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COST OF LIVING

Cost of living: What are Norway’s best comparison sites for saving cash

With inflation pushing up the prices of most consumer products, people living in Norway are increasingly resorting to using comparison sites to make sure they get good deals – or at least that they don't get ripped off.

Published: 31 January 2023 16:08 CET
Online shopping
In this article, we will go through some of the best comparison sites you should use in Norway if you want to save money. Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash

The cost of living crisis is exerting significant pressure on the personal finances of most Norwegian households.

According to a recent survey carried out by Norstat for the Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) Oslo office, 70 percent of Norwegians are worried about their personal finances.

Furthermore, 77 percent say they will likely be able to afford to spend even less in the future as prices continue to rise.

The inflationary pressure in Norway has made comparison sites, which help users compare deals and save cash, more popular than ever.

In this article, we will go through some of the best comparison sites you should use in Norway if you want to save money.

Prisjakt

The price comparison site prisjakt.no is likely the most popular – and biggest – site of this sort in Norway.

Prisjakt.no enables consumers to compare product and service prices between a number of online stores so that they know they’re not paying more than they need to.

The site shows the lowest prices at the top of its product pages, as it is not possible for stores to pay to get a better position on Prisjakt – which is a nice consumer-oriented guarantee.

Along with price comparisons, you can also find other helpful information, including shipping costs and stock status, the price history of products, and reviews.

You can also get notified when the price is reduced or when a store receives a new product in stock, which can be a great timesaver.

Things to look out for: When it comes to the downsides, some consumers complain that the company is too strict when it comes to managing store reviews – especially critical ones.

Prisguiden

While Prisjakt is often considered the top comparison site in Norway, Prisguiden is a close second and is generally considered its leading competitor.

This price comparison site has been helping Norwegian consumers find great offers for more than 20 years. They cover around 700 stores and have 9 million products from 1,200 product categories on the site.

Prisguiden offers standard options such as price alerts, product price history, and a comprehensive page with the top deals of the day and week.

Things to look out for: Some users of the site claim that the number of stores included in the overview does not enable consumers to find the best offers, while others believe the search results include too many foreign stores and suspicious sites.

Kelkoo

Founded in 2000, Kelkoo is a shopping portal that helps users search through millions of products from hundreds of online stores in order to reach a more informed purchase decision.

The portal checks product data and prices from the online stores it covers several times a day and updates its result pages.

It offers thousands of trusted brands such as Apple, Sony, Philips, Microsoft, Nike, Adidas, Bosch, and Miele, as well as Norwegian household names such as Elkjøp.no, XXL.no, G-PORT / G-MAX.no, Jernia.no, and Megaflis.no.

Things to look out for: Note that the search results are not too extensive at times, and it might not be apparent which store is based in Norway and which isn’t at first glance (you’ll need to visit the pages Kelkoo.no recommends in the search results to find out).

Finansportalen

If you want to compare banking, financial, and insurance services, then Finansportalen.no is the place for you.

Finansportalen is a service offered by the Norwegian Consumer Council, which aims to give consumers the power and option to make good choices in the financial services market.

The portal offers a number of digital tools that help consumers compare banking, pension, insurance, and investment products.

Mattilbud

Sometimes shopping around is the only surefire way to save some cash. However, with all the legwork involved, it may not feel like it’s worth it.

Luckily, Norway’s Mattilbud app lets you collate and compare all the offers currently available in all of Norway’s major supermarkets.

The app shows you all the offers available in the supermarkets in your local area. Mattilbud includes prices and offers from Meny, Joker, REMA 1000, Bunnpris, Matkroken, Kiwi, Spar, Coop Prix, Coop Mega, Coop Marked, Obs, Extra and Europris.

Strømpris

Strømpris.no is another free service offered by the Norwegian Consumer Council. The site makes comparing prices and finding better electricity deals easier.

The comparison service is based on mandatory reporting from the power companies based on Norwegian regulations on reporting for power supply agreements.

That means that the companies are obliged to report their agreements to Strømpris.no by themselves.

