Curious about living like this yourself? Want to leave the norm and the typical 9 - 5? Let me - and the amazing True North Community - support you along the way: 📕Check out my Brand New eBook: www.kalleflodin.com/ebook/find-your-true-north This eBook is not only an eBook. It's an extensive toolbox, full of my very best tools, challenges and lifehacks, for you to discover and make your own!

Wow, that is a lot to spend for 2 people living in a cabin. I live 100% off grid with rain water, wood stove, composting toliet, growing a food garden, raising chickens and growing medicinal herbs & bees. I have one dog who eats what I eat which is organic food. I don't have electricity from the grid. I do have some solar. I spend about $200.°° a month on food, and about $30.°° on cell service. I'm very careful with trips in my vehicle so I spend $30.°° a month on gas. I have a bike and use it often for trips to town which is 5 miles one way. I cut my own wood and heat my home with it. My 5 acre homestead is my job. My land & home are paid for. I don't have bills to pay. Life is good when you learn how to live outside of the global system that enslaves you.

Even as a Swede I am really shocked by that high budget. :O I pay half of your gas budget and I drive to work every day (35km one way)! We pay just a liiittle bit more for our firewood every year and have a LOT bigger house (with hardly any insulation), and we only heat with firewood. That food budget also sounds like a lot for only two people even with all organic stuff. So for anyone that is curious, it usually doesn't cost that much living in Sweden...

That food budget is insane. In swedish prices it's the equivalent of eating over 4 kg of avocados per day for the entire month.

Your food budget is way higher than I expected. My budget is around $200 a month, and I eat healthy enough and aren’t starving 😅

Nice to see that 2 random dogs in Sweden have more money spent on their food than i do

Waaaaay more then I expected! But you explain why in a good way, and as long as you can afford it, there is nothing bad in spending money on things that makes life easier for you. Great video as always Kalle, keep it up 🙂

I live in Georgia (country) similar lifestyle and my monthly cost is around 700$ and it covers everything ! its so strange . Great video Kalle

You bring so much value to your channel. I’ve been binge watching your videos after work because they remind me of what I really want in life and my purpose. My land and cottage will come. Listening to stories of other peoples leap of faith towards living the life they were suited to brings me courage and builds my faith.

Thank you for taking the time to put this down so clearly! I appreciate it!

It has been a pleasure and a reward to watch you "grow" over the past few years. While your life is unquestionably challenging and physical, it appears to have brought you, for the most part, great peace. I have just purchased your e-book and I look forward to learning much from you. Thank you.

This is great info, Kalle. Thank you for your transparency. 🌻🌷

Everybody his own life-style, but let me tell you that it's possible to live waaay cheaper than this. Thanks for being so honest!!!!

It is a little more than I expected. Especially the food. But not bad! I know food is expensive in Scandinavia; we are in Finland, and it's very similar to Sweden, but 1000€ is very much more. I do understand it if everything you buy is organic. We do also buy organic, but unfortunately we don't have the option of buying all of our food organic. All the other expenses are also pretty similar to our new country lifestyle in Finland. Car, insurance etc. Thank you for sharing! It's a great honest look into your lifestyle! Much appreciated!

Living in paradise is bound to cost you! Everything is so well arranged in your country, for everyone. The moment I find a way to earn that much money living out in the woods is the moment I’m coming up north! No forest fires, no poisonous spiders, no airpollution, no extreme heat, just solidarity, love for nature, innovative technology and modest, friendly people. I’m to old to move to a different country, but I will anyway. I’m saving up for your book. Thanks for your candour!

Thanks, Kalle. I hope you will always have what you need. 🌸

this just makes my day :) happy to know that there are people like you out there who really get into the behind of all this beautiful lifestyle. appreciate it sooo much, keep going... this helps a lot, ☺thanks:)

That is suprisingly much. Before corona and inflation i lived in germany for around 600€ but in small city. Now its up to 900 so still way below average.

Amazing video, Kalle! It was very helpful to see the monthly expenses breakdown! 👏 Suggestion for future video: breakdown on what it costs to run a business, be self-employed (fees on registration, taxes, finances on tech equipment, sftwares and so on) 🤓

I live in Portugal similar lifestyle and my monthly cost is around 600 eur , my home 80m2 and ground in smal village pay 200 eur , energy and water 55 eur , tv+internet 35 eur , gas 100 eur , food and other expenses 210 eur .

