Oranges and kiwi fruit

Anttila K- Supermarket in the Oulu City centre is offering oranges and the kiwi fruit  at € 0.69 per kg.

I used to eat a lot of kiwi as it was rated as one of the best fruit for vitamin C content.

I think these are good buys for this weekend.

Some good buys at Tokmanni

Yesterday I informed you about Oranges at € 0.49 at Tokmanni. When I was shopping, I saw that potatoes were just € 0.20 per kg in a 5 kg sack and they were 1st quality Finnish potatoes. A great buy.

I also noted that some Polish apples were on offer at € 0.79 per kg. As they are loose, you can pick up the really good quality lot from them.

I bought 10 kg of potatoes and 5 kg of apples along with around 9 kg of oranges. All for under € 10!

The Tokmanni at Toppila does not sell fresh foodstuffs.

Oranges at Prisma

The price of Oranges at Prisma this weekend is just € 0.59 per kg. I bought 10 kg yesterday evening.

Saturday best Buys

Thank you for all the messages about the potatoes. It was indeed an excellent buy. Look around, as you may still find some available at that unbelieveable price of € 0.10 per kg!

Today, saturday, we have a couple of good buys.

Oranges at PRISMA are only € 0.59 per kg. We use about 5 kg a week. These oranges may last a couple of weeks, so it is certainly a good buy for us.

Bananas are just € 0.89 at Lidl. Worth a buy, although at most other shops they are just € 0.99 per kg. If you eat as many bananas as we do, then buying raw green ones so that they can ripen over the week would be a Best Buy.

Today at Halppa-Halli in Toppila you can get Chicken legs at € 0.99 per kg. An excellent buy if you are a non-vegetarian.

Do send me your comments.

Good prices at K-Citymarket

The low prices for oranges, mangoes, and a few other vegetables, continue today at K-Citymarket. 5 kg of potatoes are available for € 0.99, which works at less than € 0.20 per kg.

Certainly worth a buy.

Bananas are still cheapest at Lidl, where they were € 0.89 per kg. Basmati rice is cheapest at Lidl at € 2.49 per kg. Both Prisma and K-Citymarket are selling Basmati rice closer to € 3 per kg.

I took an Indian friend to Lidl yesterday and he found the price of shower gel here to be the same as in India!

He also commented that the hand creams he has brought from India are not suited to this cold climate as they sort of crystallize because of the low temperature.

Back in business, Best Buys in Oulu

Annikki and I are now back in Finland and you will find your best buy tips on this page regularly.

This Saturday's local newspaper, Kaleva had, what they thought was a new discovery. They reported that in many Finnish shops, prices of smaller packs are cheaper than the larger packs.

Those of you who are familiar with our book "Handbook for Survival" published in 1994, may remember what we wrote on page 152:

Some Quirks

During our years in Finland we have had some very interesting experiences which we feel you should always bear in mind.

The first is one practice that leads us to believe that Finns must be really poor in Mathematics. It is not unusual to witness this particular phenomena in most department stores. Anywhere else in the world, a large economy pack is always substantially cheaper than the smaller unit packs. Reasons as lower quantum of packaging costs, lower transportation costs per unit, etc. usually dictates this marketing philosophy. Not so in Finland. It is very often we see the large economy packs being offered at substantially higher prices than the smaller unit packs. Do not, therefore, just pick up the larger pack thinking it should be cheaper. Look carefully at the kg price or litre price for the pack and pick up the cheaper one. Several years ago we used to watch in amazement as Finns in large department stores picked up these larger packs at 40% higher prices than the smaller ones. Products where this was common was cooking oil, drinking chocolate and washing powder.

If you listen to advertisements on TV you will be led to believe that you would be saving money if you by refill packs of items such as washing powder - and this is as it is in the rest of the civilised world. Not so in Finland. If you wander around the supermarkets and compare the prices of the refill packs as against the prices of the same products in expensive plastic containers, you will find that the refill packs are MORE EXPENSIVE. Those doing marketing are utilising your natural instincts to pick up the refill pack as they have told you on TV that you would save money, and they expect you should not to query their dictum.

If you are conscious of the environment and tend to concentrate on purchasing products that are environmentally friendly, in Finland, you will be the target of racketeers who will charge you the hilt for you to follow your beliefs. Recycled paper or environmentally friendly washing powder cost much more than virgin paper or washing powders that pollute. There is no reason why they should, but the companies either do not want you to change your habits or they feel that you should be punished for holding these radical views on environment friendliness.

