Moving to Denmark - Jutland

[soulrider]

Considering a move to Denmark. OH is Danish and we had never previously considered it. But his aging parents, Brexit and a job offer (for me) means we're looking into it.

Although OH is Danish, he's never lived there as an independent adult so we're out the loop on things. We don't want to mention anything to his family yet so can't ask them

Housing is fairly good value in the area we'd move to but need some idea on any housing tax and utilities. And any other costs that I need to consider. My salary is likely to be in the region of 670,000 DK.

No children to consider currently.

I've spent a reasonable amount of time in Denmark and the space and quietness is a real draw for me. I'll also have family nearby too so don't think we'll be too isolated. Not sure whether I'll cope with not knowing the language (I can understand a reasonable amount but learning to speak will be difficult) and having to rely on the OH

I lived in Denmark for about 15 months and I think that getting to know the language can be the key to settling in. Danish is not the easiest language to learn because of the lack of connection between written and spoken danish,

I would look around for language lessons. The Local Authority (kommune) often provides classes - however it depends where you are whether they will be flexible alternatives available for free in the evenings etc that you could combine with work. Otherwise you could look into private or internet options.

Hello I live in Jutland. Is that your monthly salary?

Other costs:
Trade union
A kasse in case you lose your job
Media license
I think the property tax is 1% of the value of your property
Cars are expensive but a must have if you are rural
Im ashamed to say I dont know the cost of utilities. Dh had it all fixed up before I moved in and paid the bills for years.

You absolutely need to learn danish but frankly danes arent the most sympathetic when it comes to language learners. I had 3 yrs of lessons but its all been changed now so you might only get 1 yr. The quality of teaching is variable. I found before you know it a good investment for learning vocab. It builds on repetition and I would do a list per day - days of the week, months, fruit, veg that kind of thing. I thinknits all online now and called transparent learning or something like that. The grammar isnt so tricky, but the word order can be. It looks a lot like shakespeares english.

If my monthly salary was 670 000 dk I don't think I'd worry about the cost of anything

There's a book by Helen somebody about living in Denmark, you should be able to fund it. She moved there with her husband who worked for lego.

I hate that book. She lived 15 km from me and she might as well have lived on another planet. Its fine if you take it as one woman's experience but its not representative.
The xenophobes guide to the danes is good. So is how to be danish by patrick kingsley.

Id made a mistake in my mental arithmetic. 55 000 a month is pretty bloody good. What do you do? Really the thing that will determine how far it goes is where you live.

What did she get wrong? (apart from all of it!)

I cant even remember. I read the sample on my kindle and that was enough.

I'm likely to be based in Esbjerg, but Aarhus is a possibility too. (Suspect Aarhus is more expensive).

More interested in practicalities than cultural expectations. I've had a Danish family in law for 15 years so pretty comfortable with what to expect. Books like the above or articles that mention hygge likely to set the OH off ranting so I avoid :-)

Is there anything like stamp duty to pay?

If you've moved how does it work with medical conditions? Is there a way to transfer medical information? I know my OH didn't have any medical information transferred the other way which at times has caused issues.

@redexpat I'm an analyst (prefer not to be any more specific than that). I'd be working for an engineering consultancy. It's more than I'd earn in the UK if I was permanent, but less than I earn as a contractor.

Have a look here for comparison of London Odense.
www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+Kingdom&country2=Denmark&city1=London&city2=Odense

I work in Esbjerg although nothing as interesting as your job! and I know what you mean by hygge rage.

Ive just had a catch up with my old danish teacher. You have to pay to go to language school now, 2000kr pr module, so factor that in. If you live in Esbjerg kommune I imagine it will be through AOF.

Medical conditions: I got a print out of the highlights from my GP surgery before I left and gave it to my GP here.

I dont know about stamp duty but I think if you can find a group on fb for esbjerg internationals you can post there. If you cant find one try Billund Internationals and friends. There are occasionally seminars called how to buy a house in Denmark.

Aarhus is a possibility too. (Suspect Aarhus is more expensive).

My friend lives near there. She is Danish married to a Brit. They lived in Uk. She didn't like it when she got back (small town) but she has now settled back in and has had 2 boys so kept v busy!