So Just How Expensive Is Norway Anyway?

I guess the title is pretty self explanatory, so lets find out how much I'm paying for things here in Norway!! Just keep in mind that most of the food I buy is store brand ... so its the cheapest and least tasty. Couple things to point out: 1) NOK= Norwegian Kroner a.k.a. the Norwegian currency 2) I'll put the Norwegian translation underneath the item so you can learn some Norwegian at the same time! 3) When listing prices, instead of putting a period before writing the change, Europeans use a comma. So something that is one dollar and fifty cents would be written 1,50 . If I didn't know about this before I left home I would have thought they forgot a zero at the end and it was really supposed to be fifteen hundred dollars.

Monthly Transportation Card___NOK430,00__$81.13
Studentkort

• This isn't a bad price for a month's worth of transportation. This is just the student price though, the regular adult price is NOK730,00 or $137.74. I usually spend $60 on gas each month, then if you add insurance, registration, and repairs it comes out pretty even. Plus I don't add wear and tear on my car!

Set of 3 Pots____________NOK75,00____$14.15
Gryte

• This was also a real good deal, since all the other pots were going for NOK120 - NOK300 or $22.64 - $56.61

Hairdryer_____________NOK99,00____$18.68
Hårtørrer

• This was the cheapest hairdryer I could find, it may not seem that expensive considering how long they usually last, but this really should have been a $5.00 hairdryer because it doesn't work that great

Set of 3 Tupperware containers_NOK29,00__$5.47

Measuring Bowl_________NOK29,00_____$5.47
Litermål

Laundry Soap(2L=.5gallon)_NOK25,90____$4.89
Tøymykner

Load of Laundry_________NOK10,00____$1.89

Calendar______________NOK94,00____$17.74
Kalender

Postcard______________NOK6,00-10,00__$1.10-1.89
Prospektkort

Stamp (letter)__________NOK21,00_____$3.96
Frimerke

Stamp (postcard)_______NOK11,00_____$2.08
Frimerke

DVD (new release)_______NOK200-250__$37.74-47.17

ATM Fee_____________NOK5,30______$1.00

Birthday Card_________NOK24,00_____$4.53
Fødseldagkort

English-Norwegian/Norwegian-English Translation Book
NOK 175.00___$33.02
Engelsk/Norsk skoleordbok (or school word book)

• Most of the translation books were only English-Norwegian or Norwegian-English, it was hard to find one that went both ways. Its not a very extensive book, so sometimes I'm left to guess what something means, but the coolest part about it is that it has a Calvin and Hobbs comic strip every couple of pages.

Spiral Notebook_______NOK25,00____$7.72
Spiralblokk

Candy bar___________NOK7,90_____$1.44

Sandwich Bread_______NOK25,90____$4.89
Sandwichbrød

Eggs(1dozen)_________NOK20,90____$3.94

Milk ______________NOK11,40/L__$8.14/gallon
Ekstra Lett melk (fortified with vitamin D beacause of the little amount of sun light)

Norvegia(1kg=2.2lbs)___NOK68,90____$13.00

• This is a white cheese, is less mild than cheddar, and is used in place of cheddar
• Cheddar cheese is a very rare commodity, I've only found it in one store and I don't remember exactly, but it was going to be about $6.00 for 0.5lb

Gudbrandsdalsost(1kg)__NOK54,00___$10.19

• This is a brown cheese that is a bit sweet and is used mostly on bread or waffles

Lettuce_____________NOK12,19___$2.30

Potatoes(1,5kg=3.3lbs)__NOK19,50__$3.68

Apples______________NOK19,00/kg__$1.63/lb
Eple

Oranges_____________NOK17,46/kg__$1.50/lb
Appelsin

Chicken(fresh, 240g=.5lb)_NOK44,50___$8.40
Kylling

Ground Beef(400g=.88lbs)_NOK35,00__$6.60
Kjøttdeig

Hot Dogs (18count)____NOK22,00____$4.15

Frozen Pizza_________NOK16,00-38,00__$3.02-7.17

Can of Corn__________NOK6,00-13,00__$1.13-2.45
Mais

Sugar(1kg=2.2lbs)_____NOK13,40____$2.45
Sukker

Jello_______________NOK9,90_____$1.81
Gelé

Corn Flakes_________NOK14,50_____$2.74

Cheerios___________NOK26,00_____$4.91

Rice(2kg=4.4lbs)______NOK12,80-20,00__$2.42-3.77
Ris

Spaghetti Sauce_______NOK9,90____$1.87
Pastasaus

Spaghetti Noodles_____NOK8,00____$1.51

Macaroni___________NOK8,90____$1.68
Makaroni

Soup______________NOK5,90____$1.11
Suppe

• Powdered soup is very common here, why I don't know, but Campbell's soup is only sold in one store and is NOK19,90 or $3.75 a can.

Strawberry Jelly______________NOK13,90____$2.62
Jordbærsyltetøy

Peanut Butter_______NOK18,90____$3.57

Chips_____________NOK15,50____$2.92

• Lays Potato Chips are called Maarrud and they have a salt and pepper flavor which are paprika good. Another type of chip is paprika, which is also pretty good. But no salt and vinager :(

Shampoo(.5L=17oz)___NOK7,00_____$1.32
Herbal Essence(340ml=11.5oz)_NOK38,00__$1.17

Ziploc Bags(15count)__NOK23,00____$4.34

Toilet Paper________NOK11,90____$2.25
Taolettpapir

Paper Towel________NOK13,90____$2.62
Tøkerrull

• The name brand toilet paper and paper towels are more than double the price of the store brand ... and let me just note that store brand toilet paper is nothing like Charmin

Gasoline___________NOK12,06/L__$8.61/gallon
and we complain about $3.00/gallon (I'm note sure if this price is right, the last time I saw the price for gas was a few weeks ago, but its close)

McDonald's
Hamburger(the normal $0.79 one)__NOK18,00__$3.40
Medium Fry________NOK24,00____$4.53

T.G.I.Fridays:
Hamburger_________NOK120,00+__$22.64

• Basically I never eat out and how I miss eating Hamburgers!!

Grocery stores (in order of cheapest to most expensive):
REMA 1000, Kiwi, Rimi, Meny, ICA, BunnPris
ICA and Meny typically have bigger stores, which means they have a wider variety of food (like Campbell's and cheddar cheese) and are more expensive so they can import the rarer foods.

Well, hope this sums up what my shopping experience is like.