For your information, the past blog entries contain several pieces of useful information as where to find the Oulu Flea Markets, where to get your spectacles cheaper than you can find them in India, where not to buy certain items, the biggest fraudsters as lawyers, housing agents, and some shops which have good offers round the year.

We will try to keep this page up-to-date as we have several newcomers to Oulu. We find that they are wasting their money going to expensive shops as Stockmann, when they can get the same stuff at much lower prices.

This Sunday, if you are a fan of many sorts of nuts, as walnuts, etc, Antilla, in the centre of Oulu has a huge stock of Christmas nuts that arrived too late for the festive season. They are offering two packets of nuts for just € 1. This is a great offer if you have the paitence to crack open the nuts.

This Sunday you can get oranges at € 0.59 per kg (I believe some shiop may be offering them at € 0.49 per kg). Mangoes, no not any of the Indian varieties, are just € 0.99 per kg. These two offers are at the K-Supermarkets in different parts of the city, and possibly also in the Citymarkets.

The end of Christmas sale is continuing in many shops. Antilla has loads of stuff at 30 to 70% off, so it is worthwhile making a visit. They are open, like many shops, this Sunday from 12 till 18:00 hours. Annikki got some really expensive winter shoes at 30 - 50% their regular price.

The shops still selling lots of Christmas stuff are Kärkkainen and Halpa-Halli, but you will also find stuff on sale in Prisma and Citymarket.

Lidl still has the lowest prices for many items. So do not forget to take a look there before going to the other shops for your foodstuffs shopping.

Glad to be back with you, and we will try to keep you updated on the Best and Worst Buys in Oulu.

Some good buys today

Strawberries came on sale about 10 days ago at a price of € 29.90 for 5 kg. The prices stayed up and then dropped to € 24.90 at most shops. Nobody seemed to be giving way.

Then came yesterday's advertising leaflet from Halpa-Halli. They have three shops in Oulu, but only one does foodstuffs, the one at Toppila. They lowered the price to € 19.80 for 5 kg.

I went across today and bought a 5 kg box. I started nibbling at it while I was driving home. They were particularly sweet and before I knew it, I had consumed half the box.

The offer will continue tomorrow, but expect a rather heavy demand. Stocks may be over before noon.

At Citymarket, Fazer chocolates are on offer at € 3.00 for 2 x 200 gm bars. € 0.50 saving per bar. A great buy.

You can get a kilo of Euroshopper sugar at € 0.69 per kg in Citymarket. This is the time Finns need sugar to preserve their strawberries. Sugar prices are usually near a Euro, so this is a excellent buy for sugar lovers.

VIP brand Apple and Orange juices (no water added) are being offered to PLUSSA card holders at 2.00 for 5 cartons, just € 0.40 per carton. This is € 0.35 cheaper than the usual cheapest variety of the same quality. If they run out of VIP, Pirkka, the K-Group label, juices are being offered as an alternate.

You can also buy 5 x 1.5 litres of fizzy drinks (various flavours) at Euro 1 per bottle which includes 0.20 for the bottle. A particularly good offer.

If you are a chicken eater, chicken filet, 400 gm pack, is on offer with the PLUSSA card at just € 1.99 per packet. The usual price is € 3.49, a saving of € 1.50!

Happy shopping.

Indian Grapes at Euro 1.18 per kg

It may be a long drive to Kempele, but certainly worth the effort if you are a grape lover.

This new K- Supermarket is in the centre of Kempele, and you should take the old road to Kempele (not the E4 highway).

As this is a brand new K- Supermarket, look around as you may find several over good offers.

It was a bit crowded yesterday as everyone flocks to a new shop. Will not be so bad today.

Indian grapes, green, are just Euro 0.59 for a 500 gm plastic container (Euro 1.18 per kg!!). The offer is open today and tomorrow as well. A 24 can carton of KOFF beer is only Euro 17.90, one of the best offers this year for beer drinkers.

Three bars of Fazer chocolate for Euro 4 (Euro 1.33 per bar) is also a great buy. This offer is also in the Citymarkets and the other K-Supermarkets (in Joutsensilta and Välivainio).

