Cost and Value in Sweden

Before I moved to Sweden, I talked to a lot of different people about it. "I'm going to school in Sweden" elicited one of two responses:

"Dude, the girls.."
or
"It's so fucking expensive!"





The girls are everything everyone said they'd be (and more) [it's really ridiculous], but the expensive part? I go back and forth on it. Really, the only (loosely) definitive way I can describe how much things cost here is, "it depends." Many things are more expensive, but surprisingly enough, some stuff is cheaper. Things kind of balance out. I'm getting to the point where I'm saving bags (they cost money at every market here), keeping cans and bottles to trade them for 1SEK apiece, and not eating out (I've made every single meal since I've been here). And as a result of these basic lifestyle changes and thrifty shopping, it's really not much more expensive than life in California, while I'd argue that the quality of life here is much better in a lot of ways. That's something for another post though.

For reference's sake, the Swedish Krona (SEK) trades almost exactly 7:1 with the US Dollar.

MORE EXPENSIVE
Alcohol - Holy shit. The Swedish government many moons ago decided that, for the sake of
"(minimizing) alcohol-related problems by selling alcohol in a responsible way, without profit motive," they would establish a monopoly here. You can get beer, cider, and the like of under 3.5% ABV at any old corner store, but if you want the good stuff, you have to go through King Gustaf. I don't know how expensive it is to import and transport booze into and around Sweden, but I'm going to call bullshit on profit not being a motive at all. How else do you explain a 700ml (a little under a fifth for those on that scale) of Absolut, which is produced in this country, selling for 239SEK? That's roughly $34. Maybe the logic is that by charging a ridiculous amount for alcohol that it discourages heavy drinking, but Lund is a college town. People here are going to drink heavily regardless. Alcohol is the one thing that's forcing me to stop calculating the value of things by converting their SEK price into USD. It's too frustrating. 7.0% ABV cider goes for I think 19SEK ($2.70 US) a can and you can get 7.5% ABV beer for a little less. .500ML each. That's as good as it gets. Beer at a bar is at its cheapest around 50SEK ($7 US) and you don't even always get a half liter for that price. It's insane.

Taxis - I'm not even going to get into it about taxis. The taxi market is free in Sweden which means that drivers can set whatever prices they want without government interference. These guys line up outside the train station and hope they can snag one customer to cover an entire shift's worth of wages. I saw one today with a flag drop of 239SEK ($34 US). Fuck taxis.

Bottled Water - Maybe it's an effort to be environmentally conscious. Maybe bottled water companies have to sell their product at a high price because the tap water here is so damn delicious as is. Whatever the case, bottled water is around 20SEK (~$3 US) a pop. They don't sell re-usable water bottles very widely, either. Maybe people here just go tap to mouth. I don't know.

Paper Towels - I'm thinking that the same people responsible for the costliness of bottled water are involved with the paper towel racket as well. The cheapest single rolls are around 25SEK ($3.60 US) at the local grocery store. For what it's worth, toilet paper is more reasonable. Could be based on necessity. Rags are 5SEK ($.70 US) at IKEA.

Restaurant Food - Haven't bought anything more than snacks from stores/restaurants, but the cheapest food I've been able to find walking around is a döner truck that sells falafel sandwiches for 35SEK ($5 US). Gyros are 50SEK ($7.13) at the very least and personal pizzas tend to run about the same. Anything other than döner and pizza costs substantially more. A pre-made supermarket sub sandwich is 65 SEK ($9.27). Long story short, it makes sense to prepare your own food all the time. It's not the American way but really, that's the way it should be. Definitely more fulfilling to be able to feed yourself.


LESS EXPENSIVE
Pretty Much Everything that IKEA Sells - I got a side table from IKEA for 35SEK ($5 US). I mentioned rags were $.70 US above. Towels are about $2 US each. You can make your apartment look stylishly Swedish as all fuck for a couple hundred USD, which for me included a shag rug, a full set of bed sheets and blankets, all that swanky bathroom stuff (soap dispenser + dish, toothbrush holder, shower caddy), and more. It's all quality, too. Plus, they sell hot dogs, ice cream, and pizza for 5SEK ($.70) a pop. You'll probably die from them but at that price it's totally worth it.

Gym Membership - Semester-long access to Gerdahallen, a beauty of a gym right on campus, cost 770SEK ($110 US). That's less than $20 a month for six months for high quality equipment, multiple locker rooms with saunas, and unlimited classes (aerobic and yoga and whatnot). It's also, as a friend of mine told me before I went in myself, "Like a Maxim shoot in there."

Cellular Phone Service - The main provider in Lund, COMVIQ, basically has a monopoly on the students here. Not for any sinister reason, but because they're just so damn reasonable. The base functional and plain Samsung phone is 200SEK ($28.50 US). After that, you need to top up for a minimum of 75SEK ($10.70 US). After that? Free texting from COMVIQ to COMVIQ and :69SEK ($.10) opening fee per call (which are free after that from COMVIQ to COMVIQ). Assuming everyone is on COMVIQ, which they pretty much are because you get a SIM card from them with your welcome package, you can make 108 phone calls and text unlimitedly for $10.70/month (because you need to add 75SEK every 30 days to maintain the freeness). Pretty bitchin'.

Bread - My local market sells pretty hefty rolls (about 3" by 3") in different varieties (fruit + nut, wheat, soft white, etc) at the cost of five for 10SEK ($1.40). I eat a lot of rolls. All the bread/pastries in this country are damn good.

Juice - Really really awesome 100% juice, mango + apple + orange for example, is 16SEK ($2.28 US) for a liter. I don't know if it's that much cheaper than at home, but even if it's about the same, the quality is way better for the price.

Bacon - I didn't get any, but it's stupid cheap. This much I know.

Flights to Poland - Malmö has some kind of arrangement through Wizz Air to fly directly to a few places. One of them is Poland. Round trip flights to Warsaw, Katowice, and Gdansk start at $22 US.