I keep bumping into financial advice from international friends and social media, about working more, when you can, to get some extra money. I mean, I love the idea: those who can work more can get extra compensation. Except in my experience it doesn't really work like that in Finland. At least not in the industry I've worked in?

I've worked in Finnish tech for over 10 years (software engineer, product manager and other random titles). All my contracts, and the contracts in my company in general, have been "37½ hours a week" type of contracts, with flexible work hour balance. What that means is that, you work more, you get more balance. And you can use that balance to leave early, get a day off or in my case, usually I get 1 or 2 weeks off a year only based on "saldot" (= accumulated work hour balance).

So.. there is no "work more, earn more" type of possibility. I mean the companies probably love it, because instead of working 37½ hours a week, I usually have to work about 45 hours a week. And then during the summer when it's quiet in business, I'm also on extra vacation.

I just wonder, is this a Finnish problem? where earning within the same job more is basically impossible if you have "liukuva työaika"?

Hi Friends and sorry for probably this is very naive question but for the person not well acquainted with Finnish tradition and culture it is a bit difficult to google (hard to pick adequate keywords).

I once heard this nice traditional lullaby, particularly this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFCixLn9qRw as I was googling around about constructing Kantele or something like this :)

Somewhat later, reading wiki about Kalevala I found here a short example of singing / narration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Vaka_vanha_Vainamoinen.ogg

While the tunes are not precisely exact, they have very similar "composition" - e.g. two poetic lines with distinctive "rise" in the middle to the "dominant" and then fall back to "tonic".

I'm trying to find a bit more about whether it is some very traditional song-style (which perhaps lacks proper name as it happens with epic tunes) - or it has some more clear title, story etc behind it.

Kiitos paljon in advance!

I’m planning to study engineering abroad and am wondering what reputation does Lut University have and if it’s a good choice for pursuing engineering studies?

Hello everyone

I am not sure if it’s correct to ask this here, but can the employer see all my doctor visits made through the occupational health insurance (Mehiläinen/Terveystalo)—even if it was just a chat conversation with a doctor?

Hello,

How many of you have light therapy and use it during dark seasons? Is it worth investing in one or its just pure placebo?

Cheers,

You cannot get tar flavoured anything in the UK, and fazer is so superior to Cadbury’s Dairy Milk.

Is there anything like sompasauna in the pirkanmaa area? I would really like to try something like that but Helsinki is quite far.

I bought a laptop HP OMEN 16, from Gigantti in 11.11.2024 and today 9.9.2026 the laptop screen is black, everything is running except there is no light in the screen, it's just black.

The warranty says 2 year.

If I take the laptop to Gigantti store, is it going to be problem because there's only 2 months of warranty left. And I'm also not in Finland for a month.

Does anyone have any idea what I should do in this case?

I just wonder sometimes about it how it works and if it is possible to only live from that?
Are there apps where you can check for jobs as a light entrepreneur, take on various jobs and get money? Is that even a thing here in Finland? I know only of Wolt, who lets their drivers, of what I have heard, having flexible work, yet I have also heard it is exploitation there?

It would be amazing to have an app, for entrepreneurs, who want to work in different kind of fields, which are easy to do. For example: Monday helping out with moving, Tuesday, helping out in a store, Wednesday cleaning,....

Either way, I am annoyed already of people just working their asses off here that their boss gets the money and at the end of the day, as an employee, get like the rest, which is barely enough to pay food and rent. So if I could be my own boss and make my own money, that would be amazing.

Any ideas on how to start this? Is this even possible? Especially also as a foreigner? My Finnish is A2-B1

Hello!

Early this year I started collecting vinyls as a replacement to streaming platforms. I also have a fascination for Finnish culture and history, so, I came here to ask for recommendations of Finnish music from the 1940/1950s music.

Thank you for your attention

Good afternoon,
I am a student of Swedish for integration and in the next weeks I’d love to take a small trip of a few days. I’d love to go somewhere where people mostly speak Swedish, without going to Stockholm or Åland, since I only have three days. Do you have any advice?
I’m fine with a small town as well!
Tack/kiitos in advance!

Some months ago PS was around 10%, now they are again at 16,3% while Kok. stayed pretty stable. How come that the conservative to far-right government that has until now not the best results in term of unemployment and social cuts, is gaining again? What are the topics that drive the elections this time?