My wife and I prioritize the best food that we can get as well, and we usually spend about $800-$1000/month as well. We only buy organic, and as locally as we can for as much of the year as we can. We also do it as frugally as possible. We do also grow quite a bit of our food. I just wanted to tell you that what you spend on groceries is not that crazy when you really care about what you put in your body. The most surprising thing to me that you shared was the cost of vehicle fuel! But I can imagine that living pretty far from grocery stores and such, and also the higher costs in Europe for fuel, would get it up there. Thanks for sharing. I love to hear about how other people spend their money.

Way more that I expected, but if you love what your are doing and can afford it, what else matters. Great video and well explained.

Kalle, I’m a brand new subscriber and am loving watching you guys! When I saw the title I thought about what I anticipated your monthly costs to be, and my guess was $2500. I think you’re kind of right on for living a quality lifestyle in the woods. I don’t think your food budget for you two and 2 dogs is too high. It’s your choice to feed yourselves really healthy, and I actually really applaud the financial focus/decisions that you two have made:).

I don't know anyone who spends 1000 a month on food without going to restaurants. amazing! Great video!

Kudos to you on taking a leap of faith and doing what you love and dreamed of! 🙂

Wow, food budget is high! Definitely recommend growing a garden for the summer season to save some $$ and have fresh veg close by :)

I appreciate this video! Your home looks wonderful

Very interesting insight! Thank you for sharing in such detail!

This was fantastic to watch! We want to switch to this lifestyle in 5 years so thank you for the honesty.

To be honest from a person that lives in Zurich, one of the most expensive cities in the world, I was still surprised at how much you spend. Especially car, dog food and your own food. I personally don’t own a car, instead I have a abonnement that lets me drive public transport around whole Switzerland without having to pay for it except once a year. Normally that would cost 4500 a year, for people under 25, 2600 but since my father already has this abonnement, I only pay 900 and my company pays me 60 every month for transport, which leaves me with 180 swiss francs a year (same as €) for being able to drive trains, busses and ships around the whole country (yes I‘m super lucky) So 650€ per month for transport is INSANE for me. Also I spend 200€ for food (mostly vegetarian and a lot from something called „to good to go“ and I used to have an old cat that didn’t eat a lot, so yes big difference here. On the other hand prices for houses are way higher here, 4000€ per month is normal here for a 4room apartment.

I live in a cabin in my own little forest in Belgium, no running water or gas, but I have a water well, collect rain water from the roof, and I have electricity and internet obviously. Much closer to the city, as Belgium (definitely Flanders) is mostly urban jungle, some rural area, and almost no forest left (yet they keep cutting it down for profit, power, and "progress"). I do have access to discarded food, and can together with my pack of rescue dogs, live an entirely vegan lifestyle, mostly for free. I cannot harm a tree, so I only burn dead wood I collect throughout the year when it is dry, and then saw it by hand and let it dry further in the heat of the stove while it's burning the previously dried wood. I use as little electricity as I can, just to charge my laptop, cell phone my mother and ex-partner got me to stay in touch, and my nintendo switch because I do like to play a videogame. And to cook every day for the dogs. Occasionally, because the days in winter are really short, for a couple of hours extra light. I've bought a second home in the mountains in Spain, completely off grid, and if all goes well, I hope to go there when spring returns, with my old camper, and start a fruit forest so that in the future, I can just live there harmlessly and sober, eat fruit, walk and run and travel with the dogs, and be left in peace, especially by the state and it's corrupt slave systems (even after I ended my physical slavery to it). Without going into specifics, I thinks that, my small loan from the bank included that I needed to buy this forest back in the day but I'm almost done with that, we four (3 big dogs and me) live of an average of 400€ a month. Before I rescued those dogs, when I was considered "successful" with a "job", appartment, luxury, lots of friends, and an eternal void, conflict, and depression inside, I could barely save any money with an income of just below 2000€/month, producing and consuming every day (night, as I worked mostly night shifts). Now I'm "poor" and "invalid", I never felt richer or valued mine or any life higher.

