Living in Finland gets cheaper

Have you realized that prices dropped in many Finnish supermarkets from Sunday to yesterday? This is due to a price war between the big supermarket chains active here. The S-Group, the K-Group and Lidl all announced over the weekend that they would lower the price for many of their products.

The stronger competition on the market led the companies to that step. As a cutomer you can now benefit from that. Read more about on topic from YleNews and enjoy your grocery shopping!

Early Crazy Days

Stockmann's Hullut Päivät (Crazy Days) start again. From tomorrow until Sunday there will be lots of great deals again. If you are planning on getting something there, check out their offers beforehand online and arrive early. Some things might be sold out in no time. And keep in mind that this time Stockmann opens its doors at 7:00 already.

If you want to avoid the huge crowds of Stockmann at Aleksanterinkatu in the city center, consider to rather visit some of the smaller Stockmann stores around Helsinki. They have the same offers and are much more quiet. You find a list of them on their website.

Happy Crazy Days!

Prices going nuts

Finland is known to be quite an expensive country. Mostly people speak about alcohol in reference to this topic. But actually a beer at a bar can still be bought at quite a reasonable price even in the city center of Helsinki.

The product where prices explode is a whole different one - it's nuts. If you are a tourist or expat in Finland and see what is charged for nuts here you should hold onto something. Prices tend to be two to three times more expensive than in Central Europe. Just lately I saw a package of pine seeds (100g) for no less than 9 Euros.

I just wonder if there is any logical explanation for those prices (maybe some special taxes on nuts like on alcohol and candies?) or if there is just someone making a lot of money having a monopoly on importing nuts to Finland. If anyone has an answer to this burning question please write a comment.

My suggestion though: next time you travel abroad don't come back with a bottle of wine but rather with a full suitcase of delicious cashews, peanuts and macadamias.

Stockmann going crazy again

Tomorrow this year’s second Hullut Päivät start again at Stockmann in Helsinki and all their other branches throughout the country.

As always most offers are just valid for one of the five days. It might make sense to take a look at the catalogue in advance and make a plan when to come to Stockmann during those days. Remember that some products are sold out quite quickly and sometimes it’s recommended to be there already early in the morning to ensure you still get them.

More information on the special offers can be found from the Hullut Päivät website (just in Finnish and Swedish). Hullut Päivät are on till Sunday October 13.

Enjoy the crazy days!

Price Circus at Forum

Forum started its Hintasirkus. After last week’s Kampitus Päivät it’s Forum’s turn now. Till Sunday visitors can shop, eat and drink for less. Every day shops, cafés and restaurants at Forum have different special offers where you can save up to 50%.

The daily deals can be found from Forum’swebsite. Enjoy your shopping trip!

Crazy Days at Stockmann

Today the Hullut Päivät (crazy days) at Stockmann started. For five days Stockmann has quite good offers – apparently so good, that people stormed the stores this morning when Stockmann opened. Take a look at their offers here and if you find something you like to have don’t wait too long. The wanted products are sold quite quickly. Also check what is sold which day since they have changing offers every day.

Good luck with shopping and don’t get too crazy about the Hullut Päivät!

Flower Carousel

Just a few days ago this interesting new maschine was put up at Forum Shopping Center. It’s called Kukka Karuselli and it allows you to buy flowers right from the automat. The prices for the bouquets vary between 7.50 and 20 Euros. I really handy way to get to some flowers fast if you are just on your way to a friend’s birthday or forgot to buy something for your anniversary. 

But honestly it’s not really a big advantage compared to a normal flower shop. It can’t even compete with its opening times since the shopping center closes completely at the same time as the shops in it.

Anyway it’s definitely a funny idea and probably also worth trying it out once.

150 years Stockmann

I guess that everyone that ever spent some time in Helsinki, even if it might have been just one day, will know Stockmann. It is the biggest warehouse in the Nordic countries and fills up a whole block at Mannerheimintie. Meanwhile the Stockmann Group has over 700 stores in 15 countries but it all started in Helsinki. Heinrich Franz Georg Stockmann from Lübeck arrived in Finland in 1852. He worked as a manager for a shop of Nuutajärvi Glassworks. In 1862 he took control of the business. 

This year Stockmann celebrates its 150th birthday. For that reason there are lots of special events and campaigns planned for 2012. So you should keep your eyes open to announcements. 