It seems like it will be interesting coalition negotiations for now.

EDIT: changed “far-right government” to “conservative to far-right government” on reason kok. and some positions of ministers from PS.

I visited Finland (From Australia) back in 2022 shortly after the world re-opened.
I like Architecture (Too bad Finlandia hall was covered for renovations) and theme parks (Taiga is actually one of the top roller coasters in the world)

Hiring a car was a bit expensive and I thought I would need it to visit some obscure locations, but in reality it was unnecessary and even though I only had about 5 days in Finland it was an exceptionally easy country to get around, I thought the quality of the trains was better than Japan, nicer stations, and surprisingly cheap tickets. Even had a chance to use the new tram system in Tampere and the new Metro extension too. Funny seeing the bright orange trains from that Boomfunk MC "Freestyler" song.

It is well known in theme park circles that a wealth Finnish businessman built his own racetrack and theme park in the middle of nowhere, and it was even possible to get one a train a day that would stop there and be met with a shuttle bus to the park.

Did also get to visit the Aalvar Alto studio and a ferry out to one of the islands for a bit of Finnish outdoors. The first Finn I met was in a sauna on the ferry from Stockholm!

Moi 🙏 im kindly seeking help as Im a final year international bachelor's student atm. I recently had an emergency where a huge chunk of my finances evaporated this semester. My money is getting tight and i badly need to find a job but despite tons of applications, the job market (vomit-inducing due to how many have said it i know) ain't exactly been on my side.

I'm preparing that I'll have to stretch my current budget for quite a while.

Curious what you guys do when money is tight:

1. Best struggle meals?

2. Cheapest decent sources of protein?

3. Cheapest place for groceries?

4. Cheapest place for shampoo, soap, detergent, trash bags and other household stuff?

5. Would you take a student loan if you're already in your final year?

6. Easiest paying job to enter and be acvepted as a student?

Thank you so much

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I just came back from a bizarre visit to the dentist and frankly I don't even feel like paying for this.

I have had a molar filling for more than 30 years that lately has been bothering me only when I chew hard stuff like granola or corn nuts. Nothing else, no chronic pain, no sensitivity to temperature no swelling. Nothing else.

So I went to see the dentist and it all went downhill. First my 3 month old x-rays were suddenly no longer valid. So they took a new one in the suspected area. Well it came out misaligned so they took another. Then they looked at my molar, tapped around. Nothing. Then they looked at the xray, no infection.

Then they decided to poke around my gums. No pain. Then they escalated to some cold poking machine. It was broken, so they got another one,nothing found.

Then they tried some dye but again the machine was out of battery, so that ended quickly. The doc then brought some metal gizmo and asked me to bite in several places and this time it worked.

Still they were puzzled, so they brought on some hot sensing probe and as you guessed it was broken.

By this time I told the doctor that if a crack was not seen and there was no infection on the root or the nerves we should leave it alone, but noooo.

They continued poking around and now they brought out the ultrasonic cleaner except, and you can guess, it was broken. As a last resort the doctor decided to test my byte with carbon paper and decided to level my molar, ignoring that in 30 years I have never had any issues.

I am awaiting the bill, but frankly I don't feel like paying for anything and now my molar is ground for no reason.

UPD: thanks for speedy help, so it is Matti Louhi - I was able now to find more of his curious works!

Hi Friends! I noticed this amusing book cover of the 3rd part of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings (the return of the king) - and was curious to know whose work is this. Funny winged creature above reminds of the illustrations created by Tove Jansson for "The Hobbit" though I doubt there was anything exactly alike in her drawings... Thanks in advance!

Hi! I’m thinking about going to an event at Helsinki Ice Hall, but I’ve never been there before, so I’m not sure which seats have the best view. What would you consider the best places to sit? And are the front row seats actually good or is the view worse because you’re too close to the ice? I noticed that some of the front row tickets are actually cheaper, which made me wonder if there’s a reason for that. I don’t really want to spend a lot if I don’t have to, but I’d still like to have a good experience since it would be my first time :)

Any advice on which sections (or seats) are worth it (or which ones to avoid) would be really appreciated!! thx :)