The total cost of all the listed items was €199.9 including the taxi fares and truck arrangement for transportation. Read on for a full photographed list of items I got from where, at what price, how I transported, and how I make use of them! This is the full, unedited, original article of my monthly column on the Kesklinna Sõnumid newspaper. I moved into my flat in Tallinn in November 2019. I went to have a viewing of several flats inside Kesklinn, Õismäe and Viimsi. Although I fell in love with the spacious property in Õismäe within a walking distance from Maxima XXX, my Estonian friends strongly recommended to stay inside Kesklinn. Luckily, I found a flat near Stockmann in the same building as my best friend lives, it came with a large bathtub (a must-have feature for Japanese people!), and the room layout was suitable for my workshop business. So I took it and felt that my new life is blessed with such a miracle. In my previous job in Tokyo, I had many occasions to arrange housing and commercial tenancy contracts, but this was actually my very first rent contract that I concluded for my own purpose. Little did I know was that properties for rent in Estonia usually come with furnitures, kitchen appliances and even plates, pans and glasses so the tenants can literally make themselves at home from day 1. In Japan, nothing comes with a flat, so I was simply grateful that mine came with a king-sized bed, laundry washer, dishwasher, dining table, sofa and two low tables in the living room. I had to urgently get everything else, but I did not wish to spend much while I was not yet sure if I would live in Estonia after one year of sabbatical stay. Thankfully, Estonian society upholds the eco-friendly value of recycling quite extensively, and I found these good places to find used items free or at very affordable prices! Uuskasutuskeskus (new usage centre = recycle shop!) This is the first place you should look into when you want to start your new life without much expenditure. My colleague and dear friend at Lingvist gave me this great tip to go and find some nice clothes at Uuskasutuskeskus when Finnair lost my luggage. I do not fit well in women’s clothes in Europe, so it has been a headache every time Finnair lost my priority-tagged baggages (4 times within 2 years). I had to go to Stockmann or Ülemistekeskus to go through this same awkward conversation in children’s clothes shop, “May I try these on?” “You know these are for kids, right?” For me, Uuskasutuskeskus is a heavenly place where I can try on any clothes that catch my eyes from across the women’s, men’s and children’s selections without being questioned at all. The last three business days of the month are the best time to go to Uuskasutuskeskus. Clothes are only €1 per piece and all the other items are 50% off. On the very last business day before 4pm, they even avail this too-good-to-be-true offer: pay only €8 and bag any clothes, shoes and bags in a 150-litre plastic bag! Online platforms: osta.ee / okidoki.ee / olio app These platforms connect those who want to give away or sell things and those who want used or unwanted items. Unfortunately, okidoki only works in Estonian and Russian languages, but the other two operate in English (although you need to manage communication with the owners of your interested goods, possibly in Estonian). Maxima Unlike normal Japanese people, I like secondhand goods because I feel I am extending the love from the previous owner and cherishing their used goods in my possession. But I still prefer buying certain items new and freshly out of the box, such as kitchen and beauty appliances, underwear and shoes. From my private field research and quality assurance tests over one year, I can confidently recommend Maxima as the place where quality goods are sold at noticeably cheaper prices than anywhere else. Just like they say in their brand motto, Maxima is truly “See, mis vaja.” (Grammatically speaking, it would have been much clearer for Estonian learners like me if it were “See on, mida vajame. / It is what we need.”, but their motto is still linguistically correct and carries the meaning of “It is (our) need. / It is what is needed”) Garbage Last but not least, the garbage room in your apartment might have something good and functional, totally free of charge. For example, in my apartment near Stockmann, some residents just throw away relatively clean and new furnitures when they move out. Practically speaking, these had to be sent to the special waste collection points as the household garbage collection cars cannot load large items (or you can telephone Uuskasutuskeskus so they can come on a truck to take away a set of large furnitures for resale). But since neither of the diligent arrangements was taken, as a good fellow resident I took them in to resolve the waste problem before the collection car arrived! List of items: all prices are rounded upEntrance Item: 4-story shelf with doors From: Uuskasutuskeskus Price: €4 Transportation: