I live in Oslo on $78,000 a year: I own my home, have universal healthcare, and have 40% of my student debt paid off

I live in Oslo on $78,000 a year: I own my home, have universal healthcare, and have 40% of my student debt paid off This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation for our video series, The Pay Check, with Sondre Pettersen, 25, who lives in Oslo, Norway. It has been edited for length and clarity.I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment in Oslo, Norway, on a $74,700 annual base salary.Buying an apartment has been a big financial goal of mine for a long time. I saved money working throughout high school, university, and internships. I used to live with seven people, so I've been getting used to living alone, but I mostly enjoy it. It's really nice to own my own place.I bought my apartment for $465,000. My down payment was $50,000, and I pay $2,060 a month on a 30-year mortgage with a 4.29% interest rate. I pay $496 a month in building amenities fees, which cover my heating, water, and maintenance. For utilities, I pay $57 a month, with $32 for electricity and $25 for streaming services. Sondre Pettersen lives alone and owns his apartment in Oslo, Norway. Business Insider I work as an incident response analyst in the financial sector. My base annual salary is $74,700, but with my annual bonus, it can range from $78,000 to $79,000. I also have access to my employer's stock purchase program, which allows me to buy company stock at a 25% discount once a year, paid through an interest-free salary advance.I get a few perks from my job: financial counseling, affordable company cabins in Norway and abroad, a subsidized canteen for $5 lunches, discounted insurance, a higher interest rate in my savings account, and lower interest rates on my mortgage, subject to tax. During the summer, our working week is shortened to 35 hours a week. In Norway, there are 25 statutory vacation days, and my company gives us 3 more, for a total of 28 days a year.I have $88,000 in student loans. However, since I've finished my degree, the government will pay 40% of my student loan debt, leaving me with $53,000 to repay at a variable rate of 4.6%. I will start paying around $400 a month in January 2027.I pay $1,380 in taxes each month. If I didn't have a mortgage or student loans, I would pay $1,700 instead. This is because locals get a 22% tax deduction on any interest we pay on debt in Norway from our income. I also pay $71 for benefits per paycheck. That includes $31 for my employer-preferred mortgage, $9 for my employer-paid mobile plan, and $31 for my comprehensive group insurance. This leaves my net monthly income at around $4,774. Sondre Pettersen said that talking about salaries is a little taboo in Norway. Business Insider I save around $1,000 a month. I have an automatic $400 transfer set up from my salary, which is invested in index funds. In stocks, I have $3,700, and in my index funds I have $14,000. My employer pays 7% of my pre-tax income into my pension, which equates to $5,230 a year, and it is 100% employer-funded, meaning I don't have to save anything myself or match it in any way. I consider myself reasonably financially disciplined. I try only to buy things I really need and really want. If I want something, I usually wait a week or two, which filters out a lot of bad purchases.I connected an AI agent to a grocery app, which plans my weekly meal plan and creates a shopping list. I then use an app that tells me which grocery store is the cheapest for those items, where I budget around $295 on groceries. Besides that, I spend $112 on my workplace canteen and $100 dining out a month.I don't own a car. It would be expensive and impractical here in Oslo, especially because of parking. I budget around $32 a month for single rides, bus tickets, and city bikes, since I can bike to work in 10 minutes. To me, a car is a depreciating asset here.I also pay $40 a month to avoid being bald. Unfortunately, I inherited some bad genes from my dad, so I pay $30 a month for minoxidil, which is like a serum I rub into my scalp, and $10 for another medication. I've been on medication for one and a half years, and I am very happy with how it turned out. Sondre Pettersen pays for minoxidil and other medications to treat hair loss. Business Insider Usually, I spend around $100 a month to go out clubbing or to bars about twice a month, which is way less than when I was a student.Skiing is my most expensive hobby. I do downhill skiing and ski touring, where I walk up the mountain and ski down. A weekend ski trip could cost anywhere between $200 and $400. I've spent up to $5,000 on ski equipment in the last seven or eight years. My skis, bindings, and boots have been worth around $2,400.I pay $0 a month for healthcare; it is 100% funded by the National Social Security scheme here in Norway. If I see a doctor for any reason, I will pay $25 out of pocket each time; this amount is capped at $330 a year, and it also covers medicine.I take vitamin D supplements because it gets very dark in Norway during the winter. I also take omega-3 supplements because fish is quite expensive. I spend around $12 a month on those supplements; my dentist appointments cost me around $20, but they are heavily subsidized for young adults. Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Martina is an economy fellow at Business Insider. She reports for Cost of the City, a series exploring how New Yorkers afford life in one of the country’s most expensive cities and the financial and personal trade-offs they make to stay. She also contributes to Business Insider’s Cost of Living video series.She studied journalism and international relations at Boston University. Mortgage as told to