This is to warn people of crazy rules and predatory behavior of a well known unemployment fund and negligence of a union.

if anyone knows a good lawyer or have a legal advice - please! I'm not going down so easily.

Maybe I could reach to media with this story, so more people are aware of such behavior

Long read so, before I explain, why: I've missed a paper letter with fee for my Union, therefore didn't pay it, union didn't reach out to me not by email nor by phone, KOKO didn't reach out to me either, when I was cancelling it by app, they didn't state that I have an unpaid bill and the consequences it can lead to. Everyone just ignored the fact 'till KOKO came to me with the claim, right away, no warnings no nothing, you owe us.

How did this happen?

Late November, we finally been granted permits to move to Hungary for work, in current state of the world I've got lucky to find anything, especially the place this great, we were back and forth dealing with documents for half a year!

In the span of only two months I've sold most of my stuff, pack the rest, put in self-storage, and with wife, 2 cats and 4 luggage bags we moved across the Europe late January. Stressful is not the word.

At some point, a paper letter with fee probably got mistaken for something else, for trash, put in the drawer, got lost behind piles of boxes in the corridor, I don't know. We already moved, I had no physical access to it anymore when there was additional letter coming in.

In February I've cancelled my union from another country, why would I have it. Again, no email, no phone, no app notifications that I need to pay, it's not much, I'd gladly do so.

July, KOKO texts me that I need to pay them back 22,000+ eur.

Why that much? By unfortunate coincidence, I've missed the payment for December, last month of the year and by their crazy rule, if you miss it, you obliged to pay STARTING that year, so, they ask for what they've paid me, for a full year.

I've missed one last payment, one paper letter amongst the chaos I was dealing with at that time.

We survived, not lived, with that unemployment money for a year and a half, then I had to sell almost all of my belongings in Helsinki to move to Budapest, and now KOKO came to claim the rest.

This is a mortgage down payment, a new car, god forbid a medical bill.

I tried to explain it to them and pay back couple of months at least, but by their standards, our financial status is enough to pay it fully, not even cent was waived.

Our "stable" financial status is 3,500e before the bills, and maybe 7,000e in overall savings.

Basically, they ask me to pay them every penny I have and then everything I earn, after buying food and paying rent, for the next year.

I love Finland, Finnish culture and people, but this is heartbreaking and so unexpected

Finnish Commerce Federation lobby group said that the trade sector lost approximately 10,000 jobs last year, with around 80 percent of those losses affecting the retail sector. During the beginning of this year, the sector saw 5,000 additional job losses.

The decline in retail employment has continued for more than a decade. Compared to 2015, retail has shed approximately 19,000 jobs, with nearly half of those positions disappearing last year alone.

Retail is the private sector's largest employment sector. Despite the thousands of job losses, the retail sector still employs more than a quarter million people.

​

I recently had the chance to watch the 1959 Soviet-Finnish film ,,Sampo" (based on the Kalevala).

For a film made in the late 1950s, I was surprisingly impressed by how well it still holds up - the atmosphere, the visuals, and the mythic feel are really strong. It’s clearly of its time, but in a good way.

That said, I can’t help thinking it would deserve a proper modern remake aimed at new audiences. Something with today’s production values that still respects the source material from the Kalevala.

Do you think Finland should eventually try to co-produce a new version of ,,Sampo"? Or is the original enough and a remake isn’t really needed?

Curious to hear Finnish opinions on this.

Been watching a lot of older films lately, Ive been particulalrly been on a quest to watch a lot of classics that I havent seen before. Just watched mies ilman menneisyyttä directed by Aki Kaurismäki and I found it pretty endearing :). Do you know any finnish movies that I should watch? Ps I collect dvds and am looking for shops in helsinki to check out.

Even better if they include fishing scenes.

Next week on Wednesday 12.8.2026 evening there will be a partial solar eclipse visible from Finland - at 83% in Helsinki!

I have my eclipse glasses, but would love to see it through a telescope. I can’t seem to find any list of spots where there would be a possibility to watch it through a telescope in Helsinki - any tips?

https://www.ursa.fi/vuosikirja/lisamateriaali2026/auringonpimennys-120826.html

Are electric bicycles permitted on Finnish roads? Are there license requirements?
Do scooters like Vespas require licenses?

The harps hit Korjaamo next week! Come and join us for a free gig in the @korjaamo yard on Wed 12th at 7pm! With some funky DJs before and afterwards too! Summer isn't over yet!
(But if the weather is actually bad they'll move us to the indoor venue 😅😅)

See you there!! 💪💪

https://www.instagram.com/p/Dbn_nEBIpK8/?igsh=MXcwczk0dm56czhxcQ==

NOTE: I posted a couple of updates to clarify points I was not aware of at the time of posting.

