervals i will be with my kid alone ... what would you recommend?? I understand that accomodation is very difficult to find and one cannot ask and find it in the same place ... but i would still want an idea...

Posted by: kaze 1.Sep.2009, 01:30 PM

City centres are not for kids.

Posted by: skane refugee 1.Sep.2009, 01:33 PM

suggest when choosing an area that you keep in mind the potential social life ...

... it's the friends you find when moving somewhere completely new that 'make or break' life as an expat ...

... and you won't want to travel too far with a 13 month old to socialise ...

it's notoriously hard to break into established Swedish social circles unless you have a Swedish 'other half' ... suggest you look at nice areas with a reasonably large expat community, ideally with a decent number of fellow expats from your own country to help with tips and introductions from your own cultural perspective ...

good luck!

Posted by: Localer 1.Sep.2009, 02:03 PM

we recently moved to hammarby sjöstad, i strongly recommend this area since everything is so beautiful and new...and it close to the sea.

these are our monthly expenses, both of us are working

rent : 14800 sek pm ( 68 sqm )
electric : average 500-600 sek pm
internet/telefon/tv : 799 sek pm
transportation card : 690 sek per person
average food/groceries for a week : 2000-3000 a week ( sometimes it cost more since we love to buy ben&jerry ice cream, fresh real juices etc)...

but yeah, it depends how your live style looks like...if you husband can earn more then 30,000k before tax, don't worry ...although its just Do-able..

welcome and enjoy Stockholm, you'll love it.

Posted by: Puffin 1.Sep.2009, 02:18 PM

What sort of income are you talking about?

Posted by: Beef 1.Sep.2009, 02:21 PM

I lived threre.. But.. 14800 sek pm .. Are you sure?? 2nd hand contract.?

Posted by: byke 1.Sep.2009, 02:34 PM

Living in the city is allot harder to find places compared to suburbs and rents also can reflect that.
I personally would recommend Årsta as it is very close to the city, and their is a bi-lingual kindergatan in liljeholmen very close. (I used to live their)

The rent is "average" also.

Posted by: byke 1.Sep.2009, 02:35 PM

Hammarby is crazy priced.

Even if you own your apartment over there you can expect to pay an average of 9k pm on upkeep charges.

This is because all the properties are so new.

Posted by: Localer 1.Sep.2009, 02:46 PM

no, first hand...we on 4th floor and facing sea side

Posted by: Furu 2.Sep.2009, 12:10 AM

Finding a place is very difficult in Stockholm. The far you go the cheaper it gets. Expect to pay around 30% of your income in taxes.

Posted by: Sofia_stockholm 2.Sep.2009, 07:32 AM

I'm sure plenty of people are better served to tell you about the places where they live, so I will just speak for "our" council.

We live in Djursholm, which is one of the "fancier" suburbs just outside the city centre, but in the not so expensive end of it. We pay 5600:-/month for our flat of 72 sqm with a small garden. This is, however, a low rent compared to many other's.

The council where we are is Danderyd, a low tax council with good amenities. There are International schools close by, as well as day care and kindergartens where English is spoken. Close to the University and about 15 minutes by train and tube to central Stockholm. Around where we are it's usually reasonably easy to get accommodation as many people are subletting flats in their large houses. These parts of houses usually cost a bit more than our flat does, though.

We are also only about 25-30 minutes away from Arlanda airport.

Even though we're just 15 minutes outside of the centre we still have a working farm just up the road and we've got both lakes and the sea on walking distance. Those who like golfing have two courses in the area and we're well provided for with sporting facilities.

As far as we're concerned - the best place around Stockholm that you can find!

Posted by: byke 2.Sep.2009, 10:00 AM

Just out of interest, which international schools are you referring to?

Posted by: Puffin 2.Sep.2009, 10:34 AM

Wow that's a lot - we pay less that this on our mortgage

Posted by: Beef 2.Sep.2009, 10:39 AM

That was my point!! Think you're being ripped off! I've owned 2 places in HS.. 90m2 and 102m2, paid no more than 3000 000 for the bigger one with monthly charge of 5300 with see view (well a slight one!)..

HS is expensive but less than nice parts of Söder.. WIth these interest rates if you can stump up the deposit you can have a monthly fee of less than 9000 pm for monthly fees and mortgage interest for a very nice place in HS. Plenty for sale too.

Posted by: Bano 2.Sep.2009, 10:55 AM

Thanks!! This is a lot of help ... I also recently read that Danderyd topped the rankings in 2009, compiled by Fokus magazine, as the best place.

But i need to understand that when i see the accomodation sites i cannot pin point the places ... eg.Akalla, Husby, Alby etc. I don't understand where they are located (this is from the www.indica.se website).

As i understand that Stokholm is divided into 3 -

Stockholm City Centre - Kungsholmen, Norrmalm, Södermalm, Ostermalm
South Stockholm - Enskede-Årsta-Vantör, Farsta, Hägersten-Liljeholmen, Skarpnäck, Skärholmen, Alvsjö
West Stockholm - Bromma, Hässelby-Vällingby, Rinkeby-Kista, Spånga-Tensta

I know im stressing myself over these things even before i have landed in Stokholm but i want to do as much research as possible before hand ...