This bread down of cost is great - and yes - I was surprised how much. Thank you for your honesty! And I got your e-book when it first rolled out - and I love it! Great great content and applications to Life. And thank you for that!

I really admire you two…blessings.✌🏼

Truth be told, your monthly bill is smaller than what I'd thought. It's about the same as it would be for me to move out of my mum's into a small city apartment but I would prefer your home 10 times over. Your fuel bill was the biggest surprise! This is actually really inspiring and I know we all appreciate the openness especially when so many of us subscribed to you are planning to make a similar transition. :)

Honestly I thought it'll be less but then again I didn't even think about things like firewood and all the other things people in the city don't have to pay. Thanks for the breakdown!

Healthy and good quality food is definitely important! Thank you for being so honest!!!

Hei Kalle, I live in the woods in Norway, just an hour west of Oslo, we have a bad internet connection, via radio signals. Where is almost no 4G either, you can get 5G just a km from my property. I am waiting for Starlink which will open here next spring. 😊 Your cabin is so cozy. Electricity here in Norway is sky rocketing. Fortunately I signed a set price deal last August, for 3 years, so my bill is not bad at all. I do have running water, from a drilled well, I was not allowed to build here without water an sewage, so I have a private sewage system as well. No public sewage, water or fiber in my area. Thank you for sharing 👍

Mr kalle Flodin. My name is Samukelo Hlatshwayo. A 24 year old living in South Africa. I absolutely love your channel. I watch your videos on a daily basis lol I sometimes repeat others. I just wanted to comment tell you that u inspire me a lot, coming across your channel was the best thing I ever did. The honesty and transparency you share with us your viewers is highly appreciated. Absolutely adore your lifestyle. Thank you for showing me this lifestyle is possible. #IamTeamFlodin

Really enjoyed this. Must admit I thought your expenses would be less, so it was interesting to learn more about that. Thanks for sharing 😊

Much more than I thought. Thank you for sharing.

My goodness, I would have never ever thought that living in your place is so expensive😳😳😳 I am a bit shocked😅 Thank you very much for being so open about your expenses and sharing those informations🤗🥰

So different compared to my country, Greece.. so interesting to see different cultures and countries. Thanks for your transparency

I admire you. So well planned and you insisted on high quality nourishment for you and your pet as well!

The interior of your log cabin is gorgeous. It's the kind of thing you see on those Ambient ASMR KZfaq videos, animations of cabins or houses with all wooden interiors, enveloped in peaceful sounds from the surrounding nature. Except that yours is the real deal.

That was so interesting to watch! The amount was much more than I expected, and never would I have thought that you guys are paying more for electricity than we do in Germany. Thanks for honestly sharing this with us! 🌲💚

Most people don't know whats available around the world, some of the most unlikely places are the cheapest.Having lived all over the world over the past forty years. I currently live in a 3bd brand new house with a pool in Cancun, Mexico and our families monthly living expenses is USD$600 per month. for everything you stated in your list.(No mortgage)

Thank you for sharing your life expenses with us Kalie

Great information. Thank you.

Just wanna say that you spend more money on dog food than I'm able to spend for myself 😂😂😂😭. Thanks for the insight! Love your content :)

I’ve lived solo, remote Alaska for nearly 9 years now. Pricing and budget will be different for everyone to live a similar lifestyle but it was interesting to hear what you spend. In a nut shell living this way is incredible and serene, quite inexpensive if done right. It’s not a life for the lazy or unmotivated though, no matter how much money you have…or don’t have.

It is way more than I would ever pay.. :D I have a farm here in Denmark, we are 2 parents and 2 teen-daughters and our budget is $3750 each month.. That includes cars, mortgages etc on a farm with a value of more than 1 mio euro.. ;)

Thanks for sharing!

I am not surprised, but I am also realistic about what expenses you can not reduce, no matter where you live. Still, I think it is absolutely worth it. I cycled 2 months through Sweden and Norway living in a tent a few years ago, and we spent around $1000 per month for 2 just for food and the occasional ferry / entrance fee, cooking on a camping stove and having no heat or dog food or internet or car or ... Still the best trips I had in my life.