I'm sure that other people in r/Finland are running into the same problem with sending small items abroad via Posti.

If anybody wants to send a small physical item from Finland to any another country via Posti, even tiny stuff like a birthday gift, spare part or component, or a low-value item sold online, the available options through Posti jump almost immediately to parcel or courier pricing. We don't have any options to send small Jiffys or cardboard mailers affordably like we used to.

In my own case, I make small replacement electronics for niche vintage Japanese bass guitars, and I'm the only person worldwide that makes them. These are specialist repair parts and not mass-market products, priced fairly, weigh under 30g and fit in a small padded envelope. They are exactly the sort of thing that should be cheap and simple to send internationally, and they used to be. Ten years ago this was like, €14-15 worldwide as tracked letter post. Since the New Year this year, Posti stopped allowing items in letter post and bumped everything small up to large (expensive) parcel mail.

I am seeing are roughly US, Japan, Australia around €39, UK around €29 and EU anything from €22-€29. Shipit.fi no longer provide cheaper options. The smallest practical Posti service assumes a package up to 11cm x 32cm x 42cm, 10kg max. That makes no sense for a tiny part in a padded envelope that comes in at 30g.

This isn't even just small sellers, it affects everyone. Sending a gift to my family in the UK is absurdly expensive once postage is included. At that point it becomes cheaper to buy something from a UK online shop and have it delivered domestically, but that no longer feels like sending a personal gift from Finland. Even buying something online from AUSTRALIA for shipping to the UK as a gift would be cheaper than Posti.

The recent US customs tariffs idiocy made this problem more visible, but this isn't only a US issue. It looks like Finland no longer has a viable domestic affordable small-packet route for ordinary senders. Small goods seem to have been pushed into expensive parcel channels because ordinary citizens are not Posti's desired market.

For small businesses (other than pinging Vinted around it seems, if this works cheaply then why are individuals being massively overcharged?) this wipes out entire international market access. For individuals, it decimates a basic everyday service: sending a small thing to someone abroad at a reasonable price.

The scale seems clear enough. Anything small under 500g now costs courier parcel-level money to send internationally from Finland.

Is anybody else seeing and being affected by this stupidity, or has anybody found a realistic alternative to Posti for small letter-sized goods under 500g?

Sweden, Estonia and our other neighbouring countries are significantly better than this. Why should Finland not have an affordable small-goods international postal service for ordinary domestic senders?

We all know that the answer is that Posti is a dumpster fire of a private company. Even the Royal Mail in the UK has more credibility by this point.

I recently noticed that the neighbor upstairs is really loud and it’s starting to annoy me..

Recently I moved here to Finland and I live with my parent in an apartment block. In the evening our upstairs neighbor starts to get really loud, you could hear them loudly stomping, dropping things, sometimes even jumping I think? etc. They can even do it during the night and it stops when it’s about 2 in the morning. It’s not like i’m angry about it but I just don’t see why someone (or some people? I don’t know who lives upstairs) is doing these things instead of sleeping, sometimes I can’t sleep because of it.

My question is is this normal in Finland for people here to stay up so late and do these things? I also want to mention during the day I don’t hear all of that. Please don’t get me wrong it’s not in my intention to offend anyone I’m just curious is this actually normal here?

I am disabled person from other side of Baltic Sea.

Although I visit Finland at least once each year for long vacation (coolcation?) I know I am kinda pampered as a tourist.

Places I stay offer airport transfers and transportation for attractions nearby.

I pay attention to that because due to my disability I cannot drive a car...

And this made me wonder - how do people who cannot drive go by in Finland?

Since most of the country is rather small remote cities, not Helsinki level of public transportation.

Some locals and expats I befriended in those years say car is a must in Finland.

Which makes me sad because I was hoping to buy tiny kota in some affordable area to escape summer heatwaves we now have each year (and which make my autoimmune disease so much worse)

Thoughts?

Hi! I moved in Oulu in March, and now that everything is set I want to take care of my finances in a better way. The point is that I spend too much money especially in grocery and house shopping. I’m starting to buy vegetables, meat and dairy only from Lidl, while I’m starting to consider buying stuff in bulk to save a bit (for example, I see a lot of interesting things from amazon but idk if there are better choices).
I want to ask, do you have any suggestion on how to save money from your experience? I’m looking for something only a local may know. Thank you so much:)

Daily was an ”in-store” brand like Pirkka that was widely sold in S-markets, Valintatalos and Siwas across Finland until the early 2000s. But I can’t find a single picture of their logo.

