Living On $48K A Year In Helsinki, Finland _ Millennial Money_ Millennial Money

Maria Ainamo-McDonald, 30, earns the equivalent of $48,000 a year as a marketing specialist at the broadcasting company YLE. She lives in Helsinki, Finland where she’s been able to buy two homes before turning 30. Here’s how Maria earns, spends and saves her money in the happiest country in the world.

This is the latest installment of Millennial Money, which profiles people across the U.S. and details how they earn and spend their money.

Maria lives comfortably on $48,000, but in an ideal world, would make closer to $75,000. She picked that amount after reading studies that suggest you need about that much to be happy. While it’s a goal in the back of her mind, “I don’t actively work for that to happen,” she adds. “I don’t do my work because of money. I do my work because I enjoy it.”

Ainamo-McDonald spends about $527 per month on groceries, including diapers, for the whole family. She also spends an additional $111 eating out. That’s enough to cover just one night out for the family at a nice restaurant. “In Finland, going out for dinner is super expensive, especially if you want to have alcohol,” she says. She gets lunch at work every day. It costs about $8 and is taken straight out of her paycheck.