Thank you for this excellent and candid video. I was not surprised by your food budget given the quality you prioritize, with which I totally agree. I am the most jealous of the health care system you enjoy in Sweden. Health insurance in the US is astronomical, and it doesn’t even come close to covering all medical expenses. Employer-provided health insurance helps but it shackles people in this country to their full-time jobs, and many jobs do not offer this benefit anyway. I hold out hope that someday the US will provide health care for all its citizens, but sadly that is a distant dream!

This is precisely what I've been searching for, particularly regarding Sweden. I've been interested in relocating to a small cabin in Sweden, but I wasn't sure where to find information on this specific topic. Thank you a lot, Kalle Flodin, or as we say, ''Tack så mycket för denna informationen!''

It’s beautiful home ❤️ i wish i had that kind of cabin in the forest alone or with someone you love very calming place

It's much less than I expected because owning a house, even if it's a cabin in the woods, is usually expensive. Only 200 for the mortgage is very affordable. I thought this would be the most expensive monthly payment, but I never thought it would be food. Lol

A simple living is not about other people's rules! Well done for a family of four!

I recently discovered your channel and I love watching your videos. Thanks for this video, I was wondering about these things. Very cool that you live out in the forest so isolated. I would love that.

Thanks for sharing ❤

Very interesting! Tack så mycket! I guess swedish supermarkets - especially those far away from the areas with way more infrastructure - of course are more expensive so that will automatically increase your spendings on food. It's definitely much, but so nice that you value good food so much. And what might first seem like higher spendings; those numbers are shared by two people + two dogs, so it actually divides down to a very humble number!

This was really fun to watch. I'm an accountant and anything related to budgets or personal finance is always interesting to me! I was not at all surprised by your food budget. My household with 2 adults and 1 small child budgets a minimum of $1200 per month for groceries and we only buy about half of our food organic. I was surprised by how little your mortgage payment is though! Housing makes up about half of my family's budget. Thanks for the interesting video!

We do not have free schools and health care in Norway and Sweden Kalle. We pay, through our taxes. That is different way of paying, but is still an expence we pay every pay day. I used to assume we have it for free too. 😃

use an old tire to cut all wood or a chain saving to pick it up and fly all directions. tie chain around the log

This was a very interesting video, thank you for that! Here in Italy with my current job my income is a bit lower than your food expenses alone (but here our job system is a bit crooked and unfair) so I was a little shocked to hear your monthly’s budget. Thank you again for the insightful video ❤

Wow that is an insane amount of monthly outgoings. The food bill alone is massive. I thought living in the woods should be cheaper to get away from huge bills and become more self sufficient.

In Lonsboda we give the snow shovel guy 2-3 Master Brew. Then he clear´s the whole road with his tractor.

those dogs better be making you coffee and sweeping the floors

Thank you for sharing! I’ve been wondering about this topic for a while! I’ve been going back and forth for a few years now, trying to figure out if I want to move back to Sweden as an adult, live out in the country because houses are so much cheaper there than in New Zealand. It’s interesting but not surprising to find out that expenses are pretty similar between the countries, but houses are still cheaper in Sweden so that’s one financial point very much in its favour! 🇸🇪😂

I am amazed at the difference between costs in different countries. Where I live, in Canada, the cheapest home you can get is $150,000 on not even an acre. I was definitely surprised at how much it costs you to live your lifestyle. But we all are VERY grateful that you create videos sharing the lifestyle and the affordability factor. How honest you are is greatly appreciated and it's interesting how different the costs are between different areas. 😃

Very nice video Kalle, very interesting thank you for sharing it, have a nice day you and your wife , grettings

You have the best videos! 🙏🏻

If you challenge yourself I bet you could get your grocery budget down without sacrificing health! My partner and I used to spend $300 per week on groceries and now we spend $80 per week and eat lots of fresh fruit/veg. It's possible! There are lots of great creators here on KZfaq like Frugal Fit Mom who give grocery shopping tips. Some tips might not apply to you since you don't live in the US but I bet you could still learn some things that help!

