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Food is not a huge expense though. I spend 150€ a month in Sweden. Even if it was twice as expensive in Iceland, it wouldn't be too bad. They have a very high d

Food is not a huge expense though. I spend 150€ a month in Sweden. Even if it was twice as expensive in Iceland, it wouldn't be too bad. They have a very high disposable income. And things like heating and electricity are basically free.

Styrminator 3y ago
Icelander here as well, I've worked in Norway, the UK and Germany. An 80k salary here buys you the lifestyle of a 50k salary in Berlin, the only reason I moved back is kids and grandparents.
- hef19898 3y ago
  Was that rent driven? Because Berlon is, still, considered cheap. Not everywhere and a lotnofnlocal are getting priced out since at least the early 2010s, but still cheap compared to places like Munich or Frankfurt.
  - Styrminator 3y ago
    No, I can't say it's rent driven per se as there are other factors but housing issues have gotten progressively worse last 20 years or so, same problem as everywhere else except that in our case it's amplified by having to structure an economy around the peculiarities of having world's second smallest independent currency in our wallets. That said, there definitely exist worse housing markets in the world, this is no Munich. Regarding the currency, that Iceland is expensive, is partly due to rules such as our pension funds not being allowed to invest but 20% of their fund outside the country, a rule designed to reduce the downward pressure on the local currency and create demand for it that would otherwise exist to a smaller degree as the long-term returns of local investments have been worse than the performance of the "foreign" portfolio. Mix such rules which create "artificial" demand, actual demand for the currency from tourism, indexed mortgages (a concept so unbelievable I've added a link at the bottom) driving up prices and you end up with a situation where economic problems are one of the few things that we don't have to import. https://www.islandsbanki.is/en/news/what-is-an-indexed-mortgage https://www.islandsbanki.is/en/news/what-is-an-indexed-mortg...
victorbjorklund 3y ago
Spending 1.6 euros (18,50 SEK) per meal (assuming 3 meals per day) including eating out etc is very low. That is far from the average in Sweden. And it is even more far from being what you spend if you wanna eat out a lot (which many high income tech people want). I'm not judging (I spend very low amounts on food myself) but you can't really say you are representative for the average tech worker in Sweden when it comes to food spending.
EddieEngineers 3y ago
I’m moving to Sweden from the Bay Area and this seems very low - I spend that for myself and my wife probably over two days (including coffees etc)… Is this the genuine average? It’ll make me swallow lower salaries a lot easier!
- Ekaros 3y ago
  Nope, that is extremely low. I would double that for buying food just from a super market. And even then it is likely not too special. 150€ sounds like the advertised poor person diet. Rice, beans, cheap vegetables like potatoes, little of cheap meat(chicken legs maybe).
  - triceratops 3y ago
    > 150€ sounds like the advertised poor person diet. Rice, beans, cheap vegetables like potatoes, little of cheap meat(chicken legs maybe). That's my diet too lol. Am I eating like a poor person? TIL
    - Scoundreller 3y ago
      Hopefully you’re not eating like that and poor. If you did, you’re going to live a long time and need to save a ton for a long retirement!
      - triceratops 3y ago
        "Only the rich can truly afford to eat like they're poor" - Scoundreller
- rlkf 3y ago
  The average expenditure on food and staples of a Norwegian household is according to national statistics €235/month/person (not including dining out); based on the general cost difference between Norway and Sweden, this should translate into €210/month/person.
moralestapia 3y ago
5 euros per day, come on man. That's not enough even in LATAM.

Styrminator 3y ago

Icelander here as well, I've worked in Norway, the UK and Germany. An 80k salary here buys you the lifestyle of a 50k salary in Berlin, the only reason I moved back is kids and grandparents.

hef19898 3y ago
Was that rent driven? Because Berlon is, still, considered cheap. Not everywhere and a lotnofnlocal are getting priced out since at least the early 2010s, but still cheap compared to places like Munich or Frankfurt.
- Styrminator 3y ago
  No, I can't say it's rent driven per se as there are other factors but housing issues have gotten progressively worse last 20 years or so, same problem as everywhere else except that in our case it's amplified by having to structure an economy around the peculiarities of having world's second smallest independent currency in our wallets. That said, there definitely exist worse housing markets in the world, this is no Munich. Regarding the currency, that Iceland is expensive, is partly due to rules such as our pension funds not being allowed to invest but 20% of their fund outside the country, a rule designed to reduce the downward pressure on the local currency and create demand for it that would otherwise exist to a smaller degree as the long-term returns of local investments have been worse than the performance of the "foreign" portfolio. Mix such rules which create "artificial" demand, actual demand for the currency from tourism, indexed mortgages (a concept so unbelievable I've added a link at the bottom) driving up prices and you end up with a situation where economic problems are one of the few things that we don't have to import. https://www.islandsbanki.is/en/news/what-is-an-indexed-mortgage https://www.islandsbanki.is/en/news/what-is-an-indexed-mortg...

victorbjorklund 3y ago

Spending 1.6 euros (18,50 SEK) per meal (assuming 3 meals per day) including eating out etc is very low. That is far from the average in Sweden. And it is even more far from being what you spend if you wanna eat out a lot (which many high income tech people want). I'm not judging (I spend very low amounts on food myself) but you can't really say you are representative for the average tech worker in Sweden when it comes to food spending.

EddieEngineers 3y ago

I’m moving to Sweden from the Bay Area and this seems very low - I spend that for myself and my wife probably over two days (including coffees etc)… Is this the genuine average? It’ll make me swallow lower salaries a lot easier!

Ekaros 3y ago
Nope, that is extremely low. I would double that for buying food just from a super market. And even then it is likely not too special. 150€ sounds like the advertised poor person diet. Rice, beans, cheap vegetables like potatoes, little of cheap meat(chicken legs maybe).
- triceratops 3y ago
  > 150€ sounds like the advertised poor person diet. Rice, beans, cheap vegetables like potatoes, little of cheap meat(chicken legs maybe). That's my diet too lol. Am I eating like a poor person? TIL
  - Scoundreller 3y ago
    Hopefully you’re not eating like that and poor. If you did, you’re going to live a long time and need to save a ton for a long retirement!
    - triceratops 3y ago
      "Only the rich can truly afford to eat like they're poor" - Scoundreller
rlkf 3y ago
The average expenditure on food and staples of a Norwegian household is according to national statistics €235/month/person (not including dining out); based on the general cost difference between Norway and Sweden, this should translate into €210/month/person.

moralestapia 3y ago

5 euros per day, come on man. That's not enough even in LATAM.