Let’s face it: Stockmann is one of the most expensive places in Helsinki but it has a huge variety. Whatever you are searching for, you’ll find it there. And with the discounts they often have you might even get a pretty good deal.

What you need to get those discounts is a customer card. This year only they give it away for free and it is valid for 10 years. With this card you get discounts of up to 20 % on selected products. And that can really pay off.

The really cool thing is that they create your personal card right when you apply for it. They have a special machine there. So you don’t have to wait for your card to arrive via mail.

... and what about putting back those nice ladies in the lifts, just like in the old times (pictures from the 1930s)? Well, there has been some talks about that project recently - I still wonder how it would work in our modern times' rush hours and sales seasons! A good way for any employee to go insane at work in only 1 hour... But after all, at Stockmann's what the client wants, the client gets. Best customer service in Finland, undoubtedly.

Moving to Helsinki III

But where should you move? And how is it with the additional costs for an apartment? Here some more tips:

Location:

As in every bigger city there are differences depending on the location you choose. If you are searching for something with a low budget take a look at the area called Kallio. It is still pretty close to the city center, has great bus, tram and metro connection and offers a vivid nightlife. Especially for students it is a great choice. I wouldn’t recommend it for families that much though. As in most other cities too, the further you are away from the center the cheaper it gets. If you don’t mind living a bit further away you should also consider checking out Espoo and Vantaa. What? Never heard of them? Espoo is in face the second biggest city in Finland. But never mind. Those two cities are surrounding Helsinki and the prices here are a bit lower. But before you take any cheap offers always check how well the area where you want to live is connected to the center. You can find the connections on the website of the local public transportation company HSL. As your destination type in "Rautatientori" (Central Railway Station) or "Kamppi".

Additional costs:

Of course the bigger the apartment and the more people live there the more you have to pay for electricity and water (and maybe gas). One important thing you should know is that for water you pay a fixed price every month (between 10 and 15 Euros). You can use as much as you want. Maybe that has something to do with the huge amount of water that Finland holds (lakes and the sea). The price also includes the warm water. That means that in case the apartment has a normal radiator the heating is also included in the water fee.

To find out about the prices for internet and phone you can check from these companies:

DNA/Welho (mobile, internet, TV): http://www.dna.fi/

Sonera (mobile, internet, TV):  http://www.sonera.fi/

Saunalahti (mobile): http://saunalahti.fi/

You should know that in Finland most people don’t use landlines anymore. And the prices for calling are reasonable. So don’t bother trying to get a landline yourself.

To be continued!

Moving to Helsinki II

And here comes part two of useful information for finding a place in Helsinki:

Rent or buy:

In Finland it is very common to live in your own place. In contrast to most other countries and especially bigger cities renting is quite exceptional here.  But since I assume most of you interested in this topic are from abroad and are probably not planning on staying in Finland for ever I will focus on the rental market. The information here might still in most cases also apply for buying apartments.

Size:

Yes, size matters. Especially when it comes to living space. I guess the most challenging thing in Helsinki might be, to find a place where you want to live alone. Of course there are those small one room apartments but most likely they are very expensive compared to what you would pay if you live in a bigger place together. So if you come here as a student and are not planning on staying at university housing consider sharing an apartment with one or two classmates.

To be continued...

Moving to Helsinki I

Ok, the last days you had to read a lot about the weather here. Sorry for that! But now something useful. I want to open a new service category for you. Over the next days I will provide a bit of information to people who are planning to move to Helsinki or are already living here and searching for a new place to stay. Knowing where to find the apartments is one thing. But I think it is also quite useful to have some basic information about the apartment market in this city. That’s why I listed down some things you should know. Today I'll start with :

 

the price level

First of all you have to arrange yourself with the fact that Helsinki is probably one of the most expensive cities in Europe or even the world. There are so many rankings for the most expensive cities in the world that all come to different conclusions but let me tell you that Helsinki is quite often among the top 10. For an apartment in the center with one bedroom you pay an average rent of around 900 € per month. In Berlin you could probably get three bedrooms for that price. But also the living expenses are a bit higher here. It is quite obvious when you go out since especially the prices for alcohol are quite high. But also at the supermarket you will see a difference (especially with foreign products like cheese from the Netherlands). You’ll find a pretty good overview over the general price level here.

Stay tuned for more!