That's almost exactly what it costs to live in a tiny studio apartment where I am, in a US city. I am so glad there are other options in the rest of the world, and I hope to get there one day.

Thanks for sharing! We live in a regular house in Southern California and my budget is double that. I find it so interesting to see other folks’ budgets

Thanks for sharing, I really thought it would be wayyy less than that...great breakdown!!

The food costs were def shocking to me. I live in "rip-off world" Australia and even I don't spend that much and I'm feeding myself + two adult children (and their friends, off & on each week)! However, I shop differently than most: I go in to buy only mark-downs and I form our menu's around those. Example/mark-down prices: 500gms chicken livers (made pate)- $1AUD, 500gms beef cheeks, $1.57, 5 large broccoli heads for $4, fresh herbs 10 cents, 2 ltr whole milk 38 cents, etc. I can drive to all local shops within 5kms of each other and pick up deals. Last shop, I had 5, large FULL bags and the total was $41. Each time, I wonder why these are still there and not already purchased. I love your cabin though. There are always trade-offs. I lived in the far north US for 15 years. I now live in Western AU and love it near the beach. I grow a lot of veg in the back garden, year-round, AND no more SHOVELING SNOW!!!! ;)

Thanks Kalle, excellent cost breakdown. I think here in Finland it would be quite similar. And in Norway, well I think we don't want to go down that road 😁 Have you gave a thought to start growing vegetables by yourself? The greenhouse would work fine in Northern Sweden I guess and supply good food with a known origin. I've been dreaming years to move some remote location. Mostly been attracted to Finnish archipelago, unfortunately prices went through the roof during the pandemia and there is still so much room on the prices so need to wait and try to make some savings meanwhile. Take care!

A lot more than expected! Especially food and gas seems incredibly high.

Your budget is more than I expected, but good food is also a top priority for me. I’m 71-years old and not on any prescription drugs. Food is my medicine. And I am in great health. Really enjoy your videos. You are a lovely couple … you make me yearn but also reflect lovingly on my earlier years. 🤓❤️🌹

That’s a lot more than I would expect. I have had the tiny house dream for a long time and I have been afraid to make any moves because I own a condominium and I would have to sell it and then find a tiny house and think about where I’m going to live. Not having friends and family to support you during that transition makes it challenging for those of us who would like to transition to a different style of living that is simpler but sometimes you need help getting there and I can’t imagine doing it all on my own. I find the simple life charming I grew up in the country on a farm. The life would fit me. It’s just I’m not sure how I would get there if it’s meant to be, I suppose it will.

Healthcare/insurance and education are not free if you are paying taxes…so my question is, “what do you pay in taxes per month/year?” After all, it is an expense. Love your show, btw. You are a brave couple! 😊

I think spending money on good organic food is the smart way to go. If you don’t then in the long run you spend it on trying to get well on the other end.

Convinced Ive been watching you based on a low budget lifestyle and thought the cabin would have accommodated this some what. Thanks for the video. Eye opener!

I wish I could live in Sweden, such a beautiful country, as with any country im sure it has its negative points but from what I have read, & videos I've seen, there isn't too much negative stuff. I live in America & its tough (only speaking for myself). But I do find myself dreaming of living either in Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, Norway or Scotland, something about those countries feel like home to me. Thank you for share your beautiful world with us. From Connecticut USA

Definitely more than I would have expected. Perhaps in time, you might be able to find better food sources that are less expensive. Your food budget is about double me and my wife's. lol

Monthly bills in California, USA is $2,900 per month. Food for one is around $600 per month but I too buy organic.

In the south of Sweden (Skåne), I pay between 1300-1500/month (120-140 USD, 110-130 euro) in electricity for a 1 bedroom apartment during summer. I have nothing but LED lights and a single computer. It's insanely expensive but luckily we have rather mild winters down south, otherwise the cost would've probably almost doubled.

