I note that our stabby friend from Russell Square with the 'mental health issues' has

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Originally Posted by Burney

I struggle to see how you could live on £38k pa in Norway, though. Particularly as they absolutely rape you in tax from what I understand.

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A lot of the money they take in tax comes back in the form of state sponsored services, which you don't have to pay again for. For example, my 2 kids are in kindergarten from 08:00 - 16:00 Mon - Fri. This costs me about 200 quid a month for the two of them. My friends in the UK pay an absolute fortune for an equivalent service. My 25 min train journey from Shenfield to Liv st used to cost me nearly £3k a year I think. I now pay half that for a 25 minute boat trip which also includes unlimited trams, trains etc.

My wife and I have been given 12 months parental leave (her 10 months, me 2) and we continue to get 100% pay. That means you don't lose a few years of income to have a family

People here don't drink alcohol like we do in the UK. They would never go on an all day sessiondrinking all day as it would cost a fortune. they normally buy their full limit of alcohol every time they travel (Norwegians fly a lot) and have people over for dinner, get smashed at home and then head out at 23:00ish to drink a few in bars

Over here, the lowest skilled professions earn a wage that means they can afford to go on a good holiday every year, many own winter or summer cabins and boats (you can deduct your loans and mortgages from the assets you own so it is better from a tax perspective)

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Originally Posted by Brentwood

A lot of the money they take in tax comes back in the form of state sponsored services, which you don't have to pay again for. For example, my 2 kids are in kindergarten from 08:00 - 16:00 Mon - Fri. This costs me about 200 quid a month for the two of them. My friends in the UK pay an absolute fortune for an equivalent service. My 25 min train journey from Shenfield to Liv st used to cost me nearly £3k a year I think. I now pay half that for a 25 minute boat trip which also includes unlimited trams, trains etc.

My wife and I have been given 12 months parental leave (her 10 months, me 2) and we continue to get 100% pay. That means you don't lose a few years of income to have a family

People here don't drink alcohol like we do in the UK. They would never go on an all day sessiondrinking all day as it would cost a fortune. they normally buy their full limit of alcohol every time they travel (Norwegians fly a lot) and have people over for dinner, get smashed at home and then head out at 23:00ish to drink a few in bars

Over here, the lowest skilled professions earn a wage that means they can afford to go on a good holiday every year, many own winter or summer cabins and boats (you can deduct your loans and mortgages from the assets you own so it is better from a tax perspective)

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The thing about drinking is funny. The first time I went, I found it confusing that when you landed, there was a Duty Free before you went through passport control and all the Norwegians were frantically buying booze there.

Mind you, I find it equally weird in Finland that you can't buy anything stronger than beer in supermarkets and have to find the special state-owned off licence in order to get a bottle of wine. Odd.

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Originally Posted by Burney

The thing about drinking is funny. The first time I went, I found it confusing that when you landed, there was a Duty Free before you went through passport control and all the Norwegians were frantically buying booze there.

Mind you, I find it equally weird in Finland that you can't buy anything stronger than beer in supermarkets and have to find the special state-owned off licence in order to get a bottle of wine. Odd.

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There's a lot that i love about living here, but not being able to pop to the supermarket on a Sunday to buy a bottle of wine really pisses me off. You can ony buy standard beers from supermarkets between certain hours (not on Sundays, not before elections etc). Wine and spirits can only be purchased from the Wine Monopoly. If you have a bottle on the conveyer belt at the till and the clock hits 16:01, the till shuts down and you won't be served. It's bonkers

If you fly to London, the money you save from buying your full allowance of booze and fags can often pay for the trip itself. Especially if you buy some clothes and get your haircut over there (the cheapest place I have found costs me £60 here)

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Originally Posted by Brentwood

There's a lot that i love about living here, but not being able to pop to the supermarket on a Sunday to buy a bottle of wine really pisses me off. You can ony buy standard beers from supermarkets between certain hours (not on Sundays, not before elections etc). Wine and spirits can only be purchased from the Wine Monopoly. If you have a bottle on the conveyer belt at the till and the clock hits 16:01, the till shuts down and you won't be served. It's bonkers

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How do the locals feel about these restrictions? Do they not see it as an offensive intrusion into their right to choose? What do they think will happen if they lifted these restrictions? Would the whole of Norway have cirrhosis within the week?