Citymarket is offering oranges at Euro 0.59 per kg - a great offer. Four 1.5 litre Cokes are also available at Euro 4, which is another great offer.

There is cake ice cream and also normal ice cream blocks at Euro 0.99, both of which are good offers.

Seedless Indian Grapes

Seedless Indian Thomson Green Grapes are € 1.99 for a half kg container at PRISMA. Make sure that you do not see any over-ripe grapes in the plastic container. You can get cheaper Chilean Green Grapes at a couple of other shops at € 1.69 for half a kg.

PRISMA also has oranges at € 0.89 per kg. You should choose your oranges carefully, making sure they are firm and not squashy or squashed. I picked up about 4 kg yesterday, but I had to choose each orange carefully.

Halpa Halli in Toppila has small Ingman Yoghurt tubs at € 0.18 per tub, but you are limited to buying 10 tubs per person. Normal price for this is € 0.29 per tub, so this offer is well worthwhile. You can also pick up the Turkey Metrilenkki sausages at € 2.25 per packet (€ 2.39 at PRISMA) and there is new small broiler frankfurter type sausage (8 per pack) at € 1.55 per 400 gm. The same type of turkey frankfurters are € 1.75 per 400 gm pack in PRISMA. The VIP Orange Juice at Halpa Halli is € 0.59 per litre, about 20 cents cheaper than most other so.

The Valio Mango Juice at Tokmanni is still € 1.99 per litre, about 6 cents cheaper than at PRISMA and 26 cents cheaper than at Citymarket. But I noted that the Tokmanni at Kaijonharju (near the University) is not stocking this product, but it is only available at their Jukkolankuja in south Oulu. I usually buy the entire stock on display when I visit the shop in the morning, so do not be surprised if you do not see any on their shelves.

The finest quality Dehra Dun Basmati Rice that I am offering is till the best and cheapest on the market - at € 1.90 per kg delivered at your home. The smallest size bag is 4.5 kg. You have to email me your requirement along with your address. Deliveries are either on Friday evening or Saturday mornings.

Tomatoes, Green Grapes, Mango Juice,....

There are some good offers this weekend.

Tokmanni which has shops in Kaijonharju (Sammonkatu 5, 90570 Oul) near the University and also in South Oulu (Jukolankuja 3, 90420 Oulu), on the route to the Airport has these special offers:

Moroccan tomatoes: € 0.99 per kg
South African Green Grapes: € 2.49 per kg
Mango Juice: € 1.99 per kg

PRISMA (shops in Oulu at Linnanmaa, Raksila and Limingantulli) has these good offers this weekend:

Bananas: € 0.99 per kg
Oranges: € 0.99 per kg
Mandarins: € 1.29 per kg

Those of you are fans of Turkey Metre sausages (called in Finnish as Kalkuna Metrilenkki) should go to Halpa Halli in Toppila (Paakakatu 2, 90520 OULU) where it is € 2.25 per packet compared with € 2.35 in Prisma and higher in Citymarket. Also you can get 7 small flavoured yoghurt tubs for € 2.00, considerably cheaper than from other supermarkets. Although a kilo of cashewnuts is labelled at € 8.90 per kg, unfortunately it has been out of stock for almost two weeks.

There are great second hand furniture offers from some Indians who are shortly leaving Oulu. Beds, mattresses, leather sofas, tables both side and dining, and many more items. For details call 041 - 706 7788. Free delivery will be organised within Oulu but you have to provide the labour at both ends.

Super Monday for fruits

This Monday is a great day, a Super Monday, for buying several fruits at the several K-Supermarkets around town. Choose the fruit very carefully as they have dumped them in large heaps (hence several arte squashed, etc.

There is a common number for weighing these cheaper fruits which are being offered on a kg basis.

They are selling several fruits at just € 1 (per kg or pack).

Imagine Sharon fruit (which usually costs €2 -3 per kg) for just € 1 per kg. Some items are being sold as kg and some as packs.

There are really good seedless green grapes (Nasik type but from Argentina) for just € 1 for 500 gms. I bought really good plums for € 1 per pack, Apple / Pears combination fruit for € 1 per kg, really large Pears for € 1 per kg. There are many more items so make a visit and enjoy cheap fruits when you can.

At the K-Citymarket you can get really good oranges for € 69 per kg. This is the lowest price for today for oranges.