FINN

While it’s not exactly a price comparison site, FINN.no is Norway’s biggest online marketplace. It has been on the market for roughly 23 years, and it is one of the most popular websites in the country.

According to the company’s website, on average, Norwegian spends an average of 30 hours on the site every year.

The site has a huge second-hand market, and on a typical day, there are around 300,000 listings and ads available on Finn.no at any given time. That means you’ll often find good deals on FINN – regardless of whether you are buying or selling.

Things to look out for: As is the case with most online marketplace platforms, there are also shady individuals using the site. Exercise common sense and be cautious before you commit to buying or selling anything on FINN. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

If you’re interested in second-hand deals, you might want to read The Local’s guide on how to buy second-hand and save money in Norway. 

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MONEY

What Norway’s weak krone means if you are travelling this summer 

Norway’s krone is down considerably to almost all major currencies. This affects how cheap or expensive your trip in or out of Norway will be this summer. 

Published: 2 June 2023 11:29 CEST
What Norway’s weak krone means if you are travelling this summer 

Compared to 30 other major currencies, the krone has weakened against all except the Argentine peso and the South African rand, according to an overview of the “expanded major” currencies from Bloomberg. 

The Norwegian krone is considerably weaker against the euro compared to a year ago. The cost of a US Dollar or UK pound has become over a krone more expensive since February. 

Norway’s krone is also down to the Swedish krona and Danish krone. The Danish krone is fixed to the euro, so it is performing well against Norway’s currency. Meanwhile, the Swedish krone has become more valuable than the Norwegian krone. 

Low gas prices, higher interest rates in other countries than in Norway, and uncertainty in the world financial markets have all contributed to Norway’s weak krone. The weak krone will have a massive impact on anyone with travel plans this summer. 

If you travel outside Norway, you can expect your travels to be considerably more expensive. 

“This year the holiday will be expensive. Plan your summer on the basis that you will get less for your money this year than you did last year – much less,” Cecilie Tventenstrand, savings and consumer economist for Storebrand, recently told Norwegian broadcaster TV 2. 

If you are travelling from Norway and your main income is paid in krone, you can expect everything to be more expensive due to the exchange rates. 

Insurance firm Fremtid has recently issued a reminder that cancellations due to the weak krone or low money in the account are not covered by their policies. 

“If you just change your mind, you will not get any money back on the travel insurance. Then you have to contact the travel operator and investigate whether you can get money back,” Therese Hofstad- Nielsen said in a recent press release. 

Consumer economist Tvetenstrand said that travellers from Norway to other countries should try to pay with a card this summer. 

“Always pay in foreign currency. If you pay in Norwegian currency, you pay a higher exchange rate. Always also pay by card, preferably a credit card – just remember to transfer money to it straight away. The exchange fee is often higher at the ATM,” she said. 

Things are a lot more optimistic if you are travelling to Norway this summer (unless you are paying in Argentine pesos or South African rand). 

You can expect better value for your money as your currency will likely strengthen against the Norwegian krone. This means a cheaper trip to one of the most expensive countries in Europe. 

One way to take advantage of the weak krone is to consider a bank account which doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees or allows you to transfer your currency into krone. This is much more helpful than exchanging for cash, as cash isn’t widely accepted in Norway. 

Therefore if you bring a large amount of cash, you could end up stuck with it and lose out when you exchange your leftover kroner back for your preferred currency. 

READ MORE: How tourists in Norway can take advantage of the weak krone to save money

One plus (or negative) is that the krone is unlikely to see a drastic strengthening anytime soon. Dane Cekov, an analyst with the bank Nordea, told E24 that the krone was likely to continue on its current trajectory. 

“We believe that the roller coaster ride will continue for the Norwegian krone through the summer,” he said. 

As an example, he predicted that one euro could cost as much as 12.3 kroner or more during the summer. 

Meanwhile, Nils Knudsen, the currency strategist from Handelsbanken, told TV 2 that the krone would struggle until the global economy picks up. 

“It is connected with the fact that we have not received any particularly good news from the global economy. Therefore, we need to have some good news before we can say that the krone can recover in the short term,” he explained. 

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