Min dröm är att leva som er, försöker övertala min flickvän att de är rätt val. Och de börjar röra sig rätt håll. Så förhoppningsvis bor vi som er om några år! Tack ännu en gång Kalle för dina otroliga vidoes och sjukt coola idéer. Ps har ni tänkt på börja odla egen mat? Då sparar man in mer pengar och vet att de blir nyttigt

I am with everyone else in being shocked at your living expenses. I can very comfortably live on less than $3000 a month and in my mind, I thought you would live very cheaply. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for showing us the numbers in different currencys. That was very thoughtful and much appreciated

I love that you mentioned ecocafeet ❤️ it is such a lovely place and i try to go there every time I am in Östersund 👍🏻

I love the video! I was wondering if you could also talk about saving money for retirement? Since you're self-employed, do you get a pension in Sweden? Or do you have to save entirely for yourself? Since you will one day fully own the house, I was thinking if you can live there as an elderly person or if it is probably better to then move to a city with some infrastructure (so you would need a little more money because it's probably more expensive) Do elderly people live near you?

For US and other foreign viewers planning to live in Sweden. Get to befriend some hunters, you can purchase moose meat for like under 5 USD per lbs. Fishing is cheap in Sweden. The bag limit is usually three per day and fisherman in lakes that hold trouts or similar. The five biggest lakes and the coast are free of charge. I know a few guys who have hens for egg production also. Not common in Sweden and if you live in the city, you are usually not allowed to have more than six hens and not a rooster. The healthcare in Sweden is NOT free. But it is cheap. It costs 300 SEK (under 30 USD) to see a doctor but it is way cheaper than i the US I suspect... you also get to pay for the medics but there is a high cost protection, after you pay a certain sum, the pills are free. An overnight stay in the hospital usually costs 10 USD per night. Certain things are free, however, but for an healthy adult person, it will cost you to visit a doctor. Note that dental care is NOT free either, it will usually run you about 100 USD for a dental exam and 200 USD for fixing things like caries, per tooth. After a certain sum, your dental bill is reduced, high cost protection that kicks in. The biggest drawback is that the queue to do a dental exam is very long in Sweden, if you are new to the system you can be put on a seven year long waiting list for a regular dental exam! Unfortunately, there is a company called ICA that has the biggest market share in the food sector in Sweden (over 50 %). For some reason, many Swedes prefer to do the grocery shopping there although better price can be had in other stores, like Lidl. Meat lovers do good in making friends with hunters, local farmers and such. Gas prices are very high in Sweden. Choose a location that is pretty near a city (or where you will be working) but in a somewhat private, remote, location. In the Västernorrland and Västerbotten such places can be had for pretty cheap, where I live, you can get a nice house with 1000-2000 sqm lawn outside the town for like 50-60 000 USD. Heating will probably become your biggest expense if living in the north, like Västernorrland or Västerbotten. Avoid homes heated with electricity only or a simple firewood stove only. I suggest having a heating system that has a watertank that is heated by wood or electricity and then the warm water is heating the house by radiators. Geothermal pumps or air-water heating pumps can be added to such a system, it will cost about 20-25 000 USD for a geothermal heating pump including installation. My choice in my future house will probably be solar heating panels combined with an efficient wood stove (both connected to the warm water tank) and an electrical heater as a last resort.

I love to see how other people live

Thank you so much for making this video and being so open about your expenses 🙏 It's really appreciated. Your monthly budget is much higher than I would have expected. But this is mainly because of your high quality food choices. My family consists of me, my son, our dog and our two cats and our monthly budget is lower than yours and that does include streaming services and paying off debt 😅 I'm surprised though, I would have expected the cost for the loan of the cabin to be much higher. Ah and btw energy prizes are rising insanely over here in Germany, too, especially for gas (heating). It's going to be a tough winter here for those of us who don't have a fireplace and need to turn on the heating to stay warm🥶 NOT looking forward to the bill next year 😰 Great video! Very informative. Thank you very much again 🙏

Every thing made sense..but the food. O my God.. Thank you for this interesting film Kalle. 👍

That is a comfortable budget. I don’t think anyone should skimp on food costs if they CAN afford it. Especially when you don’t eat out - might as well enjoy eating well at home!

Love your videos!! Shout out from Canada!

Thank you for sharing your costs. Our food is also expensive, our choice, but I have felt deep down in my soul that it is best. I also tell everyone that we are eating well and will have healthy bodies. It is also lovely to hear your story. You have encouraged me. - Andy + Taya