We’ve moved from London (north zone 1) to Sweden, specifically Stockholm.
We still love London, there aren’t any other places we would want to live in the UK, so for us it was a case of lower quality of life in London, or leave the UK and see how we get on.
We now live in a fairly big four bedroom detached house, it also has a two bedroom flat in the open basement (front is mainly underground, the back half is fully open, has its own door, patio doors to the garden, sauna etc), it had a good size wrap around garden and lots of parking. Our road and neighbourhood is quiet and safe, the roads are genuinely empty. We’re a 25-30 minute walk to the very centre of Stockholm, or a 2-3 minute walk to the nearest metro station. Housing in the city is pricey, but if we lived in a nice town with lots of services our house would probably be arouns £60,000.
We have children, so of course OP our life and needs are different. We’re currently paying around £80 per month for fulltime childcare for our two year old daughter, if we need to use wrap around care for our son its £8 per month.
I’ve only just started working, I was unemployed when we first moved over so I had time to sort anything that needed doing in the house etc. In the UK one of us not working simply wouldn’t have been an option. We both work part time 3 days a week, however as flexible working is so normal for parents our hours actually equate to two full days, so on those three days we essentially work a little less than school hours.
Our experience of healthcare has so far been good, my husband recently had surgery for his appendix, he had his own room, the ward had a living room, his care was good, the food was nice and there was a decent amount of choice, painkillers etc weren’t rationed and the ward was adequately staffed.
For us there is a lot to do, we can be in museums, theatres etc within 30 minutes of leaving the house, or we can be in a forest, on a lake etc.
I don’t find Sweden that expensive, eating and drinking out is, but I find everything else either cheaper or the same. Public transport is good and cheap, childcare is good quality and incredibly cheap. I find supermarkets are almost the same price as the UK, so our food bill hasn’t really changed. Our utility bills are cheaper.
Entrance fees are cheaper, we’ve bought a yearly city pass, pass for the amusement park etc, and it has cost less than it would in the UK. For the price of an alton towers ticket here gives unlimited access to Grona Lund (incuding shows).
A big thing for us is safety, which I’ve actually found it hard to get used to, our son walks to and from school alone and go to the park on his own, he’s eight, he couldn’t have done that in London. And a weird one I didn’t expect, I’m yet to experience any racism (I’m well aware that this at a point will change), this is the longest I have ever gone in my adult life without experiencing racism.
Sorry about the essay.