Affordable Oulu is a series of articles with a bit of a financial overview, for those of you planning to come and stay in Oulu. In our monthly interviews we will ask several foreigners of various nationalities, marital, family and work backgrounds about the costs of living in Oulu.

Jaanika from Estonia

Jaanika (29), Linnar (34) and their son Joel (6) moved to Oulu 6 years ago from Tallinn, Estonia. Jaanika is studying Biology at Oulu University and Linnar works as an engineer for National Semiconductor at Teknologiakylä. Joel goes to pre-school in Paulaharju.

How much do you spend on your home?

Last year we bought an 81.5 m² terraced house in Rajakylä for 84.000 euros. To raise the money, we took a long-term loan for 20 years with a reasonable interest rate. We bought our house because it saves money in the longer term, especially as it looks like house prices are only going up and we know that in the future we want to move back to Estonia.

The maintenance fee is 153 euros and it includes heating and repairs. The water bill is 12 euros per person per month. Electricity costs are 26.62 euros per month and this is reviewed annually. We also have to pay 6 euros per month for a parking space. Also, the Internet costs us 25 euros per month. We get the news through the Internet, as there is no time to watch TV. That’s why we don’t have a TV-set at all.

What about food costs and eating habits?

We spend about 250 euros per month on food. We go shopping twice a month and attempt to buy most food we need for a long period. We buy lots of frozen vegetable mixes and convenience food. Only if we are out of milk or bread do we visit the corner shop. We prefer Lidl, as we can find German food that is more like Estonian food and prices there are a bit lower too. In Estonia, food is cheaper and there is more variety than in Oulu. When we visit Estonia, we always bring a lot of Estonian products back with us, mayonnaise for example.
We tend to eat lighter and healthier dishes (more vegetarian food and less meat) because our work life is sedentary so we don’t need so much energy. We don’t eat red meat on principle! We started to eat more healthily when we moved to Oulu.
We eat out 2-3 times a month, mainly at weekends. Restaurants here are child friendly and many have children’s menus. We spend approximately 20 euros per month for eating out.

How much do you spend on transport?

We have two cars, although we only use one. We spend 150 euros on petrol per month. (1 litre ~ 1,22 euros). Car maintenance is expensive – minor repairs cost approximately 40 euros and an oil change costs 50 euros (including new oil filter). Winter tyres and changing old tyres costs 250 euros all together. So the ability to do minor repairs by yourself is a very useful skill here!! A few years ago Linnar bought a 1984 Nissan Cherry in running order for 300 euros. New cars cost from about 12 000 euros up to 40 000 euros. Cars check-up has to be done once a year usually; the cost is around 50 euros.

How do you spend your free time? What are your hobbies?

Electronics (programming and electronics design) is both a job and a hobby for Linnar. He has many other hobbies too: kite skiing, aerial photography (a kite is wonderful tool for that) and volleyball. Twice a month he plays drums in a band – they play background music for a children’s choir. It is quite hard to tell how much they spend on hobbies – most items bought here are one-off expenses. The traction kite cost 350 euros, but it can be used for years. The camera was bought for 600 euros from America. Here these are more expensive – around 800 euros.

As Jaanika studies at the University it is possible for her to get “a sportscard” and participate to almost any sport – aerobics, swimming, a gum, cards costs 20 euros per year. In the mean time, she studies to be a scout leader.
Jaanika became acquainted with the scout movement by the church. She and her best friend met at the church too. One of Jaanika’s hobbies is bird watching. Twice a year Jaanika goes to a bird count organised by the Oulu’s Nature Conservation Association.

Volleyball was what they both did back to Estonia, all other hobbies have been found here.
In Oulu it is easy to be interested in different hobbies – most hobbies are quite inexpensive and near enough. For example – skiing, cycling, scout movement, skating places – all this needs more time than money.

Are there any expenses concerning the Pre-shool?
Joel goes to Paulaharju pre-school. It is in the same building as the daycare. The pre-school costs 120 euros per month, but the cost is dependent on the parents’ salary and how many children you have.
Pre-school means those children who will go to school next year when they are 7 get preparative classes. They learn more about letters and numbers, how to listen and how to describe etc.
Once a week Joel goes to football training. It costs 60 euros per year.

Why did you move to Oulu?
The main reason was that Linnar got an interesting job offer, so we moved from Tallinn to Oulu. At first it was just for few years, but now it has been 5 years already since we moved here. All people whom we have met here have been really nice to us.

Tiina Järvelaid