Hi there,

i moved to sweden from the uk about 3,5 years ago. It was the best decision i ever made. Apart from the long winters (which are great if you like snowboarding, skiing or making snowmen), sweden and especially stockholm is a beautiful place to live and work.

So, ok, advert over. When i moved here i started on a salary of 42 500. And yes, the tax is that much. But the tax you stated is on the last crown you earn - not the whole lot. If it makes you feel any better my last crown is now taxed at over 65%. Get used to it! Looking at another calculator (http://rakna.net/netto-lon.html) you will end up with a little over 30 000 sek/month (depending where you live).

I started out with renting apartment that was less than 30 mins to the city centre by metro and cost me 6500 sek/month in an average area in about the size apartment you are talking about. That included elec, heating, water, etc. Could still afford to do what i wanted to do, save a bit, travel and go out and enjoy myself, all quite happily. If you are looking to do one hour commuting the price could be quite a bit less as you are pretty much outside what most people call stockholm - it's not a big city

restaurant average is hard to say. A pizza and beer at the local pizza place will cost about 100 sek. A michelin star meal would be 1500 per head. So, to go out to a medium restaurant (say tapas with a bottle of wine) you're probably talking 300 - 400 per head.

Don't know about vet costs - sorry.

I moved to sweden from london. I reckon i have a better standard of living here than i did there with approx. Same salary. Basically, it works out that food is expensive, alcohol is eye-wateringly expensive and the tax is crazy. On the other side, the tax pays for a lot (clean, safe city with cheap, reliable public transport, etc.), renting/property prices are much lower than london and i get to cycle to work in about 20 mins.

Hope that helps!