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Originally Posted by Brentwood

A lot of the money they take in tax comes back in the form of state sponsored services, which you don't have to pay again for. For example, my 2 kids are in kindergarten from 08:00 - 16:00 Mon - Fri. This costs me about 200 quid a month for the two of them. My friends in the UK pay an absolute fortune for an equivalent service. My 25 min train journey from Shenfield to Liv st used to cost me nearly £3k a year I think. I now pay half that for a 25 minute boat trip which also includes unlimited trams, trains etc.

My wife and I have been given 12 months parental leave (her 10 months, me 2) and we continue to get 100% pay. That means you don't lose a few years of income to have a family

People here don't drink alcohol like we do in the UK. They would never go on an all day sessiondrinking all day as it would cost a fortune. they normally buy their full limit of alcohol every time they travel (Norwegians fly a lot) and have people over for dinner, get smashed at home and then head out at 23:00ish to drink a few in bars

Over here, the lowest skilled professions earn a wage that means they can afford to go on a good holiday every year, many own winter or summer cabins and boats (you can deduct your loans and mortgages from the assets you own so it is better from a tax perspective)

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30 hours p/w free childcare being rolled out in September :cloud9:

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Originally Posted by Brentwood

A lot of the money they take in tax comes back in the form of state sponsored services, which you don't have to pay again for. For example, my 2 kids are in kindergarten from 08:00 - 16:00 Mon - Fri. This costs me about 200 quid a month for the two of them. My friends in the UK pay an absolute fortune for an equivalent service. My 25 min train journey from Shenfield to Liv st used to cost me nearly £3k a year I think. I now pay half that for a 25 minute boat trip which also includes unlimited trams, trains etc.

My wife and I have been given 12 months parental leave (her 10 months, me 2) and we continue to get 100% pay. That means you don't lose a few years of income to have a family

People here don't drink alcohol like we do in the UK. They would never go on an all day sessiondrinking all day as it would cost a fortune. they normally buy their full limit of alcohol every time they travel (Norwegians fly a lot) and have people over for dinner, get smashed at home and then head out at 23:00ish to drink a few in bars

Over here, the lowest skilled professions earn a wage that means they can afford to go on a good holiday every year, many own winter or summer cabins and boats (you can deduct your loans and mortgages from the assets you own so it is better from a tax perspective)

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This is communism :-(

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Originally Posted by Sir C

This is communism :-(

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It's a bit more enlightened than that. It is at least rewarding people for giving up their individual freedoms.

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Originally Posted by Burney

How do the locals feel about these restrictions? Do they not see it as an offensive intrusion into their right to choose? What do they think will happen if they lifted these restrictions? Would the whole of Norway have cirrhosis within the week?

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People complain a little bit, but the idea is that everybody should be allowed to have Sundays off work to go for walks or ski trips in the forest or mountains. I think I moan more because i am used to more freedom, but people just tell me i should be better at planning my food shopping.

They see it as a positive in a way, because all bad things are taxed heavily (fags, gambling, booze) and the money goes back into the pot for good things.

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Originally Posted by Sir C

This is communism :-(

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It feels like that a bit. They also have quite protectionist import tarrifs in place, so that French cheese costs a fortune, simply because farmers in Norway (make up a big part of the govt) make cheese here. Tomato farmers in Norway are subsidised by the tax payer to grow tomatos expensively and Spanish grown toms cost a fortune (to protect the local farmers)

I worry a bit that the UK could end up going this way a bit re Brexit

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Originally Posted by Brentwood

People complain a little bit, but the idea is that everybody should be allowed to have Sundays off work to go for walks or ski trips in the forest or mountains. I think I moan more because i am used to more freedom, but people just tell me i should be better at planning my food shopping.

They see it as a positive in a way, because all bad things are taxed heavily (fags, gambling, booze) and the money goes back into the pot for good things.

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Yes, I struggle with attaching moral values to personal choices such as gambling, smoking or drinking, to be honest. I'm of the old-fashioned opinion that it isn't really for the government to impose its ideas of good and bad on me.

The Sunday thing is always annoying on the continent. France basically shuts on Sundays, too. The Anglo-Saxon mercantile mind fundamentally believes that if we have the money to pay for something, there should be someone available to sell it to us. Anything else is a restriction of our rights.