I also found curtains, brand new, at the Pentecostal Flea market, behind the Pentecostal Church on Uusikatu for € 6 for 2 pieces of 45 cm x 220 cm in a pack, and € 6 for a pack of 2 pieces of size 120 cm x 170 cm. You d get such prices very rarely, sometime at Kodin Antilla or Antilla.

The Pentecostal Church Flea Market also has many second hand curtains. Today the prices for these are off 50% the marked price. Already cheap, (usually € 2 - 4), they cut off 50% from this price when you pay. Remember to measure your windows size and check the correct measurement of the curtains when you are buying them.

I am glad so many of you could take the opportunity to get the 40% cash discount at JESS!.

I usually report such special offers (after Annikki and I have had our fill of buying) here as many shops close down and have such sales offers. One of my friends who visited JESS! looked at the empty shelf where the tinned coconut milk had been - and rang me to say that he knew I had been there. I had bought the entire stock in the shop!

If you find any good offers that you want to share with the Oulu Best Buy community, either text me at 041 7067788 or email me and I will put it up for our regular readers.

This page is as much yours as mine!

Oranges, Bananas, Ice Cream

The best buys of today are 1.5 kg bags of Oranges for just € 0.99 (or € 0.66 per kg) from Citymarket (with a PLUSSA cards) and two great buys at the Euromarkets. Check each orange in the bags when you buy them as I noted some with mould formation. Throw away that bag immediately as there is no good reason to bring home unwanted bacteria!

The good buys at the Euronarkets Include:

a. Eldorado vanilla ice cream 2 x 1 litre blocks for just € 0.99 and
b. Good small slightly green bananas for € 0.99 per kg.

In the last one week I have bought well over 15 kg of oranges at this low price from Citymarket. Annikki has been sitting in front of the juicer making delicious fresh orange juice for everyone.

There are plenty of post Christmas sales going on now including some closing down sales. Look at the local newspaper and you will find some extraordinary bargains. (Good way to start leaning the Finnish language!)

Some good buys this weekend

Sunday shopping is over as this Sunday is known as Loppiainen, the public holiday which officially brings an end to the Christmas season. This weekend means Friday and Saturday shopping.

Citymarkets in Oulu are our focus today. Some of these offers listed below may also be available at the KKK markets also known as the K Supermarkets (not the Klu Klux Klan!).

The real best buy is a bag of 1.5 kg of Oranges for just € 0.99 which works out at € 0.66 per kg. Since Annikki makes fresh orange juice at home, we will be buying over 6 kg of this.

Carrots and cabbage at Citymarkets are just € 0.49 per kg, while Spanish tomatoes are available at € 1.49 per kg. Mango juice is € 1.95 per litre.

Most of these may require the PLUSSA card which you get at most K Group outlets. If you are desperate, please contact us and we can lend you our PLUSSA Card.

This is important if you are intending to make some large value purchases, such as digital cameras, laptop computers, shoes, vacuum cleaner, winter clothes, etc. as Citymarket is offering an additional cash discount starting at 1% on purchases of € 40 to 5% for purchases over € 200. Since many products also are at cut prices for those holding the PLUSSA card, this additional discount may make some products really worthwhile buys at the Citymarkets.

Best Buys this week

I have found some really good buys this week (till Wednesday) at Lidl. Bananas are € 0,69 per kg, Oranges € 0.79 per kg, Honey Melon are € 0.70 per kg and Cauliflower is just € 0.99 per kg.

There are a few items which are always cheapest at Lidl. Rape seed cooking oil, which is what we use is always €1.09 per litre, Vitamin C soluble tablets are € 0.99 for a tube of 10, the Orange and Apple juices with no water or sugar added are € 0.59 per litre.

There are several Lidl shops in and around Oulu, so there will be one quite near you. You can check out their web page to find the one nearest to you.

Tokmanni has two shops in Oulu where they sell groceries, one in north Oulu at Kaijonharju and the other at Jukkolankuja in south Oulu. Today they have red paprika at € 1.99 per kg and large fresh tomatoes at € 1.99 per kg.

Best Buys of Friday and maybe the weekend

Some superb offers this Friday and maybe for the weekend.

K-Citymarket has excellent oranges in 1.5 kg string bags for just € 0.99 which works out at just € 0.66 per kg. This gets a Super STAR.

