It’s not too long before you realize that living in Norway is expensive, especially when it comes to food. When it comes to the grocery store, you may also find it has less selection than your home country and at about double the price, or more. So, one must be sneaky to survive in Norway, at least to feed oneself.
We do this by making a trip down to Sweden, where the selection is larger and the taxes much lower. This is also basically the only tax avoidance that’s allowed by Norwegian society. And it is delicious. Of course, there are some quotas on what you’re allowed to bring back into Norway. This is especially true around the most popular products of alcohol and tobacco products.
Once this became a thing (and was even given a nickname of ‘harryhandel’) an unsurprising thing happened. The Swedes, ever the exporters of things, set up huge malls right at the Norwegian border. Now countless Norwegians cross the border to pick up their bacon, cheese, snus, and candy in bulk.
This survival trip is most relevant to those who live in Southern Norway with close access to the border. For everyone else, you’ll have to get your deals at the airport in the duty-free stores.
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