On foot (3 of my friends helped to carry this) How I use it: I intentionally installed it upside-down for a better stability and to create an additional open shelf on the top. The hooks with white birds are what I brought in my luggage from Japan. The black hanger pole on the left was bought at €2.9 from Bauhaus. Item: Key hook From: Garbage room back in my apartment in Tokyo Price: €0 Transportation: In my luggage on flight How I use it: Hung on the circuit board door Item: Shoe shelf with doors From: Uuskasutuskeskus Price: €5 Transportation: I carried it alone by myself on foot (got a backache afterwards!) How I use it: I made 2 additional DIY shelves, calibrated the door hinges, and added a wooden plank to make a spacious surface on the top. (There is an old saying in Estonia that we should not put our bags on the floor. So I made a space where we can put our bags as soon as we enter my flat.) Item: Slipper rack From: Uuskasutuskeskus Price: €1 Transportation: On foot How I use it: This actually was a CD rack, but it worked perfectly as a slipper rack. The paint was chipped and looked ugly, so I repainted with a nail varnish. (In Japan, I could buy a small acrylic painting ink in a tube in less than €1, but somehow, painting inks and sprays are quite expensive in Estonia!!) Kitchen and dining Item: Kitchen cupboard From: Uuskasutuskeskus Price: €1 Transportation: On foot, thanks to my neighbour/friend How I use it: The middle of the cupboard has holes to embed a kitchen fan and its duct. So again, I intentionally installed it upside-down to resolve this (w)hole problem and reused a door as a movable lid on the top. While my Japanese restaurant, Yurina, is open, I keep the lid open so I can get an easy access to the food packing materials. When the restaurant is closed, I close the lid and move back the speakers and the rice cooker on top of this cupboard (as seen in the photos below). Item: Foldable table From: Uuskasutuskeskus Price: €8 Transportation: On a local bus and on foot (I used a cart that I always use as part of my hand luggage on flight) How I use it: This very functional foldable table from the Soviet era is my food packing station when my Japanese restaurant, Yurina, is open. When the restaurant is closed, I fold in the table, or use this table as a sewing table or an additional dining table when more than 2 friends visit my place. Item: Doored thin shelf From: osta.ee Price: €4 Transportation: taxi (€8 for 2 sets of the shelves and me) How I use it: I got 2 sets of this on osta.ee. The former owner took a very good care of these, so I didn’t have to repair anything. These were super clean and almost new! Item: spice rack From: okidoki.ee Price: €1 Transportation: on foot How I use it: This was actually a hanging rack for a shower room. I washed it and disinfected to use this as a spice rack. Item: glasses From: uuskasutuskeskus Price: €2 for 20 items Transportation: on foot on my cart How I use it: I actually brought most kitchenwares, plates, bowls, mugs and cutleries from Japan in my luggage. But glasswares were the only things I was afraid of carrying on my flight. Uuskastuskeskus in Tatari sells glasswares at €0.1 per piece on the last 3 business days, so I got a nice set of glasswares in just €2! Item: multi-cooker From: osta.ee Price: €10 Transportation: delivered by the owner on his car How I use it: When I moved in, half of the kitchen hobs were out of order. I had to get a quick solution, and this multi-cooker worked like a charm! Item: electric kettle and toaster From: Maxima Price: €8 for the kettle / €8 for the toaster Transportation: on foot How I use it: The little shelf next to the toaster is from the €1 cupboard. Item: small rice cooker From: Maxima Price: €7 Transportation: on foot How I use it: I used this before opening my restaurant. It’s questionable if the car tire manufacturer, Dunlop, actually made this old-school type of rice cooker or not. Anyways, it works so perfectly and reminds me of the good old rice cooker that my family used 30 years ago back in Japan. We actually missed this type of old-school rice cooker, but nowadays stores in Japan only sell electronic computerised ones. My mom even asked me to get another one from Maxima and send it to Japan, but unfortunately, the voltage in Europe is too high at 240V for the Japanese 100V outlets. Item: 400W hand blender From: Maxima Price: €8 Transportation: on foot How I use it: I use this almost everyday. Very strong at 400W and probably the cheapest in this range. Item: pressure cooker From: Maxima Price: €12 Transportation: on foot How I use it: I use this quite often for making osso buco in 60 mins or steamed pork in 25 mins. Item: stools From: Uuskasutuskeskus Price: €6 Transportation: on foot How I use it: The paint was hideously chipped, so I repainted with a lavender acrylic spray. I made a painting booth out of a huge cardboard box from the garbage room, put a mask on and sprayed inside the booth on the grass field. 