Awaiting help!

Posted by: Localer 2.Sep.2009, 10:58 AM

sorry for off topic...

Its a hyresrätt apartment...the apartment is totally facing sea side, living with balcony as well...quite a big one...the price tag is 3.2 Mkr though...

Posted by: Farbror Sven 3.Sep.2009, 02:16 AM

On http://www.hitta.se you have an online map for any address in Sweden.

Underground (tunnelbana) stations in Stockholm:
http://www.sl.se/ficktid/karta%2Fvinter/Tub.pdf

Akalla, Husby and Alby are so-called million programme areas (miljonprogramsområden), that is, rather low-status suburbs.

Posted by: Bano 3.Sep.2009, 07:12 AM

Thanks the underground tunnel map helped but the hitta.se is a Swedish website so is of no help!!!

Any other recommendations!!

Posted by: SKJ 3.Sep.2009, 09:19 AM

check this website to find an apartment for rent. It is good to rent a furnished apartment for a shorter period and you can decide after that.
http://www.blocket.se/stockholm?q=&cg=3020&w=1&st=u&mre=&ros=3&roe=5&ss=&se=&ca=11&md=th
or check this
http://www.bostaddirekt.com/?gclid=CPj45MyA1ZwCFUeK3godpy1HrA

Also your husbands company can arrange an apartment. check with them. Most of the companies do that normally when you relocate.

Another piece of advice is ..indica.se is not the best place to look for apartments. I heard a lot of sad stories from several Indian software professionals.

Posted by: Farbror Sven 3.Sep.2009, 11:15 AM

Your'e welcome. On the contrary, http://www.hitta.se is very helpful. Why would a Swedish website be of no help? *Hitta* means "find". Type any address, klick, and lo, you have it in the map below.

*Vad söker du?*
What do you seek?

*Ange ett namn, företag, sökord, bransch eller nummer*
State a name, company, search word, field or number.

*Var?*
*Where?

*Du kan kombinera gata, gatunr, ort, område*
You can combine street, street number, place and area.

It's even OK just to fill in one of the two slots.

Posted by: krzyz21 3.Sep.2009, 12:24 PM

May be you want to join IndiaSweden Yahoogroup. It may help you finding other Indians here.

Posted by: IndianInSweden 18.Nov.2009, 07:50 AM

Be rest assured that you can easily survive on one person's income in Stockholm. The advice people have given you above is excellent. I can just add some more points here.

I can recommed staying within the city limits as it does help a lot socially with people even though it is much cheaper staying a bit away from the city. Most Indians you shall find stay in Kista, Solna and Akalla as Nokia and Sony Ericsson are located there. If thats where your husband works, then you can a lot of apartments which are cheap in that area. The public transportation is excellent here so you would not need a car unless you are living in the suburbs.

I live on Soder (South) and have a 2 room apartment with SEK 10000 all inclusive of electricity, tv and broadband. That is a very good indication of the apartments available within city which are reasonable. Obviously, there are some which are outrageously expensive. I had conacted Bostad Direkt and they helped me find an apartment when I relocated here. I would highly recommend using their services.

I would suggest you to use Google translate when using a swedish website.
www.hitta.se is excellent to view the locations. Use Google earth as well if you only want it in English.

You would be happy to know there are few Indian Stores in Stockholm, one called Taj Mahal located at Radmansgatan, within the city where you can get all the spices and Indian ingredients you require, so dont stress yourself to get all the spices with you when you come over here.

Living expenses I would range between SEK 4000-4500 for a family of 2 persons to lead a very nice lifestyle.

First steps to do when arriving in Stockholm:
1) Register with Skatteverket (Tax authority) - You would get your personnummer (Social Security number) here
2) Registration with Forsakringskassen - Social Insurance - Once your have your personnummer, you can register here for health care
3) Registration with Vadcentral - closest Doctor or Genral Physician - Once your registered with Forsakringskassen, you would receive your Vadcentral location where you register again.

Following the above steps will cover your health cover in Sweden.

Bank account - I would recommend opening an "Handelsbanken" account as they have an english webpage for internet banking transactions, which other banks do not provide.

Warm clothing - I would highly recommend buying your winter/warm clothing from here in Stockholm as nothing you get in India can help you prepare for the cold weather here. Once you are here, please go to NaturKompaniet and purchase all that you need there. I have seen many Indians buy winter clothing in India which does not help in any way possible here.

Hopefully all these points are helpful to you. I wish you the best of luck in your move to Stockholm.

Posted by: Guest 14.Dec.2018, 03:31 PM

Dear IndianinSweden,

I am commenting on a post from long ago but I saw your detailed comment and thought of thanking you for the point where you mentioned to get winter clothing from Sweden itself. I was planning to buy stuff from India.

I would also like to ask, will it be wise to move compact furniture and Indian groceries - pulses, rice, etc. to Sweden as company is providing moving assistance to me. I understand that most of the apartments are furnished but if I have my own furniture, can I get a unfurnished apartment for cheap? or the prices do not vary. Also I will be moving to Helsingborg and not Stockholm.

Request your valuable inputs.