K-Supermarkey has Spanish Tomatoes at € 1.39 per kg and Dutch pears at € 1.39 per kg, both very good offers.

Lidl has Bananas at € 0.89 per kg which is a very good buy.

If you want to buy Orange or Apple Juice, the prices at Lidl are presently the cheapest at € 0.59 per litre. These are juices with no water or sugar added.

Bananas at € 0.95

You can tell that Annikki and I are great banana fans. Today and tomorrow, Euromarket has bananas at € 0.95 per kg.

I usually buy them green and small as we have different stages of taste levels. I like them just turning ripe. Annikki loves them ripe and to give to Hilja, Annikki likes them slightly overripe. The have made a great fruit salad these last few days with diced persimons that I got for less than a Euro per kg last week and served with orange/mango juice blend.

Last week I found a Pirkka brand Orange-Mango juice with no water and also not requiring refrigeration at around € 1.50 per litre. Pirkka is a K-Group brand. So look on the shelves which have the normal orange and apple juices. (There are Orange-Mango juices at around € 1 per litre but these contain water and sugar, plus other preservatives.) The best tasting one is still the Orange - Mango juice blend with milk, which is the closest we have found to Mango Phool!

At Halppa-Halli, I found Metrilenkki Turkey sausages at € 2 per packet. At Tokmanni it is € 2.20 per packet, at PRISMA it is € 2.25 per packet while at Citymarket it is € 2.40 per packet.

Similarly I found Broiler sausage at € 1.50 per packet at Halppa-Halli which is € 1.65 at PRISMA and € 1.69 at Citymarket.

Great buys today

Go straight to any of the K-Supermarkets today as South African Oranges are just € 0.49 per kg. This is the lowest it has hit this year. I bought over 4 kg and if the offer is still there tomorrow, I will probably buy another 4 kg.

Annikki makes great orange juice with that, better than what you can buy in those packets as she serves it with the pulp.

Also, at the K-Supermarket today, the Spanish Persimon, which is very much like the Sharon Fruit from Israel, which is usually over € 3.00 kg. The Persimon is only € 1.99 per kg.

The Mango-Orange, which also contains milk, drink which is an excellent ready drink is € 1.95 for a litre at the PRISMA shops, while at K-Supermarkets it is € 2.05. This drink is very close to what we call Mango Phiool.

I noted that there is an 85% Orange Juice with 15% Mango, without any Milk, and it costs € 2.75. If Mango Phool can be made from this it could work out cheaper than the ready "Mango Phool".

Oranges and mandarins

Oranges are € 0.99 per kg at Valintatalo and € 1.00 per kg at the all the K Supermarkets in Oulu.

Yesterday, Mandarins were still € 0.79 per kg at PRISMA, but select them carefully. Hopefully they are the same price today. Look for firm ones rather than ones with a loose skin.

The Turkey Metrilenkki sausage is € 2.25 per piece at PRISMA. Look for ones with the longer Best Before date if you intend to buy a few to keep in the fridge or deep freeze.



Annikki got a large candle which was in a coconut shell for just € 1.00 at Halpa-Halli. Great buy as a decorative item, even if you are not intending to burn it.

Wednesday good offers

At Citymarket today, oranges are € 0.99 per kg, Costa Rica bananas are € 0,99 per kg, good quality carrots are € 1 for 2 x 1 kg plastic bags, washed potatoes are € 1 for a 3 kg sack. Good quality Italian seedless green grapes are € 1.49 for plastic containers of 0.5 kg. Check carefully that the bottom layers are not damaged and brown.

At Lidl today crushed tinned tomato are € 1 for 3 tines, each of 400 gms.

Monday's Best Buys

Not many offers today, but the Citymarkets are offering Bananas and Oranges at € 0.99 per kg.

Lidl is offering Ocean Trader prawns at an attractive price of € 3.49 per 500 gm as also Alaskan breadcrumb covered frozen fish at € 3.29 per 800 gm. Party stick Gherkins are on offer at € 0.99 per bottle. Cucumber is also available at € 0.99 per kg. Another good buy from Lidl is 3 tins of crushed tomatoes for € 1.

The turkey sausages (Metrilenkki) at Prisma at € 2.29 are still a good buy for those who do not eat pork sausages.