2 Russian speaking children got curious about my painting booth, so we all wore the mask and painted these stools together and then made a sleigh out of the cardboard box. Creative minds served as our common language! Item: stool From: okidoki.ee Price: €3 Transportation: on foot How I use it: I needed this to reach out to the higher shelves in the kitchen! Living room Item: sektsioonkapp (wall shelves from the Soviet era) From: osta.ee Price: €0 Transportation: €40 on a truck How I use it: Sektsioonkapp is supposed to be connected together to make a large wall shelf, but I separated them to use it as a room divider. I also made a foldable study area out of the shelf door and the metal parts from a clothes hanger (free from the garbage). The back of the sektsioonkapp was just an old composite panel and looked rather ugly, so I got 2 sets of Finlayson’s bed sheets from Uuskastusukeskus at just €4 and nailed them on the back as fabric wallpapers. One of the mirrors came along with the seltsioonkapp. The tall mirror is from the garbage room. Transportation was the biggest concern as the former owner lived on 5th floor without a lift. I hired Raja&Raja OÜ (a house moving and transportation company), 2 strong Estonian men came to carry this huge furniture from the 5th floor, loaded carefully onto the truck (there were glass parts and mirrors), gave me a joyful ride (we spoke about many things in English!), and carried it into my flat. All in just €40! Item: projector stand From: osta.ee Price: €0 (DIY from the sektsioonkapp parts) Transportation: as described above How I use it: I needed something to keep my projector at the right height, so I made this stand out of 3 small planks from the sektsioonkapp. Bathroom Item: corner shelf From: Uuskasutuskeskus Price: €4 Transportation: on foot How I use it: It’s been a cultural shock to see so many of Estonian houses without the toilet paper holder. I cannot simply keep the toilet rolls on the floor... I feel it’s unhygienic. This wooden shelf fit in perfectly on the side of the toilet, and I could store everything I need around the toilet! Item: doored toiletry shelf From: okidoki Price: €4 Transportation: on a taxi along with the kitchen shelf How I use it: The bathroom didn’t even have towel hangers, so I bought one at €6 from Bauhaus and dropped it onto this shelf. I reorganised the location of the washer and this doored shelf fantastically fit into the bathroom! The bottom 2 shelves behind the white door keep my laundry for washing. Item: hair dryer From: Maxima Price: €5 How I use it: I love purple colour and this was just €5 with 3 temperature settings. When I spotted this hair dryer, I felt we were meant to be. Bedroom Item: bookshelf and 2 drawers From: uuskasutuskeskus Price: €2 for the bookshelf / €4 for 2 drawers / €5 for taxi How I use it: I put the bookshelf on 2 drawers and attached clothes hanger poles (€2.5 x 3 from K-Rauta). The bookshelf missed half of the shelving planks. Luckily, my best friend from downstairs was throwing away her laundry shelf, so I got it from her and made 3 additional shelving spaces and these perfectly fitting doors out of it. I was so glad that I brought my electric drill from Japan in my checked luggage! The pentagon mirrors are from my personal collection. I gave another set of the mirrors to her in exchange of her laundry shelf. Item: desk and chair From: desk from the garbage room / chair from uuskasutuskeskus Price: €0 for the desk / €3 for the chair How I use it: No DIY modifications were needed. I really love this chair because it makes me feel as though I was a design-savvy hipster minimalist or whatever! On this desk, I studied Estonian language, built my website, iron my clothes, and now I am writing this blog post. Item: iron From: Maxima Price: €7 How I use it: Despite the cheap price, this iron has everything: water spray and steam functions (and a small cup for putting the water was also included!) Clothes Item: 25 items From: uuskasutuskeskus Price: €8 for everything you can bag in the 150 litre plastic bag How I use it: Some clothes had holes and tears, some were too big/loose, and some were from men’s collection. But it’s just €8 for all these items, so it was a great opportunity for me to experiment with my sewing skill. Even if I failed, there’s almost nothing to lose. Snow boots Item: Warm snow boots From: Maxima Price: €2 How I use it: It was actually sold at a surprisingly amazing price at €1.8. Got 2 pairs and my winter in Estonia feels jolly good! Last but not least... For the sake of easier reading and calculation, I’ve rounded up all the prices. But actually, items from Maxima were even cheaper by 21 cents as they set the discounted price at €X.79.
You might not be able to believe that these new, good quality electric appliances were sold at these amazingly cheap prices, so here is an evidence. Lõpphind means the final price after the campaign discount. Comments are closed.
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