17 Jul Renting VS Buying
Imagine walking into your new apartment and it’s empty. There’s no bed, no kitchen tools for cooking up your first breakfast and no glasses to have a glass of water. That’s the situation many exchange students experience when coming to study abroad and it’s a scary thought isn’t it?
And getting everything, you need to fill your apartment, can become very pricy if you don’t plan ahead, as the local stores are expensive, though you can also go for secondhand, it will be cheaper but it does take some research to find secondhand stores and you might have to go to several stores to find everything.
We’ve taken a look at the prices and compared them to the option of renting a ready to use kit, as well as the ecological impact of your choice.
Let’s start with the bedding, as you’ll need a place to get those 8 hours of sleep, you’ll need a duvet, a pillow and covers. If you are all about secondhand then, you might not find any right away, as most people throw out old bedding, but sometimes you can be lucky and find unopened packages and covers in second hand stores or online, for these you’ll find prices ranging from 30-40 € depending on brand and condition. But if you aren’t into purchasing your bedding second hand and you go for a local store or Ikea you’ll find the same items for around 45 €. So in this department there’s not a huge difference in price.
Then you’d probably like to have a nice breakfast when you wake up, ready to take on your first day living in Finland, for that you’ll need cooking tools and serving plates or bowls. Now these items are easy to find in second hand stores and the cost isn’t overwhelming, for an entire set of kitchen tools complete with a pan, kettle, a cooking pot, flatware and serving plates you’ll have to let go of 65 to 80 € and you might even have to find everything in different locations. If you’re not keen on using second hand kitchen ware from a secondhand store, and you prefer buying yours new from a local store or Ikea the cost is much higher you’d have to pay around 160-180 € for all of your kitchen essentials.
Maybe you’d also like to explore the city where you’ve decided to begin your studies and in Finland getting around by bike is a very easy and fun way to get around. Getting a secondhand bike is possible though you’d have to find one online as most secondhand shops doesn’t carry bikes in their stores. A used decent bike without any fancy branding or equipment goes for about 80-90 €, though they might need a little repair or polish. If you would prefer a new bike bought in a bike shop you would find that the prices are around 200-300 €.
Now you’ve bought all of what you need, which means all of these things are yours now, you own them. But what do you do, when your stay in Finland has ended? Are you going to try selling them, without a guarantee that all of the items will be sold? or do you chuck them into the trash and waste resources?
The effort of getting the items yourself has also become more of a hassle, because of the Coronavirus outbreak, as many students will have to self-isolate for 14 days when arriving in Finland, making it impossible or at least very difficult to get what you need without breaking the isolation. You don’t need to spend the 14 days of self-isolation in an empty apartment.
Renting your kit from StudentSurvival is a great solution to deal with the self-isolation, as you can get your kit delivered to your door and you’ll be able to have an easy and comfortable 14 days in self-isolation without a worry. StudentSurvival has kits of different sizes, making it easy to get exactly what you need for your stay. The cheapest kit is 27 € per semester and the biggest kit which also has a bike in it costs 79 € per semester, the price is depending on which kind of bike you want.
Renting is the best solution for saving costs, for staying self-isolated in comfort and for the environment. StudentSuvival has everything you’ll need in one package, ready to be used, go to StudentSurvival.fi and have a look for yourself.