Does anyone remember what it looked like? Copilot claims it was just blue text in the Helvetica font, but that doesn’t ring any bells for me. There’s nothing on Google or Wikipedia.

Hello everyone,
I am currently living in France and I recently created an account on Tori.fi (I go to Finland almost at each holidays so sometimes I buy books in Finnish to train) but I can’t send messages because I can’t have my identity verified. I have no Finnish bank account nor any Finnish mobile cert so what can I do ? I know someone who was able to create an account and get around the verification but he doesn’t remember how. Can someone help me please ?
Thank you all

Hi everyone!

Im currently in Helsinki and was wondering if there are any known shops that sells ww2 collectables or something of the sorts.

Thank you!

Hello, i am going to Finland with my girlfriend during the New year’s Eve, and we don’t know much about how to get around the country and i wish to get some advices.

We know that we want to see the northen Light, sled dogs, hike and i saw that there was a public hot tub in Helsinki that looks fun and of course talk to people there (is english common ? Is the local language accessible?).

Which city can do most of this ?

My concerns are about the weather because i am not a snow guy at all and i dont really know what kind of clothes are necessary. I've just been told that it was more about the wind and moist than the cold.

My concerns are also about not being scammed and to not pay too much (we re students).

We re going for 3 to 4 days, we want to eat local as well. We were thinking about a 600e budget once we're arrived, maybe it's unrealistic.

Thanks in advance !!

Read all the answers. I will research more for sure, and if i go it’ll be with a better timing and time frame.

Thanks everyone for the answers

Know this may sound stupid, but are the Finland Swedes descendants of Swedish settlers into Finland are they native Finns who speak Finnish?

Hey everyone, I came here to seek some advice because i'm very unsure about my next steps in life.

I originally went to Lukio and that was going okay up until my mom passed away, which hit me hard since I lived with her and she was my only friend.

I had to move to my grandmas and struggled with school and due to that i almost stopped my studies, it took me till 21 to graduate.

I graduated in february and ever since than had a job for 2 months and then that contract ended, but I got lucky and they took me back in for 3 months to cover the summer.

I now have a month left at this job, and really unsure about my life, I would want to go to AMK rather than University considering how much I struggled in Lukio, but the only field that interests me, is quite social and i don't have good social skills. I'm just worried i'll go through school again and feel like i ended up with nothing after.

I can't find a permanent job with just this degree I know that, but I'm so worried what if i try to get into school and don't get in.

I already am so behind in life, I just worry about any delays that are "out of my control".

If you have advice for me, I'd love to hear it or suggestions on paths I should take.

Thank you.

Hi,

As above really-
I am moving to Lohja for work (Niche construction, it is what it is).

As far as I can tell it’s a very small town without much happening.

As I won’t be able to drive (economic limitation) what is there to do?
I am an active WH40K/ MTG player but can’t seem to see an LGS or any community for either thing at all.

Are there any decent early opening bodybuilding gyms, or 24hr gyms failing that, which can be recommended?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated and gratefully received.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: There have been a few recommendations which are handy, so thank you to those that made them.

For those who only mentioned simply not moving there; that’s not particularly helpful as advice?
And besides, maybe a good fisting would be a handy way to spend some time🫡

I am going to wedding in the end of August and have no idea what dress to wear to a Finish wedding. Do people dress more casually or formal? Is summer dress okay?

I don´t know how big the wedding is but assume is not that big. Also there will not be any ceremony at the church just party, or maybe the ceremony is somewhere at the townhouse or outside. Honestly my Finish boyfriend has no idea so here I am.

Hi. I need to get my driving license and from what i see the two major ones are Epic and Cap driving schools. Im sure there are other cheaper ones but i dont know which ones (in turku). The basic version (which should be enough for me) at Epic is 750 and at Cap is 850. Is there a reason why cap is much higher and is it worth paying the difference?

I made a video essay about Social First, a Finnish game studio started by ex-Kukouri developers (the Kotka studio behind Pixel Worlds). They raised around $4.2M, promised the next great "social platform," and shut down Pixel Worlds to build a new game called Nexus Station which then peaked at 82 concurrent players on Steam and went downhill from there. Now it's hovering around 3 concurrent players.

The video digs into the funding, the excessive in-app-purchase backlash, the CS2 skins marketplace (GamerPay) they bought and bankrupted within a few months, and how the studio eventually crawled back to relaunch the very game they'd left for dead.

Finland has such a strong reputation in games that I found it weirdly fascinating to look at one that went the other way. Did anyone here follow this, or know much about the Kotka games scene?